Palm Tungsten T5

Reviews: Electronics

Digital Cameras | PDAs | Communications

Palm Tungsten T5

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Richard Poelling
Kurtis
PalmOne
Jan. 31, 2005

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Quality Check

The overall quality of the T5 appeared to be good. Nothing fell off it or was otherwise wrong out of the box. Like most PDA's though, I think most of the issues will be regular wear and tear on the surface of the device. I have already noticed tiny scratches on the finish, as well as lots of fingerprints. Like its other PDA brethren, the T5 suffers from the same glossy finish which, although it looks nice, does not stay clean for very long. Using the enclosed screen cover, I can easily imagine that it would start to wear on the finish in the long term.

The screen on the T5 is the same high quality 320x480 screen we saw before on the T3, except it is no longer in an expandable form. Like the T3, the T5 achieves its larger viewing area by digitizing the input pad. For the short term this just saves space, but for the long term, it also means you will be writing more often on the screen rather than a surface that was designed to take a lot of abuse. Since I only had the T5 for a short while, I can not be certain as to how well it will hold up with prolonged use, but I most definitely recommend a good screen protector.

The initial boot up of the T5 seemed to take a while, at least longer than their other PDA's. This could very well have been a fluke, since I didn't have the others to do a side by side comparison. If you want access to all your stuff, you shouldn't have to wait forever, it's not a Windows machine afterall. To be fair, the T5 didn't need a reboot often, and when you hit the power it turns on instantly.

Software

Like the T3, the T5 comes with an impressive array of software. Items of note are the Adobe Acrobat reader, Documents To Go, and Realplayer.

I first ran into the Adobe Acrobat Reader on the Tungsten E and its utility hasn't faltered at all. The software does exactly what its title implies, it reads acrobat files. What really gave this software a boost was the larger viewing area of the T3 and now the T5.

The Documents To-Go app is another one of my favorites which was included in all the Palm PDA's I have reviewed. Its mission is simple: Be able to view and edit an array of standard office documents. These include the word and excel files as well as PowerPoint presentations.

Realplayer is also included with the standard T5 bundle. With this you are able to play MP3s easily as well as create playlists. With the added functionality of the USB drive mode, moving your music files back and forth has never been easier.

This brings me to the one feature that will stand out on the T5: USB drive functionality. To enable this feature, you have to put the T5 into "drive mode." Once in this mode, you really can't do anything with the PDA itself. What you can do is drag and drop the files from your computer directly onto the T5's 160MB of free space. By adding a SD, SDIO or MMC card, you can increase your storage capacity significantly. Either way, the T5 starts with 256 MB of memory - so you have plenty of room for all your programs and even some extra space for those important reports you want to carry around.

New to the T5 is a program called AddIt. This program essentially makes it easier to get new software. You are able to browse titles offline and then choose which ones you want to add. Upon the next syncronization, the software will be downloaded and installed. I liked the idea behind the program, but personally I think it is just another piece of fluff I don't need. Besides, if I am looking for a new software program, I will probably just do an internet search and go from there. While this may come in handy for a less technically inclined person, I don't need a list of software that has been chosen by Palm's marketing department.

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Page 5 of 6

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions & Getting Started
Page 3: User Interface
Page 4: Testing
Page 5: Quality Check & Software
Page 6: Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by EmoMakesMeCry on January 31, 2005 - 11:54 am

the T5 seems pretty sweet but i prefer pocket pc's over anything running the palm os. like the ipaq rx series, the old hp 1900 series, dell axim x50, x30, and of course the fujitsu loox.

2 - Posted by Rich on January 31, 2005 - 12:58 pm

The T5 is nice, but by the time you add the WiFi card and a cradle, you could buy one of the new Axim x50's which I think have a better screen anyway. I am currently using an old HP Jornado and I like it alot. It is using an old version of pocket PC but runs nicely.

3 - Posted by Guest on April 11, 2005 - 8:44 am

Helpful, thorough, guided me to a (not) buying (for now) decision.

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