Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld
by Palm
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld
Customer Review: Not so bad after all initially.. (dissapointed later)
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a follow-up after two months of usage. I must say that I am a little dissapointed with the reliability. Oflate whenever I open Docs To Go, it freezes and I've to perform a soft reset. I've also been having problems with the Digitizer. If the problems keep at this rate, I am not sure I'll ever buy a Palm again. Will keep you all posted if there are more issues. *Sigh*
I had a m515 a couple of years ago when it crashed and never woke up. I somewhat apprehensively decided to get this Tungsten E2 mainly because it has non-volatile memory and so here I am.
First about the case itself: It is a solid case with a solid look of steel and I suspect that this is for a reason along with the fact that they got rid of the cradle systems. Traditional Palm PDAs did come with a cradle and they did have quite a bit of issues with the SUDS (Sudden USB Death Syndrome). The steel finish is elegant but it does leave smudges which is managable. For whatever reason they decided to leave this finish, personally it is fine with me. I don't get it when people complain that they are dissapointed when there is no cradle. Good thing I don't have to lug a cradle while travelling and if not will have to buy a travel charger.
Compared to the previous m515 I've had, this is a steal for $249. The interface is very good and I really like the crisp display. All in all, looks like they took the best of the Tungsten E model and improved it. It took a bit of time figuring out to play mp3s using the Realplayer. I had to format my SD Card using FAT instead of the FAT32 file system. After this step, adding and removing songs was a breeze. I must say that I am totally blown by the music quality. Agreed that the built-in speaker isn't meant for this but on a headphone it is awesome.
The operation speed is pretty good and a 10 hr battery life doesn't hurt at all (mighty impressive). Haven't played around with Bluetooth yet and it's dissapointing that if I need wireless, I've to shell out another 100 bucks for it. For now, I am satisfied with the base version and I don't think I'll go for wireless anyway. Additional SD Card would probably be a good idea if one needs more songs on the go.
Bottomline is that this is a decent PDA for the price (which is bound to go down shortly) and if you know the limitations and capabilities and don't have high expectations you'll be satified. Just keep your fingers crossed if your unit goes bad and is out of warranty (Palm support has been legendary in being terrible).
Hopefully we don't have to deal with it.
Customer Review: Low Price = 4 stars.
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this for it's low price. It's my first ever pda device. I can't help but be impressed with all it does, especially the Excel spreadsheets that I use on the job. However I nearly returned the unit to the store on day 2 because it froze after installing a 3rd party software. I then spent my entire evening on the web learning that there is a micro reset button on the back,etc. Most folks would not be so patient. They really should supply that basic information in the postcard instruction that comes with the device (sheez).
Aside from spending 6 hours performing multiple reloads of the E2, and restoring my desktop registry to back out the purchased 3rd party software, English/Spanish Dictionary, I am now beginning to like this unit dispite my sour grapes experience with 3rd party OS compatible software.
I also read on web knowledge bases (while fixing my Fatal Error problem) that many people have problems with 3rd party software. My strong advice is to never install ANY 3rd party software and you will be happy. The main applications are built-in, such as calendar, contacts, photos, notes, Doc's To Go, etc,, basically everything that you'll ever need. By the way, I don't use music, email,games nor internet access.
If you could run 3rd party software on this device then I would have given it 5 stars.
I guess it's normal to discard the E2 in 18 months when the battery dies, (ouch!) however it's fine selling point is it's low price.
For newbies reading this: I was able to load my 3rd party desktop address book into this device fairly easily, via, desktop Export using 'comma delimiter file type=txt', then Import using the supplied Tungsten software. Took awhile to assign field names, but worth it.
As a first timer, let me say that I downloaded 4 Excel (MS Works) spreadsheets and it was a snap to do and use on the E2. I also converted a PDF file to basic RTF (rich text format) in WordPad and then downloaded (technically call Hotsync) it too.
Apparently, it comes with a scaled down PDF reader and if you want to be able to download 'ANY/ALL' PDF file to the E2, then you need to buy the PDF Pro at at extra cost. I haven't done that yet, so no feedback there.
Even thought the battery will die in 18 months to 2 years, I will have to buy the hard shell case for an extra $40 bucks to put it in my back pocket. But the basic price is still relatively low.
Here's an update. After 3 weeks, I dropped it and broke the screen. $125 to get it fixed. Naw, just not cost efficient.
Customer Review: Bought as replacement to Vx - what a bitter disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
I used Palm Vx (replacing broken & lost devices with used ones) for close to a decade, not wishing to replace a model I was very happy with.
Upon realizing I would be unable to replace my dying Vx with another, I went to buy a new Palm to replace it, and chose a Tungsten E2 on the spot for it's price.
Pros:
* USB sync, which I think is more convenient than the Vx cradle.
* Ability to play music, fun for my daily bus trips.
* Color screen, larger & SD expandable memory, etc.
* All the good applications which made me buy a Palm to begin with. The most important are the calender & contacts applications, as well as various games downloaded from the Internet & expenses.
Cons:
* For me, the worst con is the interface's translation to Hebrew (by Harel) is just useable, compared to the perfect Vx interface translation (by Calanit).
Beside a Hebrew font & right-to-left writing, just about nothing works right. The contacts application left-justifies everything, the calender application has hours on the left sides and days progressing from left to right, and the expenses application doesn't list the local currency.
* The battery can't be charged via USB.
This introduces the need for another cable, a transformator, as well as a need to change he transformator's socket connection when travelling to other countries.
* Bugs. Search is limited to eight results, though the interface makes the impression it would bring more results. Expenses has a bug for telephone expenses - it locks out the payment method & currency pull-downs on empty, and displays junk currency in the list.
Based on previous reviews, it appears Palm is not only aware of those problems, but has no intention of fixing them - neither in devices already manufactured nor in the future.
I bought the E2 blind - just walked into a shop, and bought a new Palm - based on my good experience with the Vx. That was a stupid thing to do, as the lemon I've got proves. When I replace the E2, it would not be with a Palm.
After a year of use, the touch screen went out of sync - every touch on the screen makes the device respond as if I touched it a few mm lower. I went through the alignment procedure, and trying to touch the bullseyes' centers just makes the procedure repeat itself endlessly. I hade to touch them at an offset, which - unsurprisingly - caused the screen to be out of sync.
Customer Review: Some pleasures and some disappointments
Summary: 3 Stars
I admit to having seen the positive and negative reviews of this product before purchasing it recently. I may return it - we'll see.
So far, in my limited one-weeks' analysis of this item (and from a non-technical person), I will first mention the things about it that bug me.
1.) Using the stylus. You end up having to go back and forth trying to handprint the darn letter. The screen is not sensitive enough (or is too sensitive and perhaps there's another adjustment I can make in preferences that I have not yet tried). It annoys me that I have to fix "typos" because the screen thought I wrote and "l" and a "c" when I wrote a "k", for example. There's a handful of letters that this happens with.
2.) The option of using the "keypad" is there, but have you tried to see that keyboard and actually "type" with the stylus? If you have and love it, you have better eyesight than I do. The font is TINY to me. (Though I admit, I need reading glasses.)
3.) There really does exist a high-pitch sound when the unit is on. I would not have noticed it, though, if someone here didn't mention it. It's surely there.
4.) I live in fear of the screen smashing by dropping it, since the insurance is just plain stupid to carry on a system that was only $200.00.
Anyway, the good points so far:
1.) I've had no trouble syncing my data to Outlook.
2.) Having the "tasks" features, the calendar, and even the calculator is nice. There's still much more to be discovered, as mentioned, I've had it only a week.
3.) Seems nice to not have paperwork (bits of paper all around with notes on it). I even keep my grocery list items in it...I jot them in when I run out of something. I plan to sync it up and print it from Outlook for this weekend shop.
I still am on the fence if this was the right system for me. My sister keeps telling me it seems to be more of an aggravation in some ways (having to back it up daily and charge it daily, etc, and that the font is too small, and then theres the issues with the stylus whereby it's just not doing it's job all the time. Oh, and the delay of WHEN you type in the letter to when it actually appears on your screen can be like watching paint dry.
Having said ALL that, maybe if I get my eyes checked, I'd just get used to the small font and avoid the stylus OR double check that I've got Mr Pointy properly set up.
Customer Review: Mine is still working fine
Summary: 4 Stars
I wanted to update, it's the end of Aug and still no major problems. It did freez up once, I was doing something with the world time zones.I never leave the country, just goes to show, don't mess with things you don't need. The battery holds a charge perfect, and it's been droped a few more times, IN THE CASE
Well my old 515 died so I got myself the E2 just before Christmass. FIRST I HAVE TO SAY. I don't use the thing as an MP3 player, I didn't add all kinds of game software. I use it for SIMPLE buisness tasks. Documents, phone #, appointments, to do list....I also bought an alumuminumum (I can't say it either) case.
I have droped this thing (in the case) at least half dozen times. It has been left in the truck overnight in Chicago winter. I try not to be too rough on it but I'm clumsy, oh well.
It is working fine, and I would recomend it to other people. So far, no "screeming screen" no lost data and no problems with sync. GEE I HOPE I DIDN'T JUST CURSE MYSELF !! My 515 worked fine for a little over 2 years, then it wouldn't sync.
I have come to the conclusion I will need a new one every other year or so, and in the meantime I will SYNC,SYNC,SYNC in case.
I think if you stick to the basic functions, don't mess with freeware, or other third party software, They work. If you need more then maybe a laptop is best for you...and if you work in the feild, out of your truck, price one of those "rugged" laptops, they are about the price of a few dozen palms. Yes they have issues, but at this point, after you do the research it's up to you to make the desicion.
One thing I tell EVERYONE, these things are something people seem to love or hate. If your thinking of buying one, but never used one before, get one of the cheap ones from a different manufacturer. That way if you hate it dont use it your only out 30 or so
another update 4/29/07 well it worked up untill a few weeks ago, I left it in my truck in a nice area and in 2 minutes it was gone, jerks,
got a second one locally, and it crashed 3 weeks later, see my iolo review, ANYWAY customer service was great got my problems solved in about 45 minutes, and i learned a few other things about the desktop software
HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS PRODUCT, if you use it
ANOTHER UPDATE 4/7/09 I still got mine! No major problems I wonder if they are still making this thing, I really like mine and I know from past experience I am close to the end of it's life