Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld
by Palm
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld
Customer Review: Palm Tungsten E2 a bitter disppointment
Summary: 1 Stars
When the battery in my Sony Clie could no longer hold a charge, and could only be used if it were left in the cradle all the time, I learned that only a Sony tech could install a new battery and that the thing would have to be shipped to California. In addition, Sony would charge $150.- for the privilege.
So, I decided instead to buy the Palm Tungsten E2, which I found on sale for the astonishingly low price of $150.- one day on Amazon, and dutifully recycled the Sony Clie. This purchase was a huge and expensive mistake and here's why:
I could search a name on the Clie, which would generate a complete list of occurrences in the contacts, calendar etc., no matter how many times the name appeared in Outlook. The Palm generates a list of 8. Full stop. Only 8. This is a dramatic loss in the functionality of the thing as I used it, often to jog my memory about when or where I saw a client or colleague, or even a name of an important contact, or the name of a restaurant where I entertained a prospective client.
In Microsoft Office, I have numerous categories for my contacts, and the Sony Clie would let me call up every single one of them. The Palm limits the application to 15 categories, and further limits to 15 the number characters for the name of each. So I have to search longer for information that used to take seconds.
There is only one advantage to the Palm product: as I do not use the Tungsten E2 as an mp3 player or for anything other than the calendar, contacts, and notes, the battery charge holds for a very long time, a nice change, but not enough to make me happy with a flawed product.
If I knew its limitations, which reduce its usefulness to me by fully two thirds, I would have sent the Clie to Sony in California and happily paid $150.- to have the new battery installed.
Palm's customer service department was off-hand when I described the problem and assured me that the software to generate lists of over 8 contacts, etc. doesn't exist.
The purchase of the Palm hand held is a mistake I will have to live with for a very long time, and which creates inconvenience daily. Sony will never re-introduce the Clie, but when I can buy a smart phone of some sort, I will not consider buying a Palm product because I will assume that it will not function as I need, and that customer service will not care.
Customer Review: Revised review after 4 months of use
Summary: 2 Stars
Palm Tungsten E2 review (four month later) revised rating from 4 stars to 2.
I am a third generation Palm user. I received a Tungsten E2 for Christmas last December 2005. I was very impressed with the added functions, the slick design and the long lasting rechargeable battery. I wrote a glowing review of the product (4 stars) on Amazon. The only complaint I had was the 90 days warranty period. I thought it was too short. Four months later, I encountered a problem trying to power up the palm. It just won't power up. I tried various "reset" modes and none worked. I finally contacted Palm support and they informed me that the warranty period had expired and that it would cost me $149 to repair it. The original cost of the Palm Tungsten E2 was only $199. Obviously I declined. I started searching on the web and I found out there are many others with the same problem. It turns out to be a defect of this particular device. I am positive Palm knew about this and yet they choose to deny any problem and cover it up. What a sad position for a Corporation to take. At first, I thought the problem was a defective battery, it turned out not to be. I later discovered that the device had a cold solder joint. I found a guy on eBay that repairs Palm devices and it only cost me $46 + shipping. A bargain compared what Palm had to offer.
I am writing this follow up review to warn other customers of Palm's poor product support. They are not playing fair. They will make you pay for their mistakes. This new culture is very disturbing. They have made the financial calculation that it is cheaper to ignore and deny a problem than to offer a recall and an apology. This is clearly a defect of one of their products which they knew from the start. Why else would they only offer a short warranty period? As opposed to 1 year on the other Palm model T2. I will not buy another product from Palm and I would not recommend this to others. Buyers beware!!! It is a shame that an otherwise excellent product should suffer because of bad judgments on the part of their Corp. Executives. I have written a formal complaint to the head office and have not received any reply. I guess it was too much to expect.
-Jack Lee
Yorktown Hts. NY
May 31, 2006
Customer Review: Adequate PDA
Summary: 3 Stars
My old m series black and white was adequate for my needs. I updated only because it could only be synchronized via serial cable and I grew tired of the black and white screen. I bought the E2 because I really liked the E1 when it came out. I really only need a PDA and I have to be able to carry it around where I cannot take a cell phone. I have a strong tendency to buy this stuff for what I need it for and then use it until it rots as long as it does what I need.
So the pros: The color screen is bright and easily read, the stylus is metal instead of plastic, the software is stable and works well,the writing function is at the top of its form, it holds a charge well, and the form factor is good to execellent. It is a little large in the hand but the screen is larger as well. The software appears to operate as intended. Let me also say that I have never had a problem with Palms of any kind. I have never had stabiltiy problems with the OS. I have had my m series version for years now and it functions as usual. I also use Bluetooth almost exclusively for synchronization and have never had a problem.
The cons:
1. The E2 is fairly expensive and frankly adds little more than an expense tracking feature over my very old PDA.
2. The stylus has a screw off top which has, of course, screwed off. I later found it in my chair.
3. The expense tracking feature does not integrate with Quicken or Microsoft Money. I found it easier to just keep my receipts and then enter them at the end of the day rather than enter everything into the PDA. If it integrated with Quicken this would have been a godsend.
4. It is obsolete. I knew that when I bought it but it was priced right and had only what I need. This will be my last Palm. I guess I have been a satisfied customer, but with the new technology and my changing personal work environment, I will move on.
5. Finally, these devices have been fairly expensive. Although some needed features are/were available thru third party software vendors, I have frankly never been interested. The basics should come with the machine. There were, for me, some deficiencies such as basic Gantt charts and scheduling.
Customer Review: Nothing new
Summary: 2 Stars
I just upgraded to the Tungsten E2 from a T2. The upgrade was motivated by the fact that Tomtom's (and Palm's licensed equivalent) Navigator 5 GPS software does not run on the T2. (I own Navman's, but they never supported Mac OS X and now they have stopped supporting Palm, too.) Nevertheless, since it had been a while since I bought my T2, I expected nice surprises. I found none--nice, that is.
This PDA looks and feels cheap and flimsy. The T2 looked great and felt like a rock; the design was just fantastic. I cannot see anything new in the E2's software, other than minor cosmetic details that I couldn't care less about.
I love my T2 and hate to part from it because of the GPS software. Already when Tomtom's (and Palm's licensed equivalent) software supported T3 but not T2 I felt robbed. Little did I know I would feel the same again.
It also annoys me to no end that the power/USB connector keeps changing all the time. Either leave it as it was, or change it to mini-USB already. I have not checked whether the PDA's battery charges directly through the USB (I would hope so), but the fact that there's a separate socket for the AC adapter worries me. I will check tonight since in my office I have the good ol' Palm cradle which is now useless.
The synchronization with Mac's iSync is still less than seamless. I get phony iCal conflicts all the time, even if I do not make -any- change to the data.
To top it off, the PDA comes with a 90-day warranty. As expected, for $50 more you can extend it to something decent. Interestingly, if you live in the EU the warranty is for two years. I guess once more we in the US are the suckers that balance their quarterly results.
The only plus side is that it seems relatively cheap compared to a Pocket PC.
Overall, I feel robbed and mocked by Palm. It is as if they had run out of ideas and now made a living out of cutting costs and forcing upgrades. Cheap and sad. Perhaps the only consolation left is that one can always short its stock.
I surely hope Apple comes up with an iPod PDA so I can get rid of all my Palm products once and for all.
Customer Review: As I former Tungsten T2 user, I expected more.
Summary: 2 Stars
I've used a Tungsten T2 for years, which has suited me very well. The touch screen on the T2 failed, so I bought the E2 believing it was the closest match in the current product line. I'd still be using that T2 if it hadn't gone south.
The GOOD: I really like the free-format graphical notes screen. No more worrying about my intentions vs. grafitti. Way cool!
The BAD: I have largish hands, and the T2 stylus was a bit of a challenge. The E2 stylus is slimmer yet and does not pop out of the PDA as easily. I find myself using my Dr. Grip pen/pencil/stylus from my shirt pocket (I love that pen!) rather than fight with this slim-jim.
Oh, do I miss the T2's docking station! I'd come home from work, drop my T2 in the dock, hit hotsynch and walk off. Now I have to play cable games. Is it hard? No. If I never had a dock, would I miss it? Maybe not. But I sure notice it. I synch with machines at work and at home, so now every synch is a dig-in-the-laptop-bag-to find-the-fool-cable ordeal plus chasing down the charger. I'd score this as "inelegant". I'm feeling pressured into buying more cables in order to make life flow well.
I also notice that some of my already-purchased applications do not behave well on this unit, especially with regard to the scroll button. I'm sure it's an OS level thing, but why an OS upgrade should break scrolling escapes me.
And the hard case. The hard case. How can I be polite about this made-in-China piece of work? I guess you'll have to read my review over on the hard case page.
Do you want to hotsynch with MS Outlook? You have my condolences! I use Outlook at work because of our MS Exchange environment, but have chosen to use the Palm desktop at home. Palm Desktop runs very well, but I still have yet to experience an error-free Outlook hotsynch after 3 weeks of messing with it. GRRRRR!
Knowing what I know now, I have to say that I appreciate the familiarity of the Palm environment, but I wish I'd spent more time researching the options.