Based on the title, I'm thinking you can guess what this is about....

I was really hoping that after the Christmas holiday that there would be at least a little bit of a price break on new pdas. I have just been (seemingly) all over the net, and haven't found any good deals, which has me kinda depressed. I came very close to just biting the bullet and buying the T|T3 on Overstock today as a holiday present to myself...but they're sold out!

It's rather evident to me that I need to get rid of my T615c. Beyond the fact that I'm running OS4.1 (eek!), her memory is maxed out, so I can't put any more apps on her. And much to my frustration, the stylus still occassionally gets stuck in the silo, forcing me to have to open up the case and free it. Tres sad...

I'm thinking more and more that I'd like to stay with the PalmOS. I base this on the fact that I've never heard anything outstanding about the PPC other than they figured out how to build units with both BT and Wi-Fi, and I've played with them a bit in the store and... it strikes me that I'd be making the same Mac to PC switch I made in the early 90's and was never totally psyched about (if that makes sense as an analogy).

What I Want (and It's Not Alot)

I'd love a unit that has both BT and Wi-Fi, but I'm hep for BT so I can pair it with my phone and surf via GPRS. I'd dig having Wi-Fi but the only place I'll use it will be my office and it strikes me that that isn't that much of a necessity.

I want to stay well below the $300 mark. All told, I'll sell my Clie with accessories and all for about $150 or so, so I think my $250ish range is a responsible one. If I could get something for $200, I'd be a happy girl.

What I really need is more memory, more memory, more memory. Show me da memory! And give me processor speed...or give me death (oh wait, just give me processor speed).

That's it. That's all I want. Sounds like the T3 is where I'm going, no? I've looked at the Zire 72s, and they seem ok too, but I'm also open to suggestions.

Sale prices, advice, and bargain pointers welcome.

I think it sounds like T5 would be your dream machine right now. Lot's of memory, and internal flash memory, a card slot, plus a gorgeous screen. But... it is a bit expensive right now. Except for the screen resolution and Win Mobile, I got about the same PDA for $150 refurbished. Is the screen really that expensive for a little more resolution? Maybe... the VGA PPCs are pretty pricey also, or else I'd have one in my hand already also!

The T3 sounds like a great unit, except for the miserable battery life. You might want to think twice if you need good battery life with it, but if you can recharge every night and don't have extended usage requirements during the day it would be a great PDA for you. Battery is one of those things that some people don't really need much of, but is a big deal for me. Anyone out there with a T3 that can comment on that?

Good luck in your hunt!

Yea, I've thought a bit about the battery life. It's one of the things that I suffer with now, as the T615c has a pretty crummy battery too so I'm unfortunately used to constant charging. That little 32Mb difference is what keeps me away from the Zire 72... otherwise I'd go for that one.

Yea, the T5 is def out of my $ range right now.

I quit complaining and just bought a T3 at Overstock! I think I did pretty good too. It cost me $230 shipped when I was done with the coupons and everything. It won't go out their door until after 1/5 which is the only thing that sucks. But I'm ready to go shop for accessories....

Now I just have to decide: Sell my Clie or give it to a friend as a hand me down? :)

Sounds like you got a great deal! Hey, it's also like the most recent Palm PDA to come out with a lot of excitement about it. (The T5 certainly didn't do that even though it might be a good PDA.)
Now you can tell us if that really nice display makes any difference to you! Enjoy!

I quit complaining and just bought a T3 at Overstock! I think I did pretty good too. It cost me $230 shipped when I was done with the coupons and everything. It won't go out their door until after 1/5 which is the only thing that sucks. But I'm ready to go shop for accessories....

Now I just have to decide: Sell my Clie or give it to a friend as a hand me down? :)

Sunshine,

Did you get it new or refurbished? Also just to let you know what is good to invest in is a card reader and even better http://www.softick.com/cardexport2/ makes an app that turns your palm into a usb mass storage device that works with windows, mac and I think linux. I'm using card export on my mac at home and my pc at work and its great. No swapping out the card to put music on it etc. Since you have the screen size and the memory/speed check out a game from PDAmill called snails it is the absolute coolest on the t3 screen. Ask Alex for entrance into the PDAmill vip site for a free copy. Enjoy your new palm! You'll love the move to os5 and better screen.

Later
:kid:

wow. how totally cool about the card export. i'll def have to do that... and check out snails. :)

now i get to do fun things like order a case and a new sd card and stuff. i'm pretty sure the display will do it for me bob, but i'll keep you posted. there's 1000 other bonuses to this device which are making me feel like i made the right decision. now i just can't wait to get the thing!

I've been using a Clie SJ30 -- love the higher resolution screen. My second battery is starting to fail, and I wish I knew a guaranteed source of new batteries, I know the lithium-ions go stale on the shelf within a couple of years, whether used or not.

My dream PDA isn't built and isn't apparently being considered, so here it is:

It's as thin as my Visor Edge, with a comparable metal case and flip cover.

But when I open it (book-wise, not flip-up) it will have TWO screens side by side.

It will be able to
-- run one app in each screen, or
-- two pages of text side by side from a single app, or
-- two images side by side, for stereo viewing

(My proof of concept stereo movies are at www dot ankh dot members dot sonic dot net, each under 1 meg, viewable for now only on a desktop -- if you can "free view" and see depth by placing two pictures side by side, for 'parallel view' -- then you can see stereo movies too, the same way --- or, put a little viewer, just 2 magnifying lenses, over them to make it easier for your eyes to fuse the pair into one)

----> Meanwhile, if anyone knows a good source for a replacement SJ30 battery.....

Hi, Sunshine. Well, congratulations, you've got yourself a very nice PDA!
Here, a few tips from a T3 fan:
Hardware:
- I bought an infrared keyboard, the so-called "wireless universal". Or "universal wireless"? Whatever. You don't know what a keyboard can do for you until you buy one. The possibilities are countless... No, really. I mean, think what you could do if you could turn a laptop instantly. I keep a journal in my PDA, now (using natara's daynotez, not as wonderful as many people say, but it gets the job done). I also can write emails. I can't send them instantly, but I know they will be sent next time I hotsync.
Ah! I almost forgot! Be careful if you buy the new model, I heard the terrible story of a guy who had a hard reset because of the driver. Be careful, we don't like hard resets. Do we?
Check this review on the KB I got, by Jeff Kirvin:
www.writingonyourpalm.net/column030929.htm
- Travel charger. Ah, the battery. The hardware of the T3 is perfect (don't you love the mic, for example? Perfect for quick "notes" while you're driving). Except for what we all know. Forget about the battery with a travel charger. Plug it to your USB and... what? You don't work in an office by a computer all day long? That's why we have the...
- AC to USB adapter. Plug the travel charger to any outlet. Even 220V outlets! Outdoors? Airplanes? Get a...
- Power to go. Apparently P1 doesn't make it anymore. Get one while supplies last! It will multiply the time you can play with your T3 by three. There's a way to upgrade the internall battery, but it involves having your warranty void, and the benefit is only 33% more juice. It's perfect for long trips in an airplane or train.
- 1GB SD card. No, wait, 2GB SD card! Get it as big as you can afford and fill it with mp3s! Books, pictures, etc. are welcomed, too.
- 64 or 128 MB SD card. I have one of this in my house for backups in case my PDA is stolen/lost.

Software:
- Card export, as you already know, is a must. Particularly if you want to use the mp3 player capabilities of your T3.
- Backup man. The best backup sw available. I used to BU my PDA with backup buddy. The only time I needed to restore it, I discovered BB was trying to fit all the contents from the memory stick (I had a Clié, back then) in the RAM! With backup man I backup my pda every night in my 1GB SD card (I learned to do this the hard way, but that's a different story), and occasionally to my 256MB (I proved to be too small).
- Aeroplayer / PocketTunes. AP has a better sound... much better. But PT has a much much better user interface (controls, features, etc.) If you're not too picky about sound and/or you have a LOT of files in your SD card, then PT is the way to go.
- A sad thing about OS5 is that you cannot longer use your hacks... or is it? Most of the funcionality of my previous hacks are integrated in OS5. Except for SafeHack. For some reason, you cannot set your T3 to auto hide your private records when turning off your device. You can overcome this with On Power Off (freebie). Or TealLock.
- Finally, get Fitaly. Really, graffiti is cool... for five or seven characters, and no more. Fitaly is the only way to do some serious text input in your pda on the go, when you are away of your keyboard, or setting it up would be cumbersome.
That's it, have fun!

I've been using a Clie SJ30 -- love the higher resolution screen. My second battery is starting to fail, and I wish I knew a guaranteed source of new batteries, I know the lithium-ions go stale on the shelf within a couple of years, whether used or not.

My dream PDA isn't built and isn't apparently being considered, so here it is:

It's as thin as my Visor Edge, with a comparable metal case and flip cover.

But when I open it (book-wise, not flip-up) it will have TWO screens side by side.

It will be able to
-- run one app in each screen, or
-- two pages of text side by side from a single app, or
-- two images side by side, for stereo viewing

(My proof of concept stereo movies are at www dot ankh dot members dot sonic dot net, each under 1 meg, viewable for now only on a desktop -- if you can "free view" and see depth by placing two pictures side by side, for 'parallel view' -- then you can see stereo movies too, the same way --- or, put a little viewer, just 2 magnifying lenses, over them to make it easier for your eyes to fuse the pair into one)

----> Meanwhile, if anyone knows a good source for a replacement SJ30 battery.....
Hey, Hank, that's a crazy PDA!
Cool movie, BTW!
Why do you post your http address like that? You can't get spam in an http address!

WOW! Thanks for the kindly advice Francesco. :D It sounds like you're really enjoying your T3. I cannot wait to get it, and I just found out that it arrives on Tuesday, so I'll have some deeper thoughts once I play with it a bit.

Most especially thank you for the advice regarding the battery. I read a thread at another forum about the 1200 mhs battery swap you referred to and it sounds as if it's hardcore surgery and will increase the size of the casing as well, so I'm really not interested in that undertaking. Power To Go sounds like it will decrease my worries and increase my solutions. :)

I cannot even imagine the frustration of using BackUp Buddy (a misnomer if there ever was one) to backup 1Gb of data. Just curious: Have you ever used a little app called Sync All? I wonder if it will be as helpful with the T3 as it's been with my Clie. I just Googled it and couldn't immediately locate it, but it backs up just your databases, and does it very efficiently and quickly. Usually 10 seconds or less.

I'm seriously considering a Wi-Fi card as my third accessory purchase for this unit. I've already bought a 512Mb SD card (thanks again Morpheus! :) ) and a cool case. Just curious if you've tried them and what your impressions are. I've been hearing ok things about the obvious problems with battery life. In other words, that they're no big deal.

Is this the one Sunshine?... http://www.freewarepalm.com/communication/syncall.shtml

YES. It's a lifesaver.

I've never been good at backing up. Alex has harangued me in the past to backup my blog, but I know that's never gonna happen. Anyway... I went through a week from hell where my Clie was hard crashing due to some hack conflict (which will obviously be eliminated with an upgrade to Garnet). Syncall totally came to the rescue. How cool is it that it's only 5k?

< /testimonial>

And my question is answered: it seems to work on OS5. Thanks Bob :)

I'm glad you found syncall. I haven't tried it, but it seems a neat app. Just lemme tell you why I swear by backupman: in the event of a hard reset, you can restore your pda on the spot, no need to run to the computer where you have all your DBs stored. Also, it restores your preferences and registrations. In my case, that means 6 hours of work (or does it? Oh, maybe this is an exaggeration).
Sorry, I'm not the wi-fi kind of guy, so I have no clue about the sd adapter.
Speaking of cases, I bought a Vaja case. I used to follow the ascetic path, I don't know what happened to me this time: keyboard, 1GB SD card, Vaja case... I guess I realized I was geek enough!
By the way, did you know you can change the skin of the DIA (the place that replaces the graffiti area)? There are LOTS of nice skins, and some of them even change the functionality of the DIA. You can take a look here:
http://palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.category&PartnerREF=&siteid=1&catID=288
I used to have one that supposedly looked like Cobalt. Now I wonder if Cobalt ever existed. Anyway, Fitaly replaced it with its own. BTW, after one or two months of practice, I could type 30 words per minute in average. One of my favorite uses of my PDA is to capture some of my thoughts, a kind of perpetual brainstorming, and fitaly is the only way I could do it.

The new unit has arrived, as has my SD. I haven't really had time to play with it, but I'm going to jet home from work (where I'm currently just surfing the net anyway!) and mess around with it.

Generally speaking I'll say this much so far: Though I bought it from Overstock's "blemished" supply, I have yet to find any such blemishes on the unit. I don't know if I'd encourage anyone to go this route, since I wasn't sure if I'd get a nick or a scratch or worse. I feel that I merely lucked out, and I'm quite pleased.

I also managed to already pair my BT phone and the unit (thanks to HowardForums), though Web Pro isn't exactly "lightening fast".

I'm gonna skin the GUI sometime soon. I need to look at the options. I may just go with ZLauncher, which is what I was using on my Clie. I know the skins are far more robust for OS5 though. I'm also anxiously awaiting my case. I wound up getting the PDAir hardcase (http://www.pdadomain.com/pages/12389.html), though I thought for a while I was going to go with the Bellagio (http://www.ipaqcases.com/store/bept3.htm). Who knows? I may end up getting one of those too. :)

I'll post more thoughts over the weekend. Thanks for the advice Francesco!

The new unit has arrived, as has my SD. I haven't really had time to play with it, but I'm going to jet home from work (where I'm currently just surfing the net anyway!) and mess around with it.
I know someone who is really happy now ;)

There's just nothing like the great times when you get a nice new toy like that! Enjoy!

BTW, when you get a chance would you share how the web connection through your cell phone works relative to your phone plan charges? Who's your carrier, and is the data time expensive? Thks!

I will reply in more detail over the weekend re the phone pairing Bob, but suffice to say, I'm having trouble with it. I think I can find a cure though (fingers crossed).

But regarding the carrier, I have T-Mo with unlimited GPRS for $4.99/mo. More later.

Thks Sunshine. These data plans and compatibility are not real clear to me.
But now that you got me curious, I did find some articles about T-Mobile you might be interested in. It's about some customers on the $5 unlimited data plan that are being cut off for everything but WAP access. Hopefully you have the unlimited data version.

http://www.mikekrisher.com/2004/12/t-mobile-cuts-off-tcp-requests-for-non.php
(The link in the article didn't work for me, but is probably supposed to point to http://www.postneo.com/2004/12/29/mobile-data-conundrum )

I really hope it works out well... I may end up signing my next phone plan with T-Mobile myself.

Without even reading these I know where you're going. There has been much debate and squawking about the different levels of T-Zones. I will say that for the $4.99 plan they cut port 80 in October, which limited streaming audio/video. Otherwise, everything else works. I believe they cut port 80 for the $9.99 plan too (but that plan is really a $5 hoax anyway...)

Now, that being said, there's always been fear and speculation about when most things would be cut off or altered.... alot of which was based on the fact that many users only started paying for the $5 plan around September. Prior to that we got free WAP. Strike that: free GPRS.

Yes, you read that right.

The HowardForums are a great resource once you mire through the basic pricing schemes and offerings. For your $5 you get a pretty full entree: WAP, net browsing, IM, and a couple of other cool things I fergit -- and this is key -- with appropriate sw and the right phone.

The bottom line though is that T-Mo, gawd bless 'em, isn't going to switch up to 3G for another two years and if they don't maintain the $4.99 plan, they're going to lose quite a few customers.

I know someone who is really happy now ;)


That would be me! :D


As promised, I plan to write up some of my thoughts and experiences about my new toy and I think Iwhat 'm going to do is post it on my blog later today/tomorrow, since it's bound to be very lengthy (I've alot to say!)... and quite frankly I've been so busy lately that I haven't written much there. I'll post a link later. Stay tuned...!

I can't find the original for
> the 1200 mhs battery swap you referred to
> and it sounds as if it's hardcore surgery and
> will increase the size of the casing

But I'd sure go for this with my Clie SJ30 if there is a way. I did learn that by doing a soft reset _while_charging_ the power manager for the PDA gets reset, and that DID make a significant difference in the battery life, for a few weeks -- but now it's fading out again in three hours or so even with greatest care dimming down.

I do have one of those 6-AA external cases for it and that's ok, but I'd love to have a better battery than what I can find online.

(Online - either direct replacements for the original, or what might be slightly better or just overrated -- I think the original was 550 ma and the replacement I bought claimed 800 ma, but it didn't seem to last any longer.

At least the battery IS replaceable. If I can just find one.

I know I promised a review of my new T3 and my happiness with it a few weeks ago. I have just been totally and completely pre-occupied with other stuff. Here's some general thoughts on how I'm liking my new toy.

Surprise: I'm liking it! :)

Check out my thoughts here (http://www.kallipugos.com/archives/001174.html). I posted this on my blog because the entry is kind of long. Please note that my comments are disabled due to spam throttling and my laziness. Feel free to comment back in this thread.

Thanks

Here's some general thoughts on how I'm liking my new toy.I was sent/given a Tungsten T3 new, shipped from Amazon a few months back, and at first, I was impressed with it.. and then, the problems started.

The slider is completely flawed. After about the first week of moderate use, the slider would just "drop out" when I picked it up. I had to open the T3 and make some "modifications" inside just so it would click open and click shut tightly. Anywhere in-between those two points, its just a loose wiggling gadget of metal. Poor design.

My Tungsten T2, on the other hand, is ROCK SOLID in the slider. Not a single millimeter of play, and it takes a GOOD tug to open it and slide it all the way open. With my T3, I can open it slightly, and it will just "drop" all the way open.

Since this affects 100% of the T3 devices out there, yours will soon follow. I haven't yet read of a testimonial or report where the slider did NOT get loose and act this way.

Battery life on the T3 is absolutely disgusting also. It gets about 20% of the battery life my T2 gets, under the same usage and same charge rates. Pitiful. Don't plan on being away from your charging cradle for more than a day, if you use your Palm a lot. I don't even have a single game installed on any of my PDAs, its all business use and reading/writing technical documents.

The other thing you mentioned was your desire to get a Wi-Fi card for it. I highly recommend this. I was sent a Wi-Fi card from a community member to help test pilot-link with (and complete the wireless HOWTO I was writing), and I have to say, I like it. I can sync, check mail, and surf some quick websites without having to be near my laptop or desktop machines or a cradle. I can also sync to Plucker live over wireless, which works great.

Now the problems with it: I can only use it on my T3 device. It doesn't work, and drivers are not available, on my Tungsten T2 device, where I'd really prefer it to be.

Also, if you're using your Wi-Fi card on a T3 (assuming the palmOne Wi-Fi card here, which is why I keep spelling "Wi-Fi" this way), make sure your T3 is charged to 100% before you use the card. I found out the hard way, when I was at about 70% charge on my T3, and did a sync + backup to my OSX machine, using MissingSync and SyncBuddy (both of which use pilot-link under the hood). My T3's battery died before it completed the first sync.

It will take your T3 from 100% to 0% in about 10-15 minutes of use, even more if you're doing ACTIVE use, like a backup or sync. Since I have Vindigo and Plucker content delivered to me over the "wire" when I sync, it takes a little time at each full sync.

The wireless drivers are VERY buggy also. When you go to Prefs->Wifi, it will drop your connection, then try to re-associate with the default router you have configured, just by entering the form. You can't just view the prefs for wireless, without having it drop your connection and reassociate. VERY annoying.

I have 3 WAP devices here, in a nested config (internal, external, and external + guest/public), and every time I want to go into Prefs->Wifi to check the network status, I have to reconnect, and get a new IP assigned. Its very blockheaded and brainded on their part to do this.

Overall, I like the device. I like the screen, but I absolutely hate the slider (and all of its flaws) and I hate the battery life. Its paltry and disgusting, for such an expensive "flagship" device.

That being said, I now use my T3 as my "daily" device, with my T2 as a backup. The only issue I have with my T2 is the "screaming" LCD that seems to affect all T2 devices. Whenever it is powered (i.e. when the LCD is being used), it "screams" at me, all the time, like a dog-whistle. Its teeth-grindingly-annoying, but its the only flaw, so I tolerate it.

Wow,
you tiped that much for one post

Wow,
you tiped that much for one postI say good for him!... he has a lot of thoughtful observations that are of interest to most of our readers. Hacker has a history of interesting and well-thought out posts, and I for one am very glad to hear all of what he has to say.

Sunshine: nice review, I like your blog very much, actually.

I have another tip for you:
I hard-resetted my T3 a couple of days ago. After that, I wasn't able to _perfectly_ calibrate EVERY part of the screen (the calibration problem was on the bottom of the screen when it was totally open). Today I found this:
http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/digie.shtml
If you ever have problems calibrating all the screen:
Install it, run it with the slider open, and delete it (or digie will keep turning your machine on!).

I posted this on my blog because the entry is kind of long.
Sunshine, I wouldn't mind if you repost your review here as well ;) Don't worry, it wouldn't crack our size limit here ;)

Sunshine,

Seems like you are happy with the T3. I had one and the only comment I have is be careful with any data that you store on the SD card. I lost 2 cards to some sort of incompatibility.

Make sure you backup frequently.

I actually liked my T3, and with the exception of the data loss on the card and battery issues, I really liked it. I had to switch to PPC due to the office using Outlook.

Sunshine,

Seems like you are happy with the T3. I had one and the only comment I have is be careful with any data that you store on the SD card. I lost 2 cards to some sort of incompatibility.

Make sure you backup frequently.

I actually liked my T3, and with the exception of the data loss on the card and battery issues, I really liked it. I had to switch to PPC due to the office using Outlook.
Oh, yes! I forgot about this one. You must install all of the updates from PalmOne! After I did this, all the SD card issues disappeared. But backup your data before upgrading.

Yea, I think I mentioned before (and Alex as my host will atest to the fact) that I am a bad kid when it comes to back-ups. I'm sure I'll learn my lesson the hard way. ;)

Hacker: Dang dude. So sorry to hear about all your problems with the slider and the battery life. So far so good here (fingers crossed).

Francesco thanks for the tips -- all the tips. Your advice has been totally stellar.

The following was what I posted on my blog. It is reprinted here, minus a couple of links that I was too lazy to import. :dizzy2:

---------------------------------------------------
Why did I upgrade?

It wasn't that I had fallen out of love with my Clie T615C. I simply outgrew it. I had completely filled up the RAM and had to constantly delete programs to even get it to sync. It was also a bit old, and running OS4.1, so many of the cool new programs coming out wouldn't run on it.

My reasons for upgrading are many. It's really a kick-ass machine: 400Mhz, 64Mb RAM, Bluetooth (BT), a flexible 320x320 or 320x480 display (via the slider), running OS5. T3 is predicted to be one of the only units that will be upgradeable to the new OS. But that's neither here nor there until it happens.

Install Ease

The most surprising thing straight away is how much easier it is to go from Clie to palmOne and how well the T3 works with M$ Outlook. I had a friend who bought the Clie TJ37 around this time last year as an upgrade to his old Handspring. What a mess. Clie had some crazy conduit set up to migrate the data and it took me like 2 days how to figure the whole thing out. I have no idea what he would have done without me. Seriously.

I braced myself for the T3, and was relieved at how easy it was: install the Palm Desktop and go. Kuel! As far as Outlook syncing, with the T3 no crazy conduits are necessary at all. No Intellistink, no Chapura, no nuttin. We have a secure network at my office and most of the PalmOS users have some huge problem with permissions and syncing. Boy, were the network guys happy and relieved to see my T3! No muss, no fuss for this girl.

Bluetooth

One of the main things I wanted to do was to connect via BT to my desktop computer and also to my cell phone. The former was super easy, following these instructions from Geekzone (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=449), and I've enjoyed walking around my apartment testing the range. The latter, connecting with the phone, has not been so easy.

Let me try and make a long story short. But I make no promises.

My cell carrier is T-Mobile, and I have what's known as "the $4.99 Unlimited T-Zones" account. It's a long and convoluted story, but the telco has been messing around with the access priviledges with T-Zones for about a year now. If you're really interested, I'd recommend checking out Howard Forums (http://www.howardforums.com) to read up on this history. The short answer is that I get unlimited GPRS, which is supposed to only be for WAP browsing. However, with an installed browser on my phone, I get unlimited http access. For the record, I used to get streaming audio/video via Realplayer, but they cut port 7070 around October.

While pairing and set up with the phone and the pda is astoundingly easy, the connection to the service is not. I've been using this connection set-up (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?postid=3001614), and while the phone and the pda actually connect, I keep winding up getting a time-out error. I'm led to believe that there's a port 8080 work-around (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=522596&perpage=15&pagenumber=1), but I have yet to figure it out. I've put out a few posts on the assorted forums, so hopefully someone can help me figure it out.

Software

The past couple of days I've been trying to get upgraded versions of my software installed. With the exception of the Zagat guide, I'm pretty much upgraded. It seems that Zagat 2005 is not compatible with the Tungsten series yet. According to the website (http://software.zagat.com/zagat/DownloadType.aspx?Action=5):

NOTICE: ZAGAT TO GO 2005 is not currently compatible with the Tungsten or Treo series of Palm OS devices. DO NOT download the upgrade if you have one of these devices. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working on an update that will be compatible. If you'd like to be notified when this is available please send an email to ZTG-TTupdate@zagat.com. Thank you for your patience.


Bummer.

Accessories

In terms of accessories, so far I got the hard metal PDAir case, a 512Mb card (and a great deal thanks to Morpheus), an extra cradle (from a TW using friend), and have ordered a WiFi card that's slated to arrive on Tuesday. I think I'll get alot of use out of the WiFi card, considering that we've got a couple of routers at work, particularly near our conference rooms. A colleague loaned me his USB WiFi dongle and I found 6 unsecured networks within range of my apartment, which is another bonus. I'm a wee not twee about the fact that palmOne doesn't include a case for the card, and I guess it extends slightly out of the device and doesn't fit properly in any cases. Suggestions are welcome.

I like the case I got, but I've also been eyeing the Bellagio cases for a short while now, which I think would probably alleviate the WiFi card issue by slipping it into one of the business card slots. The PDAir case is really wonderful though. Not only does it fit into the cradle without removing it from the case itself, but it has cut-outs in all the right places. I had the same type of case for my Clie, so I feel pretty sure that even if I drop it (as I once did...onto pavement!) that we'll both survive ok. It might be nice to dress her up in leather once in a while though...we'll see.

It took a bit of time to get used to the fact that I don't have a jog dial and the fact that the case opens the opposite way that my old Clie case did, but I think I'm finally over it. I don't know if I'm really taking advantage of the screen. It's nice to read the news on during my morning commute, and to watch the occassional video clip. I sense that this might change when I get WiFi and surf the 'net more on it.

The first day I got it I was showing it to a friend, who played around with it and found the most delightfully fun thing to do was to record me a voice message that said, "Buy me one too!"

I guess that says it all.

I'm posting via my new wifi card. This thing cooks on my T3 even at 11b.

I'm stoked!

Concerned about the battery tho and may need PowerToGo afterall... :(

Good stuff Sunshine.
Notice the following was referenced by Palm Addicts today...
http://pda247.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&PartnerREF=&siteid=323&prodid=55209&catid=0
It's a program that's supposed to do all the setup on a Palm to use a phone for data.
You might be way past what it can do, but it might be interesting to see if it can help out.

I'll give it a try. I'm up for anything.

Edit: Unfortunately it didn't work. Oh well.... It did make the connections easier, that's for sure.


Thanks either way Bob :)