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Most of the omissions in the T5 make sense if you consider the intended usage. The T5's biggest new feature is Drive Mode, which requires a connection to the PC. Including a cable is a far more portable and practical way to do this than a cradle. Who wants to lug a cradle with them on a trip, or even around the office? But a cable isn't a big deal. The T5 is about mobile access to information, any and all of your information, and the cable fits this use better than a cradle.
Same thing goes for the plastic casing. While I have no doubt that it's also cheaper (higher profit margin for PalmOne), it makes the device lighter. I've read several user reports that noted that although the difference in weight between the T3 and T5 doesn't look like much on paper, the T5 feels significantly lighter in person. Lighter == enhanced mobility.
Some of the other things I don't understand. Losing the vibrating alarms and charging LED were dumb moves, probably done to cut costs. Although I wonder how much the vibrating alarm contributed to digitizer drift on the Tungstens T1-3.
My point is that while HP and Dell are in an arms race to see how many widgets they can cram into a PDA, just going down the list of features and checking them off, PalmOne is taking a more holistic approach. They're not designing PDAs thinking "this is our high end unit, with all the bells and whistles." They're looking at a type of user, and thinking, "what can we build that will make this person's life easier?" I should note that this was the kind of thinking that made Sony great under founder Akio Morita (when they invented the Walkman, the color TV, the portable TV, etc.) and that Sony doesn't do anymore, leading to the failure of the Clie and Sony's eclipse by Apple in the portable music arena. Companies that build to users rather than build to features tend to be more successful in the long run.
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