I was messing around with a buddy's T5, (and my wife has a T|E1, so it's the same form factor).
The rumors aren't rumors regarding T5 stability. It's why I didn't get it, and rather instead plunged headfirst into PPC world instead of just upgrading from my T3. One thing I'm noticing between both my buddy's handheld and my wifes', is that after only a little time (3 months, I think ... he got it shortly after the T5 became available) the front buttons (Calendar, To Do, etc) are no longer firm, but are very easy to shift around in their housing. While it's hard to describe, the buttons are none the less probably best described as "Loose". They weren't when he first got the T5, however. Everyone at the office was doing the "Wow" thing as he had it charging up.
The latest software, and latest patches, of course, will make a difference in running a T5. His has for the most part, stabilized after upgrading a LOT of software. But he still has to soft reset more than the average Palm. /shrug/
I don't have any experience with the LifeDrive. Was going to pick it up yesterday, but CompUSA blew it. I went in at 11:00am local time, and they still hadn't received their shipments (they had 15 slated for arrival that day). To use the phrase: Day late, $500 dollars short. /shrug/
I wish you the best at your conference. I would suggest that unless you want all of the ancillary expenses of a new handheld that you at least stick with the same OS platform. IE: You mentioned that you were currently running Windows Mobile 2003. If you are truly in the market for a new handheld, give a look to HPs iPaq hx2755 and Dell's x50 or x50v. At least that way, you get to upgrade, you get new and advanced features (some of them security related, if you go with the ipaq I listed), and you don't have to repurchase a lot of your software.
Ancillary expenses include:
Software licenses on new platform:
Calendaring (either DateBk5 or Pocket Informant, depending on platform)
Database (Smartlist To Go, HanDBase, or something else... )
Financial Records (Pocket Money (free, actually), or Pocket Quicken ($40))
Games. They don't seem to transfer real welll. :-/
As you can see, the ancillary expenses add up QUITE fast. It's kind of amusing, after the fact. I paid $550 for my iPaq, and the software costs have already jumped that up another $100 plus dollars. It's getting expensive. And I still have not decided which database software to use (I'm leaning towards HanDBase at the moment).
So like I said: Good luck on your unenviable tough decision to come.
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