Lifedrive or TX

wwang · 03-01-2006, 02:42 PM

I am trying to consider the lifedrive or Tx to replace a TC. Any one got suggestions? I cary the TC everywhere I go. I just got a bluetooth phone, so having internet access everywhere will be nice.

Any one have pros or cons or other opinions on why to go with the more expensive lifedrive rather then TX?

I know that the Lifedrive may not be as durrable because of the harddrive. But any other reasons / features I should consider?

Brad · 03-01-2006, 05:55 PM

What I love about the TX (and the T5 before it) is how slender it is. This really makes a difference for portability and how it rides in a pocket. The thickness of the Lifedrive might be a factor for you depending on where and how you carry your PDA (ie. suit pocket, pants pocket, briefcase or purse). If it is a pocket then every millimeter of thickness counts along with weight.

wwang · 03-01-2006, 06:19 PM

I had a aluminum case that clipped to my pants or belt. This worked really well.

rlauzon · 03-01-2006, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwang

I am trying to consider the lifedrive or Tx to replace a TC. Any one got suggestions? I cary the TC everywhere I go. I just got a bluetooth phone, so having internet access everywhere will be nice.

I had a TC and went to the LifeDrive. I was rather disappointed in the performance. Moving from app to app on the LifeDrive took a horribly long time. I thought I could live with it, but I was unable to. Add the poor battery life and after using it for a month, I decided that that it wasn't for me. I ended up selling the LifeDrive on eBay and getting a TX.

I'm much happer with the TX.

Overall, the LifeDrive was stable and worked nice. It had a couple of glitches (like the buzz it did when switching between songs on the MP3 player app), but nothing major.

Chaos · 03-01-2006, 07:23 PM

I looked at the LifeDrive but decided on the T|X for a few reasons...

First, the price. LifeDrive is around $600 (CDN), compared to $400 (CDN) for the T|X. Second, the battery life of the T|X is (reportedly) better, due to no hard drive (and a *slightly* slower processor 312 Mhz vs. 416 Mhz - but it shouldn't make that noticable a difference).

Third, I just didn't see a need for 4 gigs of built-in memory for myself. I have 92.1M of the 114.8M of the T|X's flash memory remaining unused for the moment. This is with several books, and the complete PHP docs (4 megs!) all in internal flash. Fourth, the LifeDrive's issues... Such as loading time, stability (supposedly fixed in the ROM update), and similar things.

Fifth, I suppose, is that I prefer the T|X's form, compared to the bulkier LifeDrive. Reminicient of some of Palm's old models (Vx, some of the m-series, etc.), but with nice things like Wifi.

The only major 'problem' I have with the T|X is a slight screen-whine that's been, from some research, a problem on several recent Palm models. It's hardly noticable, however. In fact the only time I heard it when I didn't try to was when reading something in Blazer, with my T|X propped up (landscape) against something on a table, while eating a bowl of cereal. (Yes, certainly an odd situation!) Other than that, I've only heard it when I put my ear purposely next to the screen, trying to hear if it had that whine.

Zire · 03-01-2006, 07:23 PM

My opinion is the TX...you can always up the memory later with a sd card.

Dick Tracy · 03-01-2006, 07:29 PM

If your carrier is Verizon you may encounter problems pairing the phone. That said, I love my TX.

rmeister0 · 03-02-2006, 09:38 AM

The Lifedrive does have a hard drive mechanism in it, which makes it less robust than the TX. At some point in time the Lifedrive *will* fail, whereas I know people who are still using the M100s or their Visor Handsprings.

The TX gets consistently positive reviews in the press and in on-line forums from what I've seen.

The only thing that would make the TX better is a 640x480 display; but Palm doesn't do that.

Chaos · 03-02-2006, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmeister0

The only thing that would make the TX better is a 640x480 display; but Palm doesn't do that.

The reasoning behind that is that it would be difficult to adapt current apps to that size on-the-fly. Palm started 160x160 resolution. They doubled it (4x the area) to 320x320, just making every one pixel in 160x160 apps into a four-pixel box. From there they added an extra 320x160 (160 extra height) graffiti area, which, when expanded, made the rest of the screen 320x320 (using that same 4:1 pixel ratio on 160x160 apps, and just keeping the graffiti area expanded for 320x320 apps - 320x480 support was optional, and still is).

The reason 480x640 would be difficult is they can't just double the pixels on a 320x320 app - they'd have to multiply them by 1.5, making every one pixel (from a 320x320 app) 1.5 pixels high by 1.5 pixels long... And I've never seen half a pixel before.

Also the ratios for the length-to-width would also be off. 320x480 is a 0.67 ratio, and 480x640 is a 0.75 ratio, meaning the relative size of the graffiti area would need to be changed (thus causing problems for apps that support 320x480).

Logically, to keep real compatibility with previous apps, the next step is 640x640 (640x960 for a graffiti area), but mobile screens don't really go that high resolution (cheaply, anyway) yet. They may well change the resolution when switching to ALP, however, since they *are* completely redoing the base system anyway.

brett · 03-06-2006, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwang

I am trying to consider the lifedrive or Tx to replace a TC. Any one got suggestions? I cary the TC everywhere I go. I just got a bluetooth phone, so having internet access everywhere will be nice.

Any one have pros or cons or other opinions on why to go with the more expensive lifedrive rather then TX?

I know that the Lifedrive may not be as durrable because of the harddrive. But any other reasons / features I should consider?

I LOVE my TX. Got it not long ago, returning to Palm format after a few miserable years with Pocket PC. It is fantastic. The LifeDrive is too big and clunky for me. As you can already get SD cards for the TX that will hold 1Gig or more I can't really see the point.

Chaos · 03-06-2006, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett

As you can already get SD cards for the TX that will hold 1Gig or more I can't really see the point.

Just saw a 4GB card a few days back.

The price? $485 Canadian (about $450 USD). More than the TX itself.

...Obviously I didn't buy it. I'm not made of money, y'know... 1 gig cards are becoming quite reasonable now, though. Even two gigs, perhaps.

03-01-2006, 02:42 PM	#1
wwang Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: California, USA Device: Palm TX SmartQ 7	Lifedrive or TX I am trying to consider the lifedrive or Tx to replace a TC. Any one got suggestions? I cary the TC everywhere I go. I just got a bluetooth phone, so having internet access everywhere will be nice. Any one have pros or cons or other opinions on why to go with the more expensive lifedrive rather then TX? I know that the Lifedrive may not be as durrable because of the harddrive. But any other reasons / features I should consider?

03-01-2006, 06:19 PM	#3
wwang Connoisseur Posts: 62 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: California, USA Device: Palm TX SmartQ 7	Carry options I had a aluminum case that clipped to my pants or belt. This worked really well.

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03-01-2006, 05:55 PM	#2
Brad Zealot Posts: 107 Karma: 201 Join Date: Sep 2004 Device: Cybook Gen3 / EB1150 /iPhone	What I love about the TX (and the T5 before it) is how slender it is. This really makes a difference for portability and how it rides in a pocket. The thickness of the Lifedrive might be a factor for you depending on where and how you carry your PDA (ie. suit pocket, pants pocket, briefcase or purse). If it is a pocket then every millimeter of thickness counts along with weight.

03-01-2006, 07:23 PM	#5
Chaos Evangelist Posts: 418 Karma: 281 Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Device: Assorted older devices	I looked at the LifeDrive but decided on the T\|X for a few reasons... First, the price. LifeDrive is around $600 (CDN), compared to $400 (CDN) for the T\|X. Second, the battery life of the T\|X is (reportedly) better, due to no hard drive (and a slightly slower processor 312 Mhz vs. 416 Mhz - but it shouldn't make that noticable a difference). Third, I just didn't see a need for 4 gigs of built-in memory for myself. I have 92.1M of the 114.8M of the T\|X's flash memory remaining unused for the moment. This is with several books, and the complete PHP docs (4 megs!) all in internal flash. Fourth, the LifeDrive's issues... Such as loading time, stability (supposedly fixed in the ROM update), and similar things. Fifth, I suppose, is that I prefer the T\|X's form, compared to the bulkier LifeDrive. Reminicient of some of Palm's old models (Vx, some of the m-series, etc.), but with nice things like Wifi. The only major 'problem' I have with the T\|X is a slight screen-whine that's been, from some research, a problem on several recent Palm models. It's hardly noticable, however. In fact the only time I heard it when I didn't try to was when reading something in Blazer, with my T\|X propped up (landscape) against something on a table, while eating a bowl of cereal. (Yes, certainly an odd situation!) Other than that, I've only heard it when I put my ear purposely next to the screen, trying to hear if it had that whine.

03-01-2006, 07:23 PM	#6
Zire Fanatic Posts: 522 Karma: 14050 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Astoria, NY Device: Zire 71	My opinion is the TX...you can always up the memory later with a sd card.

03-01-2006, 07:29 PM	#7
Dick Tracy Detective Posts: 109 Karma: 4455 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: California Device: Palm TX	If your carrier is Verizon you may encounter problems pairing the phone. That said, I love my TX.

03-02-2006, 09:38 AM	#8
rmeister0 Addict Posts: 270 Karma: 298 Join Date: Mar 2005	The Lifedrive does have a hard drive mechanism in it, which makes it less robust than the TX. At some point in time the Lifedrive will fail, whereas I know people who are still using the M100s or their Visor Handsprings. The TX gets consistently positive reviews in the press and in on-line forums from what I've seen. The only thing that would make the TX better is a 640x480 display; but Palm doesn't do that.

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