Digitizer dead spots resurected! Then died again!

[Mickets]

Guess what.

I had related dead spots on my TX's digitizer, and eventually had the digitizer replaced.

Then dead spots began to appear on the new digitizer (reported in this thread (http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125518) , and I thought it could all be caused by software which I had installed recently, before the first digitizer died.

Well, last night I was in bed and was checking the digitizer again, before calling to have it replaced again. And the digitizer was working fine: no dead spots, no dead lines in Notepad. Then I tried writting all letters / numbers in Memo Pad (the dead spot is right on the lowercase side of the graffiti input area). And it all worked wonderfully.

I tried it for almost one hour. No dead spots, no wrong letters. Amazing! I thought it had fixed itself.

THen this morning I checked it all again: dead again. And I have the impression that it's even worse than it was before.

Very strange, because I hadn't done anything different (except for writing on the Palm while lying down - but that's definitely not related).

I'm going to send it back, anyway, but what do you people think of this?

BTW, it was not a dream, I was tired but definitely awake.

[shsmith]

I have noticed my digitizer works a lot better on rainy days. I suspect the humidity makes a difference. I doubt software has anything to do with.

[BrentDC]

The quality of the palm tx's digitizer is horrible! Before Christmas I received a palm tx, but after a while noticed the digitizer was bad. (the left side of the screen would register 2-4 cm below where I tapped). So I sent my device back to the palm repair facility. A week later I received my device back, pulled out my stylus tapped on the screen and what-what's this they didn't fix it? They failed to repair my device. I immediately got on the phone and told there customer support person what had happened (his name was "Mike", his accent was so thick the whole time I was talking to him I could only understand one word, hotsync). I told Mike how to test for the problem (note pad application), and even enclosed a note in the box. A week later I received my device back and guess what, they once again failed to fix the digitizer. I called customer support back up and demanded to speak to a supervisor. I told him I wanted a new device to be sent to me immediately. But this is not Palm's "policy to send back new devices". They were happy to send me a refurbished device, but this only made me madder because I just purchased this palm brand new. So once once again my palm gets sent to the palm repair facility. A week later my palm returns, and finally the digitizer is fixed. A few weeks later I brick it anyway trialing Warpspeed. So I recieve a refurbished device, and I've been using it ever since. But as time goes on my digitizer has to be recalibrated more and more. I fear my digitizer his slowly going bad.

Well that's my digitizer horrer story.

[braj]

I suggest trying PowerDigi and see if that helps. I replaced one TX because of a dead spot (huge like a thumbprint!) but then my replacement started getting a area of the screen that dropped about a centimeter. At least for this issue PowerDigi completely fixed it. I hope I never hae to see if it works for dead spots.

[phreakonaleash]

I hope I never hae to see if it works for dead spots.

It doesn't.. BELIEVE ME, it doesn't

[JayWigley]

OR for non-linear problems. . .like my old TX where the top half of the screen had about a 1/2 cm down error, decreasing to zero by the bottom. . .but powerdigi wouldn't fix that.

[_Em]

Strange... I'm on my third T|X now, and none of them have had digitizer issues. Are these the US or the Multinational ones that are having the problems?

[Greek]

My brother, my friend and me, bought our TX in the US and none had screen whine, earphone hiss, digitizer drifts, loose power buttons, etc.

There is a bigger amount of failing devices in the US just because MOST of Palm devices are sold in the US. Although all the branding of the ones we bought are only in English, with a 110v charger, the machine is EFIGS like the ones sold in Europe and Latin America.

For me is just a problem of statistics. Also, you see here problems (in forums), people who don´t have problem don´t bother to enter forums, or only a few does (those who love the news and trying new software).

My 2 cents.

Regards,

[Ou_Boet]

OR for non-linear problems. . .like my old TX where the top half of the screen had about a 1/2 cm down error, decreasing to zero by the bottom. . .but powerdigi wouldn't fix that.

PowerDigi fixed that for me. Mind you, I had to do the 100 point calibration - that take a while.

OB

[Gregte]

PowerDigi fixed that for me. Mind you, I had to do the 100 point calibration - that take a while.

OB

Yes, the whole purpose of PowerDigi is to compensate for a damaged digitizer which exhibits nonlinearity. It does this by mapping the digitizer as many small, independant areas instead of Palm's single large area with only three calibration targets. This way, every nonlinear spot is in its own small, calibrated area. A damaged digitizer will normally only have a small amount of damage in a small area which the calibration of PowerDigi can easily correct for, in each small calibrated area.

PowerDigi cannot fix deadspots though. Deadspots can come and go somewhat but the ultimately get worse if you continue to use it. I had a TE with deadspots and putting it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes would make it work perfectly, like new. But when it finally warmed up it would be back to its faulty self.

[Mickets]

Strange... I'm on my third T|X now, and none of them have had digitizer issues. Are these the US or the Multinational ones that are having the problems?

Well, mine was bought in the US, but says "Made in China" on its back. And is "Multinational" as the user can select one of many languages. And the "new" digitizer was installed here in Brazil (not by Palm, but by someone whose service works), so I don't know if this digitizer was made here or not.

Too bad I got my Palm from the US. Had I waited another month or two, for the official Brazilian release, I would have purchased one made here in Brazil:

- Nice small bi-volt charger, instead of the giant 110V-only charger
- Support by local Palm garantee ("no non-Brazilian Palms accepted...")
- Maybe no cheap digitizer.

Well, the non-official Palm tech support re-examined the digitizer they sold me and found no problem whatsoever. I argued a bit, and it's being tested again. Let's see.

[Mickets]

It's happening again: I turned on the Palm, and was writing in Mundu IM. I could write perfectly, even in the "bad" area.

Then suddenly, after changing to other apps, it went BAD again.

Now I turned the screen horizontal, and it's much better again, even in the bad area!

When it's bad, the graffitti strokes are "jumping", causing dots instead of continuous strokes.

I fiddled around with WarpSpeed, removing Underclock from some apps and trying the Grafitti, but have no conclusion yet.

Ideas?

Thanks,

Mickets

[braj]

My TX that I've been on for over a year now just started getting a dead spot today. Grrr... Does anyone know if changing to a glass digitizer will help?

[Gregte]

My TX that I've been on for over a year now just started getting a dead spot today. Grrr... Does anyone know if changing to a glass digitizer will help?
If by "help" you mean will it cure the dead spot the answer is yes. But a new plastic digitizer will also cure the dead spot. Presumably the glass one will last longer but I do not know if this is true. I have had the glass one for a couple months or so and it still works perfectly but then my original plastic one worked perfectly for that long.

[PCMaven]

Mickets I had that problem as well. It was wierd the way it spontaneously would go out of whack.
I just sent my palm in to a repair place to get a glass digitizer. I hope it fixes the problem.

[braj]

It looks like I'll get the glass digitizer. As a side note, since I'm doing the repair I'll probably have him do the internal mic mod as well.

Can anyone comment if the glass digitizer improves the actual quality of the digitizer? For instance, when drawing in NotePad my TX is significantly less 'smooth' than my Zire 72. Is this improved with the better Glass digi?

[BrentDC]

I don't know why this is but when I draw horizontally in Notepad it looks all jagged, but when I draw vertically it's smooth. Anyone else experience this phenomena?

[Gregte]

I have found that the glass digi makes for smoother drawing in Note Pad.

[Mickets]

...I had a TE with deadspots and putting it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes would make it work perfectly, like new. But when it finally warmed up it would be back to its faulty self.
Well, it makes sense. The digitizer probably contracts / expands.

I gave it a try, and left it in front of the AC for ~15 minutes. And then the digitizer became wonderfully perfect. Then eventually it went bad again...

Well, I'm going to spend some [more :mad: ] money and get a glass digitizer. I once used one on an old Newton, and it was a lot better.

[Gregte]

...Well, I'm going to spend some [more :mad: ] money and get a glass digitizer. I once used one on an old Newton, and it was a lot better.

It should be noted that all "glass" digitizers are not the same. I think the Newton's digitizer used 'capacitive' technology although I am not certain of that. Some early Palm PDAs used capacitive, glass digitizer technology. The Palm TX however definitely uses 'resistive' digitizer technology whether it has a plastic or glass digitizer, which works entirely different than capacitive.

[Mickets]

It should be noted that all "glass" digitizers are not the same. I think the Newton's digitizer used 'capacitive' technology although I am not certain of that. Some early Palm PDAs used capacitive, glass digitizer technology. The Palm TX however definitely uses 'resistive' digitizer technology whether it has a plastic or glass digitizer, which works entirely different than capacitive.

OK, I don't know about these technologies, but will check the difference.

At this address (http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Campus/9054/tapbuga.html) there is a huge report on how Palm digitizers work and digitizer issues and fixes. But it's pretty old, and so maybe it applies only to older ones. I don't know if the digitizers mentioned there are capacitive or resisitive ones.

[braj]

All I know is that my Zire 72 feel like such a better product in some respects, the digitizer is definitely more accurate with Graffiti and when using NotePad and especially Pennovate Notes. I don't know if this is all related to the digitizer but since I have a dead spot I really don't have much choice unless I just want to forgo that area of the screen. Hopefully it fixes the general poor digi performance on the TX. Gad, Palm really sucks. The TX should have been an improvement over the Zire but in many ways the Zire is a better device. Better Digi, voice recorder, camera. I persoanlly like the case design a lot, not necessarily more than the TX but it is nice.

[braj]

It looks like I'm getting an unlocked 680 Treo for $240 (my wife gets a decent discount). After considering the cost to fix the screen and add a mic, and then the limited usefulness of Blazer I just decided to switch. Goodby beutiful big screen, hello tiny little buttons. I'll live with the bad digi unless it gets too large to be usable, then maybe I'll get it fixed. By then I should be able to tell if a better alternative will be coming out to replace the TX anyway. Thanks Palm for giving me so many alternatives :(