Z22 for spreadsheet use? Z22 or TX?

[Puppy]

Anyone have a sense of how well can you use a 5 or 6 column spreadsheet on a Z22?

I've used high resolution Palms for years, and have a particular spreadsheet I use multiple times a day, where I need these 5 or 6 (fairly small) columns on screen at the same time. It's formated for 320x320 (Or 320x480) screens and works just fine on those.

Besides that issue, I actually think a Z22 would work fine for me. I've pretty much narrowed it down to either getting another TX, or a Z22.

-E2-my latest PDA and I hated it, so I'm not considering another. Much buggier and slower than the TX (and had issues with Docs to Go 7)

-TX-works fine as a PDA for the basics, but reliability seems iffy. My first one died after 7 months (possibly related to the power switch?) It seems like a lot of people on Amazon's discussions are having similarly short lives on their TXs.

-Z22-$107 for a Z22 and a second charging cable. I can buy almost THREE of these things for the price of a TX. Also I have to admit I actually like the looks of the Z22 better, and I sort of want to play with one just because I haven't owned one yet.
I assume I can legally use one of my copies of Docs to Go 7 on it (since obviously all my other PDAs are dead!)...so if the spreadsheet works decently, maybe this is the way to go...

[BrentDC]

Hey I've got a Z22 here that I don't use, I would be willing to sell it to you cheap ($50). It is in good condition, it has a couple scratches on the back, and one time a drop of water dripped on the screen, and got under the Graffiti area (not the screen), but other than that it's fine. It just sits in my drawer doing nothing, and I'd really like to find a good home for it.

[Dick Tracy]

My spouse has a Z22. I can't read the screen.

My TX is working just fine 20 months into daily use.

[Puppy]

My spouse has a Z22. I can't read the screen.

My TX is working just fine 20 months into daily use.

Out of curiosity, have you used the power button much? It seems like a bunch of TX and E2 users have had their units die in the first year, and it seems to be connected to the power switch (that's what I suspected before even reading others' experiences). I'm wondering if I just avoided using the power button, if it would last a lot longer.

[alt236]

My TX is also 20 months into use and I do use the power button constantly.
I guess that a few bad batches were produced.

They main thing is not to press the button too strongly/deeply.
The TX has a thing were if you power it off it wont power back on unless a couple seconds have passed. With most people I've seen their knee-jerk reaction is to repeatedly press the button deeper until it comes back on.

[Puppy]

I just used it normally, as far as I know, but the design always seemed flaky. And it died when I tried turning it on.

I *think* I got it at launch, though it's hard to believe that was a year and a half ago!

At any rate, if I do go the TX route again, I think I'll pass on using the power button!

[BrentDC]

If you don't want to use the faulty power button, you can just use Alex's excellent CenterMenu (can be found in the freeware section).

[phreakonaleash]

Hi,

I own a z22, and I have not looked back since getting a T|X. it is great for a beginner, but since I have gotten my T|X i have not even looked at going back to my z. I use it as a second screen when programming in onboardc that has the PalmOS docs in plucker, but that is it. If you are not editing the spreadsheet and it fits on the screen nicely, a z22 may be fine, but if you are editing/adding new data (I find it hard as I use the on screen keyboard since I haven't ever really learned G2...:rolleyes: ), stick with the T|X. Also, I find it harder to read on the Z then i do my T|X.

Also, yeah, my T|X's power button comes and goes, (it works this week but who knows about next???) but I have whipped up an IMHO nice solution. You can use powerbutton to assign a different hardkey as the power button but I use myKbd: long tap on H4: <keycode 520 0 8> tap on H4: <run NothinDA> which, as you can guess is a dumb DA I made that does, literally nothing... :-)

just my 0.02$

also, Has anyone with a z22 noticed how yellow the screen is? :-P icky

[Dick Tracy]

I don't use the power button that much as a long hold on the Menu button gives me my last 5 apps launched.

[Zxanphorian]

My TX is almost nearing it's 1-year anniversary since I have bought it, and my power button is working as well as it was since the first day, most likely because I treat my TX like royalty!

Anyway, I would say to get another TX, and hope for the best. The TX is FAR superior than the Z22, and quite frankly, the 160x160 screen would prolly NEVER be able to display a 6 column spreadsheet right.

Dunno about other people's experiences with the TX, my TX is working as good as it was the day I first used it. Maybe it has something to do with the vendor that you purchase it from, since I got mine from the online Palm Store (with the free IR Keyboard promo). Or maybe my TX was a newer one that Palm already fixed the respective hardware bugs.

[Puppy]

Thanks everyone! I've 99% decided I'm ordering the TX again, probably tonight. I tried my spreadsheet on a Visor Neo (running an older version of Docs to Go, but hopefully representative), and it just didn't really fit. I really tried to get creative to get the columns as narrow as possible and eliminate some of them, but it didn't really cut it.

So that makes my decision a whoooole lot easier. The E2 is out as I already know it's OS is much buggier (and no Graffiti either). The Treo 680 is almost $100 more, and who knows if I'd like it (and it's silly to pay for a phone I can't use)...so the TX it is, again...

I just hope it lasts me longer than 7 months this time! I'm not even going to TOUCH that power button, and just use it for the basics (no media this time), and hope for the best.

[Tam Hanna]

Hi,
why not chuck the TX at Palm's for repairs?

[Puppy]

Because of the flash memory used, I'm not comfortable sending these new models in for repairs. I physically destroyed the chips in my TX when it broke last year (probably close to a year ago now.

[Tam Hanna]

Hi,
just do a "flash overwrite reset"$ before chucking it back at Palm's. And if you are really paranoid, fill the RAM up with garbage data copied to the Internal drive from an SD Card...

[Puppy]

Hi,
just do a "flash overwrite reset"$ before chucking it back at Palm's. And if you are really paranoid, fill the RAM up with garbage data copied to the Internal drive from an SD Card...

I am just about paranoid to not trust the secure reset method. In this case though I couldn't even do that as the unit wouldn't boot right.

I ended up cutting the chips up with scissors :D

[Tam Hanna]

Hi Puppy,
=).

Thats the hardcore way of course...but completely ****s your warranty.

I just chucked my broken-screen Treo 680 at Proportas for repair with all my data on it...lets see what they do with it :).