CALLING ALL TUNGSTEN|e OWNERS, CALLING....

[sonicularulus]

okay, here is the reason why you are here. I plan on buying a tungsten|e, but the only thing that is holding me back are all of the negative reviews out there, so pls post your own personal reviews. The ones by cnet, pdabuyersguide, infosyncworld, and bargainpda are reviews about their quality during the testing, not after.....so pls tell me what you think about this pda, or if you had anyproblems( and if so, what?)

Thank you......

[sonicularulus]

replying so this will be bolded on the list and people would actually come...

[sonicularulus]

pls post down a review by you

[derekweb]

I purchased one T|E for my girlfriend and frankly, she LOVES it. It's also her FIRST PDA, so she wasn't going to complain. However, that all said. She has not had ANY issues of which I've heard (and since she's vocal to me when things go wrong, ... ). This also includes her ability to drop it on a fairly regular basis (from an average of 2ft height). Battery power is OK, and since she keeps her power cable in her purse, shes not really too far out when it comes to the possibility of low battery warnings.

The biggest thing you'd have to deal with is the fingerprints all over the metal case, and losing the stylus.

My suggestion to you: IF you decide to pursue purchasing a T|E, after you purchase it and RIGHT before you walk out of the store, "pull off to the side" within the store itself, and pull the handheld out of the box. Eyeball it and make sure you don't have any obvious glaring hardware defects. Sometimes the buttons or D-Pad may be screwed up. So once you do that, take it home and power that baby up.

Hopefully, you'll enjoy your purchase.

[TMNielson]

I have gone through quite a few handhelds, a Palm Pilot Pro, Palm III, Palm IIIc, HP Journada 548, Dell Axim X5, IPAQ 1910, Sony Clie NX80V, and finally am on my Tungsten E.

I have been very happy with the low price, the large amount of included software, the fast processor and double the memory of my NX80V. I purchased the Palm case for the Tungsten E ($39.99) and feel that overall it is a great handheld.

I have only had mine for about a month, so we'll see after the "newness" wears off, but so far so great!!

[sonicularulus]

more pls...more

[sonicularulus]

BTW Derek, with the tungsten|e, there is no box, but instead this hard plastic wrapping that has to cut opened....

[Anoynguy]

I have had a Tungsten E since December and I love it, and I think it's a great value for what it offers you BUT (and there's always a but) I do think there are quality issues in general, at least for people that use the unit heavily (and I do, because there are so many cool things you can do with it).

Problems I have personally experienced:

-- Fussy "down button" on D-Pad. It doesn't have a 'click' feel to it. But it works.

-- My on/off button just recently started wigging out-- it's permanently depressed, lost its "spring". It still works, but I have found a software solution to turning the unit off and use the other buttons to turn it on, to avoid putting additional wear and tear on it.

-- The case does get scratched easily, even from the provided flip cover. I have solved this problem by purchasing the EB slipper case, which is fantastic. (You cannot see the the silver plastic in this case, which is a black leather piece surrounding the unit, with a magnet securing the flip cover-- it's expensive, but worth the money - awesome).

-- Seems like the digitizer has been getting less and less accurate over time. Overall, I feel like my accuracy with Graffiti is deteriorating over time. By the way, it has Graffiti 2 which is kind of annoying if you had an older unit and are familiar with G1, though there are "workarounds" if you search for them.

-- Not really a "defect", but battery life is sometimes an issue with people. Assuming you use or work at a computer frequently, the best bet is to get a charger from Boxwave that has both mini-USB and charger elements and just charge it when you're at the computer. It'll charge straight through your computer's USB, and faster than if you have just the mini-USB connected ("trickle charge"). This cord is well worth the money, I even bought a second one when I lost the first.

There are a number of other problems that others have mentioned that I have not experienced, most notably a screen that sometimes makes a noisy high-pitched hum. I suggest you check the Brighthand forums, lots written about that and other problems.

Nonetheless, I still would recommend the unit. The screen resolution is awesome. MP3 player is great. You know about all the other software out there-- there's a universe of things you can do with it. I particularly recommend plucker, JPluck and ebooks.

OK, so what should you do?

Get it. But buy from a reputable store that's not going to hassle you if you want to return the unit, like Circuit City. Definitely use the unit heavily ASAP and make sure that it doesn't have any of the problems I mentioned or others did. IMMEDIATELY RETURN IT UNTIL THE ONE YOU GET IS "PERFECT". I wish I had been more fussy when it was new and still under warranty.

Most important, GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY from the store. Normally they are a ripoff for electronics, but not in this case. Many of the problems I had started cropping up long after I had the unit for a while, and the 90-day Palm warranty had already passed. In particular, you want to deal with the STORE and not PALMONE. I have read nothing but horror stories about trying to deal with the manufacturer directly.

Have fun!

[sonicularulus]

nice post anoynguy. Now if everyone with a T|E will do this

[ojleblanc]

You may want to read the Tungsten E forum on Brighthand, too. I read a lot of reviews of the T|E before purchasing a used one. I did come across quality-control issues based on user feedback at Brighthand. I took the chance anyway and purchaed one. The seller reported not having had any problems with it. However, when I got it, it did have a problem that I discoved after interacting with it for a day or so. Thus, I returned it to the seller, who was very gracious about accepting it back.

I was shopping for my aunt, who would have been a new user of PDAs. In the end, I opted for a Clie TJ27. I regret that the T|E has so many user complaints because it seems like a great device. It just seems like too much of a risk when there are (or were at that time) other quality Palm OS alternatives.

If I were making the decision again today (and if I didn't know that my aunt would get a big kick out of the digital camera on the TJ27), I'd buy an open box T|2 from Palm's store. The T|2 is the T|T with all the kinks worked out. It can be had for $10 less than a T|E and you get a free Sega Game Card now. See here if interested:
http://store.palmone.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1347709&cp=1179667&clickid=mainnav_outlet_txt&parentPage=family

[sonicularulus]

Good deal, but i prefer something new.....

[azrai]

Bought a T|E a few months ago to replace my more or less worn out Palm V, and it's been really great.
I use it as a life planner (Life Balance software), MP3 player whenever I'm on the road (Real Player for Palm is bundled, but there's better software out there), note-taking (Pedit Pro w/ Decuma for input is sufficient for everyday use, for sure), reading (several eBook readers).
I'm somewhat of a wine enthusiast, and use it for my "wine cellar"-list (try out the freeware Handyshopper - it's terrific !).

Only negative is the scratching you WILL get; the bundled flip cover (which I still use), is pretty bad. Haven't decided on a case yet.

No doubt one of the best value-for-money devices you could get.

[lucamagna]

Sonicularulus, you got some reviews. All were positive.
If you are still thinking I can add my impression: TE is a nice PDA, good screen, a lot of memory - I were used to an m500 ;), fast enough for all kind of application.
Yes the case will suffer dome scratch, but it's normal for something you use everyday anywhere.
So let us know the model of your new PDA

[sonicularulus]

Well, i gave up on the tungsten|e and decided to wait a bit longer for palm os 6. i bet it will bring the cost down on pdas since it will have more integrated feature (however, i bet pdas with os6 will have 320x480 screens so it brings it back up). anyhow, i also predict that if there will be a new tungsten line coming out (rumors of e2 and t4), i bet that they will come out some time in fall.

[jjesusfreak01]

If youve got the money, go buy a clie TH55. Infinite battery life. WIFI. What more could you want. I love mine. Thats my two cents. If I say any more ill get nasty letters from tungsten owners. By the way, im writing this post on my TH55.

[GypsyJon]

I got my TE back in Nov of 03 and really am sorry I did not go ahead and spend more money for different model.

Battery life sucks, data entry is a pain in the but....the screen does not sense my stylus stokes....

I have been using Palm Pilots since 97, when i got my first Palm Pilot Personal...my last was a 505 and with the exception of the screen on the TE being way better it is not as usuable as my 505

Dont by the TE it is not that great.

[fssia]

I bought mine last Nov. It's sweet initially but now I'm encountering digitizer problems. Well, the bottom digitizer is off, ie. when I tap the centre of a button or menu, nothing happens. I need to tap lower. I reset the digitizer many times and same results. So I tried reset the bottom digitizer by tapping on the spot on the innermost red ring instead of the centre and now it's ok.

A friend said eventually it'll move out of the screen and I won't be able to use my T|E anymore unless I sent it for repair. This really s**ks! I should have got myself TH55. Anyway, anyone knows how to fix this digitizer problem?

[prayer4eev]

th55 can have digitaizer problems also,
and also it can have problems with strain of screen.

[jjesusfreak01]

th55 can have digitaizer problems also,
and also it can have problems with strain of screen.
Thats why we use screen protectors. I have not had any problems with my screen, except my screen protector is getting worn.

[GypsyJon]

I have used screen protectors since day 1. A naked stylus has never touched the screen and it still lost sensitivity

[fssia]

I've screen protector since day 1 too. But still I'm facing digitizer problem. I wonder if it's just the case that I've a bad unit?

[bh77a]

I had a bad TE... the sensitivity on the right side of the screen became very poor. It eventually became so poor that I returned it. Fortunately, while it was out of my 90 day warranty, I had bought a replacement plan from store of purchase. They replaced my full $200 and I purchased a CLIE TJ27 with it. Haven't been sorry... TEs can be a great machine, as long as the screen works for you...

[fssia]

I had a bad TE... the sensitivity on the right side of the screen became very poor. It eventually became so poor that I returned it. Fortunately, while it was out of my 90 day warranty, I had bought a replacement plan from store of purchase. They replaced my full $200 and I purchased a CLIE TJ27 with it. Haven't been sorry... TEs can be a great machine, as long as the screen works for you...That happened to my colleague's unit. It's his first ever Palm OS handheld. I think it happened after a year or so. And since we're in a small country with no Palm office or retailers around, there is absolutely no support. We bought ours from S'pore.

He is in S'pore now on work trip. He's planning to send it in for repair. Will feedback on his experiences once he's back. I wish him luck since he isn't keen on switching to any existing Sony handheld or other Palm models. :(