T|5 or T|3?

[Mack]

I was wondering whether I should get the T5 or the T3? The T3 seems better.
Its 299.99 fir a T3 and 399.99 for a T5. The t5 doesnt seem worth it. It doesnt even come with a cradle. Which would be a better investment?

-Thanks

[Antoine]

Check the T5 thread started by Lance and that should give you a good overview of what you would be getting in terms of the T5. For some, the T5 is a good call, for others, the T3 is better.

[Phaggard]

I have both and it depends on how you plan to use it. My T3 has a hard metal case that I was carrying in my pants pocket. With the vibrate mode it worked ok. Now that I have the T3 without the slider, I am using my T5 in a small organizer binder and with the landscape cover that comes with the T5, it works nice. I think I like it better than carrying it in my pants pocket.

Although plastic, the T5 is beautiful. It kind of has a platinum look to it. A real nice screen and plenty of storage.

The best thing so far about the T5 is the battery. My T3 would last through the day but by late evening, used or not, the battery would be near dead.

The T5 doesn't have a cradle but I have found with all the many PDA's that I have had, they set in the cradle and get dirty. The PDa was meant to be portable. Not to say I wouldn't use one if it had came with one.

[tanker_bob]

Lance's thread is here: http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70582 .

[Sid]

I am a satisfied owner of a T3, and from what I've read about the T5 I would recommend a T3. With the $100 you save you can buy the WiFi card, or a 512MB SD Card, or nice accessories, or a lot of applications, etc.

I've had my T3 for 8 months and have not had any problems whatsoever with it.

[ssulux]

I am still using t3 for almost a year now and I have played with t5 for a week now. For me, I don't think t5 is a killer upgrade and I give the t5 to my cousin. And now, I'm waiting for treo650. This is the most interesting gadget that i'm waiting for. Should be released by tomorrow .....

But for a new buyer (and if you plan to use it for a long time in the future), I think you'd better go with t5 since all other universal connector accessories will be obsolete. If you will not buy any accessories then you'll be fine.

The only t5's advantage over t3's is the battery life, which is much better.
I know there's some compatibility issues with the current software, but I'm sure that all developers will soon catch up with the upgrade.

Good luck with your choice.

[Phaggard]

I don't really see the T5 as an upgrade to the T3, rather an alternative model. I would bet that palm One will have a new flagship model later if the cost doesn't skyrocket. I would still call the T3 their flagship.

What's really funnny is that since the Palm Pilot came out, none of the PDA's have ever had all the features everyone wanted for a good price. The T5 has everything that everyone complained about and wanted in PDA's with the exception of a removable battery. It has a high res screen, landscape, a nice stylus, a dpad, good sound, lots of memory, a high powered processor. It's just the more and more technology that comes out, the more we expect.

Both the T3 and the T5 are excellent PDA's in their own right but they can't be compared as equal replacements. If Palm planned the T5 to be a replacement, they didn't succeed.

[tanker_bob]

Mack,

I've been a very satisfied T3 owner for over a year (1st day buyer). The only thing that I would change is the battery life, but I could also pitch the Bluetooth.

I agree with Sid that you should think about the future upgrade path for accessories. If you plan on getting a number of accessories (travel charger, keyboard, etc.) that use the Palm standard connector, then you should consider the T5. Anything you buy for the standard connector has no future, but SDIO accessories probably will. Personally, I've been down that road twice already, going from a Palm Vx to Sony and then to the T3. Nothing lasts forever, but the bucks do add up. Of course, the $100 price difference between the T3 and T5 can cover some of that pain very nicely.

[FullAction]

My advice on the accessories is to buy everything wireless possible, like keyboard, GPS mouse, etc. Of course what you cannot buy like that are charging cables, but usually they are cheap and can be discarded, if a new connector comes out.
The only piece, which is neither cheap nor transferable is the Power2Go sled. I was going to buy one, but after it became clear that the future Palms will not have the UC, I forgot that idea. Instead im looking for one of these 2400mAh rechargeble battery packs, which have a USB port. That way I only have to buy a USB charging cable, which can be exchanged without too much cost. Additionally you can charge everything with the pack, which can be charged over USB, cell phones, mp3 players, etc.

EDIT: I forgot cradles. They are nice to have, but in fact my next Palm will have to have Wifi and hotsyncing over Wifi is even more comfortable than over the cradle, because I don't even have to be in the same room as the PC.

[minimalposter]

Of course it is impossible for anyone to tell you what is a better investment for you. I tried to look at from a logical point of view (and how I would explain my purchase to she who will be always right):

T3: $298 PDA, $100 WiFi, $40 Sena case, Cradle priceless (already have one), travel charger priceless (already have one). Total: $438

T5: $399 PDA, $0 Palm case (not the quality of Sena) rebate, $30 for cradle. Total: $439 and with no WiFI card (drivers) or international charger available.

Not the best logic for you, but it worked for me. And my wife is warming up to my purchase. Although I must admit that Lance's post made me reconsider the purchase (for a fleeting moment anyway).

[Vidge]

EDIT: I forgot cradles. They are nice to have, but in fact my next Palm will have to have Wifi and hotsyncing over Wifi is even more comfortable than over the cradle, because I don't even have to be in the same room as the PC.

I tried Wifi syncing on my T3 using the Enfora case - once. It was so slow I have never tried it again. I don't know if it is a limitation of the Enfora case or what, but it certainly wasn't worth the time it took. I'd much rather use a cradle or cable.

[Spiral]

Never tried an SDIO wifi card, but the problem probably lies in the SDIO driver, card, or bus. My Tungsten C syncs wirelessly pretty much as fast as it does in the cradle. I haven't timed it or anything, but it's pretty quick.

[FullAction]

Yes, I have the same experiences with wirelessly hotsyncing the TC. It's at least as fast as the cradle hotsync.
The Enfora case is connected over the UC, hence can only transfer 115bBit/s. I have once tried to hotsync over BT with the T3 and it's very slow indeed. I can imagine syncing with the Enfora is pretty much the same speed and therefore unusable.
That's also why I'm a big supporter of a built in Wifi chip. Even a SDIO card doesn't have the same througput.

[Vidge]

Actually, in my discussions with Enfora, the limitation is not the UC. Apparently, they can produce a faster sync via software since the T3 supports it; however, the software for the Enfora will likely not be updated to take advantage of this due to the fact that the US itself is DOA.

I forgot about the Wifi hotsyncing on the TC since I owned one so briefly. And I can tell you that my hp4155 syncs just as fast over Wifi as it does connected to the desktop. BTW, other Wifi connections (websurfing, email, etc) using the Enfora as just as fast on my T3 as they are on my hp4155.