T5 or wait for the T7?

[zenlon]

A lot of the usual questions are currently and understandably being posed, such as should I buy T5 or T3 or ..., but it seems that nobody is asking the other question: should I jump on the T5 now or wait for a potential T7 successor? :confused:

If you have to have a newer PDA now, then the question is irrelevant, but as a happy TT user hungrily eyeing the T5, I must pose this question. I know we're all still recovering from having our hopes for the T5 dashed on the palmstOne, so the inclination is not to jump back in the ring and *hope* for a T7 with Cobalt (and whatever else your heart desires).

So the question I pose at the top then becomes a list of questions:
Will the T7 be an incremental improvement on the T5 or a major leap forward from it? (You could argue that the T5 was a significant change in terms of the fundamental/underlying architecture even if it didn't immediately or obviously translate into a vastly different user experience. And with the separation of palmOne and palmSource, do major OS upgrades now always have to go coupled with major hardware advances?)

Will you be able to upgrade your T5 to Cobalt upon its release? (I know many have suggested Palm would not do this, but such a release wouldn't cannibalise T7 sales, because, aside from us, what percentage of the market would buy a T5 and then, six months later, buy a T7 just to get Cobalt functionality?)

Will there be a T7 or is the T5 the last, non-smartphone PDA from palmOne? (I hope this is an unlikely nightmare, but who knows? It's all about profit anyway.)


These questions must surely be near the front of one's mind if, like me, you are not quite a bleeding-edge, early adopter but also definitely not a laggard, only-needs-based potential PDA buyer/upgrader.


Besides, T7 is cool in Graffiti; how could they not do one? ;)

Tough questions? Tough love.

[FullAction]

Although I could be wrong, I don't believe that the T5 will become a megaseller. Most T3 and TC users are waiting for the next incarnation, but if the T5 fails, Palm1 could decide to abandon pure handhelds completely. It largely depends how the T5 will do against the Treo650 and a TC2 in the Treo form factor, but with thumbboard and Wifi. It seems Palm1 is currently in a design recycling phase. The TE was successful, hence take the design and build the new "flagship" around it, so a TC2 in the design of the Treo650 would be a logical successor. Of course a Palm without a Hires+ screen is IMO doomed anyway nowadays.

[SoS]

why a T7 and not a T6??

[sunoke]

why a T7 and not a T6??
There never was a Palm VI

[GadgetGuru]

Besides, T7 is cool in Graffiti; how could they not do one? ;)


Yeah, but not in Graffitti 2, which PalmSource now prefers to use (and pays CIC for when Graffitti is their own creation, and they had so far win every legal suit Xerox has thrown at it).

While T7 has a nicer ring to it, I prefer the T6... T6, Palm OS 6, get it?

[StoneRyno]

I'm not sure about the rest of you but I'm not comfortable with the idea of having a cell phone/PDA in one. If one part goes bad then the whole thing needs to be replaced and IMO is a hassle.

[FullAction]

Apart from the fact that I could (barely) live without a PDA, but not without a cellphone, which in case I have to if I have to exchange it, I'm not completely convinced about the all in one solution. My cell phone is pretty sturdy, I have dropped it numerous times, but I'm sure a PDA would have broken after the second or third fall.
To each his own, but for me it's defintely better to have a 2 device solution.