Tungsten T5 - a strategic move by Palm?

[falafel]

The Tungsten T5 has generally been considered a disappointment by the PalmOne enthusiast community. Many have wondered, "Why would PalmOne shoot themselves in the foot by making nand ram the only 'real' innovation in their new flagship PDA?" I don't think PalmOne simply made a huge miscalculation - rather, I think they made a strategic decision. The center of that decision surrounds the success of the Treo 600. The Treo 600 was the sole reason PalmOne stock stopped its decline for a while and made a recovery. The Treo 600 revitalized their sluggish sales and gave the company hope. For this reason, I believe PalmOne's research and development resources have been focused on the Treo 600 and developing the Treo 650, and due to limited size of their human resources in R&E, more focus on the Treo 600 meant less on the Tungsten line. The nand ram technology found in the new Tungsten T5 has less to do with recovering information after a battery dies ( a problem easily solved with backup 3rd party apps and a memory card), and more to do with conserving battery life, an issue that is vital to the Treo 650 whose battery life as a cell phone would otherwise be comprimised by the new power hungry hi-resolution screen it has. Therefore, i believe this new technology found in the T5, nand ram, is merely borrowing a development made for the Treo 650, and the T5 is the "proto-type" testing ground for working out bugs in the new nand ram before the Treo 650 hits the masses. I think any feelings of doubt PalmOne had in devoting so much of their limited resources to developing the Treo 650 was overcome by their realization that the more attractive the Tungsten T5 was, and the lower the price, the more The Tungsten T5 would eat into their sales of the Treo 650. Therefore, I think a combination of limited resources, testing new nand ram technology, and trying to avoid market competition with their up and coming Treo 650 all combine to dissapoint us with the Tungsten T5. For PalmOne, it is a way to ensure continued success of their amazingly lucrative Treo line, a success unparalleled by their non-phone pdas.

I Personally believe the the Tungsten T5 is an excellent PDA, and ironically, it is exactly what Palm enthusiasts two years ago were begging for - a slim form factor tablet palm with a 360x480 hi-res screen. However, it definitely falls short of what we expected as an upgrade to the T3, and I think the explanations described above could be the only way to understand a move by PalmOne that, at the surface, seems so amazingly shortsighted.

[GadgetGuru]

But T5 is an okay PDA bogged down by two PalmOne oversight: lack of wifi. it's not technology you need to spend much research for, it's already there...PalmOne just strips it from the T5 maybe to save cost, maybe to sell more cards, maybe to sell whatever Tungsten C is left. Good for them in the short run, but it not gonna earn them any loyalty points.

And despite the lack of wifi, lack of non-user-replaceable battery, lack of OS6, etc. Most diehard Palm enthusiast still want the T5 but T5 is bug-ridden. So much that a ROM patch had to be issued before the device is mass-released. Even now, no backup to card application work, and it's one most power-users use. PalmOne may blame third-party for the issues but a good company will ensure that their product will work with the most-used applications. Even Microsoft had learned, and prolonged the beta testing of SP2 for XP to ensure the eventual release was pretty smooth.

PalmOne even breaks G(Graffitti)1. Granted, many here like G2, it still shows PalmOne's shortsightedness. Allowing G1 to work will not cause it a cent and it will please those that like G1...now if I want to use G1 (no Tealscript doesn't apply) on a newly released device, I will have to use a Windows Mobile device (how ironic!)

PalmOne really botch it this time. Most of the shortcomings of the T5 are software-related and given proper debugging can be overcome...even the long reset time could be shortened with the right programming techniques applied. But PalmOne decided to released a half-baked device as their flagship....something that will drag down their goodwill. If only there were other PalmSource-powerted OEM of note...I'm sure many Palm enthusiast will have jump ship. I am looking at the Zodiac seriously, a little too big, otherwise better than the T5 in nearly all aspects...

[Gero]

[QUOTE=GadgetGuru]But T5 is an okay PDA bogged down by two PalmOne oversight: lack of wifi. it's not technology you need to spend much research for, it's already there...PalmOne just strips it from the T5 maybe to save cost, maybe to sell more cards, maybe to sell whatever Tungsten C is left. Good for them in the short run, but it not gonna earn them any loyalty points.

And despite the lack of wifi, lack of non-user-replaceable battery, lack of OS6, etc. Most diehard Palm enthusiast still want the T5 but T5 is bug-ridden. So much that a ROM patch had to be issued before the device is mass-released. Even now, no backup to card application work, and it's one most power-users use. PalmOne may blame third-party for the issues but a good company will ensure that their product will work with the most-used applications. Even Microsoft had learned, and prolonged the beta testing of SP2 for XP to ensure the eventual release was pretty smooth.QUOTE]

All new pda's have bugs, so you cant really hold that against Palm... for example.. the sd card frying bug of the T3.. I wasnt really aware of the online palm community when i purchased my T3 and fried a couple of SD cards. Whilst the bugs in the T5 are a pain in the backside, they dont really 'cost' you much in comparison to frying two $150 256MB SD cards (prices back then). I think i fried the same cost of SD cards as the T3 cost me!... and yet, I forgave Palm as nowadays very few things are built with excellent quality. Bugs in new products are then norm.

[GadgetGuru]

But not this many bugs. Peruse the Pocket PC Boards, and whatever bugs there are mostly minor. PalmOne's however are not... The T3 had the frying card bug, the early m505 had the static cradle issue, The T5 has a myriad of software bugs. If PalmOne were manufacturing vaccines, they'd be banned and banished already.

Bugs are common, but it seem the T5 has more than it's share. So if you are happy with the T5, good. Personally, I'm staying with the NX80...I have a T3 sitting in the cabinet waiting for the digitizer fix that never came...might have to ship it back to PalmOne soon before the warranty runs out though.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Palm devices, just that the T5 could have been great but fall just short...

Maybe PalmOne needs to outsource to ODMs like HP do, if they are short of manpower and don't want to hire more...

[Sid]

All new pda's have bugs, so you cant really hold that against Palm... for example.. the sd card frying bug of the T3.. I wasnt really aware of the online palm community when i purchased my T3 and fried a couple of SD cards. Whilst the bugs in the T5 are a pain in the backside, they dont really 'cost' you much in comparison to frying two $150 256MB SD cards (prices back then). I think i fried the same cost of SD cards as the T3 cost me!... and yet, I forgave Palm as nowadays very few things are built with excellent quality. Bugs in new products are then norm.
The problem with the T5 isn't just a few software bugs that can be fixed with a patch or ROM update, but rather the lack of features that were expected on the next flagship Tungsten T model, all of which have been enumerated many times since its release:

No Voice Recorder
No Charging/Sync Cradle
No Metal Case
No WiFi
No Dual SD Card slot
etc.

[FullAction]

I Personally believe the the Tungsten T5 is an excellent PDA, and ironically, it is exactly what Palm enthusiasts two years ago were begging for - a slim form factor tablet palm with a 360x480 hi-res screen.

You said it: "..two years ago." Now it's just an average PDA, with many things lacking, which are common in the PDA world. Even Sony showed with the TH 55, how this is done. Unfortunately the TH 55 fell short on cpu power and memory for my taste, but it seems Palm1 is satisfied with being second all the time.

[hussain]

No Voice Recorder
Not many people use the feature anyways, personally having the feature there or not won't make a difference because I'm not using.
No Dual SD slot
Why do you need dual SD, there is no point in it, if someone plans to use a wifi card, it's a stupid idea for them to always have the card with them because their going to break it, so switching between isn't a bad idea(but then again people are lazy), 2 sd cards, why do you need 2 SD cards,it's cheaper to buy a 512 card then it is to have 2 256 cards.
No Wifi
Having wifi yes might be a good idea, but trying to surfing the web can be a hassle especially on that screen resolution, picking up mail that's good, until you try to reply and haven't mastered grafiti, but I have a wireless network at home, if I'm going to use the network I might as well be at my computer then at my PDA trying to type and I'd like to multitask which I can't do or do proberly with PDAs(right now).
No Metal Body
Okay, a metal body is good and it's unfortunate that it doesn't come with one, but looking at HP, PalmOne, Sony, Toshiba, and Dell, PalmOne is the only that has the metal case, and most buyer couldn't care less if the case was metal or plastic

And why complain about all this stuff, PalmOne is in the bussiness to make money not to satisfy us with all our needs, they do what's best for them and what seems to be the best choices, to them what they might have done to the T5 is what they thought is the best, it might not be what you want, but you still bought it(like you gekko, but returned it) and PalmOne is happy cause you bought it.

[FullAction]

You're right. Why have a color display? Most people can read BW just as well. Why have progress at all? Let's all live in caves and grunt.
Let's face it, the T5 is crap and all, except those, who fell for it, admit it. If it is the nail to Palm1's coffin, it serves them right

[applejosh]

No Voice Recorder
Not many people use the feature anyways, personally having the feature there or not won't make a difference because I'm not using.
This doesn't bother me too much, but I have used it on occasion, and it comes in handy. Not that it would be a deal breaker, but usually, you expect a company to put in more features on their flagship, not take them away.

No Dual SD slot
Why do you need dual SD, there is no point in it, if someone plans to use a wifi card, it's a stupid idea for them to always have the card with them because their going to break it, so switching between isn't a bad idea(but then again people are lazy), 2 sd cards, why do you need 2 SD cards,it's cheaper to buy a 512 card then it is to have 2 256 cards.
Well, how about having an SD card in one slot while having the wi-fi card in the other? Maybe someone runs apps off their SD card, and those apps can access the Internet/network. Maybe they like to keeps apps/data/backups on one card, and music on the other. I personally wouldn't care if it had built-in wifi, but it doesn't, so two SD slots would have been nice.

No Wifi
Having wifi yes might be a good idea, but trying to surfing the web can be a hassle especially on that screen resolution, picking up mail that's good, until you try to reply and haven't mastered grafiti, but I have a wireless network at home, if I'm going to use the network I might as well be at my computer then at my PDA trying to type and I'd like to multitask which I can't do or do proberly with PDAs(right now).
So you don't use wifi. A lot of people do, and they like the convenience of having it built in so they don't have to tote the card around. Plus, with the proliferation of wi-fi enabled PPC's, I would think Palm might want their flagship product to compete. The screen isn't best for web surfing, and email may not have all the features of a desktop client, but it can be convenient, and convenience is one of the reasons why people buy PDAs.

No Metal Body
Okay, a metal body is good and it's unfortunate that it doesn't come with one, but looking at HP, PalmOne, Sony, Toshiba, and Dell, PalmOne is the only that has the metal case, and most buyer couldn't care less if the case was metal or plastic
True. I do think the metal case adds a sense of style to the PDA, but I agree it's not an extremely important point. People were probably just tacking on bad things to say about he device.

And why complain about all this stuff, PalmOne is in the bussiness to make money not to satisfy us with all our needs, they do what's best for them and what seems to be the best choices, to them what they might have done to the T5 is what they thought is the best, it might not be what you want, but you still bought it(like you gekko, but returned it) and PalmOne is happy cause you bought it.

Well, if they're in the business to make money, then they better cater to the needs of the consumer, or else they won't sell anything. While the high end may not account for a lot of volume in sales, the people who use the high end stuff are generally those who get asked "what PDA should I buy?" The fewer of those people who have PalmOS devices, the fewer PalmOS recommendations will be made.

Personally, I think the PalmOS platform is headed for a train wreck unless they do something. PalmOne has failed to impress me on more than one occasion, and without a Sony-type company pushing the envelope, I think innovation will become stagnant. The T5 added non-volatile (flash) RAM and a bigger battery. The voice recorder is gone, and 3rd party apps which make use of the DM are reported to work slower than molasses. PalmOne doesn't document the proprietary databases, so developers either have to make due with the crappy DM implementation or try to reverse engineer those db's. I imagine a good chunk will just give up. No sense in making apps that will just anger people because they take 30 seconds to close as the DM is writing information to the flash RAM. I really wish they'd put something in a device to "wow" me, but I just don't see it happening. I like the Palm platform, but I think it's days are numbered in terms of non-smartphone devices.