E2, T3, or T5 for use with Mac OSX?

[JPigford]

I'm in the market for a new PDA and am not really sure which direction to go. I've got a few hundred dollars to spend but would rather keep the price as low as possible. Like the subject says, it needs to play nice with Mac OSX (specifically Tiger). The main thing I'll be using it for is calendar, contacts, and making notes of various things. I don't really care to use it as any sort of media player. I say the T3 b/c I've "heard" so many bad things about the T5..weren't sure how true/valid they were. I have also heard the T3 has a pretty short battery life.

Anywho...any suggestions?

[jjesusfreak01]

These all should work fairly well with OSX Tiger, as there is a version of Palm Desktop for Mac.

[JPigford]

Do you have a suggestion for one over the other?

[Joel]

Welcome to 1src, JPigford.

Since you mentioned that you'll be using "calendar, contacts, and making notes of various things" then battery life will not be a concern. Just recharge at night.

My suggestion would be the E2. It's a good basic palmOne device to start with. Just install Palm Desktop and you should have no problems with iSync later on.

Good luck!

[JPigford]

Hey Joel, thanks for the welcome!

I think my main holdup with the E2 is the built-in memory and processor speed. For basic use, is speed really an issue? Also, with the E2 I'd have 120 less pixels of useable space...is that extra 120 pixels you'd get with a T3/T5 that big of a plus?

[Joel]

Speed is definitely not an issue for normal use. You only need lots of memory if you're dealing with lots of text (as a comparison, the full 911 Commission Report text is 1.5MB).

I have a Treo now and I like the small screen. Like you, my PDA needs have gone back to the basics. If I need a bigger screen, I use my laptop or desktop :)

[Splat0104]

The E2 is a nice basic PDA, low bulk and has the benefit of Palms experience with the T5 'problems' to get it right.

The T5 is nice is you _need_ the bigger screen for photo and media viewing, but there are speed issues with Graffiti 2 and the T5 becuase of the 'soft' graffiti area as opposed to the standard silk screen area of the E2

The T3 is on the way out (sadly) so I would personally avoid it. You may be able to find some discount accessories for it, but P1 will probably not be working too hard to support it in the future. A problem that could come back to bite you.

Battery Life should be a non-issue with the T5 and the TE2, buit the TE2 is supposed to have better battery life by a factor of 2.

I think they fixed a few things with the TE2 over the T5 - I'm only bummed they didn't keep the 'push the D-Pad to get the couple of seconds of the World Time view' the original T (still my favorite of all the T line) had.

Those are my thoughts having used a T5 as my main Palm and a TE2 for about a week right after it came out.

Personally I'm looking at using the TE2 as my main guy after I get it back from my friend who was curious how it would stack up against his PDA.

[murrayalex]

Hi...I have a T5 which I sync on my home imac with "missing sync".. fairly expensive programme but at least it guarantees future ongoing mac syncing and it has one or two nice features that I use quite a bit, such as internet sharing and good ilife linkage. I had a T3...the battery was appalling in terms of lifespan, the T5 battery life is far superior. My T5 works flawlessly now, you just have to be careful of what apps you install. I really like the T5, it's a much underrated palm PDA.