1src Forums - LifeDrive review round-up

sebring

05-18-2005, 08:40 AM

Adrenochrome

05-18-2005, 10:03 AM

Not so much a review, but a good article on MSNBC. This is the kind of article that PalmOne is really hoping for.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7887640/

tonyreynolds

05-18-2005, 11:36 AM

Not so much a review, but a good article on MSNBC. This is the kind of article that PalmOne is really hoping for.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7887640/

Most of this review is regurgitated from the Palm 1 data sheet...

Tony

tonyreynolds

05-18-2005, 01:35 PM

GadgetGuru

05-18-2005, 08:21 PM

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/n/5974.html

Larry Garfield gives it a 92% (Dell Axim X50 got 89%)

"LifeDrive is a jack of all trades, and as is often the case is therefore king of few. The PIM suite is palmOne's familiar best-of-breed software..... 4 GB of luscious storage is offset by a noticeably sluggish system...... If you can live with its sluggishness and weight, the LifeDrive is a truly comprehensive all-rounder."

GadgetGuru

05-18-2005, 09:49 PM

David Pogue on NYTimes:
"There's so much to love about the LifeDrive: its magnificent handling of pictures, music and movies; its two flavors of wireless; its auto-synching of PC files and folders; the accuracy and speed of its handwriting-recognition system; and, of course, the brilliance of the entire concept.

If you have the patience for those little six-second lapses, then this device could replace a laptop during many of your out-of-office experiences. Otherwise, though, try before you buy. If you're a busy person who hates to be put on hold, you'll be tempted to rename this palmtop the Life'sTooShortDrive."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/19/technology/circuits/19pogue.html?

Chou Chou

05-18-2005, 10:27 PM

Does anyone know what the battery life is like compared to the Sony TH55? This would be my guiding force.

Ezikial Anta

05-18-2005, 11:11 PM

I saw like...
5 / 4 hours with MP3 playback...

GadgetGuru

05-18-2005, 11:53 PM

Cnet scores it 7.2 out of 10.

http://reviews.cnet.com/PalmOne_LifeDrive/4505-3127_7-31383012-2.html?tag=top

Papageoff

05-19-2005, 12:33 AM

Maybe it is just me, but I think they should have spent a little more thought on this one. To me, and I know I am new here, Palms are supposed to be lean and mean. This thing is powerfull I am sure. However, it is big, and far from what I would say is the ultimate handheld. I don't think we have seen that yet.

pros:
-Dual Wireless
-Storage
-Latest v.5 OS
-Big screen

Cons:
-it is BIG
-Hardrives are rough on batteries.
-Batteries are non-removable
-No cradle? WTF? That is silly for the $500 price point, to me at least, but seems to be a trend now.
-Why Hard drive when flash mem could still give same space and probably save in the long run on warranty claims for units with failed drives.
-Still no Cobalt? You really mean to tell me that an OS designed long before this device was thought of is really going to do a good job running it? It might get by but will it really use it to it's full potential?

This is just my opinion. I think it is a great idea just one that has been marginally executed.

GadgetGuru

05-19-2005, 01:25 AM

The Gadgeteer Part One:
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/palmone-lifedrive-review.html

"The LifeDrive package is very nice but could be better. The screen could be brighter. The system speed could be faster. Hardware is one thing, software is another... This PDA has some new software tools that are very interesting and may make this device worth the $500 price tag.

JAmerican

05-19-2005, 02:23 AM

Cnet scores it 7.2 out of 10.

http://reviews.cnet.com/PalmOne_LifeDrive/4505-3127_7-31383012-2.html?tag=top

The UX50 is still on top with a 8.6 rating. :)

JAmerican

Cyker

05-19-2005, 02:47 AM

Brian at BargainPDA mentioned that the LifeDrive is the first Palm with Dual-Wireless; PalmOne perhaps, but Palm OS, no. The European version of the TH55 was the first. And no, even though I own an NZ90, the earlier clam-shell Clies don't count, because even though a couple had built-in BT, WiFi was via a seperate CF card.

Tony
Minor correction: Not counting the ones that used an addon WiFi CF card, the UX50 actually had dual-wireless before the TH55!
And ALL of them did, not just the Euro ones!!
(This is also why everybody was yelling, "WTF do only the Euro TH55's have BT?!?!?!")

JAmerican

05-19-2005, 03:35 AM

Minor correction: Not counting the ones that used an addon WiFi CF card, the UX50 actually had dual-wireless before the TH55!
And ALL of them did, not just the Euro ones!!
(This is also why everybody was yelling, "WTF do only the Euro TH55's have BT?!?!?!")

This is why the UX is the best and will always be the best :p lol

JAmerican

S150

05-19-2005, 04:47 AM

The reviews actually make this device look generally good. I would be a little concerned about the drive and thier propensity to fail, often, and about the holes for cooling. Dust loves holes and having accidentally soaked my UX50 in Iced Coffee last week I guess the LD would be a dead LD.. The UX50 still lives (for how long I aint sure... 2 weeks and counting!) It is allmost causing me to replace the UX, but a big mem stick would solve my issues with that (2GB). The fat lady is warming up but theres no cigar yet. (to mix a few metaphors!)

cjnewman

05-19-2005, 06:26 AM

I think I'll postpone purchasing one until I her more user experience rather than the early reviews. 2 of the most important things for me when choosing a palm / pda have been size and battery life. I make extensive use of my palm/s both at work and outside of work, because I can caryr them in my shirt pocket.... Whereas I've always left time managers and folders all over the place, I'm never without my palm. So at .74 inches deep, it seems just a little to big.
And battery life (real life, not what palm publish ) is important. All I've seen so far is that it can play mpgs for 4-5 hours. Well thats useful to know. But whats it like with applications using the hard drive. If you've got wifi or bluletooth on, and are moving /viewing pics, videos , and really thrashing the drive....can't wait to here, but suspect it will be like the E, dissapointing but resolved when the lifedrive 2 comes out... we'll see.
At least this one DOES have a voice recorder on board!

Joel

05-22-2005, 06:36 PM

Just added Palminfocenter (http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=7840)'s review.

Joel

05-25-2005, 12:34 AM

Jeff Kirvin's review (http://www.solomedia.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1305) added.

Jeff Kirvin

05-25-2005, 01:29 AM

It's not a review! It's a fondle report. There are still many things (battery life, video performance) that I won't know until I really get to put one through the paces.

ptmin

05-26-2005, 05:20 PM

Hi Jeff
Your cast this time is meaty as i loaded it on my TT3, listenning through much of the day i have observed that there are many features in the handhelds we use but have not got to know it much, thanks for bringing to light the warm reset feature, i just tried it and wooow, I have being using my TT3 since it was released and i just found out that there is the option to record to the SD card etc, realy my hat up for this cast, i am hoping you recieve your unit soon so that you can bring more info on this LIVE DRIVE i for my part am upgradig whenever it is available here,
By the way on PDAFrance website a user after owing his unit for a week the Livedrive is gone for repairs unable to soft,warm,hard reset blown up, hope we are going to have possitive news on the LD,
Uncle Pee
PTMIN

AdamaDBrown

05-27-2005, 01:05 AM

How does Palm ever expect to regain any of the market share they have thrown away over the last few years by introducing new products with OLD technology. Why 802.11b wifi at a time when everything else has gone to 802.11g. Why Bluetooth 1.1 when most other new devices use BT 1.2. Where is Palm OS 6, which was supposed to be introduced a year ago. Builtin hard drive is nice, but it seems to me that a CF Microdrive would be a better solution, since it would offer unlimited storage and be easily upgradeable. Don't know if Palm can ever get it right again.

To be fair, 802.11g hasn't hit the handheld market yet. All the other WiFi models on the market are 802.11b. You're correct on BT and Cobalt, though.

By the way, TonyReynolds, as I recall the UX50 was actually the first PalmOS model with dual wireless.

CliePet

05-30-2005, 01:40 PM

(commenting on the old comment - now I've used the LifeDrive a bit)

> Why 802.11b wifi at a time when everything else has gone to 802.11g
As mentioned the 802.11"b" standard is still the most common for battery powered devices [and is backward compatible with 802.11"g" access points]
BTW: A PDA couldn't keep up with full 802.11"g" data rates.

> Why Bluetooth 1.1 when most other new devices use BT 1.2
FWIW: the core Bluetooth technologies is mostly a common subset of BT 1.0. Some of the frequency hopping features of BT 1.2 would be nice, but most PDAs ignore most of the interesting BT 1.1 protocols [eg: handset, advanced audio, ...]

> Where is Palm OS 6, which was supposed to be introduced a year ago.
Very late. You may not want it if was available ;->

> Builtin hard drive is nice, but it seems to me that a CF Microdrive would be a better solution, since it would offer unlimited storage
FWIW: the harddrive *is* a CF Microdrive. However, it is not user swappable.
Because of the architecture, swapping the microdrive won't work (it contains data as well as the main storage of the PDA). Also having the microdrive inside the case gives it more shock resistance (thanks to rubber bumpers)

The SD card is the swappable memory format.
----
Bottom line: I'm not saying LifeDrive is the best PDA out there, but IMHO they have done a pretty good job of picking the feature tradeoffs.

Joel

05-30-2005, 07:43 PM

Review from MicroMagic just added. (Thanks Franco!)

lmame

06-04-2005, 08:54 PM

If you speak french :p I made a review:
Day I (http://www.lmame-bug.com/index.php/2005/06/02/gros_plan_le_life_drive_de_palm_one)
Day 2 (http://www.lmame-bug.com/index.php/2005/06/04/gros_plan_day_ii_les_logiciels_du_life_d)
Day 3 (http://www.lmame-bug.com/index.php/2005/06/04/gros_plan_day_iii_applications_cote_pc_e)

The conclusion is yet to come ;)

tonyreynolds

06-05-2005, 05:32 PM

Joel

06-07-2005, 06:19 PM

The Unofficial Apple Weblog's first impressions (http://www.tuaw.com/2005/06/07/lifedrive-hands-on-first-impressions/)... just added to the reviews list. TUAW has also posted (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tuaw/sets/426556/) pictures at flickr.

ShadoPanther

06-09-2005, 08:33 PM

Hey Joel,
You should add www.PDABuzz.com to your list. They have an excellent indepth review going right now. Day 1 Day2 and Day 3 with more to come. Probably the most indepth review I have seen yet.

ackmondual

06-12-2005, 04:29 AM

Meh, i don't think it's THAT big. I compared it to my T3 at my local cUSA and it was pretty on the level. Only slightly bigger in all dimensions with the T3 slider open.

WIth the BT 1.2 thing, they'r actually up to BT 2.0 now. It may be relatively uncommon since BT 2.0 may have been out for less than a month, but BT 1.2 for BT 1.1 isn't good.

....... the accuracy and speed of its handwriting-recognition system; and, of course, the brilliance of the entire concept.

If you have the patience for those little six-second lapses, ........

The demo unit at cUSA had 2 to 3 second delays at times when inputting Graffiti. Much better than 6 seconds, but still too long. During those times, i actually reinputted the character again, and yet again b/c i thought it was a rare occurance that the Graffiti area didn't pick up input even tho the stylus was in contact the whole time. Those 2 statements are contratictions.

The review at palmAddict is completely unreadable; the author uses almost no periods, commas or whatsoever.

Yeah, my mistake was reading it just before i went to bed. I was laughing all night long. Even foreigners who take remedial english 101X at colleges are eons ahead better than that.

ackmondual

06-12-2005, 04:34 AM

Oh, and don't forget to add Cnet's review in there as well.

As for user reviews, Amazon.com as always has a fair share of those, altho i'd be cautious about the early batch of reviews. For Cnet user reviews, I'm always cautiouse towards those. Epinions is another place to seek user reviews. Neat thing about them is u can make direct comments to those reviews.

ONe thing that peeves me about the LD is it's poor gaming capabilities. Forget games that won't be comopatible with LD b/c every new P1 device has to wreak havoc with incompatibilities, it won't register more than 1 button press simultaneously. I tried Bike or Die on a demo model and left and right on the dpad didn't work. The buttons were mapped correctly in options and they worked during navigation and built-in apps.

SKreme

06-28-2005, 04:26 AM

Ack- I just bought a Lifedrive today! YAY! Just wanted to let you know that when I was in the store, I played around with the demo unit and I beamed bike or die to it (best game ever!). You were right that the left and right don't work. BUT if you remap the tilt (and switch directions) buttons to the any of the four buttons surrounding the D-pad, then it works perfectly and the game is totally playable. I don't know about you but that made MY day!

ackmondual

07-01-2005, 05:58 PM

remap the tilt and switch? I checked and the were properly mapped by default. I guess i had to do it again even it was alr set. This kind of stuff happens to me in Windows every now and then. Good to know the full 5-way works on the LD. The 5-way makes Bike Or Die a nice one handed game

khartone

07-21-2005, 03:25 AM

Yet another review at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/20/review_palm_lifedrive/

tonyreynolds

07-21-2005, 11:01 AM

I think the tenor of the review is very good: critical without being destructive.

The LD is a nice PDA, but it's really just derivitive, not the radical departure to new levels that Palm would have us believe.

As my two TH55's age daily, I'm interested in a viable replacement, but to my mind and for my usage, the LD just doesn't cut it, yet. I think it will one day, but that day isn't here at this time.

What I want in an LD:

1. Better battery life, PLUS a USER REPLACEABLE BATTERY.
2. More storage, at LEAST 20GB. Ideally three models: 20, 40 and 60GB.
3. Native support for USB transfer of image files from my camera. That doesn't have to be a card slot, real USB host capability with a USB port would enable any camera to connect with its own USB cable, eliminating the need for dedicated card slots, especially since there are now 5 or 6 major types.
4. A good, and I mean GOOD quality 1.3MP camera, flash not necessary. There is no reason why this cannot be included. Not so much as a replacement for a stand-alone digicam, but as a visual recorder, which is what I use my PDA cam for.
5. A flip cover so I can carry it naked, without a case in my pocket.
6. It already has BT and WiFi. DON'T TAKE THEM OUT!

Palm, are you listening???

I'm really serious. I would pay $600-800 for a device like this.

If you think I'm NUTS, here's my reasoning:

An LD like this would replace.

1. TH55 ($399)
2. IPOD ($250-450)
3. Epson 2000 ($500)
4. WinXP Notebook (priceless :D )

FOUR devices in ONE for half the price of the total. This would be the ultimate device for digital photographers.

Any thoughts?

Tony

Adrenochrome

07-21-2005, 11:17 AM

I agree with you for the most part, Tony, but it won't happen. People who would pay $800 for a PDA are a tiny market.

Also, forget about the camera. With so many phones with cameras these days, it would only duplicate what most people already have and thus would not be a selling feature for most.

I'd also like to see larger storage and better battery life, but that's probably asking too much. iPods have spoiled us for big HDs and longish battery life, but they don't have to contend with a big, color display, dual wireless, SD slots, stylus slots, and a whopping processor to keep your movies and your word processing humming along - that's a lot to cram into one little package.

But I'm betting that the LD2 will be very much like the LD1, but will have some USB hosting abilities so it can connect to digital cameras directly. That's going to be the single biggest step away from a plain PDA to a true "mobile manager."

And, most importantly, they've got to fix all its bugs!

ackmondual

07-21-2005, 12:07 PM

^-_-^

yeah, many ppl are thinking Palm is gonna pull a Zire-->z21 and T|T-->T|T2 here. The successors in those series are everything the predecessors should've been and more. Hell, some will argue the predecessors shouldn't even been released in the first place, save for Palm's attempt to make more $$ while doing "preliminary bug testing".

I agree with both of you. There's definately niche market, but A market none of the less for $700+ PDAs. Them Craazy Clie's will attest to that :cool:
A PDA could be much more than a T|T3 and a z71, but for the moment, i do get to reap the fruits of multifunction.

Gaming - instead of a PSP, DS, or GBA (which i will concede are better in that respect, but i find PDA gaming to be adequate)
MP3 player - instead of ipod or lower capacities (don't need THAT much music yet while integrated is convenient and cheaper)
vid player - intead of a portable DVD player (I don't watch that movies on the road to begin with which is what makes this even more feasible)
PIMs - rather than some digital diary. Also get hotsyncing and that nice Palm touch
references/other - databases, calculators, Office file viewers, are used in different frequencies but have their uses.

08191234

08-18-2005, 06:06 PM

I have to get a ux50 erlier this year to replace my nx80. I love the WLAN and BT capability but I really miss the cam. mobile phone have something comparable now, true. but I like to have the phone for phoning and th idea of a split of phone and email/messaging seems optimal for me. You dont want to take the big smartphone , when you are going out at night ?! and it is way easier to look thnigs up while on the phone... I had a smartphone for some time and switched back to the old-school pair of two devices.
also I am very very very fond of the palm OS because it is so much lighter than windows CE ! I had somany people (including me) with sync problems with a PPC that I always laugh now while telling, they should have bought a palm...
I want a cam back in my PDA !
I want Sony back in the market !
and for the prices... I'd pay... I paid a 600$ for the NX80 the first day it came out.

give me more !

Greg

Notrgstrdyet

08-31-2005, 06:04 AM

After having lost my original T3, I opted to purchase the LD thinking that this would serve my needs. However after just over a month of use, I have been sadly disappointed. As someone who cannot tolerate the, sometimes greater than, 6 second delay (despite SharkCache), I have to admit it's just not the device I was hoping for (perhaps hoping/expecting too much?). I'd love to have the luxury of more patience, but given my field (medical), the delay, not to mention frequent resets is unacceptable.

I loved my T3 and am waiting for a replacement T3 to come in the mail (eBay).

ackmondual

08-31-2005, 04:46 PM

ditto. I bought a T3 a year after using my z71 for that long. I figured that it's going out of production so may as well try it out. I ended up liking it so much that I bought another backup unit from Ebay.

All this time, i kept my Memos below 4KB and avoided using special fields found only in Contacts but not Address anticipating that one day, I'd end up swithcing to a zod2. I bought a zod2, but have decided it'll only compliment my handheld gaming with zod exclusive titles, some tuned ones, music, and later on, emus and videos. I'm too used to the palm interface (hardware and software) to switch to Tapwave's design even tho it ain't half bad.

gyffes

10-11-2006, 04:32 PM

Questions:

I'm seeking to replace my beloved NX-80. My biggest use? Reading. I NEED the 480 landscaped screen.

2nd biggest use? Legacy.

Why do I need a new one? Well.. the technology's aging and I've noticed I'm not gettin' the battery life I was. Also, I've encountered HEAP problems trying to beta the Legacy replacement, The Quest.

SOOOO, has anyone played with the LifeDrive of late? Are there any actual OWNERS out there who could add to this roundup?

I don't do much data entry (and when I did/do, I use(d) an external belkin keyboard) -- is the delay still there and when/how does it manifest?

What's the size/weight compared to the NX-80, which some call a beast but which I just adore, so its size ain' an issue for me.

Camera: pah. Don' need one, don't want one.

Wifi: attractive. I can do it with the NX-80 and a couple of hacks, but it's never been fab or quick an' easy. Built-in work well? Always on? How does it affect battery life?

MP3: I got iPods coming out my ears...

Soooo.. any LifeDrive OWNERS out there who can help with these questions? It's down to $399 at PalmStore ($100 off with a year of Audible...), a price I'd gladly pay for a quality item (as someone else noted, I paid $600 for the NX-60.. the NX-80 was only $300 as I bought it post-decomissioning by Sony...).

Thankee.

broono

11-14-2006, 09:47 AM

well, gyffes, i'm using my ld fo one and half year, mostly for playing legacy :)
i also used the wi-fi in my home network so when the battery was out i just plugged it and browsed further... but neither me nor my colleague tested the battery life with wi-fi always on...
also i'm reading books and listening mp3 songs with my ld
i'm using it on meetings for notes, and i used it also for the voice memos...
futhermore i used it as my photo album of my little son so i could show them to everybody and everywhere..
last, but not least i used it for watching movies...

to sum up i wouldn't change it... ;)