TG50 annoyances?

[Unregistered]

I've been thinking about getting the TG50 because of Palm OS5 and built in Bluetooth. Tonight I had my first chance to play with one at my local Staples.

I played with it for 15 minutes but I already found several annoyances that really bugged me. I'm wondering if other users also encounter these problems and if there's any solutions/workarounds.

1. Keyboard is hard to use (no solid, tactile feedback). Keys are small and cramped really close to one another. The keyboard on the NX/NZ is much better.

2. The hard button for Graffiti sucks (can't use the stylus to press this button, must use finger). I prefer the soft button on the NX/NZ so I can use the stylus.

3. Pressing the button will result in a dialog telling that Graffiti is available only when editing text. What the he**? I couldn't create a new appointment by Graffiti'ing the start time nor jump to a name by Graffiti'ing the first letter.

4. Virtual Graffiti area occupies almost 3/4 of the screen and leaves only the remainder 1/4 screen to show the text.

5. I found it very distracting to show/hide the virtual Graffiti because of number 4. On the NX/NZ it doesn't distract me at all because the Graffiti area doesn't "intrude" as much into the screen area.

I'm really curious if other users also feel that these are annoyances. I was seriously considering the TG50, but I don't think I can live with these. I'll probably get the NX60 instead.

[s_n_m]

The TG50 is not designed for graffiti users. Naturally people who use graffiti are not accustomed to the device. We do not feel these anoyances because we all bought the TG50 out of a preference to keyboards.

[TreoRenegade]

1) The keyboard, thankfully, becomes more pliant with continued use.

2) The Graffiti hard button IS stylus-friendly. It's a circle, with an indented round area, perfect for stylus reception. So, I don't follow the complaint here.

The previous poster adequately states the feelings of many who, like me, were drawn to the TG50 because of the keyboard. Personally, I never did like Grafitti, so there's no love lost here. I do note that some choose to add a Graffiti replacement or enhancement, which allows you to use the entire screen area for writing, thus negating the need for the pop-up Grafitti implementation by Sony.

FWIW, you may want to purchase whichever device from a store with a return policy, such as Circuit City (14 days). Be sure to read the fine print first, as some other places charge a hefty restocking fee. That alloows you plenty of REAL-world use, so you can better gauge the usefulness of the PDA to **you**. If I had relied on initial reaction when I tried out the TG50, it'd never made it to my home. Now, I find myself appreciating it more and more every day.

TreoRenegade

[yOyOYoo]

The biggest annoyance to me is the backlit keyboard.

If you look at the lit keyboard in a dark room, you will see just how cheaply constructed it is. You can practically see blotches of glue used to glue each keypad onto the unit. Also the lighting looks uneven. Looks like sony was in a rush to get this unit out.

I have never seen a backlit keypad so poorly done as the one on the TG50. Look at every cell phone out there, the keypad lights up beautifully. It can't be that hard to get a nicely lit keypad. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my TG50, it is a huge massive improvement over my NR70v (to me) but I just feel sony rushed on this one. Little things like this and the wavy lights on the screen could have been improved upon by sony.

[diceboy]

Originally posted by yOyOYoo
The biggest annoyance to me is the backlit keyboard.

If you look at the lit keyboard in a dark room, you will see just how cheaply constructed it is. You can practically see blotches of glue used to glue each keypad onto the unit. Also the lighting looks uneven. Looks like sony was in a rush to get this unit out.

The keyboard on my TG50 looks beautiful when backlit. Nice and even, and bright. I don't see the issue here - maybe you got a bad one.

[dúnadan]

Originally posted by diceboy


The keyboard on my TG50 looks beautiful when backlit. Nice and even, and bright. I don't see the issue here - maybe you got a bad one.

same here. not perfectly even, but what is? no probs with the TG50 whatsoever, especially since i replaced the system fonts with some lubak quality!

[Tokyo]

Originally posted by yOyOYoo
The biggest annoyance to me is the backlit keyboard.

If you look at the lit keyboard in a dark room, you will see just how cheaply constructed it is. You can practically see blotches of glue used to glue each keypad onto the unit. Also the lighting looks uneven. Looks like sony was in a rush to get this unit out. Looks fine to me.

http://www.teach-japan.com/keyb2.jpg

[s_n_m]

so beautiful...

I love my palm!

[wilsonch_98]

yoyoyoo

the difference between mobile phone and tg-50 backlit is the tg-50 is the whole key transparent, mobile phone backlit is just the "numbers" transparent...so this makes you think the lighting is even...but actually just you can't see the uneven side...