TX and Lifedrive, reasons for return

[lipbone]

I bought the Lifedrive a couple of months ago. I hadn't even heard of it, I just happened to need a new PDA and voila, there was this beauty. I bought it with absolutely no pre-conceived notions.

I returned it on the 14th day of my 14 day return policy for these reasons:
1. I felt like I had to worry about my PDA, it's health so to speak, rather than simply use and admire it
2. The OS/HDD combination felt very unsure of itself. I was always questioning if the next tap, or event I triggered would kill my LD
3. I couldn't quite figure out the pattern; which things triggered a soft reset, which things triggered a full reset, etc.
4. It felt like the LD might have a slightly twisted mind of its own.

(i know, those are all basically the same reason, software)

That said, I was in love with the damn thing and felt heartbroken returning it.

Months go by, the TX is announced, I decide to try it. I've had it less than a week and I'm returning it. These are my reasons:

1. It's chintzy. The sides creak, the whole thing bows slightly as if the TXs were printed (in their entirety) from a rolling sheet of "TX" paper.
2. The form factor is mgnegh (although it obviously didn't bother me when I bought it)
3. The lack of an LED is weird. just weird.
4. The 5-way is actually really unresponsive, unlike the LD
5. Initially, although it's gotten much better, the stylus felt like I was literally scratching the surface of the screen. Talk about a bad first impression.. fingernails on chalkboard anyone?

(i know, those are all basically the same reason... hardware)

I'm sure there are other things, but in the end, I really want a LifeDrive that isn't flakey. I sure hope they come out with it. The sooner the better.

[Joel]

Wow. This is the first tiem I've read comments like these for the LifeDrive and the TX. I guess it's really an example that there are many types of users. Anyway, sorry to hear about your TX experience... I'm excitedly waiting for mine to arrive this week.

[SonyStyle]

hey what dou expect for 299? lol, it practiaclly has everyhting

[khunbenja]

I would totally disagree with the stylist "scratching" the screen thing. Look, when you first peel off the clear plastic screen cover, of course the screen is gonna feel sqeeky. Its clean. All you have to do is put your TX against your cheek and now you have a bit of an oily serface to make your stylist screem. Not the best way I'll say, (and I do wash my face several times a day!!!) but it works.

[Joel]

This got me thinking... was the clear plastic screen cover peeled off in the first place? I remember hearing about this situation back in our Cliesource days. ;)

[2XS]

I would totally disagree with the stylist "scratching" the screen thing. Look, when you first peel off the clear plastic screen cover, of course the screen is gonna feel sqeeky. Its clean. All you have to do is put your TX against your cheek and now you have a bit of an oily serface to make your stylist screem. Not the best way I'll say, (and I do wash my face several times a day!!!) but it works.

I agree... the first strokes were somewhat horrible :eek: some fingerprints later it was a much better feeling :rolleyes:

gr33tz 2xs

[prhammer]

I love my TX. I did return the first one yesterday for a new one - it had one bad pixel which got annoying when I was watching movies using TCPMP. But other than that I find it to perform flawlessly. I do wish the case was metal - but when you look at the price you have to forgive them for cutting a few corners. I also find the lack of a power led to be unfortunate - but these are just minor inconveniences. The new launcher is great. It has plenty of memory and it is just a great little machine.

[lipbone]

The stylus did get better after some use. I hadn't ever experienced that with any screen/stylus combination before so it made a pretty bad impression.

Also, I believe that the TX is a good machine and worth $299. More than anything, I was lamenting the fact that I wasn't able to keep my LifeDrive due to software issues. The fact that I owned one for a little bit of time made it impossible for the TX to live up to my expectations.

It's kind of a back-handed compliment.

[prayer4eev]

same thing with stylus was with T5. after several days- it became ok.
btw, in all E-clones stylus is really good, same like with LD, i wish all pda's had such stylus ^^

[Joel]

Now that I have my TX, here are my comments regarding lipbone's observations:

...
1. It's chintzy. The sides creak, the whole thing bows slightly as if the TXs were printed (in their entirety) from a rolling sheet of "TX" paper.
The sides of my TX don't creak. At all. I don't know exactly what you mean by "bows slightly" but I'm afraid you were bending the TX abnormally. Yikes!


2. The form factor is mgnegh (although it obviously didn't bother me when I bought it)
What's "mgnegh" ? ... Anyway, I like the form factor. It reminds me of the Vx, down to the flip cover. I like the rough texture of the TX's flip cover but don't really like the material they used for the "hinge."


3. The lack of an LED is weird. just weird.
I agree because there's no way to check charging status. But I see this as *very* convenient when I'm using TCPMP.


4. The 5-way is actually really unresponsive, unlike the LD
VERY responsive in my TX. I actually had some lag sometimes when I use the 5-way in my LD.


5. Initially, although it's gotten much better, the stylus felt like I was literally scratching the surface of the screen. Talk about a bad first impression.. fingernails on chalkboard anyone?
This is the case usually for new handhelds (as already mentioned). I have a pack of Brando Screen Protectors ready to be put on.

lipbone, I'm beginning to really think you got a defective TX. Please try another TX and see if you experience the same 5-way and creaking problems.

As for me, I love the TX. I highly recommend it.

[lipbone]

I will trade mine in for a replacement. Its worth the effort, I believe.

Actually, it's weird, but I noticed the bowing the moment I handled it. This is bowing that occurs without pressure. If I lay the TX on the table, it actually pivots like a seesaw. Slightly. Could be a design thing. Also, the creaking is specific to the top front. if I squeeze the top slightly I get a clicking/creaking sound. Kinda like the back and front plates weren't quite snug.

I'm definitely coming off of the LD high in terms of hardware so I readily admit that I'm biased.

It's possible that the unresponsive 5-way (and on/off button in fact) are the result of a poorly fitted TX... i.e. a defective unit.

So, again, I will definitely trade this one in for another one. I certainly hope you are right!

[tk_421]

The LD SHOULD get a stability fix sometime in the next few months, so you can always wait for that.

I for one decided on getting the TX as an interim solution before the LD2 is released in the Spring. I am sure that Palm will have the bugs of the LD fixed in time for the next iteration. The TX is cheap, and will be ebayed next spring. I simply won't be rebuying the LD after the hellish week I spent with it last year.


Still waiting for the next gen Palm devices from Japan.

[Guatiao]

I wonder if lipbone installed the LD update. I have not owned an LD, but I guess the update would've helped.

With that said, I guess your comments are mostly due to either, as you said, coming from such a high-end model as the LD, or getting a faulty unit in some way. I, for one, put a screen protector on day one, so I cannot tell if the screen/ stylus contact felt rough. I just hate scratched screens.

The LD design is very pretty, but, as model differentiation would dictate, the T|X would not have an LD-like design. A LED would be a blessing, but surely someone will make an app that flashes the screen every X minutes to let you know it is charging or fully charged. An my T|X D-pad works ok in all apps.

I am glad you are giving the T|X a second chance!

[lipbone]

So, I went back and examined a new TX, fresh out of the box, just to be sure before I traded.

Same issues. Bowed case, creaking/clicking at top, unresponsive buttons (this last bit was based on more intuition than actual fact... the user guide explicitly states that buttons may be unresponsive until you allow the device to fully charge, which of course, I couldn't.) (though, if anyone can tell me why that is, I'm curious. frankly, if the pda gets any charge and is able to fully start up, I can't see why it fails to respond after that point. low-charge or not)

I'm going to have to wait for the next gen LifeDrive before I pop for another PDA. I'd say that perhaps 299 is a great deal for this type of machine... an everygeek's utility device. Capable, robust feature-set after a fashion, but low-end housing to subsidize sales.

When I spend money in that range or higher I don't settle for poor design or bad manufacturing in anything I buy.

[Dick Tracy]

Sounds like the store you're shopping at only has one batch. When I purchased my E2 I had the salesman go in back to see if he could locate any units from a different batch as I did not want a Saturday made unit (preference for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; just like cars). My TX is a Thursday and it's solid.

[Guatiao]

With all due respect, I would advise to try and get a unit form another batch, as Dy suggests, or to try and purchase form another store. So far I have seen the issues you have stated as part of your T|X experience, so hopefully a little bit of shopping around could/ would help.

[tk_421]

Sounds like the store you're shopping at only has one batch. When I purchased my E2 I had the salesman go in back to see if he could locate any units from a different batch as I did not want a Saturday made unit (preference for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; just like cars). My TX is a Thursday and it's solid.


How can you know on what day the unit was made? From the serial number? is there some kind of a code? I'd love to know that. Thanks in advance.

[Dick Tracy]

The date is in your serial number; full report in the Palm FAQ at Brighthand.

[aspidoras]

Ok DT, how do you tell what day of the week your T|X was made on ? :) Mine came on Monday after I purchased it online Friday from the Dell Home & Home Office web site. Newegg seems to have the best deal right now. I bought an open box blemished T5 (with free WiFi card) from Palm in August. It is the exact same case and design as the T|X. These newer NVFS devices have a "power on" button that is a software button like a modern PC. When you push the button on an older device it immediately responded. On the newer devices it acts like a PC does when its powering down (finishes writing data to the memory). My T5 has the creaking case near the "power on" button also. It's a defect, as my T|X does not do this. Also the T|X has a plastic case for a very good reason. "It has built-in WIFI !!!" This would not work near as well if it were made of metal. My comparisons to the T5 with WiFi card and the T|X with builtin Wifi? The T|X wins hands down for speed, range, and operation.
Kevin N

[lipbone]

Did not consider the batch phenomenon, nor the weekday doldrums crappy mood production defect effect.

I will go to a totally different store, Staples (as opposed to Office Depot). I will give this another try.

More later, probably after the weekend.

[chelu]

I put a 2 to 3 tiny drops of Armorall on the screen protector and wipe it off with a dry eyegless cleaner cloth and the surface becomes super slick! Very nice for writing with the stylus.


I would totally disagree with the stylist "scratching" the screen thing. Look, when you first peel off the clear plastic screen cover, of course the screen is gonna feel sqeeky. Its clean. All you have to do is put your TX against your cheek and now you have a bit of an oily serface to make your stylist screem. Not the best way I'll say, (and I do wash my face several times a day!!!) but it works.