raptor13

Well after having my new axim x50 (mid) for a little while now, wanted to write back and say that I am happy with it. There has definetely been a learning curve, mostly due to software I have added to it. The unit itself has been great and I really love it. Would I have liked the T5 better? Who knows. I can say the wifi is nice at times, but really it is not something I need and really dont use too much. But when I want to use it, nice that it is there. Bvkeen, just out of curiosity, why do you prefer the T5 over the x50v, if you had to pick one? Do you just like the operating system better? Anyways thanks again Lance for your feedback, I am definetely happy with the x50 and it is much better than any previous unit I have had. Mike

bvkeen

Mike, my preference for the T5 over the x50v is for time management activities - to me the Palm OS is just so much easier and straightforward. I use it as it is for tasks, appointments, and contacts, without any extra software. It's just plain fast and easy, and that's exactly what I'm looking for when I'm really busy, and this has been a really busy year.

Having said that, I am glad that I have both devices. Right now, if I absolutely had to make a choice between the two, it would be very hard to do. If the T5 had WiFi and didn't have some bugs related to NVRAM, it would have a shot at being my choice. However, the NVRAM problems can be a real headache when you do use software that doesn't come built into the system. While a lot of software is fully compatible with the T5 now, there is some that crashes it and reloading everything is real pain. While I started out very pleased with the T5 (and still think it's a great device), I am growing impatient with it soft-resetting on almost every sync and I have had to hard reset it half-a-dozen times, at least, since getting it. But, I can remember when Pocket PCs had similar problems - new technology sometimes causes frustrations.

I plan to retire at the end of next year and I'm hoping Palm or Windows Mobile will be a clear winner in my mind by then, as I'd like for my next device to be the last one I buy for a long time (and I suspect it will be either a Cobalt-based Palm or a WM2005-based Pocket PC).

I've owned Palms for years, so that is one reason I still lean toward them, especially for time management. But, I must that Pocket PCs are coming a lot closer now to being able to really dominate the handheld market - when I got my first Pocket PC about three years ago, they were a long way off from Palm in my view, but they now are a strong competitor (and in some ways better than Palm). If the next major Palm release is not a real show-stopper (long battery life, VGA display, Cobalt operating system, and built-in WiFi), then my next device is likely to be a Pocket PC, and probably a Dell one at that.

Sorry for being long-winded. I guess a summary is in order: I'm glad I don't have to choose between the T5 and x50v because I use them both and love them both.

Take care,
Bruce

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Author of KeenPDA website (Time Management with PDAs), http://www.dkeener.com/keenstuff/index.html

StoneRyno

I personally lean towards the little guys and open source. I think it would be cool if either palmos or pocketpc could run existing win9x/2k/xp software so I didn't have to search for or buy another program. I have always liked the palm devices but I find the pocketPCs enticing but I'm not sure if I would buy one. If I could choose which OS went on the device then it wouldn't matter who made it. But it seems that the handheld market will continue to be like it is where you buy a device that has an OS on it designed to run on that set of hardware. I really would like to see a device come out where I have my choice of OSes and even throw in choice of packaged software (that is really about the only commercial software I use). I believe I seen a news item or something here about a handheld like device that runs the pc version of XP? If this is correct I wonder if you could run any PC based OS like linux? Also I have heard about linux based handhelds but I assume this is like palm and pocketpc and runs on hardware designed for it and can't run on other types of handhelds.

If I could run the PC version of linux on a handheld then I would do so. All the software I would use on it I could get open source and would only ever need to just buy the device.

In the mean time though the T5 works fine. Although I'm still trying to find a finance/money app that is free or opensource (prefered) with all the functionality of splash money (it came with my TE as Handmark PDA Money). I'm also hoping that there will be openoffice for palm unless the pc version of linux can ever be run on a handheld.

raptor13

I believe Sharp does make linux based PDA's. Not sure how similar it is to PC, but maybe worth checking into. Mike

StoneRyno

Cool. I did a little google search for them and found a nice site on the subject. http://www.linuxdevices.com/index.html

Apparantly you can install some sort of linux distro in the RAM of some other PDAs possibly both palm and ppc based. I'll read up more on doing so when I get home. I'm wondering if this is a trimmed down PC based kernel that allows running pc linux software.

Haisook

Thanks for the original poster's efforts. I'd like to ask; Overall, is the T5 laggy when compared to T3? Is it faster than the E2 (I think so..) ?

I've heard it lags when using Graffiti 2.. hope I hear from anyone about that..

Thanks

Lance

Overall, the T5 will seem slower than the T3 because memory read/write processes are slower. However, the T5 is faster than the E2 like you thought.

As for the Graffiti 2, the T5 seems to work as well as the T3. However, Graffiti 2 is different than Graffiti 1. Due to the differences, many people notice a lag. However, the lag is due to the way Graffiti 2 works and not due to any problem with the device.

Thanks,
Lance

__________________
MobiBeat | PalmFocus | Skins for Pocket Tunes | T5 Software List

Haisook

Thanks for your fast reply..

But, for instance, how long does it take to open a 500 kB image? In the T3, a friend of mine told me it opens instantly.

LANDROS

Just call palm coz these guys can help you on line....

Demonstar

Doesn't palm charge for this?