wminner

As a 50-ish old-fogey who STILL uses the 'ol Tx as a repository for contacts, calendar, tasks & reams of info (which is then funnelled into a BBerry through Outlook), I am interested in your thoughts: to keep my (defunct) Tx 'lifestyle' going for a FEW more years, how many Tx units & parts should I gather for my private stockpile? At this point in time, Tx units, digitizers & batteries are still readily available on Ebay, etc. Will this 'esoteric' hardware be readily available for a while, or is the level of supply headed for a cliff? Am I being overly paranoid, as PalmDR.com (Chris Short) and/or Aceeca will be around to "save the day" for a while? At this point, I have 3 Tx units, 10 glass digitizers (or somewhat questionable quality), 3 spare batteries, and a pile of connection cables. I am interested in how this level compares to the 'collections' of others that are distinguished by their lingering connection into Garnet.

bytehead

My wife and I are both TX users, around your age even. We have a spare TX between us (with glass digitizers done on two, waiting for my wife's if she ever decides to have me do it). I was having to sync mine via BlueTooth, which were long and could take over an hour if I had managed a factory reset, until somebody finally pointed out the 64-bit drivers. It still doesn't seem to sync as fast as my wife's, but it's satisfactory. But I can now also charge via USB, something not possible before.

The primary use for them has become e-readers for both of us. With the new Nook Touch, I see one in my near future. Too many times I can't read the TX because of the Florida sun. Seeing the E-Ink readers quite readable even feet away, I like what I see. For something more multifunctional, you might want to check out the Nook Color. Yeah, the Nook Color is more expensive than a replacement TX, but I only see the Nook going down in price, while the TX will only go up.

And since the Color runs Android, you can even get Graffiti running on it.

Ken in Regina

Hi wminner,

I can't help with guidance on the backup hardware. I have one T|X with a wonky digitizer that is currently being corrected by Dmitry's PowerDigi. I have a brand new glass digitizer and battery awaiting installation. And a couple or three cables .. two cables that are data only and one that also has the power charging prong on it.

Just a few short weeks after I got the new digitizer and battery I made a decision that has pretty much obsoleted the T|X for me.

Like you, I use my Palm T|X for the Palm PIM apps, not just trivially as a reader. Like you, I have a ton of information in the memopad as well as the calendar and addressbook. And I'm thoroughly addicted to the possibilities afforded by Hotsync, either to the Palm Desktop (my preference) or Outlook. I use the PIM features on the Palm Desktop at least as much as on the handheld, especially for things like trip planning, etc. in the memopad, which I use like a powerful text database.

I'm not going to leave the Palm OS any time soon.

But I have become sorely tired of packing around two devices: phone and Palm. Or having to decide which to leave behind. And having to maintain two addressbooks: one on the phone and one on the Palm.

Fortuitously, my local cellular service provider recently had a "sale" on the Palm Centro. $0 plus a $15/month data contract for a year got me a nice little Palm Centro. So I got one, synced all my Palm data and apps to it, checked to be sure the addressbook contained everything that was on my phone and that's the end of the Palm T|X for me.

I shall miss the nice large screen a lot. And the wifi a little bit (Centro doesn't have it). I will greatly miss Big Clock as my alarm clock and for the countdown timers (it causes the Centro to reset every time you try to access the dropdown menus for things like the alarm and sound options).

I will not miss carrying two devices. I will not miss Graffiti (either 1 or 2).

Kudos to Aceeca for the 64-bit drivers. As of yesterday I have Hotsync working natively on my Windows 7 64-bit computer for my Centro, T|X and two Garmin iQue 3600s. That means I can put the XP Mode virtual machine to sleep permanently.

But it means I have a spare T|X, glass digitizer and battery sitting here doing nothing useful. I intend to keep the iQue 3600s around as backups for Palm and GPS navigation functions so I'm covered that way if the Centro dies. And by the time it ultimately gives up the ghost HP should have had the Pre3 out long enough to get a good reading on its worthiness for upgrading to WebOS.

At 50-ish, I would consider you a young fogey. The youngest of my golf partners, the baby of the group, is nearly 55. I am the senior member of our foursome.

I think your stash of Palm hardware should keep you going for at least as long as you continue to care about using the Palm OS. Your only issue will be the shelf life of the reserve batteries. Careful storage is in order. And perhaps finding a method to top them off occasionally.

...ken...

Ou_Boet

I still have my TX and use it daily for PIMs and alarms. However, I too am slowly getting frustrated with having to carry two devices around with my, the TX and a crappy BB my company supplies. I find that I religiously have to copy new contacts to Outlook so they are available on the BB.

For a while I thought that the Pre might be my Saviour, but alas like all new devices available these days, I'm not keen on all my info being uploaded to "the cloud", I'm even less keen on my device becoming useless if a cell signal is unavailable.

Replaced the digitizer twice already and I sense that the power button is not long for this world. The end is near and still no suitable replacement device is in sight. The thought of paying an outrageous monthly fee to some cell provider just for a functional PDA makes me sick. I paid CAN$240 for my TX, right now you'll pay that every year for anything else.

OB

Ken in Regina

I'm not sure why you think your data will be "in the cloud" with the Pre?? My understanding is that it has wifi so you don't even need a cellular data connection for transferring data, as long as you have a wifi access available.

The biggest drawback to all the smartphones is that there are few PIM apps that are integrated (e.g. calendar, contacts, todo, memos) and also have a companion desktop app that you can sync with so you can work easily on the desktop. Most of the individual PIM apps do sync with Outlook on your PC. I don't much like Outlook and I'm happy to avoid it for as long as possible, but I can live with that if I have to. It's better than having to sync with someone's server on the internet.

...ken...

wminner

Thanks for your thoughts - my topical question was the result of looking through Ebay listings for the Tx. The quantity and price levels on Ebay suggest to me that the Garnet crowd is thinning a bit. As a former hardcore user of Day-Timer calendars (way-back-when), it is the PIM functions, the stylus & grafitti, and ability to back up data that I am hooked to - I use the 'ol Tx 25+ times a day (there are lots of interactions and relationships to keep up with in the consulting arena). Well, I ended up purchasing ANOTHER Tx from Ebay for $65, and my guess is that it is a warranty Palm-refurbished unit - it looks new. What a deal!

Ken, you mentioned keeping the Li batteries topped off - I have been doing this with the spares every 3 months or so by hooking them up to a Tx charger. I have limited the charging period to a couple of hours. My hope is that either a) the charging unit (a switching unit) restricts amperage, or b) the electronics in the battery know how to "smart-charge" the battery - do you know if either of these is correct?

OB, you mention the hassle of doing Tx + BB - my belt also has both. In my office backpack, I also have a laptop, an XM satellite radio, and a MP3 player. Is this another sign of being an 'ol fogey - when one carts around multiple electronic devices? I still like the large Tx screen, that has NO imbedded (hardware or software) keyboard - I'll be happy if I can keep the Tx stable going for another 10 years or so.

Regards,
Bill