ackmondual

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 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.



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

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

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

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

Yet another review at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/0...palm_lifedrive/

tonyreynolds

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 )

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

Any thoughts?

Tony

__________________
Current PDA: Apple iPod Touch, 8GB

Past PDA's: Palm Personal, Palm Pro, Palm IIIx; HandEra 330; HP Jornada 525, 548, 565; Treo 90; Sony Clie NZ90, TG50, Toshiba Genio e550G, Sony Clie TH55, iPAQ hx4700

_____________________

the perfect PDA has not yet been invented - TR

Adrenochrome

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

^-_-^

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
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

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

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

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

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.

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