1src Forums - Should I Get a TG50??? (WARNING: Long...)

06-30-2003, 12:31 PM	#1
tonyreynolds Sr. Industrial Designer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 1,121	Should I Get a TG50??? (WARNING: Long...) I read the thread below about the TG50, but posted here because I didn't want this to get buried. I've been looking at the clam-shell NX/NZ Clies and for the most part like what I see, except for the CF slot snafu and the limited RAM/ROM. I was on the pre-release list for the HandEra 330 and liked the VG and for that time, high res screen. People are saying to wait out the new NX's and to get the new ones that will surely be announced 'soon'. I have looked at the TG50 in the stores and liked the unit, although I thought the keyboard somewhat lacking compared to the NX60/70. I like the built-in BT as well. The wavy lighting doesn't bother me because it means the screen is lit with super-bright LED's and that means one thing: LONGER BATTERY LIFE! I'm not crazy about going back to a square screen after using 320x240 for the past 3 years... Here's the deal: My wife has a Treo 90 and can't do Grafitti. My daughter wants a Treo 90 for school. I want to get back to Palm OS. There are some terrific deals available right now on the TG50, if one takes into account the $50 rebate from Sony and various online coupons, no taxes, fee shipping, etc. I've looked at deals where I could get the TG50 for under $250. What if I were to get the TG50 now for the best price I could find > $250 and use it for a few months until stuff settles out with Sony and then get the new clam-shell, give my wife the TG50 and slide the Treo 90 to my daughter? I can't see getting an NX series now without some sort of built-in networking capability. I know that whatever replacement I get for my Nokia 8290 will have BT. I'm REALLY good at Grafitti (even though I'm over 46...). Does the 'Grafitti anywhere' on the TG screen work well? Is the MP3 capability 'as good as' PPC? I use a Jornada 548 now, and it's great, except the 6 hour battery life with the screen off sucks... Does 'Docs to Go' come with the TG? The people that have the TG50 seem to really like it. Does this look like a good plan? Your comments are greatly appreciated! 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

06-30-2003, 01:05 PM	#2
madmaxmedia Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,428	I just took advantage of the rebate and low pricing myself. MP3 quality is GREAT and compatibility is not a problem for me. I have run into the odd downloaded file that doesn't play, but never from files that I've encoded myself. Voice Recorder is excellent too, if it's of interest for you. The screen is great, I don't even notice the wavy lines. Battery life is very good, especially since I use the backlight at 25% and still have a nice white screen. Graffiti Anywhere gives excellent results, especially since you can draw bigger characters and can see the character you're drawing (if you want to.) I re-mapped the virtual Graffiti hard button to Graffiti Anywhere, and it is very convenient to access as well. It doesn't come with Docs To Go though. Although if you have previously bought a Palm that did come with it, you could probably just install it on the TG50. Bottom line for me is that the TG50 is an incredible PDA for the current available price (and I don't even use the BT right now).

06-30-2003, 01:28 PM	#3
nsingleton Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Essex UK Posts: 100	I installed docs to go from my T625 CD and it works ok. I was a bit concerned about the keyboard but I use it more than Graffiti now. I also have Graffity anywhere and its a big improvement on the built in one. I use BT daily for email via my T68i & GPRS but ditched Clie Mail in favour of Snappermail. The only thing I didn't have a use for was voice recorder but I installed Mcphling and can now access my favourite apps via a press of the rec button. Definately the best PDA I've owned.

06-30-2003, 02:21 PM	#4
tonyreynolds Sr. Industrial Designer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 1,121	That's good input... I was just at CompUSA, Best Buy and Circuit City and played with eth TG50 at all three. Circuit City was the best since their tether had no tension so I could hold the TG and get a real idea of what it would feel like in the hand. The keyboard is better than I thought and the keys are real keys, not the membrane keys like the NX60/70 use. I think that given time, I could get to be pretty good with them. No Document To Go is a bummer, but I still have Quick Office, so maybe I'll upgrade that... I can't find any really good deals right now, but to get the $50 rebate the receipt has to be dated before the 7th of July. We'll see what turns up in the next week. Anybody else want to comment? 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

06-30-2003, 02:30 PM	#5
madmaxmedia Registered User Join Date: May 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,428	compuplus.com for $234 after rebate, plus $7 or so for shipping. That's the best deal I know of. Ecost.com also has good pricing. Basically it just depends on where you live, so you can avoid sales tax. -Steve

06-30-2003, 02:34 PM

tonyreynolds

Sr. Industrial Designer

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: Seattle, WA USA

Posts: 1,121 tonyreynolds is on a distinguished road

Quote:

Originally posted by madmaxmedia
Basically it just depends on where you live, so you can avoid sales tax...

Yeah, no kidding!

Sales tax here in the Seattle area is 8.8-8.9%

Makes the drive to Portland with a Jetta TDI totally worth it! Of course, mail order with free shipping and no tax is even better...

Too bad I passed up the great coupons Dell had this last week...

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

06-30-2003, 04:17 PM	#7
tonyreynolds Sr. Industrial Designer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 1,121	Well, the best deal I've come up with so far, after missing the super deal of the week last week (Dell coupons plus stackable codes yielding about $219), is Dell Outlet with a 15% off coupon and free shipping with no tax. That with the $50 rebate from Sony gets the price down to $242. Oh yeah, and there's still that free leather case deal for the TG50 as well... 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

06-30-2003, 04:29 PM	#8
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	I just got my TG a few days ago and moving down from the NR screen was tough but this unit more than makes up for it in the speed increase and OS 5! Plus, I've just managed to hook up the TG via bluetooth to my powerbook (send and receive email) and send SMS's. For some reason, it can't read the sms's on the phone though (Nokia 3650). Since I can do email and sms with agendus, I'll be upgrading my old agendus 5.0 to the new agendus 6.11 pro with the email and sms ability. I'm very happy and for about $235 w/rebate, it's a great bang for your buck! Just wish there was more onboard RAM.... Mike

06-30-2003, 07:10 PM	#9
tonyreynolds Sr. Industrial Designer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 1,121	Mike: Where did you get it for $235 with the rebate? Was that $285 shipped? Thanks! 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

06-30-2003, 07:39 PM	#10
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	That was the compuplus deal! I think it was only like $7 shipping. So take that $285 (I think that's what it was and add $7 for shipping). I'm happy. I just learned how to use image converter through virtual PC and have a few movie trailers now! Mike

07-01-2003, 12:08 AM	#11
tonyreynolds Sr. Industrial Designer Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Seattle, WA USA Posts: 1,121	Mike: Sounds like you got a great deal. I spoke with my better half tonight and she was open to the idea of me using the TG50 for a few months and then doing a PDA shuffle as outlined above. OT: What VW do you have? I just got a 2003 Jetta TDI sedan 6 weeks ago (already have almost 6,000 miles on it...) and love it! I get an average of 50 mpg. 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

07-01-2003, 02:18 AM	#12
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	I was in the same boat as you with the TG-50 as an interim PDA (my NR is unusable because of that memory stick slot... fixed once before and acting up again but I have a PRP on it yet don't want to use it with these new NX's nor can I wait till mid July for them!) So I got the TG-50 to hold me off until we get an NX w/built in wireless and more promissing specs.. Well, at this price, the TG-50 was definitely a steal and I actually feel really good about the purchase. PM on the VW! Mike