My review of the T5.
I am the friend that Jeff mentioned who changed from the C to the 5. It is not that I did not like the C. Far from that, the C was the longest running Palm I had had. It went the length of the country when I was in New York looking for work. I really enjoyed the wifi and the genuine operating of it. The damn thing was like the old Timex commerical. It took a licking and kept on ticking.
The biggest reason for my change was that I had my old phone crap out after two very heavy years of useage. I then went to my provider and got a brand new top of the line Motorola with Bluetooth. After a lot of “open and frank” discussion, I decided to take the plunge. I switched. So far, it has not been a disaster.
Let me explain my reasoning. I have found that the 5 is lighter than the C. Which helps after a long day of carrying the device and the keyboard on a belt. Bluetooth to my surprise and this is only an observation on my part, seems to download Email as fast as Wifi on the C. The internet browser is slower, but Blazer is superior to WebPro. The images are sharper and the interface works better with Versa Mail than with WebPro.
The 5 has been working well after Jeff and I worked out the kinks with it. This is more of my doing than the machine, I usually had the C full of all sorts of downloads. The majority of which I never used. When Jeff looked at the software he was surprised to find that a lot of software seemed to be cobalt influenced. This did cause a lot of “burps” with some of my old software. It wouldn’t work with the 5. As soon as I learned that, if I wanted to use some software, I went directly to the developer’s own website and downloaded the latest version. So far, I have had good luck. I was even able to use that infamous (according to Jeff) latest FranklinCovey software with the 5. No problems. Docs to Go sent me another patch and it has also worked with the 5. The lesson is if you are planning to use the 5, find the latest version of whatever program you are going to use and install that one. That being said, some of my software like SplashMoney works fine with the 5.
The screen is fantastic and I love being able to use the landscape with the new keyboard. Even better is when in landscape, I can plug the travel charger on one side and still continue to type. The application button is great, when you are in a rush. It can get you there when needed. I really like the contact section, especially with the bluetooth dial-up feature. I use to use Z launcher with the C. While there has been an update to it, I am remaining with the PalmOne version. Many of the features from the Z appear on the PalmOne original. As an example, you can touch the time and it will bring up battery useage, memory space, and brightness level (Jeff complains that mine is always too high, he thinks that it is like a flashlight.)
Are there some issues with the 5? “Well it ain’t no ubergeek device”. For all my ubergeek friends I met in Bryant Park in NYC, who carried three PDA’s all with WiFi, bluetooth, and Klingon disrupters. One major reason I don’t miss WiFi is that with the Bluetooth, I can check my email where ever my cellphone works. This has proven advantageous when arranging interviews with people. They were surprised to have someone respond as fast as I have. Plus Docs-to-Go and Mobile Docs have done a good job of keeping my resumes looking like the original.
Why did I tire of Wifi, having returned to Denver, I had the culture shock of wifi spots being miles apart, then at times, you wondered if the C would even connect. At T-Mobile most of the time it would. Other places, it was a crap shoot. Do I miss Wifi, then, well yes and no, I did and still do like the speed it would download the browser. I may breakdown and get the Wifi card later. But, I really am not that broken down to not use it anymore.
Some complaints of mine about the 5, I would have preferred to have the Docs-to-Go come with the Spell Check, though it now appears that the delete works on Docs to Go 7 and the 5. I wish that the 5 did have complete access to all of the 250 meg of memory. Come on you clowns, if TapWave can figure out how to do it, so can Palm One. I wish that VersaMail would sink better with Outlook, especially with the sent folder. Sometimes it will sync and other times it will not. Two other complaints, when reading email on VersaMail sometimes the down arrow will work with the keyboard and other times it will not. Either this is an OEM error or some software glich that needs to be fixed. (Come on Folks, remember TQM, Deming and his like, stop the beta test on the general public.)
Finally not with the 5 itself, while the new keyboard is ideal and I love it, the beta test boys and girls need to fix the glich that shuts off the board, causing me to either slide the board back and forth to turn it back on, or go to the keyboard shortcut on the Palm and screw around with it to get the board going. I believe this is a problem, since I noticed Jeff having similar issues with the Zodiac, ( by the way naming a PDA after the serial killer from San Francisco?).
Overall, I like the 5. It is not the ubergeek device I was hoping that PalmOne would come out with, but when dealing with PDA’s, you are always dealing with compromises. You cannot expect these things to do everything.
So for Aaron, sent with a brand new and shiny T5.
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