Palm has released Tungsten - ARM-based palm OS5 handheld

[bravesfan258]

Is palm dead? They've finally released Tungsten, their long awaited next generation handheld. It has 14 megs (effective) onboard memory, comes without integrated MP3 and video players (although these are available via 3rd party software), and costs $499.

I know the argument that palm 'beats' PPC devices because of simplicity, ease of use, etc, but if that's the case, why spend $499? I think Palm shot themselves in the foot with this one, but I'm open to other opinions.

Thoughts?

See the Tungsten here

 

[narzy]

is it just me or does that thing look like an iPaq, speaking of which, I think I'll stick with mine .

 

[Keego]

Wow!

expensive though... compared to the Viewsonic one that just came out. But integrated bluetooth!

 

[ed21x]

higher resolution than a ipaq, lower power consumption, bluetooth, and a neat sliding mechnism to protect the graffiti area and make it smaller its actually a pretty sweet machine~ what buggs me is, it's not that hard to write the software necessary for it to decode mp3's, considering that the hardware is capable of it, but now that they chose not to include it, they've definitely lost a major selling point for the unit.

 

[ElFenix]

don't palm OS devices hold like 60% market share?

 

[Pink0]

wow, the palm has finally caught up with the pocket pc! Sort of....there's no media software and you can't install just any windows CE device including any number of NES, snes, genesis emulators...but you know, it's a palm. still having a dedicated writing surface is, imho, dumb at best. I like that the pocket pc's writing surface is part of the display and can disapear. With this new palm you actually have to slide up the display to get at it which I can see as being uncomfortable and problematic.

 

[bravesfan258]

don't palm OS devices hold like 60% market share?

Didn't palm OS devices used to hold like 100% market share?

I'm a fan of competition, and have cursed some of the complexities of the PPC operating system before, but Palm has obviously just tried to up the ante against microsoft, and I think they struck out. Would Real not liscense a palm-OS version of their product? I just don't understand the market palm is targeting with their new device. If their strength is still in simplicity and organizers, why include an ARM-based processsor and a $500 price tag? If this is going to be a multimedia device, they need to include MP3 and video players with the device.

I continue to be amazed by Palm's cluelessness.

 

[Derango]

Usually, in the PalmOS market, the best stuff doesn't come out of Palm. It comes out of the people who license the OS like handspring (to a lesser extent), and Sony (to a much greater extent).

Palm, the company, hasn't really had a clue about where the market is at since they released the Palm VII and the Vx

 

[Chadder007]

We have about 100 pocket pc/palm devices here on our company campus. 90% are of Palm variety...10% are PocketPC. I was the one who pushed for the pocket PC's over palms but now i regret it very much. Problems from all handhelds come in at 90% from the fewer Pocket PCs that we have compared to the Palms!!!! ARGH!! IMO they just aren't up there in quality compared to Palm just yet.

 

[merlocka]

I use a PDA to keep my schedule and calander (mainly) as well as fun stuff (games, audio, etc...).

I have both a Palm Vx and an Ipaq 3635.

The Ipaq is neet-o, especially with PPC2002. After I tried to use it to organize my contacts (~4500 in different folders) and my schedule, I nearly smashed it with a hammer. It would hang constantly while trying to browse contacts, Activesync would not find the device half the time, and the battery (even with the giant extra-battery sleeve) life sucked. It's a cute toy, but it wan't good for much else. It sits in my drawer, becoming dusty.

I reverted to the Palm Vx and the only thing I wished the Palm Vx could do was play mp3. Looks like I'll be snapping up a Tungsten|T ASAP. (Well, as soon as I figure out if there is an mp3 player available )

 

[NFS4]

LOL, Palm just doesn't get it!! Why not just do a digital grafiti area like PocketPC's instead of having a sliding mechanism that adds bulk, weight, and complexity to the device?

- The Viewsonic V35 I just pre-ordered is 4.2 ounces and is .44 inches thick compared to 5.2 ounces and .6 inches.

- 16MB RAM. I'll take my 64MB thank you

- Display is 320x320, but it is still fuggin' small as crap. I'll thoroughly enjoy the V35's Transreflective screen (i.e. iPAQ 3900) over the Palms screen

- Bluetooth. Useless right now IMHO, even on the iPAQ 3975


If you're a true PalmOS fan, wait for Sony and Visor. They are the only TRUE innovaters in the Palm sector.

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: NFS4


- 16MB RAM. I'll take my 64MB thank you

16MB on a palm goes further than 64MB on a pocketPC. Much further, at least when it comes to applications. Movies, MP3s, Music...they'd have to go on an expansion card or somthing

If you're a true PalmOS fan, wait for Sony and Visor.

Its Handspring They came out with the Visor. Visor isn't a company.

 

[merlocka]

Originally posted by: NFS4
LOL, Palm just doesn't get it!! Why not just do a digital grafiti area like PocketPC's instead of having a sliding mechanism that adds bulk, weight, and complexity to the device?

Perhaps because Palm wanted to migrate large base of exiting users from the old pad to digital grafiti? I'm willing to bet there will be new devices without the "slider" soon.

- The Viewsonic V35 I just pre-ordered is 4.2 ounces and is .44 inches thick compared to 5.2 ounces and .6 inches.

Based on images I've seen, if the screen is 3.5" (as specified) that puts the h,w at about 5.5" and 3.7" respectively. I'll take 4x3x.6 thank you.

- 16MB RAM. I'll take my 64MB thank you

Well, with PPC2002, you'll need it. And how about that 300MHz Xscale which pretty much runs the bloated PPC2002 slower than the old 200MHz parts?

- Display is 320x320, but it is still fuggin' small as crap. I'll thoroughly enjoy the V35's Transreflective screen (i.e. iPAQ 3900) over the Palms screen

So is small good or bad?

And have you seen either screen?

- Bluetooth. Useless right now IMHO, even on the iPAQ 3975

- People said the same thing about USB initially.

If you're a true PalmOS fan, wait for Sony and Visor. They are the only TRUE innovaters in the Palm sector.

[/quote]

They both make good products. See, we agree!

 

[The Sauce]

Yeah I have to agree with most of the comments here. I am a Palm OS holdout only because I am stuck with having to use it for medical purposes and the software isn't there yet for the PocketPC models. Palm has always made an inferior product and priced it out of any reasonable competitive range. The fact that they just released there new OS and still do not seem to be able to address any more than 16MB of internal memory is simply preposterous. Even on a Palm there is only so much that you can do with that memory. There just seems to be no desire on their part to even address the PocketPC platform as a competitive threat, as they continue to crank out the same old crap with the same old problems. The Sony's are much better but they are also restricted by the OS limitations on memory and have the absolutely worst, piss-poor customer support conceivable by any company ever.

 

[prontospyder]

too overpriced.

I'm waiting for Dell's PocketPC or for Viewsonic's PPC to drop in price.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

How bout that Asus pocket PC? After all, the "Distinctive aluminum alloy casing delivers superior taste!" Mmmm mmmm! Good eats!