TX (handheld)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Palm TX | |
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Palm, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Type | PDA |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Infra-Red |
| Retail Availability | November 2005 |
| Operating System | Palm OS Garnet, 5.4.9 |
| Camera | None |
| Media | 128 MB Flash memory |
| Input | 320x480 px, 65536 colors, Touchscreen |
| Power | Lithium ion battery |
| CPU | 312 MHz Intel XScale PXA 270 |
| Display | 320x480 TFT screen capable of displaying 65,536 colors |
| Touchpad | Entire screen |
The TX is a personal digital assistant produced by Palm, Inc.. It features 802.11b Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, and is priced at $299 USD. It runs Palm OS Garnet, version 5.4.9. It was announced and released as part of Palm's Fall 2005 product cycle. The $299 price was considered aggressive at release; it has largely replaced the earlier, more-expensive T5. As the company considers the Lifedrive to be a separate category, this makes the T|X Palm's top-of-the-line PDA. However, as Palm continues shifting to smartphones, this is a dubious distinction.
Note that the handheld is the "Palm TX," not "PalmOne Tungsten TX." After the release of the Lifedrive, the company is deemphasizing the Tungsten and Zire sub-brands. After the reacquisition of the rights to the Palm name alone (versus 'PalmOne'), the company is reemphasizing its identity.
[edit] Hardware
- Most significantly, Wifi is now built in. The antenna is internal. Continued miniaturization of components, as well as Wifi support in the 'Bulverde' processor, allowed the integration within the previous packaging, while keeping wattage and cost acceptable.
- Bluetooth 1.1 is retained. The 1.2 indicated on some of the rear-panel stickers is a misprint. Bluetooth can be transferring data simultaneously with Wifi, although such occasions would be rare.
- Mechanically, the TX has a shell similar to the T5. Cases are compatible between models. The biggest change is the finish. The titanium-colored, glossy paint of the T5 was replaced with a flat, almost powder-finish black. (Palm refers to this finish as "Steel Blue.") It is widely speculated that the switch was made due to the T5 casing's tendency to pick up fingerprints and scratches. Handheld aficionados and Palm OS loyalists have often criticized the Tungsten T5, and thus the TX, for their plastic casings, which is considered out-of-place for a high-end handheld.
- Functionally, one of the T5's hardware buttons, for 'Files,' has been changed to a Wifi button, but the button can be re-mapped in software to any application desired. The stylus is interchangeable with the T5 stylus. However, the reset hole on the back of the casing has been enlarged. Now a user can reset with the stylus tip, instead of unscrewing the reset tool in the cap of the stylus, or finding a pin. The power button is on top, unchanged from the T5.
- Many users have complained about the design of the power button, a carryover from earlier high-end models such as the Tungsten T5. The power button's inset design requires the user to apply a large amount of pressure to the power button, which could potentially damage it. This design flaw is often the subject of many user complaints.
- The flap/cover is mechanically identical to the T5's, with two minor changes. The finish is changed from glossy to matte. Palm refers to this as 'microfiber', although this may be a marketing term, not actual microfiber material. This may have been another step to prevent scratching of the case. Also, the area of the flap covering the hardware buttons has slightly thinner padding. This helps prevents the 5-way D-pad, particularly the down direction, from being pressed while in a pocket or bag. As with the T5, the flap/cover cannot be switched to the right side for left-handed users.
- On top is a slot for SD expansion cards, similar to the T5. The slot is also SDIO and MMC compatible. 2 GB cards are usable directly. An SD card of 4GB capacity is usable if formatted to Fat32 with an included driver. The Fat32 driver is much slower than the Fat16 driver, but the speed is still sufficient for most uses. One might notice the slow speed while fast forwarding a movie for instance.
- T|X has an Athena Connector, officially referred to as the 'Multiconnector,' on the bottom for syncing and accessories. This is the same connector as the T5, E2 (but not E), Lifedrive, and Treo 650/700/750 (but not 600). Thus the TX can use cradles, data cables, chargers, and sleds designed for any of those models. As with other Multiconnector devices, the data and power cables are separate. The unit can trickle-charge off a USB data cable, though at a very slow rate. Unlike some other brands, Palm's standard does not have a handshake protocol, thus expanding the availability and decreasing the price of third-party chargers.
- It also has headphone jack (standard 3.5mm), and infrared I/O port on top, as on the T5. The infrared port is concealed behind the IR-transparent plastic. A single speaker is on the back, as with the T5. The speaker is capable of full audio playback, as opposed to simply alarm tones and buzzer feedback. But the small size means that, quality-wise, it is no match for headphones.
- The T|X has a 320x480 transreflective screen that supports 65,000 colors. The screen can be reoriented from portrait to landscape in software. The handwriting space can be dismissed or retrieved in either orientation if the application supports the larger area. These specifications are identical to the T5 and Lifedrive; however, Palm uses multiple screen vendors, even within a model, so qualitative comparisons are difficult. The backlight can be dimmed in the control panel, but not turned off. As with the T5, the screen may actually be too bright for uses such as bedtime reading or astronomy.
- The T|X has 128 MB of non-volatile memory. As with the T5 and the Treo 650 phone, data is not lost if the battery is drained, though such memory is slower than dynamic RAM. (The slowdown is most noticed on writing data, not reading.) Of this, 100 MB is user accessible, which some consider to be a leap backward from the 256 MB seen in the Tungsten T5. However, the Tungsten T5 had only 63.8 MB available for applications, so the application-area of memory has actually increased.
- The processor, a 312 MHz ARM-based Intel XScale PXA 270 processor, is slower than the processors of the T5 or LifeDrive which are clocked at 416 MHz; this may be an attempt to increase battery life after the inclusion of Wi-Fi in the handheld and to lower costs. Many users report that the actual performance of the unit seems higher than that of the T5 and LifeDrive. The most likely explanation is that the new filesystem, its accompanying OS routines, and related processes have been more thoroughly evaluated since their first implementation in the T5 and Treo 650, and to a lesser extent the LifeDrive.
[edit] Software
Overall, the OS is more stable and in some cases more responsive, as described above.
The organizer applications have received slight impovements. Each entry in the Contacts application has nine "Custom" fields, up from four in the T5.
In addition to the basic organizer features, some of the built-in software for the T|X includes:
- Versamail v3 - handheld email client. Supports POP, IMAP and Microsoft exchange protocols, and service providers such as Yahoo.
- Dataviz Documents To Go 7 Professonal Edition. - A useful mini-office application compatible with Microsoft Office files. Documents To Go also includes the ability to open PDF documents, although early shipments may need an update. Currently, Documents to Go does NOT work with Microsoft Office 2007, although a fix from DataViz is in the works.
- A separate Adobe Acrobat PDF client, an eReader e-book client, and the Audible audiobook client are included on the software CD.
- Pocket Tunes v3 - An MP3 player. Additional features, such as codecs for unprotected AAC, WMA, etc, are available for purchase separately. Pocket Tunes replaces the T5's Realplayer, which had received many complaints.
- Blazer v4 - Palm's own web browser, optimized for hand-held browsing.
- Connection wizards for Bluetooth and Wifi, and a phone dialer. The Wifi utility can be used as a crude sniffer.
- Palm's own Media application handles images (acting as a slideshow viewer, with multiple transitions) and video clips. The program has speed improvements versus prior releases.
- A client for Microsoft Exchange is included as standard. This client can also connect to Kerio MailServer using the Exchange ActiveSync protocol.
- A client for Avvenu is included. This service allows the handheld to operate as a remote terminal for a networked computer which has also installed Avvenu.
- A client for MobiTV is included, though the user must subscribe to the service separately.
- The user interface is similar to the T5/Lifedrive/T3, except that a Wifi icon has been added to the status bar. The new icon has pushed off the 'Home' icon.
- The TX loses the 'USB drive' interface of the T5 and Lifedrive. However, the necessary hardware remains, so this feature can be added by the user if so desired.
