Palm Tungsten T5 PalmOne PDA (1035NA)

• Sleek, stylish handheld with groundbreaking 256 MB internal flash memory
• Doubles as a flash drive--quickly drag and drop files from your PC to handheld
• Expansion slot that supports MMC, SD, and SDIO memory cards
• Palm Desktop Software for Windows and Mac and Software Essentials CD included
• Bluetooth enabled

Compared to the T3, this "upgrade" lacks:

* metal casing

* voice recorder

* silent alarm

* slider

* cradle (extra $39.95)

In addition, the new T5 does not come with Wi-Fi (an overdue spec for the T series).

The updated OS 5.4 hardly justifies the upgrade (T3 comes with OS 5.2), as is the case with the flash memory spec (a keyring flash unit has twice the capacity and doesn't require you to haul around the USB cable).

Most everyone agrees that this unit is really a TE2, and not an upgrade for the T3.

At $399, this is the most overrated and overpriced Palm PDS in the market.

Buy Palm Tungsten T5 PalmOne PDA (1035NA) Now

The Tungsten T5 is a fast, simple Palm PDA with a superb screen, lots of memory, and pretty good battery life for a PDA with a comparable display and performance. It lacks a lot of features that one would look for in a top-of-the-line PDA: silent (LED or vibrating) alerts, voice recorder, international AC charger, Wi-Fi, camera, etc. If you are looking for a feature the Tungsten T5 lacks, if you don't find it on PalmOne's older but still current Tungsten T3 model, you'll find it on Sony's Clie TH55, an excellent PDA so crowded with features that they almost didn't have room for the jog wheel but included it anyway!

And that's the beauty of the T5: it's small, lightweight and uncluttered, with a longer battery life than the Tungsten T3 or the Clie TH55. That said, PalmOne shouldn't be charging a premium for a lack of features, but that seems to be what they're doing. The T5 costs the same or more than PDAs with more features. If these are features you don't want or need, than perhaps you're paying extra to not have to carry them around with you. Decide if that's worth it to you: it might be. It is worth it for me. I find the Tungsten T5 to be attractively designed and convenient to carry and use, though many people don't like its looks and feel offended by the price/feature proposition. I've only had it for a week, but it shows every sign of being reliable and well put together. The display and audio quality (through not-included headphones) make it enjoyable to use as a book reader and MP3 player, though it takes no more room in my pocket than a bare-bones PIM would.

Another consideration: with the Tungsten T5, PalmOne introduces a new "universal" connector that is not backward-compatible with the one they've been using for the last three years, but which, presumably, they'll use on some or most of their PDAs and smart-phones for the next two or three or four years. If you already own peripherals that support the old connector, the Tungsten T5 is an even worse value for you. If you don't, then any new peripherals you buy for it should be supported on new PalmOne devices for the next few years.

Read Best Reviews of Palm Tungsten T5 PalmOne PDA (1035NA) Here

I didn't buy the T3 because of the many known issues like the bad battery performance and because I wanted to wait for the next handheld expected this fall. So here it is, and oh what a disappointment.

First, it doesn't have a slider like all the other Ts. This might be a matter of taste, although very practical, but the fact that a 400 dollar handheld looks just like the cheap Tungsten E is a strange thought for me. Also, the case is made of glossy plastic, and judging from the experience with this kind of case that many Tungsten E users made, it will catch visible fingerprint grease within seconds and ugly scratches and discolored spots within weeks. If PalmOne had only stayed with the matted metal which made all the other Tungstens feel and look very well.

Second, it doesn't have the universal connector which was on all business models for the last four years. I have a cradle on my office desk, one on my desk at home and one even glued to my car dashboard connected to the GPS receiver, let alone all the accessories, and now I'm not going to dispose of all these investments.

Third, it doesn't have OS 6 although this was delivered nearly a year ago now. The new OS has big advances in many important things like multimedia, database organisation and so on while being downwards compatible, so not putting it on the new Tungsten is very stupid.

Fourth, it doesn't have WiFi. You can get an expensive WiFi-add-on-card, but this will take up the only SD slot and stand out of the device for at least a centimeter. So it makes the device even uglier while taking away the possibility for other accessories like a memory card.

Fifth, it doesn't have a microphone. Voice notes were introduced with the first Tungsten T and have been a killer feature ever since. And now, PalmOne is taking them away without even saying sorry.

So, I can only hope that PalmOne can live through this poor attempt at presenting a new handheld. Or perhaps they want to force the classical handheld into ruin to make way for the Treo style smartphone. But they shouldn't expect me to be their customer again in the near future.

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I just purchased the T5 after having a T3 for a year and a half. I love my T3 -but now love the T5 just as much. I agree that one crucial feature is missing: a charge indicator light. I don't know what they were thinking when they eliminated that. However, I can now take my T5 and hook it up to my computer at work (via a USB cable) -transfer files -take them home with me (without dragging around a heavy laptop) -work on them -and take them back to work. I can also take Word, PowerPoint, Excel files on the road with me and since I travel almost twice a month, not having to drag a laptop through the airport is like heaven. I don't think the price is bad either for what you're getting.

The Good

USB cnnection to any computer to transfer files

Tons more storage

USB sync -no more cradles

Home/Favorites -fast access to the applications important to you

Beautiful hi res screen as in the T3

Built-in Bluetooth

Flash memory so you won't lose data if battery dies

Longer battery life per charge -less charging

No cradle for charging -can take charge AC cord wherever you go to charge

I love the new case design -you slide the Palm in and never have to remove it when charging, transferring files, etc. You can keep it protected and in the case at all times.

The case cover material is exactly the same as the T3 -so I'm not sure why one reviewer said it gets messed up with fingerprints. It doesn't.

The actual T5 exterior is gunmetal -slightly darker than the T3. But a great feel in your hand and very sleek.

The T5 is slightly heavier than the T3 -but almost unoticeable.

The Bad

No light to indicate charging!

No voice recorder -but I never used the one on the T3 so it makes no difference to me. But if this is something you use a lot -then it's a negative.

I do miss the T3 stylus -spring loaded. We are now back to the traditional stylus of old but I can live with it.

I think Palm did a superb job with the T5 and I haven't had any problems with it freezing up or malfunctioning. I've been syncing, transferring files, etc. with no issues whatsoever. I never had any issues with the T3 either -except when loading third party games. I would stay away from those. I use my Palm mostly for work -if you want a PDA just to play games, I'd look elsewhere or stick to the Palm games.

Thanks, Palm, for making my life easier!

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Palm's T5 doesn't seem to have made that much of an impressionparticularly on those who had a Clie or a T3. Having had a Tungsten C, I have to say the T5 is great. I guess it depends on what you want from a PDA.

1. Work-life balance: I want to balance my business and demanding clients, with my family, and professional development activities: The T5's intergalactic-sized (landscape) screen lets me see everything that's coming up really easily (especially when combined with Agendus' brilliant PIM software)

2. I hate wires: The T5 can easily sync with Outlook through Bluetooth.

3. I like to read documents, presentations and white papers on my palm: The T5 has the storage and display capabilities to do this. (My old 'C' might have had Acrobat, but you could never read a document with ittoo small.)

4. I work on several computers: The T5 pretends to be a disc drive, so I can move files around (and I can read the files on the Palm without any converting)

5. I need a good battery: it has it!

As you can probably guess, I'm not a PDA expert, but the T5 is a winner for me, and easy to use. And the OS is still 100x better than Microsoft's offerings.

...But rather like some of the other reviewers here, I do get the feeling that the T5 is probably a 'stop-gap', before something better. So maybe it would be worth waiting, and watching the press releases!