Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld

In early September my 2 year old Palm Zire 71 fried itself. One day it was charging, got really hot, and simply stopped working. I knew it was coming. For a couple weeks the battery didn't hold a charge and always felt warm, so when the PDA finally fried, I was little more than annoyed.

It was the beginning of a new semester, so poor didn't begin to describe me or my bank account. The idea of paying $250 for a new PDA was completely out of the question. I've had a PDA since the age of 15, so just the thought of being without one made me twitch. I like to chop up those paper organizers or color their pages with the random crayons I find around my room. No money? Not a problem. With a little research and quite a bit of time staring at the Palm website I found a deal that I just couldn't pass up. Amazon was selling the E2 for 229.99 with a $50 mail in rebate. I had $12 in Amazon gift certificates and of course this qualified for free shipping. My cost was now down to $168. My bank account had $77. What to do? I signed up for the Amazon.com Visa credit card and saved an additonal $30 from my E2 and had no payments for 6 months. A $138 Tungsten E2 and no payment for 6 months? Problem solved.

The Decision

A long time ago in a land far, far away existed a Palm product named the Palm V. Days were spent drooling over such a beautiful device in comparison to the lowly Handspring Visor Deluxe that I owned. Its sleek metallic finish, contoured sides, light weight, and thickness of only half an inch made this Palm the best in the land...but at such I young age not even I could afford it. So when the m505 came out years later, the V's cousin of the future, I couldn't resist. It was a thing of beauty, and then it committed suicide (jumped off my desk). With the death of my Zire 71, I saw an opportunity to get that beautiful design back with the Tungsten E2. Pretty, light, and thin, it became my new best non mountain bike related friend.

The Goods

The Tungsten E2 is simply a modified version of the E. Of course, you still get the Calendar, Address Book, Notepad, Memo, Calculator, World Time, etc, but the E2 offers a faster processor (200mHZ compared to 126) and a newer Palm OS system (5.4 Garnet compared to 5.2.1). Apart from the name and logo on the top of your handheld, you won't notice much difference. The E2 sports a beautiful 320x320 Transflective TFT color display, capable of displaying over 65,000 colors. The new T/X has a 320x480, actually too bright for some. With only 32MB of internal memory (26 usable), it leaves you with no choice but to buy an SD card if you have MP3s, videos, or just a lot of files. Much like other Palm handhelds, the E2 is capable of reading Multimedia cards, Secure Digital cards, and SDIO cards. You can store files, games, music, videos, pictures, and anything else you can figure out how to put on a Palm. I have a 128MB card that has absolutely nothing on it. I just like the card.

Another nice feature is that it comes with built in bluetooth capabilities.

Button Pushing

In your preferences you have the option of not allowing the device to turn on if the buttons on the bottom are pushed accidentally. This only refers to the middle section of buttons, as the four other buttons are sunken in, preventing most things from accidentally pressing them. In the center you have your navigation button. Left, right, up, down and select, which is located in the middle. On either side of you navigator you have two additional buttons. On the left you have a calendar and address book buttons. On the right you have to do list and the note pad button. All of these buttons can be changed in your preferences. My To Do list takes me to pictures (media) instead because To Do is a feature I never use.

Included Software

Palm is rather generous now with software. Back in the old days you had to pay for a lot of things that you now get for free. As always, you get your Palm Desktop software. You can access your information through this software and back up on your computer, so if your Palm gets moody and deletes itself, you are screwed. When installing your software you do have the option of having it sync to Microsoft Outlook. For you Outlook users this will make life quite a bit easier, just remember to hit that button while installing the software.

Also included on your disc is Documents to Go, Versamail, and ebook reader, Enterprise software, SMS, Realplayer and Apple Quicktime for your desktop, Adobe reader, Addit, and Audible player. Ebooks are available for purchase through Palm's website, but the reader does come with The Last of the Mohicans and a Star Trek novel already installed. With Documents to Go you can create and access Powerpoint, Excel, and Word documents on your Palm handheld. What used to cost you $70 to purchase separately is now included with your software.

Confused by your Palm? On the top right corner of the installation software window is a tutorial to help you get to know your handheld. While I recommend playing with your Palm for a couple hours, the tutorial can be nice to teach you a few tricks.

Gripes

I have one complaint about my Tungsten E2, the touchscreen. At first I thought I had just forgotten how to write with Grafitti on the screen. P is read as an F every time. I tried to calibrate in the settings menu but soon realized that it didn't change anything. I thought I was just plain stupid until I downloaded Lemmings. No matter how many times I tap on my little Lemming man, I can't select him. The screen is just that bad. Mind you, entering data into a calendar or writing notes works perfectly, as long as you don't have to tap in very small areas or write a lot on the screen. I've gotten used to it, but Palm should expect a nasty email in the future.

Random fun things I couldn't do with the Zire 71

One of my new favorite features is the ability to change the background of my screen. I have a different picture for 3 of my screens, Applications, Main Menu, and Calendar, all of which are different pictures of my precious poodle.

Dimensions
4.5"x3.1"x0.59"
4 ounces

Syncing and Battery Life

Palm used to include a Hotsync cradle with its handhelds, but no more. Cradles are sold separately. Instead, you are supplied with a cable that plugs into the bottom of your handheld and connects to your USB port. The connection? Horrible. I have to push the button on average 3 times to Hotsync, and it usually takes 10 seconds for the device notice that the button has been pushed. This doesn't really bother me, yet. For someone in a hurry this could definitely be a problem.

Inside your E2 is a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery. No you cannot remove it, please don't try. A tiny little cord plugs into the bottom of your E2 to the right of where you plug in your Hotsync cable. Both can be plugged in at a time. Battery life will vary depending on what you use it for. I rarely have to recharge my E2 and have noticed that the battery life has significantly improved over my Zire 71. Even if you don't have time to recharge your memory is safe. The 32MB internal memory is non-volatile, meaning that your memory stays put even when your battery is dead.

Accessorize?

Included with your Palm is software, a stylus, and a cheap cover. This will do little more than protect your screen. Want your E2 to survive more than a year? You need to buy a case. Don't just go for that slim leather case because its cheap. Stop. Think. Where do I put my Palm when I don't use it. Purse (I don't own one), desk, glove compartment? You might want to consider a hard case. While it is twice as expensive, it actually covers the entire PDA, not leaving the sides exposed to whatever may be lurking in your pocket. A slim leather case retails for $19.99 and the hard case retails for $39.99. Both can be found cheaper on eBay.


Final Thoughts

For the price, now $189.99 at Amazon, the Tungsten E2 is a great mid-range handheld. If my Zire had not fried in September, instead, if it held out another couple months, I would have bought a T/X instead.