PDA Reviews

The Palm Inc. has launched a new device that can be used both as a PDA and as a music player. As we all know, the PDAs are more formal and are often used in business sectors. But as technology bridges the gaps between various sectors in the world, The Palm Inc. has decided to provide a device that can be used both for entertainment and for serious works at a time. Hence for people having similar plans, The Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld PDA is the right choice. Although majority of it has been only addition to the Tungsten E that featured yesteryear, this one is actually living dangerously as there is a lot of competition among PDAs and their manufacturers. It has to get through all the tests and also satisfy all the minimum requirements. Let us see if this new PDA is good enough for everyone and fulfills the expectations.

Design:

Reluctant to make design changes:
As the design of the Tungsten E2 was very well appreciated by everyone, Palm has not changed it much and stuck to the same design as far as possible. The same compact and sleek form factor makes it look very decent and quite professional. Its curvaceous body is very pleasing to look at. You feel that you are having a plaything rather than a PDA device. Going deeper into the details, the measurements of the Tungsten E2 which are, (H x W x D) 114 x 79 x 15 mm. It also weighs only 133 grams. Thus it is incredibly light in weight. This fact makes you quite happy. Doesn’t it?

You will find the scroll buttons and the jockey right at the bottom centre, as usual. The buttons that hold the main functions surround the scroll button. There are four standard customizable buttons in all, and they are used as shortcuts to various programs and applications on the device. The display screen occupies quite a large portion of the device. Although all these are very common to all PDAs and mobile phones, the way they look on the Tungsten E2 makes it a very special PDA.

Display:
Right at the top of the requirements list sits the Display of the PDA. The Tungsten E2 now has an improved display system. The 3.7 inch TFT LCD screen is one of the bigger screens you will see on the PDAs. The screen is specially designed to be pretty bright at all times. With a screen resolution of 320 x 320 pixels along with the high colour pattern that comprises about 65,536 colours, instead of the usual 320 x 240 pixels and 64,000, you are always assured of very good display from the Tungsten E2. The special feature of this screen is that it makes everything more fine tuned and hence the pictures on the Tungsten E2 are more vivid, candid and also more natural. This means that you can easily read the screen contents in direct sunlight as well. Hence, you have got one of the better display mechanisms in your hand.

Features:

Lots of features are coming up. When you browse through the Tungsten E2, you will find very good applications, options and features with various functions. Some of them are related to professional works and are official in terms of utility. The others are very funny and entertaining so that you can relax for some time. Here is a detail picture of all the software and other various features in the Tungsten E2.

Processor:
The processor is the backbone of a PDA device. Any device’s potential can be estimated by the quality of the processor it has in it. As usual with the PDAs from Palm, the processor that is used here is the 200MHz Intel XScale processor, produced by Intel. This is one of the fastest processors that you will see featuring in the PDAs. Although there were a few problems in the past regarding the performance of these processors, Palm has made sure that nothing of that sort happens this time around by making subtle changes. Hence you will be comfortable using the device, not being bothered about the little problems that stop your device all of a sudden.

Operating System:
Almost all of the PDAs and mobile phones from Palm feature an operating system that is designed by Palm itself. The Tungsten E2 comes with the Palm OS Garnet version 5.4.7. This is the latest OS from Palm and is also more user friendly than any other OS of Palm. Although most of the PDAs are coming with Microsoft Windows as their Operating System, Palm still stuck to its own OS. But there is nothing inferior when it comes to the Garnet OS and it has all the features and flexibility in it to make it easy for the users to get used to it quickly.

Protective Lid:
The Tungsten E2 surprisingly came out with a protective flip over cover in order to protect the screen. This cover is made of plastic. As we all are aware of the LCD screens and their delicate nature, we always wanted either a tougher screen or a protection for the delicate one. You obviously do not get a tough screen since all of them are made of liquid crystals. So, Palm has opted to go with the outer protection using a plastic lid. This lid is also special because you can remove it if not needed. If you are travelling or if you feel like protecting it, then you can always put on the lid. Hence, this is one of those features that will make the users happy.

Non-Volatile File System:
The Tungsten E2 comes with this special feature, the Non-Volatile File System, whose function is clearly known from its name. This special software makes sure that all your important files and documents are not lost under any circumstances, unless you delete them. Even if your device is damaged or switched off due to low battery power, this software securely saves all the documents automatically so that you can open them the next time you switch the device on. It means that your files will be non- volatile as they do not change or get deleted easily. This feature is just like the hibernate mode that you will see on the laptop computers. Thus your files are always safe with the Tungsten E2.

Wi-Fi:
Wi-Fi has become one of the vital features of any electronic device nowadays. It is now featured on electronic gadgets ranging from iPods to Televisions. The Palm Tungsten E2 is also not an exception to this. This feature was not available on the previous PDA from Palm, the Tungsten E. Hence this is certainly an add-on. To utilise the Wi-Fi option, you need to buy the Wi-Fi card that is specially designed for the Tungsten E2 by SyChip. The encryption of this Wi-Fi card is also restricted to WEP. Hence there is no WPA or WPA2 in the Tungsten E2. This may be a bit inconvenient to some of the users but that is the way it is.

Memory Card:
As the Tungsten E2 is claimed to be a very good music player along with being a good PDA, it will need some internal or external memory to support its functions. The internal memory given is too little for anything. A 30 MB of internal memory is provided. As this will be enough for all the contacts and other documents in the device, you will need to buy an external memory card separately from the stores. But at the same time, you cannot buy every memory card in the market as there are a few software limitations when it comes to the memory card compatibility. The Tungsten E2 supports only SD memory cards and that too those that have a capacity below 1 GB. This may be one of the few drawbacks of the E2. Memory Cards with higher capacities will not be compatible. Therefore, you need to buy multiple cards of 1 GB capacity, if at all you want good memory for your device.

Bluetooth:
Bluetooth has been a revelation of late and has changed the outlook of communication. It also, like the Wi-Fi, appears on just about any electronic device in the world. This feature allows wireless communication and data exchange from your device to any other device that has Bluetooth feature. Hence you can exchange data between devices with this feature. The Tungsten E2 also did not pose any problems while using this application and it was pretty quick in searching for devices too. This also easily syncs with other devices. But if the synchronisztion is between two Tungsten mobiles, then the connection is a bit faster and the files are also sent quicker.

The Athena Connector:
The Athena Connector, also known as the multi connector, is a very special feature of the Tungsten mobiles, especially the E2. It is a universal connector that is specially designed to get your Tungsten E2 connected to various accessories and cradles. This connector consists of a mini USB cable that can be used for syncing. You can also connect your PDA to your computer for charging and also for transfer of files such as music, pictures, videos and documents. With the help of this feature, you can also save your files in your computer and hence clear the memory off your mobile. With this multi connector, you can also read cards and others and so this feature is multi purposeful.

Documents to Go:
The Documents to Go is a software package that has in it all the required applications that will make you a very good official. Just like the Microsoft Office tools package that you will find on the mobiles and PDAs that come with the Microsoft Windows as their operating system, you will see the Documents to Go application in the Palm OS. This is also a very good software package. It has all the applications like the word documentation, spreadsheets and also the presentation documents. Thus you will always be at work wherever you are and always be on top of others when it comes to work. All the applications are satisfactorily good and are also easy to get used to.

Kinoma Player:
The Kinoma Player is a media player that plays different digital media. This one is a very special player that was designed by those who have already designed the QuickTime player for Apple. This player also featured on other PDAs like the Windows Mobile and the mobiles from Symbian. There is a lot to tell you about this player. This was the first ever mobile media browser. The built-in Kinoma Guide that you will find inside this player allows you to search, browse and stream music and videos on the web for almost half a terabyte of media. You can readily listen to your favourite music on the web through this one. This player also plays audio, video and picture files directly from different network websites such as YouTube, Flickr, Audible and Live 365. Hence you have a lot of options that entertain you whenever you want.

Miscellaneous:
The miscellaneous features include the stylus that can be used for easy scrolling; the Desktop Email sync feature helps you a lot for easy typing, sending and receiving the mails; the web browsing feature is also fine and the browser is also quite easy to get along with. The Palm Photo software is specially designed to make your pictures look even greater. The mp3 playback and video playback features are only additions to the innumerable features that are already there. You can also view PDF files with a special application in the Palm OS. But this requires a conversion step for you to access the files in the PDF format. There is a special feature called the VersaMail. With this, you can read mails and also compose and draft the mails that you want to send. When you go back to your computer, you can then sync your device and then send them through the internet. You can also avail the Wi-Fi feature in this case.

Hence, all these features that are discussed above not only look stylish and modish, but they are also very professional and always keep you on the top of your work. It is quite natural that you are bewildered at this moment by looking at the various features and applications, but this does not restrict the performance of the Tungsten E2, not even the slightest part of it.

Performance:

The Tungsten E2 has a very good number of features in it to suffice all the needs of business professional. Along with being so official, it is also pretty entertaining and you will be satisfied with its performance too. At first there has been a doubt regarding its performance because there are a lot of options, features and applications. But Palm has not compromised with the aspect of performance. The Tungsten E2 has passed all the tests, which were conducted by the experts and has easily done it. Since all the points regarding the performance of the Tungsten E2 have been covered under the features section, all that can be said here is you will never regret buying the Tungsten E2.

Battery:

The Tungsten E2 contains a lithium ion battery of 1050 mAh. This is new and reinforced battery and hence you get a very good battery backup and also slightly more than the normal battery lives of the other PDAs in the market. Particularly when you compare this one to the battery life of the Tungsten E, this fact is significantly evident. Hence you can enjoy for a longer period of time with your PDA.

Warranty:

This is one of the surprising points regarding the Tungsten E2. The Palm Inc. offers parts and labor warranty for a period of just 90 days. There have been a lot of complaints regarding this from the customers and users of the Tungsten E2. A mere 90 day warranty is obviously not enough, but Palm supports this by stating that if the PDA is good for the first 90 days, then it will remain good further, well, this may not be true for all the cases.

Verdict:

You have made a good decision if you have already selected the Tungsten E2. If you have not decided yet, then think over it because you do not normally get such a good PDA for such a reasonable price. Not only the price, but the PDA itself is very good indeed. The design part of it is very commendable. It is one of the sleekest PDAs from Palm. In addition to the fact that they are pretty useful for professionals, the features that are discussed above are very good in number. The device also did not report any problems during testing and also there were almost no complaints from the users. The battery life is pretty good, considering all the multitasking options that a PDA has to run at a time. The only thing is that this PDA looks stunning if it comes with the Windows operating system. Their combination looks perfect; but nevertheless, the Palm OS is good enough. Everything else is fine and it will be good PDA for people from all walks of life.

Palm Tungsten E2 - Technical Specification Table

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