Third time's (almost) the charm

Author's Rating:

Pros: Slider design, 64mb RAM, 320x480 resolution, new PIM applications, great stylus

Cons: BlueTooth still awkward, I want the old Grafitti back!

The Bottom Line: 
This is by far one of the best PDAs-- regardless of OS-- available. It is small, fast, powerful and still sexy. Look no further, buy it!

Author's Review
After dealing with my "aging" Sony Clie NX-70v, I finally sold it and upgraded to the near-perfect Palm Tungsten T3. After two weeks of use and careful, editorial attention to detail, I've decided it is, quite truthfully, one of the best PDAs ever created.

As did many others, I originally passed over the T3 as yet another upsale a la Sony’s NX73 versus NX70 and SJ33 versus SJ30 models. A few weeks later, I was standing in front of one at my local Best Buy, quite taken by the sleek metallic finish and near-flawless screen. After being a staunch Sony user for several years, dating back to the now-ancient S360, I was originally hesitant about giving up my Clie NX-70v for the lighter, sleeker, and faster Tungsten T3—afterall, the NX-70v has a keyboard and a camera!

Eventually, though, my free time was finally spent reading reviews, browsing popular forums and just about everything else I could to get information on the new object of my affection.

PalmOne, formerly Palm, Inc., continued to innovate by near-perfection by releasing the third version of the popular Tungsten T handheld. When they originally introduced the Tungsten T, the revolutionary slider design allowed it to be one of the smallest, lightest and powerful handheld devices on the market. For PalmOne, the Tungsten line was a large jump from their traditional approach to PDA’s. In fact, the Tungsten T and the astonishingly successful Zire line have helped to keep PalmOne as a continued competitor to Sony’s ever increasing repertoire of feature-rich models. It is just this competition for excellence that has created the near-perfect PDA that the Tungsten T3 is.

When first picking up the T3, I was astonished at how light and small it actually was. While picking up nearly half an inch in length over the Tungsten T2, it lost some weight and still packed in more power, memory and even more screen space than any PalmOne model before it. The Tungsten T3 comes with 64mb of RAM (52mb usable), an Intel Xscale 400mhz processor and an impressive 320x480 Hi-Res screen. Perhaps the most interesting and innovative feature of all, however, is the new landscape mode, while allows you to view any application at 480x320, wonderful for eBooks or web browsing.

While the slider design is the single feature that has won it the most fame over the last year or so, there is more to this PDA than just a “look what I can do” sales pitch. By keeping the overall size down another inch, the Tungsten T3 is near forgettable when placed in my pants pocket or sport-coat pocket. However, perhaps most impressive isn’t the slider, the memory or the built-in BlueTooth at all, but the beautiful screen. Even at three-fourths brightness, where I normally keep it, the screen is brighter than my six-month NX-70v and, at full brightness, wipes out all competition among the Pocket PC side of the fence.

It seems almost unfortunate that the 320x480 screen and slider overshadow the rest that the Tungsten T3 has to offer. PalmOne listened to their customers by renaming the standard Datebook, Memo Pad, To Do List and Address applications to mimic Outlook’s Contacts, Calendar, Memos and Tasks. The Calendar and Contacts apps get the most praise for a new Agenda view (similar to the Today screen on Pocket PC) and multiple address fields per contact. Also included is a new Photos application that can natively read most common graphic formats without an expansion card.

Remember earlier when I mentioned this device is near perfect? Sadly, there are still a couple aspects keeping it from establishing itself as the Holy Grail of Palm OS devices. PalmOne naively made the power button harder to press while simultaneously raising the Voice Recorder button so it is easier to press. Unfortunately, they forgot to realize that the Voice Recorder button is on the side and, when placed anywhere resembling the tight confines of a pocket, is much easier to accidentally press. Along the same lines, the Tungsten T line still lacks a “hold” button, something nearly every other Palm OS handheld has had for a couple years now.

Last and by far not the latest is the ever-problematic built-in BlueTooth. Ever since the original Tungsten T was introduced, BlueTooth has continued to be a problem, especially for those wishing to sit on their couch or Lazy Boy and check their email or browse the web in comfort. Being the college student I am, my couch is—at most—five feet from my computer. With that in mind, one might assume even the weakest 10m BlueTooth adapter would work flawlessly. Not quite, as I am still unable to share my desktop or laptop’s Internet connection the Tungsten T3.

At the end of the day, the Tungsten T3 brings together just about every shortfall of its predecessors and finds a way to solve them. While there are still some small details to be improved, the T3 is light years ahead of its competition in terms of problems and shortcomings. After carrying it around for two weeks now, the newest and most innovative PDA to come from PalmOne’s research specialist has easily convinced me that, if not for the oversight on button placement and nearly impossible BlueTooth—which is hardly PalmOne’s fault—this unit will be my companion for many years to come.