There could be many reasons for obtaining a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Electronic gadgetry now a days is feature rich. These small toys pack many more functions than anyone would need, could possibly handle or even know about. So decisions ought to be made based on what one would like to do with a particular item. A PDA is no substitute for a laptop but it has ability to perform some serious tasks.
Therefore, the need for carrying along and working on (on the move) data like documents, music, photographs, video clips, games, e-books etc., conveniently in your pocket makes out a compelling case for getting a PDA. About 2 years back I purchased this model, Palm Tungsten E2, exactly for the purpose stated above. I haven’t used it for Net browsing or emailing etc.
Rest all the features have been successfully accessed to and usefully availed of. I faced trouble with the handheld after loading some free third party software which was downloaded from the website https://palmblvd.com. I must mention here that palmblvd.com is a very useful site dedicated to Palmtops / handhelds. At any given time they list some 200 pieces of useful and free third party software for the Palm. And the variety is wide. It is another matter that the program I got caused my handheld to endlessly hang while accessing the memory card.
That action was undone and my palmtop is flawlessly functioning since then. The processor is reasonably fast. The 32 MB internal memory (26 MB usable) is by no means a huge amount but then for one who has handled tasks on the BBC Micro with only 32 KB this is a mountain. And used deftly, you have no reasons to feel the pinch, for expansion is always available in the form of SD cards. I carry two; one, 128 MB for Word and Excel files and the other 512 MB exclusively for media files, mainly photographs.
The screen resolution is very good and viewing both video and still wouldn’t strain eyes. I make use of this media feature in my own unique way. While planning my visits to places of tourist interest I invariably store pictures of the important attractions of the destination which in turn proves helpful in identifying and taking photographs. Though I am not a music buff yet I tried using ‘Real Player’ for checking the sound quality. Honestly, it fared rather badly. The speaker quality ought to have been better. Presently I am having on the handheld these e-books: Troy, Vision, Norse Mythology, The Last of the Mohicans, Tolstoy’s Master and Man, Have Tech Will Travel, Principles of Communism, besides some articles sourced from the Internet as well as print media.
And after making liberal use of the applications like, Memos, Contacts, Notepad and dozens of sheets and text folders, I am left with about 8 MB of free space enough for smooth functioning of the PDA. Calculator is dependable and, Palma Sutra educationally entertaining. My E2 hasn’t shown any signs of fatigue or slowing down even when made to simultaneously work on three applications. Battery is doing just fine. A daily charge of about 40 minutes or so keeps the current flowing through the rigors of usage which at times can run beyond two hours at a stretch. Documents To Go (V7.003), from Dataviz, came on the accompanying CD.
It is a robust application fully compatible with Microsoft Office components. Word To Go and Sheet To Go gel smoothly with the biggies from MS. No problems whatsoever. Dataviz also offers a paid version of this all important software. Synchronizing with my desktop has been always smooth no matter whether I used the cable or Bluetooth. Immediately after purchasing the E2 I had posted a short review on the palmblvd site wherein I expressed dissatisfaction with the manual which was provided in electronic form with the print option disabled. Why on the earth would Palm One bar the users from taking a print out of the 653 page document, I asked. Alternatively, I downloaded the Tungsten E manual (yes, Tungsten E, i.e., sans 2) and took prints when required.
After some months I again happened to visit the Palm One site and this time the manual was available with an active print function. I presume they listen. The Palm One site mentions phone numbers, email ID and addresses of the authorized dealers in India. When I was planning a purchase I sent emails to at least three of the so called authorized outlets. None responded. Then I rang up one big store only to be told that they were not dealing in Palm products. I turned to the grey market and picked it up. One would naturally wonder as to why a big name in handhelds had no marketing thrust in a country like India. One reason could be that the use of a PDA hasn’t really caught imagination of the executive class over here. People would rather do with a smart phone than tucking a similar size PDA. Just as they substitute digicam with a camera phone. Perhaps! However, I prefer taking a specialized call; I carry all three separately.