PDA?

Thinking about getting a Palm PDA. My dad’s got a Palm Zire 72, he’s had it since I first left in late 2004. At the moment, the PDA I’m interested in is the Palm Tungsten E2. It has a few advantages over the Zire 72, however it does lack a few of the extra features that the Zire 72 boasts.

Now, lets have a look at the advantages of the T|E2 (I’ll be naming the Tungsten E2 as this from now on). First off, is the new version of Documents on the Go professional edition that comes packed with it. It has the ability to read and edit Word, Excel and Powepoint files. Also, it has the ability to read Adobe pdf files. The Zire 72 has the deluxe edition of the software, hence without the ability to produce and read Powerpoint files. Second is the fact that the T|E2 has a longer battery life. That is self explanatory. Third is it runs the latest OS version of Palm, 5.4 Garnet as compared to 5.2.8 on the Zire 72. Fourth is the slick look of the T|E2 as compared to the blueish Zire 72. Also the price is somewhat cheaper, although here in the UK it will be quite difficult to find the Zire 72 in online stores anymore: it has been discontinued.

Now the drawbacks. First of all, the T|E2 does not have a camera and a voice recorder. The camera, though only 1.3 megapixels could be used to take pictures and videos. Secondly is the slower processor on the T|E2. The Zire 72 comes with a 312mhz processor as compared to only 200mhz of the T|E2. This would mean that multitasking would be better on the Zire 72 than the Tungsten E2.

Other than that, both are great products. I already have a Canon Ixus 50 to take pictures and videos.

I have a camera phone the Sony Ericsson W550i as well, that can record videos and capture pictures.

I have a Creative Muvo V200 mp3 player, with 1gb memory, which can also be used to record sound. So, there are redundancies in accessories here.

Therefore, putting all the disadvantages aside, I think that it would be reasonable for me to buy the Tungsten E2. Just for the added feature of Docs on the Go Pro, which can read and edit Powerpoint files. That alone should be enough for me. Plus the idea of being able to scribble my heart out without having to waste paper. Graffiti on the PDA, it is quite an addictive act... Oooh, and I can even play games on it…

I’ll be on the lookout for deals on eBay now. Trying to get the Palm Tungsten E2 for cheap. And it has to be new and packaged in a box. I don’t like second hand stuff…