![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Jul. 18th, 2004
A couple of weeks ago, my trusty Palm m500 started not taking a full battery charge even when I left it on the charger all night. I gathered from some research that this often presages the beginning of the end, so I decided to look into getting a new model. This turned out to be much tougher than I expected!
Life was much easier when Palm just issued a new model every once in a while, or two (one inexpensive, one snazzier) and you just had to choose whether to upgrade. Now, there's a cheap model (Tungsten E), a cheap line with a camera (Zire), an expensive model (Tungsten T3), and a similarly expensive wireless model with a keyboard (Tungsten C). I was hesitant to go the Sony Clie route because (a) they're phasing out their handhelds in the US, and (b) the equivalent models were not reviewed as highly as their Palm equivalents for the most part.
Like the good consumer that I am, I started reading reviews online. Reading reviews of computer products can often mean that you never want to buy anything -- there are always some flaws. The Tungsten E? Only a 90-day warranty and no cradle. People who got a reliable model were happy; people who got a model with a couple of known problems were apoplectic at the lack of warranty and the dismal level of Palm support (the latter was often mentioned even in reviews of the more expensive models). The Zires? Given my RSI problems, I wanted something light so why buy a model that weighed more because of a camera I wasn't going to use? (Not to mention the fact that the camera on the newer model evidently sticks out from the back, meaning the unit isn't level when you set it on a level surface. Don't ask me...)
That left the expensive models: the Tungsten T3 and the Tungsten C. Advantages of the T3: better screen resolution and bigger screen (although I don't use applications that really require the extra space). Disadvantages: a friend at work hates the "stretch" lower half of the model, which snaps down to provide the extra screen room. And many reviews mentioned problems with the display reliability and with battery life.
The Tungsten C advantage: wireless rather than Bluetooth. Disadvantages? Much heavier and clumsier due to keyboard input -- handy for wireless but much as I like the idea of wireless, how often am I actually going to use it as opposed to everyday use?
So, I went with the T3. I checked all the shopping sites and Froogle (the new Google price comparison engine) had one place the other sites didn't, which got good reviews and offered the model for $339, compared with the retail price of $399. Then I went on Ebay and discovered something interesting: For a certain period of time, Ameritrade was offering a free T3 to people who opened an account worth a certain amount. This meant that a lot of people had gotten T3s who either always planned on selling them or used them for a little while and then discovered they were just sitting in a drawer. The going rate for them on Ebay for the past week or so has been about $280 plus shipping. But the local craigslist netted me a seller who only used his a couple of times, never registered it, and was selling for $250.
I picked it up today. The color screen and resolution is truly gorgeous, and installing my current files went well. We'll see how the rest of it goes.
Life was much easier when Palm just issued a new model every once in a while, or two (one inexpensive, one snazzier) and you just had to choose whether to upgrade. Now, there's a cheap model (Tungsten E), a cheap line with a camera (Zire), an expensive model (Tungsten T3), and a similarly expensive wireless model with a keyboard (Tungsten C). I was hesitant to go the Sony Clie route because (a) they're phasing out their handhelds in the US, and (b) the equivalent models were not reviewed as highly as their Palm equivalents for the most part.
Like the good consumer that I am, I started reading reviews online. Reading reviews of computer products can often mean that you never want to buy anything -- there are always some flaws. The Tungsten E? Only a 90-day warranty and no cradle. People who got a reliable model were happy; people who got a model with a couple of known problems were apoplectic at the lack of warranty and the dismal level of Palm support (the latter was often mentioned even in reviews of the more expensive models). The Zires? Given my RSI problems, I wanted something light so why buy a model that weighed more because of a camera I wasn't going to use? (Not to mention the fact that the camera on the newer model evidently sticks out from the back, meaning the unit isn't level when you set it on a level surface. Don't ask me...)
That left the expensive models: the Tungsten T3 and the Tungsten C. Advantages of the T3: better screen resolution and bigger screen (although I don't use applications that really require the extra space). Disadvantages: a friend at work hates the "stretch" lower half of the model, which snaps down to provide the extra screen room. And many reviews mentioned problems with the display reliability and with battery life.
The Tungsten C advantage: wireless rather than Bluetooth. Disadvantages? Much heavier and clumsier due to keyboard input -- handy for wireless but much as I like the idea of wireless, how often am I actually going to use it as opposed to everyday use?
So, I went with the T3. I checked all the shopping sites and Froogle (the new Google price comparison engine) had one place the other sites didn't, which got good reviews and offered the model for $339, compared with the retail price of $399. Then I went on Ebay and discovered something interesting: For a certain period of time, Ameritrade was offering a free T3 to people who opened an account worth a certain amount. This meant that a lot of people had gotten T3s who either always planned on selling them or used them for a little while and then discovered they were just sitting in a drawer. The going rate for them on Ebay for the past week or so has been about $280 plus shipping. But the local craigslist netted me a seller who only used his a couple of times, never registered it, and was selling for $250.
I picked it up today. The color screen and resolution is truly gorgeous, and installing my current files went well. We'll see how the rest of it goes.
A couple of weeks ago, my trusty Palm m500 started not taking a full battery charge even when I left it on the charger all night. I gathered from some research that this often presages the beginning of the end, so I decided to look into getting a new model. This turned out to be much tougher than I expected!
Life was much easier when Palm just issued a new model every once in a while, or two (one inexpensive, one snazzier) and you just had to choose whether to upgrade. Now, there's a cheap model (Tungsten E), a cheap line with a camera (Zire), an expensive model (Tungsten T3), and a similarly expensive wireless model with a keyboard (Tungsten C). I was hesitant to go the Sony Clie route because (a) they're phasing out their handhelds in the US, and (b) the equivalent models were not reviewed as highly as their Palm equivalents for the most part.
Like the good consumer that I am, I started reading reviews online. Reading reviews of computer products can often mean that you never want to buy anything -- there are always some flaws. The Tungsten E? Only a 90-day warranty and no cradle. People who got a reliable model were happy; people who got a model with a couple of known problems were apoplectic at the lack of warranty and the dismal level of Palm support (the latter was often mentioned even in reviews of the more expensive models). The Zires? Given my RSI problems, I wanted something light so why buy a model that weighed more because of a camera I wasn't going to use? (Not to mention the fact that the camera on the newer model evidently sticks out from the back, meaning the unit isn't level when you set it on a level surface. Don't ask me...)
That left the expensive models: the Tungsten T3 and the Tungsten C. Advantages of the T3: better screen resolution and bigger screen (although I don't use applications that really require the extra space). Disadvantages: a friend at work hates the "stretch" lower half of the model, which snaps down to provide the extra screen room. And many reviews mentioned problems with the display reliability and with battery life.
The Tungsten C advantage: wireless rather than Bluetooth. Disadvantages? Much heavier and clumsier due to keyboard input -- handy for wireless but much as I like the idea of wireless, how often am I actually going to use it as opposed to everyday use?
So, I went with the T3. I checked all the shopping sites and Froogle (the new Google price comparison engine) had one place the other sites didn't, which got good reviews and offered the model for $339, compared with the retail price of $399. Then I went on Ebay and discovered something interesting: For a certain period of time, Ameritrade was offering a free T3 to people who opened an account worth a certain amount. This meant that a lot of people had gotten T3s who either always planned on selling them or used them for a little while and then discovered they were just sitting in a drawer. The going rate for them on Ebay for the past week or so has been about $280 plus shipping. But the local craigslist netted me a seller who only used his a couple of times, never registered it, and was selling for $250.
I picked it up today. The color screen and resolution is truly gorgeous, and installing my current files went well. We'll see how the rest of it goes.
Life was much easier when Palm just issued a new model every once in a while, or two (one inexpensive, one snazzier) and you just had to choose whether to upgrade. Now, there's a cheap model (Tungsten E), a cheap line with a camera (Zire), an expensive model (Tungsten T3), and a similarly expensive wireless model with a keyboard (Tungsten C). I was hesitant to go the Sony Clie route because (a) they're phasing out their handhelds in the US, and (b) the equivalent models were not reviewed as highly as their Palm equivalents for the most part.
Like the good consumer that I am, I started reading reviews online. Reading reviews of computer products can often mean that you never want to buy anything -- there are always some flaws. The Tungsten E? Only a 90-day warranty and no cradle. People who got a reliable model were happy; people who got a model with a couple of known problems were apoplectic at the lack of warranty and the dismal level of Palm support (the latter was often mentioned even in reviews of the more expensive models). The Zires? Given my RSI problems, I wanted something light so why buy a model that weighed more because of a camera I wasn't going to use? (Not to mention the fact that the camera on the newer model evidently sticks out from the back, meaning the unit isn't level when you set it on a level surface. Don't ask me...)
That left the expensive models: the Tungsten T3 and the Tungsten C. Advantages of the T3: better screen resolution and bigger screen (although I don't use applications that really require the extra space). Disadvantages: a friend at work hates the "stretch" lower half of the model, which snaps down to provide the extra screen room. And many reviews mentioned problems with the display reliability and with battery life.
The Tungsten C advantage: wireless rather than Bluetooth. Disadvantages? Much heavier and clumsier due to keyboard input -- handy for wireless but much as I like the idea of wireless, how often am I actually going to use it as opposed to everyday use?
So, I went with the T3. I checked all the shopping sites and Froogle (the new Google price comparison engine) had one place the other sites didn't, which got good reviews and offered the model for $339, compared with the retail price of $399. Then I went on Ebay and discovered something interesting: For a certain period of time, Ameritrade was offering a free T3 to people who opened an account worth a certain amount. This meant that a lot of people had gotten T3s who either always planned on selling them or used them for a little while and then discovered they were just sitting in a drawer. The going rate for them on Ebay for the past week or so has been about $280 plus shipping. But the local craigslist netted me a seller who only used his a couple of times, never registered it, and was selling for $250.
I picked it up today. The color screen and resolution is truly gorgeous, and installing my current files went well. We'll see how the rest of it goes.
Did some poking around and found something brilliant - a site called http://www.bugmenot.com that provides logins for sites that require registration. You provide the URL for the main site and if they have a registration on file, they show you the registration information that you can use to get in.
I love the net :->
I love the net :->
Did some poking around and found something brilliant - a site called http://www.bugmenot.com that provides logins for sites that require registration. You provide the URL for the main site and if they have a registration on file, they show you the registration information that you can use to get in.
I love the net :->
I love the net :->