Review: Palm Tungsten T3

About three months ago, I decided to emerge from the world of personal day planners and post it notes and join the world of PDA users. I didn't need a really fancy cell phone or gadget that will get high speed internet while sitting in a McDonalds. I needed something simple that would hold my calendar and help me keep track of doctors appointments, children's activities, and work stuff.

After researching my options, I decided to purchase a Palm Tungsten T3. Its not their newest model (or even their second newest) but it seemed to be the least bells and whistles while maintaining the requirements I needed.

The T3 fits snugly in your hand and will open up to have a touchpad keyboard. You can orient your screen to landscape or portrait. It has various software for keeping track of appointments, notes, calendar, and even had Documents to Go on it for keeping my budget spreadsheet. It has a bright colorful screen. It has an SD slot for extended memory and can play MP3s and stores photos. I was pleasantly surprised to also discover the world of the e-book. My husband got sick of having books all over the house.

The main drawbacks to the T3 is it has poor battery life. My T3 always seems to be dead. Usually right when I need it. If you turn on the Bluetooth, then the battery life is shot. The T3 does not come with wireless connectivity. You will have to purchase an SD Wi-Fi card if you want to connect to the internet without Bluetooth or IR. It also has an annoying habit of just shutting off in the middle of doing something.

Having said all that, I'm sad to report that I still use my day planner calendar more. My husband teased me a few days ago because I wrote out a post it note and put it on the screen to my PDA. I still use it to read e-books and play the occasional game of solitaire but I'm sad to say that is all I use it for.

Would I buy it again? Probably not. Knowing what I know now, I'd just upgrade my cell phone to a Treo and have one less gadget to charge each day. Its not a bad little machine, it just didn't quite work for me. I'm sure it will go up on eBay soon.