Rating: 
Summary: A nice touch for average Palm users
Review: For a long time i had a M105 which I bought when they first came out. It had 8MB internal memory and a slot for an external memory card. It had a monochrome screen, was a bit thick, and used AAA batteries, but it served its purpose well for a long time.Well now i was ready to update and I wanted something reasonably priced. I always like to get my products in the middle ground. The cheap ones don't have enough for me and i end up throwing them away later, and the expensive ones have too many bells and whistles that I never use. The Zire 21 falls into the former as a budget-minded option with a monochrome screen, 8MB RAM, and no expansion slot. The Zire 71 has a color screen, 16MB of RAM, and an expansion slot. this was better, but then you pay a premium for the built-in digital camera which I would use as much as the camera on my phone... which is to say never. The PocketPCs were very pricey and since i don't run many windows apps on my Palm, I saw no reason to go the extra mile for them or the higher level Palms with bluetooth or Wi-Fi cababilities. This Tungsten E was a great balance of features at a good price point. I am always in favor of "bang for buck". First the positives:
*It has 32MB RAM which if all you use this for is contacts and appointments, then it is overkil, you can get away with one of the others that have 8MB or 16MB. But I have that neat diet program, and the bible, several e-books and a few Word and Excel (read more about that below) documents and i still have plenty of room to spare. That is what i want... because I hate having to worry about removing stuff to make room and making decisions about what i really need, and what can go. I just want to throw it all on there without worrying about it.
*The color screen is really nice... it has a nice resolution and contrast. all of the icons look sharp and vivid. very easy to read in either bright or dark situations. not like my old M105 which would need the backlight switched on in poor light conditions.
*Size. It is very slim, especially when you use the flip cover that came with it (i now use the aluminum hard case which makes it significantly thicker).
*Style. very elegant, fashionable, techy aluminum look. people will notice when you pull it out to use it, especially once the display turns on.
*Fast. The processor (Texas Instruments OMAP311 126 MHz) is really fast... the screen changes instantly when i push a button (as oppsed to a slight pause on my M105). i don't know how this compares to the other Palms or PocketPCs, but for me, its pretty blazing.
*rechargeable batteries aren't all that "new", but it beats having to buy batteries all the time. the recharge is fairly quick with the included power adapter, and the USB cable also gives it a trickle charge
*Synching is really quick with the USB interface. I don't know if it is USB2.0, but it is significant;y faster than my old M105 Applications
*the new agenda view on the calendar is GREAT. it shows you all of your appointments and tasks that are due today. now that the screen is in color, you can color-code your appointments by the category which is very helpful
*in addition to the standard calendar, contacts, tasks, notepad, memos, you also get mobileDB (kinda like a poor man's MS Access), a photo viewer, movie viewer, money and expense (which i don't use, so i'm not sure if it syncs up with your MS money or Quicken on your desktop), it also has an email program which would sync with your desktop email software (outlook and such), but you would need a Wi-Fi adapter, or plug it into your phone (neither is included with this product). I don't use that either.
*Documents-to-Go... this is fabulous. you can synchronize Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents from your desktop to the Palm pilot. A slight word of caution, however... if the files are uploaded into the internal RAM then the program will "convert" it into Documents-to-Go format, which as far as I can see, isn't any different, but I am editing very simple documents. If you upload them onto an external card, then it will preserve the "native" Word, Excel, Powerpoint fomat. Negatives
*The only drawback that I have encountered is the lack of a cradle. As cool as it looks in your hand, it doesn't carry over when its just laying flat on your desk with cables trailing away from it. this was a major slip on Palm's part, in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ideal PDA for Now
Review: I used my old Palm V for close to five years. Although it provided the necessary basic functionality, it was tiresome to read the grainy monochrome LCD touch screen. The Tungsten E is a great update. PROS: bright, crisp color display; small size for easy portability; well-supported PALM operating system now with better MS Outlook integration; easy to setup and sync with your PC; expandable using memory cards; can double as an MP3 player if you buy a memory card. CONS: No docking station (why????); no wireless connectivity. I WOULD GIVE IT 5 STARS IF PALM INCLUDED A DOCKING STATION. With the continuing evolution of Blackberry-type integrated cell phones & PDAs, I think the Tungsten E is the right call. It has all the basics in an easy to carry package. I cannot see stepping up to one of the more expensive PDAs, since they will be rendered obsolete by the next generation of cell phones incorporating full PDA capabilities. For that reason, I see any PDA purchase to be a temporary investment until the better PDA/cell phone combos are out.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a stable product.
Review: The features are good. This is my first PDA. I got it as a gift in late February and it died within 1 week unexpectantly. I tried recharging the battery and soft and hard restarts to no avail. Customer support is poor and appears to be from the Phillipines with great difficulty hearing and understanding the techs. Very short warantee period (90 days). This must mean they don't trust the reliability of their own products.
Rating: 
Summary: Worried about quality & hotsync cable source
Review: I received my Tungsten E on Feb. 6 and am already exchanging it because the 5-way navigator switch didn't always make contact. The other reviews on the E's reliability has me worried. On the subject of spare hotsync cables, I found a source for them. I haven't made a purchase but will when I get my replacement E. Here is the link: http://www.buynshop.com/category/2037/ Hope it works for you. Update: Amazon replaced my unit since it was still within the 30 day exchange policy with a brand new unit, no-charge 2-day shipping even before the old one was shipped back! Great service! The new unit has worked great. The jury is still out on the handheld but Amazon.com comes through again! I just got a spare USB cable from buynshop.com. Looks just like the original and, more importantly, they had it in stock!
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant, Beautiful Bargain
Review: The Tungsten E is definitely a great choice in a handheld. First off, the color screen is breathtaking! This handheld is certainly an attention getter at my junior high school. I use it daily for jotting down quick notes, translating Spanish, and writing full documents with the included Docs To Go software. It is extremely easy to use & very intuitive. I had programs installed & running smoothly within 15 minutes of turning it on. There have been glitches, however, so it's not perfect. The Hard Case is terrific for protecting the E from getting scratched (trust me, you'll need it). The contact management is wonderful, especially considering that I have hundreds of contacts. Also, the metallic finish looks great, but only for about one week. It gets scratched very, very easily, and then looks cheap. I even keep the full New American Standard Translation of the Bible.
In short, if you're looking for a great handheld at a great price, purchase the Tungsten E today. You'll be glad you did!
Rating: 
Summary: Stay Away from Palm Products
Review: I loved my Tungsten E. Then, a couple of months after purchase, it started hanging up. By then, I had already spent another hundred, or so, in accessories. Palm technical support stinks. I have done clean reinstalls about a dozen times. This gadget hangs up even if I have a minimal portion of the OS installed. My guess is that Palm is fully aware that they're dumping defective units on the market. There are far too many complaints following the same pattern. Stay away from all Palm products.
Rating:
Summary: WARNING: Unit died immediately after 90 day warranty ended!
Review: I bought the Tungsten E back in November 2003, and since then it has worked beautifully. However, yesterday I tried to turn it on and there was no response. I tried a soft, warm, and hard reset in an attempt to get the unit back to it's original state. All of these efforts failed. When I was finally able to get the PDA back and running, it soon froze up and required another reset, with the same results occurring in subsequent attempts. This problem happened right out of nowhere without a single warning sign. I called technical support but all they could say is that they regret to inform me that my warranty had expired, but they could repair it for a mere $125! That's almost what I paid for it in the first place. I just can't trust them again. I mean, the unit died exactly on day 91 (seriously). It doesn't seem possible to be just a coincidence.
Maybe this dilemma only occurs in rare cases, but personally I will never buy another palm device again. I have been thoroughly disgusted with them. There tech support is less than impressive as well. Not only was it a struggle just trying to understand what the person was saying, but they actually wanted to charge me $25 for talking to them 1 day after my warranty expired! I don't want anything to do with this company anymore. I'm going to look into Pocket PC's. As far as the Tungsten E's performance goes however, it more than satisfied my needs for the 3 months that it worked. It really is a wonderful product, and it is just sad that this had to happen. I am very disappointed; however, I can't say I totally wasted my money. My experience with the device was quite a pleasure while it lasted. For those of you that do decide to purchase it, I wish you luck. My advice would be to look into getting an extended warranty just in case.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't work with Entourage... TERRIBLE customer support!
Review: Long story short: DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT IF YOU HAVE MAC AND USE ENTOURAGE - IT MIGHT LOOK OK FOR A FEW WEEKS, BUT SLOWLY BUT SURELY YOU WILL LOSE YOUR DATA! DON'T EVER EVER CALL PALM TECH HELP - THE MOST HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED! For the whole story, read below: Like most others on this site, I was very excited when I first received the Tungsten E (just a month ago!) I was determined to get organized and sync everything up with my iMac.
NOTE: I use Entourage, as many Mac users do. I was told the Tungsten E was compatible. Installing for OS X wasn't easy - lots and lots of errors... after some research online we figured out it was because of an incompatability with Stuffit. That fixed, I was able to sync everything and all worked well for about 3 weeks. THEN, data started disappearing. My categories (personal, business, etc) in my calendar was all erased, leaving my calendar completely disorganized. Then, addresses, phone numbers and birthdays started disappearing from my contacts. Enter the PALM Customer "Care" and "Technical Service". If you've read other reviews on this site you may already know that Palm is now outsourcing their service to India, South America, etc. After my 3rd call with someone who gave pat, very difficult to understand answers and completely random statements after my repeated questions, I finally asked where their service center was. That is when I found out it was all outsourced. Their phone system seems to be an internet phone system (a very long delay after each question and full of static.) I won't go on and on, but suffice to say, I called them 3 times and got nowhere. (This was a total of about 1.5 hours of my time today). To make matters worse, they continually tried to refer me to the Entourage tech help line (a totally different company). I finally called Entourage and they, rightly so, informed me this was a bug in Palm's software and he has yet to know a patch to fix it. I am considering returning this to Amazon. I am SO disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Amazon info doesn't list the SHORT 90 day warranty
Review: The only way I found out about the 90 day warranty and shoddy customer service was to read the reviews that customers have provided. Amazingly, Amazon does not list this info in the technical data or anywhere else I could find it. I have to say that I am very disappointed in Amazon for this lapse.
Rating:
Summary: My Third Palm -- and Best Thus Far, With a Few Issues
Review: As a Palm user with a low threshold for price pain, I typically tend to stick to the mid-priced models. After my IIIxe died, I looked for a significant upgrade to features, and was pleased to find the Tungsten E. I've had this Palm for about 6 months -- well past the short warranty period, and so far everything has worked well. The color display is crisp with vibrant colors and can display digital pictures with a surprising amount of clarity. The USB connection is a piece of cake, and at lot more portable than the clunky "docking station" from previous models, although I wish the USB would recharge the Palm's battery. Synching up to Microsoft Outlook is incredibly simple, as is synching Office documents and PDF files, although if you have a lot of large e-mail attachments, you'll want to upgrade to a Tungsten with more memory. If you use Lotus Notes for e-mail (in a corporate world, probably), this handheld won't sync with Notes without some third-party software - at least, not yet. Overloads of e-mail can crash the handheld - requiring a soft reset. The Palm is thin, and can fit into a pocket easily. The menus and Graffiti are much more intuitive than prior handhelds. Overall, the new Tungsten E is stylish, functional, and highly recommended for casual to moderate users. Power users, or those with large e-mail attachments should move up a few notches in memory.
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