Tao of Mac

Feb 21st 2003 · 2 min read

Mini-Review

The Tungsten W is Palm's first combo PDA/Phone, and has full GSM and functionality.

It is a 4.1 device with a hi-res 320x320 screen, and includes VersaMail (in ROM) and WebPro (on the bundled CD). It can only be used as a phone via the included headset.

Pluses:

  • The headset is compatible with the (so I'm only carrying one set of wires around)
  • The battery lasts a LONG time (two days of very heavy use)
  • The headset button cycles through the phone screen modes, and plugging in the headset enables the GSM module (a nice touch)
  • Call management (including call waiting, conference setup and the like) is excellent.
  • It feels very responsive and fast, only slightly slower than the T
  • You can actually run most of its software on older devices such as the 515 and the 505
  • VersaMail works extremely well over (fast and usable, even with my humongous IMAP mailboxes). It also allows you to define a different data connection for each e-mail account, and switches between them automatically.
  • We were able to swap photos, text notes and other OBEX-standard data over both IRDA and Bluetooth with the and the P800.

Minuses:

  • It's bulky, heavy and made of plastic.
  • The SD slot is on the side, making the Bluetooth SDIO card stick out awkwardly.
  • Without the headset, it's completely useless as a phone.
  • WebPro requires access to Palm's proprietary proxy server, which is not easy on some operators.
  • VersaMail has an annoying bug - it forces your "From:" header to be "username@whatever", no matter what you input (if you go back, the settings are ignored).
  • The SMS applet does not allow you to send to multiple recipients (which is a basic feature on most phones these days)
  • It does not have MMS support (yet).
  • 16MB of RAM is roomy for a Palm, but you have to wonder...
  • The "ringtones" are laughable (but it is a 4 device).
  • Grafitti is in ROM, but it's not enabled (you can get an applet called "Grafitti Anywhere", and Jot comes on the CD)
  • The WAP browser is not up to scratch - it's hardly been upgraded since it first came out nearly two years ago now. It also failed to deal with WAP Push properly, and does not allow you to select a default connection (which has to be distinct from other data services on my operator).

The Keyboard

It actually grows on you. Not being able to use Grafitti by default forced me to appreciate some of its finer design points, and it feels a lot like a device. Your mileage may vary

Improvements

Well, it's a first generation device. It will get smaller (and, preferably, more metallic) over time, and the next model will have to have a proper microphone and speaker arrangement.