Palm has announced a new partnership with Microsoft, so the Palm TX may have the last Palm OS version that there will ever be. The Palm TX crams a lot of useful features into one tiny device that will many any gadget lover drool. In the Palm TX, they were able to fit Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity into one gadget, which is rare for Palm. It's a pretty well-rounded little PDA, but how does it all come together? Let's take a look...
At first glance, you may mistaken the Palm TX for PalmOne's earlier Tungsten T5 due to it's design. The traditional silver case is replaced with a sleek bluish-gray case. The Palm TX is quite compact too, measuring only 5 x 3 x 0.5-inches and weighs about 5 ounces, which is very pocket-friendly. Text and images are quite sharp and brilliant on the Palm TX's 4-inch diagonal LCD display. On the bottom of the display, there is a little toolbar for commonly used features, similar to what the Tungsten T5 has. At the top of the Palm TX, there is an SDIO/MMC slot for expansion,
stylus holder, power button, and a headphone jack.
Internally, the Palm TX features a 312-MHz processor, 128MB of memory, and wireless connectivity. The Palm TX's Wi-Fi capabilities are compatible with both WEP and WPA encrypted wireless networks. You can also access the Internet via using the TX's Bluetooth connection to connect via a Bluetooth cell phone. The SD memory slot can accept up to 2GB of added memory, which makes storage for the TX almost unlimited.
Software included with the Palm TX include the Palm OS 5.4, VersaMail 3.1, and Document To Go 7. There is also Pocket Tunes, which is a portable media player that will play your MP3, WMA, WAV, and Ogg Vorbis audio files. Palm also includes a few games and handy programs, like a nice calculator and world clock.
The Palm TX performed pretty well too. It smoothly plays video, opens Word documents, and opens Web pages. The only weakness to the Palm TX is its battery life, which is just above 4 hours with the Wi-Fi antenna off. The average PDA gets at least above 5 hours and even up to 8 hours of battery life.
In conclusion, the Palm TX is a welcomed addition to the Palm PDA family. It brings a lot to the table, including excellent Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity features as well as a lot of expansion opportunities, including large Secure-Digital memory cards. The included multimedia applications also make the Palm TX an excellent portable media player. The TX is great for the on-the-go
person who wants all their data in one place and the chance to listen to some music in between.
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