Obituary

My current palmtop, a Palm Tungsten E2 is pretty much dead. The battery is refusing to retain any charge. Add to that, the fact that the digitizer is out by a centimetre and is obstinate about not wanting to re-calibrate, and you have a machine that is ready for replacement.

I've not been happy with the build quality of the E2 at all. Compared with the original Tungsten E, it feels somehow flaky, with a definite lack of response to the controls. It only lasted a year. In that time, it's had two really bad drops. I'd lost count of the number of times I dropped the TE, before it eventually had to be replaced owing to a broken power button.

So, like a fool, I've gone for another PalmOne machine. This time, a Tungsten X. The reasons aren't hard to argue. I like the Palm PIM apps. I'm comfortable with the OS design (sucky tho its internals may be), and I know the software library. I don't have time now to re-learn another environment and get settled in once again.

I did give some consideration to a stand-alone MP3 player or a smartphone, but since, my two biggest uses of my Palm are for off-line web browsing, and navigation, these options just wouldn't quite do. I'll just have to pray that the TX is better made than the machine it's replacing.

I'm also tempted by the idea of a Bluetooth keyboard after Angus and Bruce explained the technicalities of it. Something to consider for tomorrow.