Palm's latest high-end handheld extends the now-familiar Tungsten T line even farther. Larry Garfield looks at Palm's first virtual Graffiti handheld.
Although Palm has been making strides in the past few years to beef up its product line, many users have felt that Palm was still missing essential features. Among them were faster processors, a virtual handwriting area, more RAM, multimedia features, and better Microsoft Office compatibility. All of those issues have now been addressed by the third iteration of Palm's Tungsten T line, the Tungsten T3. Despite a few unexpected caveats, the T3 delivers one of the slickest experiences to date.
Design
The T3 uses the same basic design as its predecessors. Slightly longer than the Tungsten T and T2 at 109 x 76 x 16 mm when closed and weighing in at 155 grams, the T3 uses the familiar collapsing design of its namesake. The light gray brushed metal case is clean and attractive, and the sides are now taped slightly to better fit the hand.
 | The T3 carries on many existing features, but changes several as well
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Opening up the T3 reveals the first of its notable features. The device uses the same sharp transflective TFT as Palm's other recent handhelds, but this time sports the first collapsable handwriting area on a Palm-branded handheld, supporting 320 x 480 resolution. (HandEra, Sony, and Garmin already have handhelds with virtual handwriting areas.) Using the new standard developed by PalmSource and already seen on the Garmin iQue 3600, Palm's implementation is the most featured we've seen to date. More on that later.
All of the familiar buttons are present, although redesigned. Sadly this is one place where Palm appears to have dropped the ball. The front panel buttons have been reorganized around an oval-shaped 5-way Navigator, with the four oddly-shaped application buttons arrayed around it. While slightly cooler looking, we found the new design to be considerably more cramped and less usable than the previous Tungsten T layout, which is our favorite front panel design to date. We wish Palm would have left well enough alone in this case. Similarly, the power button, on the top left of the device, is flush with the case making it harder to push than on earlier models. The record button on the left side, however, is the same familiar design, and the power button now also doubles as a key-lock button for people with violent pockets.
In a more positive upgrade, the T3 foregos the plastic clip-on cover in favor of a new flip-over leather cover that attaches to the top back of the handheld. It is the same removable design as used by Sony on several of its CLIEs, and we find it much more convenient (and harder to lose).
The audio jack on the left side of the device and telescoping stylus remain unchanged from earlier models. Also still present is the front panel speaker and top-mounted low-power infrared port and Secure Digital card slot. The SD slot also now sports a small hinged door on the inside to protect the device when no card is inserted. Sony has had that feature for some time, and we have been waiting for it on a Palm-branded device for years. There is also a vibrating alert feature.
Connectivity
As mentioned, the T3 includes the usual low-power IrDA port and SD slot, as well as the Palm Universal Connector. And as with the rest of the Tungsten T line, it also includes a built-in Bluetooth radio. Although some of the Bluetooth software has been beefed up internally, the T3 still includes only the same limited profiles as earlier models. Sadly that leaves users with the same makeshift serial loopback access if they want to use a Bluetooth-enabled laptop or desktop for Internet access or HotSyncing.
Specifications
The internals of the T3 are very similar to that of the Tungsten C. That includes a 400 MHz Intel XScale CPU and 64 MB of RAM (52 MB of which is user-accessible).
All of that power, of course, does impact on battery life. In our standard Atom Smash battery rundown tests, the T3's Lithium-Ion Polymer battery lasted 2 hours before throwing its first low power warning, then shut off after 2 hours, 7 minutes. That is with the backlight on full brightness and the case open. (The handwriting area is not lit when the case is closed to conserve power.) That's one of the shortest battery lifespans we've seen from Palm. Fortunately the screen is clear enough that it can be run with the backlight on low for better battery life.
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