The Palm TX is well appointed in the features department. Under the hood, the TX is powered by a 312MHz Bulverde Intel processor and comes with 128MB of nonvolatile flash memory, 100MB of which is user-accessible. Not only is the amount of memory sufficient for copious numbers of contacts, appointments and other organiser data, but you're also guarded from losing all your data if your PDA happens to run out of juice. A word to the wise: Multimedia files, such as MP3s and video clips, take up a lot of memory, so we recommend investing in a memory card or two to carry such files. The TX's expansion slot accepts up to 2GB SD cards.
Palm may have been late to arrive at the Wi-Fi party, but we're glad it at least showed up. Even better, connecting to the Web with the TX is fast and easy. It found our test access point right away (you can also enter encryption settings for enhanced security) and after a couple of clicks, we were surfing the Web within a matter of seconds. Web pages loaded fairly quickly for a PDA, although more graphics-intensive sites took more time to upload, naturally. We also checked our Web-based Yahoo and Hotmail email accounts.
You can take advantage of the built-in Wi-Fi in a couple of other ways. A free service called Avvenu gives you remote access to your computer at work or home and allows you to share content with others and upload data. Although it's free, you'll need to download the Avvenu Agent to your computer before setting passwords and security options. Clearly, such tools can benefit the mobile professional, as will the built-in Bluetooth. We paired the Palm TX with the Bluetooth-enabled Dell Axim X51v and transferred contacts and appointments between the devices successfully.
On the software front, the Palm TX runs Palm OS 5.4 and includes DataViz's Documents To Go 7 and VersaMail 3.1, arming mobile professionals with the tools to work on the go. With Documents To Go, you can view and edit native Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, which is viewable only on Macs, while VersaMail 3.1 delivers your email with support for up to eight email accounts (POP, IMAP, APOP or ESMTP). VersaMail also works with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, so with the help of your friendly neighbourhood IT department, you can connect directly to your company's Exchange server. Palm throws in a few other goodies, such as an expense program, a dialler, Solitaire, a world clock and a calculator.
Now, let's have some fun, shall we? To fulfill your entertainment cravings, the Palm TX comes equipped with Pocket Tunes for listening to your favourite tracks and podcasts. Pocket Tunes supports MP3, WMA (requires Deluxe edition), PCM WAV and Ogg Vorbis music files. You can create and edit play lists, shuffle songs and customise the look of your player with different skins. One of our favourite tricks was to use Pocket Tunes for setting music as background while we displayed a slide show of our photos. It's a cool way to show off your latest snapshots to friends and family, but it's also useful for mobile professionals who want to share relevant images with clients and coworkers.
Performance
The Palm TX performs quite well, thanks in part to the 312MHz Intel processor. There was only the slightest pause when we switched between applications -- it was a noticeable improvement from the sometimes-sluggish performance of the Tungsten E2. Video playback and music playback were clean and smooth, and we were impressed by the sound quality and volume levels of the handheld.
As with the most recent batch of Palm PDAs, battery life for the TX was good. In our tests, where we looped a video clip using Kinoma Video Player and set the screen at 50 per cent brightness, the PDA ran out of juice after 4.5 hours. This isn't bad, but the results did fall behind those of the Tungsten T5 and Tungsten E2. Playing music on a repeated loop, the Palm TX lasted a longer 10 hours.
Edited by Kent German
Additional editing by Nick Hide
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews2
Add your review
Diego 5 January 2008
Good: The size, the features, the video player, the huge ammount of softwares you can download (free and paid), the screen, the whole package.
Bad: The need for specialized maintenace for battery replacement.
Comment: I have been a palmtop-addict for several years for I am a teacher and professional interpreter and was an university student. I had a Tungsten E handheld when I realized I needed to have at least Bluetooth to be somehow connected to others, once the infrared port was not communicating with anyone else but my friends who owned another handheld. I then started shopping for a new one.
My first idea was to buy a Zire 72 or even the twin brother, the Tungsten E2. During that period, Palm had launched the Life Drive, which had everything I could want, but was too expensive and slightly too big for me. When I heard aboud the TX, I automatically fell in love with it. Didn't think twice, I went there and bought it.
When I opened the box and turned it on, the first thing I could notice besides it somehow known design was how bright its 480x320 screen was. When I opened the built in Media software I couldn't believe how smooth the video playback and slideshow capabilities were! When I transferred the "soul" of my previous handheld (calendar, contacts, software, etc.) I noticed some minor glitches in some of the older programs, but not so much that would get me annoyed. The sound volume of it was also very impressive.
About the built in programs, the best was the Pocket Tunes, that replaced the Real Player from other editions. The endless customization possibilities of that program were great. The documents to go that comes in the cd is also very nice. The Calendar and Contact interfaces are also nice and all the built in programs are very intuitive and user-friendly.
Although I had read in this very website that it could only read SD cards up to 2GB I took a chance and bought a High speed 4GB SD card and worked perfectly. On that moment I thought "Great, I have the same memory capability of the Life Drive paying much less and without the size and weight!". It could hold entire movies or episodes of my favorite series. Perfect for coach-class endless flights or bus trips.
The communication capabilities where also mind-blowing. I tested the Bluetooth port with a mobile camera-phone and it was very fast and easy to transfer images between the two devices. I also tested the Hotsync via Bluetooth and it was very nice too. In the wi-fi department it also works great! With the Universal Keyboard accessory I could easily navigate the web from any wireless internet access point with high speed. One minor glitch I could notice was that the Blazer (built-in browser) was not 100% compatible with all pages I visited, with forms out of place, but nothing that would upset the user too much.
What I can say about the Palm TX is that it is incredibly useful right out of tha package, but once you customize with the huge ammount of softwares available on the internet it becomes as indispensible as your wallet or even your mobile phone.
Tony McCauley 16 October 2006
Good: It makes my travelling life easyier and more enjoyable.
Bad: Hmmm... nothing I can think of.
Comment: I am now on my 5th laptop all of which have been personal rather than company buys, so mobile computing has always been high on my agenda and something which I have full control over. I have not previously dipped into the PDA market as their functionality was always covered better by the laptops, however with the spread of WiFi and the advent of WiFi-enabled PDAs I thought it was about time to check them out.
The Palm Tx received some very good reviews and was not priced too highly so I brought one and have been bowled over by it ever since, to the point where, for shorter trips I can leave my laptop behind, and on longer trips (international) it is the perfect travelling companion for airport departure lounges. With the WiFi I can constantly check for any last minute e-mails and news web sites, listen to some music or even, during long delays, watch a movie. Recently I used it to check mail and browse the Internet during a flight which had a WiFi service. On a more mundane level I use it all the time to read an send SMS messages via Bluetooth to my phone and of course the Versa mail gives me easy access to bring with me the business e-mails that I have received.
I use it with 2GB cards (the maximum) which can now be brought sub £20, one will be in the machine and two are stored in the case brought separately. 6GB - who needs a Lifedrive? Why not a 10/10? Well, sometimes the handwriting recognition is a bit jumpy so I cannot call it perfect.
I cannot recommend this highly enough and I have still to try it as a GPS navigator with a TomTom set up!
See all 2 user reviews