Tungsten W usage notes
======================

This early Palm communicator has some  rough edges and it has them what
it was new, too.

But  it  has  also  some  advantages. Being  low-power  device  with  a
(relatively) slow  CPU and the GPRS  it has an excellent  battery life.
Its screen  is readable on  direct sunlight  so backlight can  be often
turned off to enlarge battery life even more.

Keyboard  is not  bad at  all. There  are some  unfinished things  like
limited  functionality of  4-directional  pad (it  cannot  be used  for
movement in texts  in the Memos, for example) or  inability to control
of some GUI buttons from the keyboard.

Unavailability of unlimited camera software is an another problem (that
software once existed but now it  is missing and the author is probably
no longer alive).

It is  interesting that the device  (with antenna) fits into  cases and
pouch designed for older Palm III models.

It is  the Palm  OS 4 software  so it is  less prepared  for multimedia
(definitively no music  on this device - no MP3s,  no WaVs, no nothing)
and  available wireless  services  are limited,  too.  WWW browsing  is
possible  in  text-only  mode  with  no downloads,  e-mail  has  to  be
unencrypted and  no modern SSH  is possible,  just the old  good telnet
(and the telnet  is possible with with unstable software  only). FTP is
possible but not as easily as on more modern devices.

Anyway I use the device to browse Gopher, to receive some of my e-mails
and to write gopher phlogs. And for all the usual (off-line) PIM stuff,
too. 

I also have  found this device to be especially  suited for shopping: I
can  put a  shopping list  here (into  the stock  ToDo program)  and to
navigate in it  with 4-directional pad (so it can  be controlled by one
hand and without stylus). There is also  an "Ener" key in the center of
the  pad which  can be  sued to  mark the  items. Also  its backlighted
screen is ideal for terrible light  conditions which are usual in local
supermarkets. I still like my Palm III devices more but in this special
situation  it  allows  me  to  finish  shopping  much  faster  (I  hate
supermarkets shopping  in general so its  important to me to  leave the
supermarket as soon as possible)


Written on the Palm Tungsten W.