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By Warren Koh
Oct 12, 2005

After all the hype and intensive efforts to keep news of this unit under wraps, it was somewhat disappointing to find it so similar to its predecessor, the Tungsten T5. That is not to say that the TX is lacking in any way, but simply that there is little improvement save for the integration of Wi-Fi. This latest from Palm is actually the Tungsten X, but as it marks the beginning of a move to shorten model names (Zire to Z, Tungsten to T), it is called the TX.

Editors' note: Together with the TX, Palm has also launched another entry-level handheld, the Z22. Get the full details and pictures here.

Design
Designed after the Tungsten T5, the TX sports the same classic dark-silver finish and slim form factor as its predecessor. Put side by side, the two handhelds are almost identical, with the TX just a tad larger and heavier at 121 x 78 x 15mm and 149g.

Palm has retained the T5’s fantastic 3.7-inch diagonal TFT screen that shows 65,536 colors and a brilliant 320 x 480-pixel resolution. Many other design elements such as the taskbar that provides quick access to key functions, the four standard shortcut keys and the five-way toggle button have also been retained.

That said, Palm has replaced the Files shortcut key with a Web shortcut key, which once again marks the company's choice in integrating either a USB drive mode or onboard Wi-Fi. In the case of the TX, it has opted for the latter.

Virtually everything else is copied from the T5, from the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top to the slide-on screen cover bundled in the full retail package.

An interesting feature on the TX is the separation of the power adapter from the USB HotSync cable. The new one-touch HotSync is still present but now you have the option of just bringing the power cable around. This is especially useful if you rely heavily on wireless synchronization.

Features
The greatest feature of the TX is undoubtedly the integrated Wi-Fi. Scanning and connecting to networks was a breeze and VersaMail 3.1 (which supports POP, IMAP, and SMTP email accounts) and the Blazer 4.3 Web browser made email checking and Web surfing uncomplicated and speedy.

The TX runs Palm OS 5.4.9 and comes with all the usual PIM features, DataViz's Documents To Go 7.006 and more. However, there is only one bundled game, Handmark Solitaire.

The handheld also packs in Pocket Tunes 3.0.9 for playing music files or podcasts. Users can create and edit playlists, shuffle songs and navigate by album, artist or genre. Although it is not strictly necessary, you can also install the Rhapsody application for easy transfer of MP3s.

Possibly the second greatest feature of the TX is its large, color display and this means you can share your favorite photos anywhere and everywhere. The Media application lets you organize your images into albums and you can even add transitions between photos and present them as a slideshow.

With a 312MHz processor, the Palm TX pales in comparison to the T5’s 416MHz and other top-of-the-line handhelds with Wi-Fi like Palm’s own LifeDrive. But the TX does seem like the company’s response to major criticisms that its handhelds have always been overpowered, which result in shorter battery lives.

The T5’s 256MB of onboard flash RAM with 215MB of user-accessible memory has been reduced to 128MB (approximately 100MB available to users) on the TX. However, it does come with a memory expansion slot that can handle MultiMediaCard (MMC), SD and SDIO media with support for memory cards up to 2GB in size.

Performance
The 312MHz processor was more than sufficient for all applications to run smoothly, although there was a slight lag when loading photos and videos for the first time. Generally, there was little to complain about the screen and the performance, and the speaker was respectably loud considering its small size and placement.

Converting a 70MB video file took about 7 minutes and transferring it via the HotSync cable took just over 2 minutes along with the numerous other synchronization tasks and updates. In our battery test, we played a looped MP3 and the handheld lasted for about 6 hours before the low battery warning popped up and the song was stopped automatically. Although the warning was appreciated, it would have been better if the barring from the use of certain functions such as playing music and videos was made optional in such situations.

Conclusion
Despite its similarities to the T5, the TX is still a powerful and desirable handheld. Compared with other Wi-Fi-capable PDAs, the HP iPaq rx1950 looks to be the TX’s closest rival in terms of size, price and features. However, we will have to wait to see how both PDAs really measure up to each other as the iPaq is still not on shelves. In the meantime, the feature-rich, well-balanced TX is available at an affordable S$548 (US$325).

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