First of all, some readers must be wondering why comparing devices that have nothing in common and are made to different user types and functionality. However, the objective of this post is not to “judge” both devices but to talk about the evolution that I made has a Palm PDA owner. It’s interesting to think not about the device itself, but for the reasons that made the owner trade or buying another PDA.
The Palm Zire m150
Zire was introduced by Palm in 2002 as an entry-segment model. The new design and price tag made Zire a sell champion all around the world. Unfortunately, the specifications of this model limited its growth and Palm launched a few months later the Zire 21, maintaining the design and screen, but improving the CPU, RAM and OS.
The specs:
Processor: 16MHz Dragonball EZ;
OS 4.1 Memory: 2MB RAM (1.8MB avail.);
Screen: 160x160 pixel; 16-grey; no backlight
Audio: piezoelectric speaker
Power: LiIon (3.7V, 600 mAh)
Connectivity: mini-USB with cable, IrDA
However, this Palm device had two strong arguments that convinced me to buy one unit and ditch my Casio agendas and become a Palm user: the price (99$ in 2002 and 70€ in 2004) and the autonomy. Weeks and Weeks of battery life! In that time I just started my degree in University so I needed a single device with great PIM functionality (something that my Casio’s hadn’t), low price and trustful. In the first days I discovered lot’s and lot’s of software (HandStory was a must have) making the Zire my best friend.
I used my Zire a long and hard year. I used it as an alarm clock, agenda, contact database, email reader (with some tricks to enable this functionality because Zire didn’t had an email client or conduit), document viewer, Astronomy logbook and games. All this in a 2MB device! Unfortunately, with bigger documents to read and programs that I liked to use, I couldn’t live with thirty or less kilobytes of free ram… A new device, with a faster processor, more ram and expansion card was needed.
The PalmOne Tungsten E2
When I decided to buy another PDA, I decided that this new device should comply with some conditions: nice price (for a student budget), expansion card, high resolution colour screen, XScale CPU and at least 32MB of RAM. At that time, Palm become PalmOne and the software division (PalmSource) was now a new company. I though that was the end of PalmOS but the launch of new hot devices like Zire72, Tungsten T5 and Treo 650 in that year was argument enough to keep me faithful to Palm and PalmOS.
And the perfect device became a reality: launched in 2005, the PalmOne Tungsten E2 inherits the fine design of Tungsten E (a device that I always appreciated) but improved the screen, CPU and enhanced the communication with Bluetooth. With a 229€ price tag with the Palm Wifi-Card or the Palm Hard Case, it was the perfect device that I was wandering.
Under the hood, the Tungsten E2 is not a top-class PDA, but even so is a professional model with lots of functionality and productivity. Out-of-the-box the E2 is capable of send and to receive email, create, edit and save native Microsoft Office files, watch movies and pictures slideshows, communicate with a vast number of cell phones, web browsing, etc. All this functions bounded and interconnected with the enhanced Date Book (now Calendar) and other PIM applications make the E2 a great professional entry-segment device, exactly what I was asking for.
The specs
Processor: 200 MHz Intel XScale
Operating System: Palm OS v5.4 (Garnet)
Display: 3 inch 320 x 320 screen
Memory: 32 MB non-volatile RAM (26MB available)
Expansion: One Secure Digital slot, multi-connector
Communication: Bluetooth 1.1, infrared
Audio: Internal monaural speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery: Lithium-Ion battery, not user replaceable
With this specs, I think that the E2 is the perfect device for a student. The capability of reading some important document anywhere, have all exams, works and assignments in Calendar and Tasks, have all the colleagues and teachers contacts all together in a single device gives a certain edge above the others and makes the organization (and the study) more effective and reliable. In other hand, pictures, movies, mp3 and full colour games can be distracting but addictive ;-)
When I bought my E2, I sold my old Zire to a friend. I regretted that decision a few days later because all the joy and satisfaction (and stability) that Zire gave me. Luckily, I was able to find the new owner and I buy it back a year later.
Palm Zire m150 vs. PalmOne Tungsten E2
Now that we seen the specs of both devices, the obvious conclusion is that the Tungsten E2 is a better device and is not comparable to Zire. However, Zire is extremely stable (I can’t say the same about my E2, it’s my second unit, the first was returned to Palm) and have a great battery life. If the E2 existed back to 2004 when I buy Zire, I still had buy Zire! I didn’t need at that time a Word or Excel viewer, or a mp3 player.
My Zire have now a noble task: I will offer it to my girlfriend (that hate my Palm “addictedness”). She is in the third year of her Psychology degree and I think that the Zire will help her like it helped me two years ago.
Maybe she become a PA reader too :-)
Some interesting links: Zire Review, Tungsten E2 Review, Palm Zire Web Page, Palm Tungsten E2 Web Page
