Palm Tungsten E2 Handheld

It keeps notes, memos, the time, and a calendar well. It has a nice 320x320 screen, and the graphics are good.
It has trouble hot-syncing if the cord is not pressed firmly into the device, and even then sometimes it will hang for hours, if not stopped. The Bluetooth hotsync is about the same. This inability to hotsync at all, sometimes, is the main hang-up of the device. Everything else works great, can't ask for more.

I've had my E2 for 2 or 3 years now. I had one warranty exchange unit early on because the speaker failed, but since then everything was fine.....until today. Unit won't turn on. Googled for a solution and discovered an issue and solution that is quite common. Take out the four torx screws from the back of the unit and carefully prise the two halves apart. Disconnect the small plug on the battery lead from the circuit board, wait 10 or 20 seconds and re-connect. My E2 came back to life immeadiately, just the clock to reset. Some users report having to use the reset button to get back to normal operation but this seems to work most times.

I am hooked on the Palm Pilot interact method. I used to prefer the key board, but I eventually accepted the touchscreen and I would never go back.
The is an excellent information platform, buy with confidence.

Buyer beware! I received a defective unit and it has been hell getting a working unit issued using the Palm repair center. My first call resulted in no action since the non-English speaking representative did not write down my email address correctly. When I called back in a week later I was sent an email telling me to package and ship the product back to them AT MY EXPENSE and wait another 2 weeks to get a working unit which I am still waiting on! I would never purchase another product from this company again.

I have had this handheld for 4 years now. It seems to crash every 6 months. I can't turn it on at all, and days of charging have no effect. I usually pull it out after a few months and plug it in to the outlet. Twice now it has come back to life.

If you have a handheld that crashes like mine and many others, try every few months to plug in both the charger and the USB cord--but don't connect the USB to the computer. Both times when it has come back to life for me, I had it plugged into the wall and I put in the USB cord to the palm but not connected to the computer. I wonder if there is some sort of short.

Like most other reviews have said, the cost to 'repair' the handheld is as much as the cost of a new one. Palm should really be embarrased about this.

If you are thinking of buying, don't get the E2 Tungsten. I won't buy from Palm again, either.

I have owned my Tungsten E2 for about a month now. It is the BEST. I can keep everything organized and right where I can find it. Buy this now!!!

I have had 4 Palm tungsten E2 PDAs. I like the compactness of the PDA.
However, the quality of the product has deteroiated and gone downhill.
The screen area for the notepad keeps failing and you cannot write notes after just a short while. This product has poor quality control.

Ok with the purchase.Thought i would also get the accessories like the USB cable,but.....Still finding the product useful though.It arrived a bit later than i had expected.

This seller was very easy to work with and I received everything I needed. I would definitely buy from him again.

A dependable PDA with the features (calendar, address book, expansion card slot) I need. No phone, no camera, no movies - which I don't want.
On the down side, as a Palm owner for many years, I am annoyed at the need for not infrequent soft resets that seems to have accompanied their development of OS 5.

Both have crashed within one year. The onscreen keyboard won't activate making the unit worthless. If you buy one good luck.

This was my fourth and fifth Palm. I started with the old Palm Pilot, upgraded to color with the M505, got a Tungsten E (eventually the speaker went), then two E2s. The first E2 the digitizer got off and could not be corrected. But I loved it so much that I got a new one. I loved the new one too until one night it would not turn on (and has not turned on since). It seems the reliability has gone down since they started making them in China.

Positives:
1) Open system (IR port, 3rd party software, memory cards etc.)
2) Audible sound at least as good as an IPOD (see my review of the Ipod Touch I replaced it with)
3) Real one player is more functional on the road than I-tunes
4) Personal productivity software (to do lists, note pads, spreadsheets, databases etc.)
5) Documents to Go syncing with Microsoft Office

Negatives
1) Availability (I did not get a third largely because no one stocked them locally and I was in a hurry)
2) Reliability
3) Dated hardware vs. the new touch screens; also some minor issues like only supports memory cards up to 1 Gigabyte.
4) No vibrating alarm (ahh for the M505 even with its dim screen)
5) Documents to Go screwed up my synchronization

It seems that Palm has given up on its PDAs (they may be on their way out). But even after having two of these die on me, I hope they come back and if they come out with an upgrade, I'll gladly buy it.

I am 100% satisfied with the product. Works well with my Microsoft Office 7 program.

I'm very satisfied. Nothing less than I expected. I figured, why buy a new one, especially since PDAs are fossils at this point anyway. Also, the desktop recharger and leather case were unexpectedly thrown in for free. Very cool. Thanks.

I find it almost impossible to live w/o a PDA, so when my first E2 (which I got for free as an incentive from an investment company - those were the days!!) died, I purchased a Sony Clie, not knowing they were discontinued. When I lost its charger, too bad - no more parts. After much shopping around, I decided to go for the E2 again - more than I need for my uses, but the old one had been reliable, and I am used to the interface. The only thing I did differently this time is buy a hard case for it, cause I think the demise of the first can be traced to banging around in my handbag unprotected for years. The back "metal" was actually worn off. I heartily recommend the E2.

Palm Tungsten E2 Handheldthis is my second one. had a tungsten e for 5 years. very happy with it. excellent for anyone looking for a good base model to keep a calendar and an address book. with and sd memory card it is also a great way to carry around "bragging "photos.

I've been forced to switch from the tried and true Sony Clie' I bought more than 5 years ago to a Palm, due to a software compatibility issue. Not having a keyboard incorporated into the device slows things down tremendlously and forces me to use both hands to enter grafiti. The Palm is chunky and awkward to hold compared to the elegant design of the Clie'.

I'm new to using PDA's so I kinda over baught getting the tungsten E2. I basically use the notes, calendar, calc., and memo unctions. The rest of the functions I have no use for at the moment. So as far as what I do with it, everything does exactly what I need it to do. I will someday try uploading geocaching coordinates into it but until I get the ones I have stored into my GPS solved, I will continue to memorize them one by one as I look for them.

piece of junk. I bought this...returned the first one as it malfunctioned the first month. Now I have the second one 3 months later and out of the return period and it is dead again and I am stuck with it and getting no response.

Last Christmas I received a brand new Tungsten E2 as a present. I mainly just wanted a device to help me stay organized, keep contact info and maybe some pictures in. I used my new Palm about 20 times before it just stopped turning on. I called tech support, who told me to charge it (which I had already done for 2 days!) and to call back in another 2 days. I followed their advice, as well as trying a hard re-set, and called back when it still didn't turn on. In my second call with them, they told me I could send it in and for $149.00 + tax, they would fix it for me!! I can buy a new one for that!

Their customer support is also severely lacking, for several reasons:
1) After 90 days, you have to pay to talk to tech support.
2) I was disconnected 5 times during my initial call with them and had to keep calling back and waiting in the queue. I spent a total of almost an hour and a half calling back and waiting on the phone for a phone call that lasted less than 5 minutes.

I would not recommend this (or any!) Palm products and highly advise anyone considering it NOT TO BUY THIS PRODUCT!!! It is awful!

I enjoyed my E and used it daily for 2 years without exception. Then when the E2 came out ... without some much as a glance at the user manual I bought one. With the brighter screen, the bluetooth keyboard & 1G memory card, I am a very "happy camper". I use it as a business journal, address book, expense report recorder & appointment calender. In addition, I use the media section for product references using both the video & still photos of my products. The entertainment value of the MP3 player is just a peraonal side benefit for me.

Sync-ig with OutLook was great with the E, but has not work as well for me since I use a different email server now. I do miss not being able to do that. With the latest update of Documents To Go I am extremely pleade to be able to bring PDA document with me for client references.

BOTTOM LINE:
1) the larger screen is easier to read than a smartphone. 2) with the portable keyboard it is easier to input & update than a smartphone ... I just can't type with my thumbs. 3) I can reference materials at the same time I am talking on the phone much eaier than a smartphone.

No where on the box does it say that this product is not compatible with XP Media Center. Only after not being able to install the software and drilling down into the Palm support site do you find that out. The box simply states it is compatible with "Windows XP" Their support is really lacking.

I've had a Palm 100 since 2001. It is still working, but I knew it would need to be replaced before long. While the 100 lacked many of the luxury features of the E2, it surpassed the E2 I received 7 months ago in ease of use and life span. I was very excited when I saw the color screen. The images are sharp and bright. I found extras that I did not have on the 100. I could put my SD card in the top and view all the pictures on it. Very nice when you can never think to carry pictures with you. However, the pictures are very slow to load. Another treat is that it is slim, came with a nice cover that was easy to move out of the way when I wanted to view it. The other WONDERFUL difference is it's rechargeable. I had to keep a close eye on the 100 because, if your battery ran too low, you lost everything. And, if you didn't change the batteries out quick enough (taking out the old and putting in the new) you would lose all your information again.

When I began using the E2, I noticed that I had to touch the stylus under the item in order to highlight it. I'm very flexible so I adapted to these dyslexic positions. One area that never quite seemed to work smoothly was synchronizing. Before, my 100 synched beautifully. For the last 7 months, each time I tried to synch, I had to load the program first. Then I would end up with doubled-up tasks. It was frustrating to have to go back in and delete all the duplications.

Two days ago, I stopped the car to look up an address. When I returned to my car, I noticed my E2 was in the street. I picked it up and it didn't come on. To make a long story short, I've been upset with myself until I came to see about buying another one. After reading several of the reviews, I knew my Palm had fizzled without any help from me. Many of the issues others had had, I did too. Now I've decided it would not be a wise way for me to spend my money. I'll have to look into other brands. I appreciate all of those who took the time to review the E2. You've helped me make a better decision.

While this has all the right features, there are two big problems. First, these palms only last 18 months or so. Then freezes beyond repair. Second, whenever it is on, there is an annoying, constant high pitched buzz. I do not recommend this product.

I have been a palm consumer ever since the oldest clie models and have always had pretty good luck. Buy one device, use it happily until it finally gets old and dies. I don't have unreasonable expectations for "life expectancy" of a device I use many times per day. However, I bought this model about 11 months ago and had problems right from the get-go. Within a month, the touchscreen was losing sensitivity and was not aligned right, meaning you sort of had to guess where to tap to actually pull up a certain thing. Tech support not helpful, but still under warranty so was replaced with a "remanufactured" device. (I won't even talk about how that process left me without a device for about three weeks...) Replacement device actually malfunctioned in EXACTLY the same way within one month. So frustrating to see that palm is manufacturing crap and then not taking responsibility when it fails. Especially because I tried to switch to a HP device - which functioned beautifully - and I couldn't get used to the different platform. What happened to my beloved palms??? So disappointed....

This is my second Palm (with my first being the Palm E). Because I prefer a device separate from a cell phone and music and game devices, the Palm is a wonderful product! I use it to maintain all of my personal and business appointments, to play games, and to listen to music. I may be outdated in terms of not preferring more advanced hand-held devices, but this product is easy to use, easy to carry, fits easily in my purse, and has a reasonably long battery life before needing to be recharged. I am not disappointed with the E2 at all!

I had a seven year old m500 whose battery, and replacement battery, bit the dust. I've had Palms since the Palm III days. They've worked just fine, although dropping one and breaking a screen has never been pleasant.

However, the two E2's I've had show all the signs of rotten engineering. The first one ran for 85 days - then, the digitizer went nuts. Horizontal lines drawn across the screen went up, down, sideways, and you name it. The effect was especially notable on the writing area: the "menu" button could not be touched and the "home" button was, effectively, displaced to the very bottom of the screen. Digitizer calibration did not succeed, although, if, in the calibration attempt, one touches points offset from the correct points, a calibration would "succeed" - but the distortion on the touchscreen was obvious.

I called Palm support and they sent me a new one. Here it is, three months later, and the new Palm has started doing the exact same thing.

A search of the web shows hundreds upon hundreds of complaints about digitizer malfunctions on the E2. The old palms didn't do this. I therefore conclude that Palm made a severe design mistake; they get $150 for "repairs" after warranty; the warranty has been shortened up, obviously to get that $150; freeware and costware "solutions" to the problem are cropping up; and the company hasn't publicly recognized the problem.

Don't buy this thing. It's designed bad, from the start. I hate to say this, but I'm never buying a Palm again.

Ken Becker

do NOT buy ... I have had a e2 AND a Palm Lifedrive ... both have had loving care but broke within a year. Customer service will gladly fix it for $150 so unless you plan to spend an adverage of $20 a month for this .. BEWARE and dont buy!!!

This is my third palm - the last two have been Tungsten E. They meet many of my organizational needs and is small and easy to carry with me. I only wish that the screen lasted longer than 2 years.

I'm a previous user of tungsten E. When my battery died and I needed to replace the battery or buy a new product, I chose to buy the TX because of the added features. I had problems with the application software for TX virtually from the start. So I returned it for an E2. I have not had a problem from the moment I took it out of the box. I sacrificed some desirable features but it's more important to me that I have a reliable access to my data. I'm now a happy camper.

1 major problem: When I tried hot syncing the data from my old T-E2 to my new T-E2, there was not enough memory to tranfer all the data. On my old E2, I still had memory left. I suspect this was related to the new OS and some programs not included on my 1st E2. I ended up deleting the least important programs; but even with that approach, I don't have much memory left for new application. Also, on some application, scrolling up or down using the slider and arrows on the right side is difficult.

Great product! I love having documents at my fingertips anywhere I go without lugging a laptop around. I purchased it mainly for nursing school so I could have a drug book reference. I haven't downloaded the drug book yet.

As much as what I love the Tungsten E2, and as much as it has helped keep my appointments and documents organized, this is unfortunately my second one. After a year of great use it lost its screen callibration which isn't a part of the regular 90 day warranty and neither is tech support. The only reason that I purchased a second one is because of the documents and programs that I use at work with the Tungsten E2. Palm has a horrible warranty policy. With the exception of the screen calibration, it is a great piece of technology to help keep you organized. Palm, get a consumer friendly warranty policy. This is my last palm!!!

This was my third Palm Tungsten E2. My first Palm PDA, a Palm V, lasted five years. My first Tungsten E2 lasted a little over two years. My second one lasted a little less than two years. This one lasted a whoppin' 12 days! All of my Tungsten E2s, even when working, were flaky -- they buzzed, they had to be reset often, their conduits quit working and I could not back them up to my computer. Customer "support," when I tried it years ago, was so useless it was insulting. I'm not even going to try for a refund, I'm just never going to buy a Palm product again. Unfortunately, none of the other PDAs seem very reliable either. Much as I dislike the bulk and inefficiency of paper, I'm going back to it until some wonderful company makes a reliable PDA.

I love my E2. Since I jumped a year ago from a M105 to this, I really feel this help me a lot at work and everywhere I go.
The only reason I'm planning a change is the lack of WiFi.

I was very excited about this PDA when I first got it. It worked well and did everything I needed it to, including having an SD 2GB maximum card slot for pictures. However, after having it for almost 15 months, I have encountered many problems with it, to the point of now only being able to play Solitare. I would suggest to anyone that is planning on buying that partiular PDA, or anyone for that matter, to purchase a Protection Plan for it. Thankfully I did buy a plan and I have to send it in now to see if they can fix it.

It is a great buy as all other prices were much higher. Support was excellent.

This is the fourth pda I have owned. I have never had a problem with the others just a silly need to get the latest gadget.
The Tungsten e2 I ordered only worked for a week. I am a hairdresser and I keep all my appointments for the year in this thing. The pda froze up and will not turn off or on. I have done everything possible, reset the thing reinstalled my software etc. I contacted the seller and they told me to send it back in the original package. The package I got had been opened and no plastic on it just a box. OOPs I never thought I would have to send it back and the package is somewhere far far away recycled. I am just so disappointed. Don't know what I will do but in the mean time I transfered all my data from my computer to paper.

I am a person who works each day with lists and the pda has just helped me be more efficient! The yearly reminder for birthdays and other special events is priceless---so much easier than transferring paper data to yearly calendars!! It is so handy to have everything in one place! VERY easy to use!

I've owned my Palm Pilot Tungsten E2 for around three years now. I love it! It holds my whole life. I've dropped it a bunch of times. It's gotten wet. It's been very cold and very hot. It's gone dead a few times & I've reset it and lost nothing. (I also back it up on the computer with the hot sync fairly regularly so that if it ever does go completely tilt-whirl, I'll only have lost a few weeks worth of stuff.) The battery lasts a good long time. Of course, I'm not much of a techie & I don't use it for an MP3 player and I never bothered to use the blue tooth stuff as I have nothing else that is blue tooth enabled. But it's got my whole calendar (extensive), all my contacts (extensive & detailed), my diet info, my medical info, my personal data is sealed away under password (which really works - I forgot the password for 4 months & could not get in, no way, no how - aggravating but reassuring). I have games to keep me from getting too bored in waiting rooms with three year old magazines. And I love the task reminders and the memo function. I don't need it to be fancier than a basic life organizer, but for that it works absolutely great and is very, very reliable!

After my first Tungsten E failed due to the power switch, I took the unit apart to see what had happened. This power switch is only attached by two very thin wires to the circuit board. There is no other mechanical support. As such, routine usage of this switch WILL result in one of those wires breaking in time.

My advice is avoid using this switch. Set the unit up so that the keyboard never locks and use the front panel buttons - which are of a much more robust design - to activate the unit.

And if you are having a problem with the speaker not working, it is likely due to the fact that a pressure contact is used to make the connection. Over time corrosion can build up between the spring and press plate and again you will have a failure.

Its unfortunate Palm has not corrected these two obvious design flaws in an otherwise quality unit. I continue to use the unit because it would be too much trouble to switch to another PDA vendor.

This will be my third Palm (have also had one HP). It is easy to navigate, provides clear screen, and is not too complicated. There was some difficulty in transferring my Outlook information from the computer to my new Palm & in downloading some extra programs.I had to purchase extra Palm software to download my EWallet.

I love the Tungsten E2. I don't need to get on the web away from home and don't want to pay the monthly fee associated w/ AT&T in order to do that (frugally speaking). So, the Tungsten is just like my old PDA EXCEPT the battery LASTS a LONG TIME and the picture is more brilliant, it feels more substantial in my hands and I love being able to download info on to it, and carry excel spreadsheets with me. A stupendous organizer.

I purchased my Palm Tungsten E2 in July of last year so I have had plenty of time to see the good and bad. There really hasn't been anything horrible about this PDA. It serves as my appointment book at work and I probably use it 50 times a day while at work to look up client's appointments and times when I'm writing paperwork. My E2 runs for a week and a half to two weeks without having to charge it...but I do not charge it until it begins to threaten to shutdown because of no battery power, so this may be helping the battery life. It stores pictures and I even have some audio on it as well...I would never use it as my primary mp3 player...but occassionally I'll listen to some music with it.
The hotsync feature has been great and I find it really easy to use...I read some reviews where people have lost years of information while using this product...just hotsync your info to your computer for a reliable back-up...it hasn't failed me yet.
Now that this unit has come down in price I believe it is an exceptional value for the performance and would recommend it to anyone!

the hardware was out of order after one week of usage,
very bad experience,
will not recommend t any one

i bought the palm with the sole intention of putting my iv therapy book and my drug book on it for my nursing clinicals. my palm is much more then that. it seemed the first week i kept finding more things on the palm that i didnt know were there. i love it. clinicals are a breeze for me now, much less cumbersome. and the extra things on the palm that i didnt realize it had on it is just a bonus. it is great and i take it with me everywhere.

Great PDA. Instruction manual was somewhat lacking in detail. However, tech support from seller,Richmond Wholesale, was excellant. Highly recommend both product and seller.

Compre esta Palm a un excelente precio por ser Open Box y no me arrepiento, si bien tiene una pequena ralladura no afecta nada la maquina y la compre $100 menos del valor original.
Es un excelente producto y el servicio de Amazon Muy bueno

I purchased a LIFEDRIVE from Palm and I was immediately thrilled with it and I rated it 5 stars. I purchased a metal protective case for it and I purchased a special remote alpha/numeric keypad. I thought it was the greatest of all the Palm devices I had ever purchased! Having left a positive feedback on this purchase I am no longer allowed to make any further comments for this specific item.

But now I have lost ten years of vital data. The LIFEDRIVE was defective. I had been buying Palm products every since they had a memory of only half a megabyte. Now I have lost all personal and business information that I acquired over all these last ten years. And when I call them for help they demanded money to simply look into the problem saying they would not be responsible for the cost of any lost data.

I had a Tunsten T before, which worked for three-four years, even survived several drops on concrete floors. Then I had the Tunsten 2E for about 6 months, and it is stuck in the calibration loop with no possibility of exit. I tried soft and hard reset, all to no avail. I searched on the web, and this seems to be a common problem with no real solution. Palm apparently knew about this, yet they did nothing. This is totally different from Canon. I had a Canon digital camera of three years. The display screen went out. When I searched on the web, Canon had issued a recall for this. Canon paid for all the shipping, and repaired or substituted a newer model (in my case) for free. That is good costumer service! Avoid Palm from now on by all means.