LifeDrive No Longer Available from Palm

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8711/palm-tungsten-e2-packaging-refresh/

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9186/circuitcity.com-discounts-palm-tx-e2-and-z22/

The E2, both the unit and its packaging, have actually seen TWO new orange "Palm" logo rebrandings:

the standard E2 handheld package and the Circuit City-exclusive "Bonus Pack" with the free case and Sudoku CD.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

I think the Palm Vx went through 3 different packaging permuations as well as a staggerring 4 different pre-installed OSes. (3.3, 3.5, 3.5.3 and a few units right at the very end of the production run were loaded at the factory with OS 4.0 or 4.1). This was mostly ignored amidst the hoopla of the m500 series' launch etc.

The m500 series also went through at least 2 packaging refreshes and 2 OS changes (m500 had OS 4.0 then 4.1 and the m515 had OS 4.1 then a few units were officially shipped with 4.1.2 which added Graffiti 2).

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

I think we all knew this was coming soon. That said, another thing the LagDrive had going for it was the build quality, materials, and to some extent, form factor. Everyone seemed to love the physical quality of the hardware. Palm could extend the life of the T|X2 by using this form factor at about 1/2" thick (dump the drive or built-in flash), shave the rediculous wasted area around the screen, and sweeten the package with a newer anodized color scheme. Hardware for VR, LED & vibralarm would be no sweat.

Remember how sharp the original leaked LagDrive device looked with black buttons and apparent thinness? The T|E->T|5->T|E2->T|X design is so long in the tooth, that Count Dracula looks like a choir boy.

Remember this?
http://www.w3sh.com/archives/Lifedrive-thumb.jpg

BTW. Throw in BT2 with AD2P, and/or a cell radio for data or BT calling and the TX2 internet tablet with fire the faithful back up again.

I need to dust off Photoshop again.

Pat Horne

I'm wondering. Since their website has touted the "Mobile Manager" category and used the term "Mobile ManagerS"(plural), what will zero MMs mean. Will they still have the category and call it a singular "Mobile Manager" since they offer 0 instead of one device? Maybe their math is just off by 1? :-D

1 = plural
0 = singular

Pat Horne

I wonder if that "new" is the placeholder for a new entry level Palm OS replacement for the Z22...or if it's just a typo on Palm's part?

Now that I think about it, a trip through Palm's website a few days ago turned up a few small but noticable page layout tweaks and whatnot. I think that Palm's gearing up for at least one new product announcement and/or some additions to their support page--the 700p page now has a section for software updateS (plural). Let's hope a firmware update is coming soon!

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

Will they fix the Bluetooth problems? Yes, at least the glaring random disconnects etc. I doubt it'll make it 100% rock solid stable but it will be improved. I think this is going to be the main focus of the Palm update as they seem to have more interest in this than admitting to any other issues with the 700p...probably because BT is the easiest thing to "fix".

Will they fix overall system lag? No. Palm will continue to ignore the lag and claim that it's still faster than "competing devices."

Will they fix the SMS lockups/lag on Verizon? Unlikely. They will advise everyone it's a Verizon network issue and Verizon will advise everyone it's a Palm problem.

Will they fix the random battery drain issues (flickering icons)? Possibly. Palm showed that they could lick the 680's problem in pretty short order. I wouldn't think this one is too far out there.

Will they fix the 700p's pitiful telephone quality? LOL! Get real!

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

Maybe you can trade it in for a 700wx once verizon releases that... 700wx is a great device.

Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.

The rumor mill put the wx launch at Jan 29, 07... see how well that went. I would bet next month, if I had to bet.

I said f verizon and their high data prices and went over to sprint and the sero plan... I still have my verizon phone, but I'll tell you that sprint is great. I went to a location last thurs that had no sprint service, but it switched over and I roamed on verizon's service without an issue.

I'm really happy that I've tested sprint.

OG

Vote for John Kerry... best man for the job.