Tungsten T2 - 11 months later

Well let me start of by saying that I bought this little sucker about 5 days after it was released... And I have not regretted it one bit. The other reviews can give you the specs on the machine, but let me tell you about my "almost year" with the T2.

I'm a medical resident and use the T2 daily. Drug reference, rolodex, OR Schedule, reference, MP3 player, movie trailer madness, and mindless game machine all apply to the T2. My pocket was previously laden with the HandEra 330, a brick, but a Swiss-army brick at that. I loved that PDA and it carried me all the way through med. school, so it's replacement had a pick "case" to fill...

A few words about what this machine does well...
The large amount of onboard RAM handles .prc files of the Skyscape, Inc. applications easily, leaving room for calculators, ePocrates, iSilo, etc. The SD expansion card is also quite handy, and allows for numerous .pdb files of the Skyscape apps and iSilo documents as well as several movie trailers to show off the screen, but I'll get to that. Skyscape and iSilo access the card seamlessly, popping open as fast as when the entire app is on RAM. This was essential for me, as I hate to wait. The T2 scores here. The basics of the unit all work without a hitch, I am not a big fan of Graffiti 2, but I'm coming around. Bluetooth is nice for syncing and I have seen folks that have bluetooth enabled phones do some neat stuff, but I cannot comment on either as I just don't use that feature. All and all, this unit functions perfectly.

Multimedia...
The screen is easy to read and quite bright under fluorescent lights, even with the "brightness" at 50% to conserve battery life. Outside the transflective screen washes out, but that's the tradeoff. I don't use this outside much, so this is a non-issue in my case. Movie trailers play without a hitch, but the speaker is somewhat weak. Plug in headphones and you're golden. Kinoma is OK, but MMPlayer really shines on this machine.

Necessary Accessories...
I would have to say a good SD card (128MB at least for the medical folks reading this). A quality case: I have an aluminum hard case. It's heavy but bulletproof, avoid the palm version of this case as it is not as well designed as the various other aftermarket cases that you'll find. The palm leather flip case is also nice, but it will turn the unit on, by pressing the buttons on the front panel. Highly annoying if you lose data. This application (Disable Buttons 2.1) is a must and a lifesaver. Palm tech support can't match this one. I would also recommend a good screen protector. I bought 4 from www.pdascreenprotectors.com (I own two T2's), and I have not scratched either one with daily use for 11 months.

What's not so Hot...
The afore mentioned weak speaker and tendency to turn itself on... the later of which is easily fixed with the freeware app mentioned. I guess one could say that there are bigger (or smaller) more powerful, feature-filled units out there, but they will cost ya! A quick check on eBay reveals T2's with accessories going in the $100-$150 range. For a functional unit with the ability to play games while you're waiting on a CBC or an X-Ray to come back, it's not a bad deal.

I love this little unit and I'm sure it will live in my coat pocket until it gets tired and wants to go to PDA heaven.