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The Palm V next to the Tungsten T5
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I’ve been playing with PDAs for a very long time, and I’m of the opinion that PDA design peaked with the release of the Palm V. The Palm V was a truly groundbreaking product when it launched, and it made almost every other PDA look big and ugly. It was the all-metal casing and dark grey brushed finish that turned the Palm V into a style icon that has yet to be equalled in the PDA arena.

However, palmOne has now released the Tungsten T5, and in many ways has recaptured that sleek and stylish design that proved so successful with the Palm V. In my opinion at least, the Tungsten T5 looks fantastic, with a case constructed from metal and finished in dark grey. Without even turning the device on it looks good – the design is minimalist with the screen taking up almost the entire surface area, while the shortcut and navigation buttons take up minimal space at the bottom.

Turning the Tungsten T5 on reveals that the 480 x 320 transflective screen is a good one, in fact I’d go as far as saying that it’s one of the best screens I’ve seen on a PDA. It might not be as vibrant as some examples I’ve seen when it comes to viewing photographs, but when using applications the display is very easy on the eye. As with all Palm OS devices, the bottom part of the screen is used for text input, but by tapping a small icon in the bottom right of the display, the text input box disappears, and the whole of the screen is available for viewing your current application.

The row of icons located at the bottom of the display are all very useful shortcuts. My favourite was the one-touch pivot button which toggles the display from portrait to landscape viewing modes. You’ll also find a shortcut to Bluetooth, a reminder icon, a Home button, Search, drop down menu button and a digital clock.

As is usually the case with Palm OS devices, the Tungsten T5 feels very smooth and quick, unlike many Pocket PC devices. The bundled applications also work very well. The Blazer web browser is excellent and far superior to Pocket Internet Explorer. Also, VersaMail is a very competent email client that’s simple to setup and use. There’s also a very simple SMS application that allows you to send text messages from the T5 via your mobile phone.

Of course for all those applications to work, you’re going to need some kind of connectivity, and to this end palmOne has empowered the T5 with integrated Bluetooth. Now, I’m a big fan of Bluetooth and I think it’s an excellent way of getting personal devices to communicate with each other. Pairing the T5 with my Sony/Ericsson K700i was simple, and getting online using the O2 GPRS service was just as easy. However, you are also supposed to be able to share the Internet connection on your PC via Bluetooth, and this proved far more complicated. Adding my PC to the T5’s trusted devices list wasn’t a problem, but then trying to get online via the PC was nowhere near as easy. After searching around the web for clues on how to configure Internet connection sharing via Bluetooth I found several “how to” guides, all stating that it is a difficult and convoluted procedure. I’m sure it does work, but I didn’t have the time to waste in order to find out.

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