The
Tungsten W
Technical Summary
Processor: 33 MHz Dragonball VZ
Memory: 16 Mb
Screen: 16-bit colour,
backlit, 320 x 320 resolution.
Operating System: PalmOS 4·1·2
Form Factor
The
Tungsten W is a reasonably large and heavy device, especially when compared
side by side with the diminutive Palm
m515, although it is smaller and easier to carry than the combination of
the m515 and SPV E200. The device has a five way D-pad in
conjunction with four application buttons at the bottom of the screen. The power button and is located at the bottom
right hand side of the case as you look at the device from the front and under
here you find the memory expansion slot.
Screen
The
Tungsten W uses a high resolution (320 by 320 pixel) 16-bit colour
backlit display that appears identical to that used in the Tungsten T I
borrowed a year or so back. It has a
variable brightness backlight combined with a transflective
screen, which means when you turn the backlight off you can still use it - very useful for battery
life. The backlight works in
a similar way to that of the m515,
so for OBD-II Scanner duties it
produces a significant reflection in the windscreen.
Sound and Notifications
The
Tungsten W’s speaker is broadly similar to that of the m500 series, but
marginally louder. Unfortunately, it is
only able to play the standard “Classic” PalmOS range of beeps, which is a
little disappointing. The Tungsten W
also features a vibrate facility, which is noticeably stronger than the m500
series, and finally the device may use the LED for notification, too. In conjunction, these work well enough for
the device’s dual roles of a ‘phone and a personal digital organiser, but the
volume of the ringer is not as loud as many simple cell ‘phones.
Storage
The
Tungsten W has a quoted 16 Mb of memory although only 15 Mb is accessible by
the user.
OBD-II Scanner
Since
the Tungsten W uses the Palm Universal Connector and PalmOS 4, it is fully
compatible with my existing OBD-II Scanner solution. The screen update speed is at least the
equivalent of the m515.
Communications
The
Tungsten W features an integrated tri-band (850, 900 and 1800 MHz) GSM /
GPRS radio. The ‘phone side of things has a reasonably
slick integration with the Address Book, and you may dial, text or email a
contact using the new icon. The standard
PalmOS launcher and the
The
Tungsten W does not include an integrated Bluetooth
radio. You can, however, use the Palm Bluetooth card but this
doesn’t support the use of a Bluetooth headset.
This is a shame. An onboard
Bluetooth radio and support for Bluetooth-enabled wireless headsets would make
a material difference to the Tungsten W.
With this headset, the Tungsten W would be close to my perfect PDA.
Although
the Tungsten W requires specific drivers for the Bluetooth card, in terms of
functionality it works in exactly the same way.
It can connect to other Bluetooth-enabled devices or computers. The Tungsten W will happily act as a modem
for Charlie’s Tungsten T3 over
Bluetooth, where it will use the GPRS radio to connect to the Internet to
download email and allow web site browsing.
For
GPRS connectivity, the device works
exactly as it should. When an
application requests a data connection, providing you are otherwise able to use
GPRS, the device automatically connects for you. Connecting isn’t as seamless as with the SPV E200 since you get to watch the Tungsten W
connect, but once it has gone through this process it is seamless.
The
Tungsten W’s GSM / GPRS radio will only allow voice calls using the headset
socket. The device itself has no
microphone or compatible speaker. This
is certainly a compromise although for my used, it is not so bad.
With
just one button on the standard PalmOS headset, functionality is limited. A quick press of the button brings up and
toggles through the
If
you are wearing the headset, you are alerted to incoming calls by a tone in the
ear piece. If the mobile loses signal,
it also clicks every so often, although if this is by design I am not
sure. Nevertheless, it is a useful
reminder that you have no GSM signal.
The
Tungsten W’s 1,500 mAh battery gives it superb
uptime, even when used as a cell ‘phone for voice calls and as a modem for data
usage. With my standard (and limited)
mobile use, the device manages over twenty hours of uptime on a charge before
the mobile functionality is disabled, then it’s good for at least five more
hours.
Expansion
The Tungsten W has a SD I/O
slot, allowing the device access to memory and Bluetooth cards.
Summary
Without
the GSM connectivity, the Tungsten W is a good device for my requirements but it
carries the significant disadvantage of being larger and heavier than the m515.
I would still take the m515.
However, bundle in the ‘phone aspects of it and it becomes a winner but
with one important caveat, which I’ll come on to.
The
device has two possible disadvantages for other users. One is that the hardware is slower than the
rest of Tungsten range (and except for the Tungsten T, there is less memory
available). I have discussed the
merits of PDA processors here,
and comparing the Tungsten W side by side with the Tungsten T3, it’s obvious
which one is quicker. But the additional
performance of the T3 doesn’t make much of a difference to the end user: in
normal operation most people wouldn’t save any time using the T3.
Another
disadvantage is that the Tungsten W is a hybrid device in more ways than
one. It is the only PalmOne
high resolution device, but the others use ARM hardware and PalmOS 5. Some applications are unable to take
advantage of the high resolution screen since they are expecting to run on
PalmOS 5 architecture. The Tungsten W is
a unique device in the PalmOne range and is probably
considered to be a dead end product (it was released before PalmOne acquired Handspring and the Treo communicator range).
The
final negative point about the Tungsten W is that it does not have internal Bluetooth radio so one cannot use it with a headset,
unless you buy a wired / wireless Bluetooth device (another unit to charge up and more expense). There’s nothing wrong with wired headsets
until you try to put one on in a hurry or get tangled up in it when trying to
answer a call... The lack of onboard
Bluetooth is the reason why I retired my Tungsten W.