Specifications

PC MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 16, 2003 www.pcmag.com
40
BY BRUCE BROWN
I
n true summer sequel fash-
ion, Palm has replaced the
original Tungsten/T—its
mainstay
PDA for profession-
als—with the new
Palm Tung-
sten/
T2 ($400 street). Unlike as
in Hollywood, this follow-on is
better in almost every way.
For starters, the
T2 has double
the memory (32
MB) of the T.
The increased memory pays off
quickly. Even after loading all
the applications that came on
the supplemental software
CD,
our test unit still had more than
22
MB of available storage space.
Palm has also upgraded to a
new transflective display. The
320-by-320 resolution is un-
changed, but the new screen
looks much brighter indoors,
and icons look crisper than on
the backlit reflective Tung-
sten/T display. In sunlight, how-
ever, the original Tungsten/T is
easier to see.
The
T2’s chassis (4.0 by 3.0 by
0.6 inches,
HWD) is identical to
the original but for the silver
color, and at 5.6 ounces, the
T2
weighs just a bit more. As be-
fore, for data entry using the
Graffiti 2 area and to access the
four soft buttons on the sides
of the input space, the collapsi-
ble case slides open, adding
three quarters of an inch to the
T2’s height. There’s also an SD/
MMC expansion slot.
The
USB synchronization and
charging cradle is unchanged (a
travel charger is a $40 option).
The integrated Bluetooth wire-
less radio also remains on board
and now comes with software
to support Bluetooth phones
using major
GSM/GPRS service
providers worldwide.
The
T2 delivers a whole slew
nection Personal Edition, which
links you to corporate e-mail
and
PIM information. Users with
PCS Business Connection Enter-
prise Edition software can push
Microsoft Outlook or Lotus
Notes mail and
PIM data directly
to the phone.
Given its features and good
PDA/phone integration, the SH-
G1000 betters any other Pocket
PC–based hybrid we’ve tested.
The Handspring Treo 300 is
smaller and more comfortable to
use as a phone handset, but the
SH-G1000 outguns it on features.
If you’re a heavy phone user
and looking to add just a few
features to a digital phone, the
SH-G1000 is probably overkill.
Mobile professionals and users
who want a highly evolved
PDA/phone combo, however,
should be pleased with this ver-
satile mobile tool.
Microsoft Windows Powered
PCS Phone SH-G1000 by Hitachi
Street price: $650, plus monthly Sprint
PCS service fees. Sprint Spectrum LP,
888-211-4727, www.sprintpcs.com.
llllm
FIRST LOOKS
BY BRUCE AND MARGE
BROWN
S
ome people say that a no-
compromise
PDA/phone
combo can never be as
small and light as a standalone
cell phone, since the screen and
input areas needed for a good
PDA make for a large phone. But
if you’re willing to carry a little
extra bulk to get both in one
device, the
Microsoft Windows
Powered
PCS Phone SH-G1000
by Hitachi
($650 street), available
now through Sprint
PCS, is the
current combo leader.
Since it weighs 8.4 ounces
and measures 5.6 by 3.2 by 0.8
inches (
HWD), you won’t want
to slip the
SH-G1000 in a shirt
pocket. For its
PDA features, the
SH-
G
1000 runs Pocket PC 2002
Phone Edition, not the newer
Windows Mobile Software 2003
for Pocket
PC (First Looks,
August 5). That said, the new-
Palm’s T2 Terminates the Original Tungsten
of new software, including the
latest Palm
OS v5.2.1, new
productivity titles, and new
communication and enter-
tainment applications.
Standard multimedia util-
ities now include Kinoma
Video Player for viewing
video files, RealOne
Mobile Player for
MP3 and Real
Audio support, and
Palm Photos for
digital images.
The integrated
monaural speaker
won’t cause any com-
plaints from neighbors, but its
volume is sufficient for playback
in a quiet office. For better sound,
plug stereo headphones (not in-
cluded) into the standard jack.
If you already own a Tung-
sten/T, there may be no com-
pelling reasons to replace it with
the newer
model, un-
less you often
find yourself
out of storage
space. But if you’re
looking for a power-
ful new Palm
OS-
based
PDA with up-
to-date software in a
compact, highly mobile
format, check out the new Palm
Tungsten/
T2.
Palm Tungsten/T2
Street price: $400. Requires: Host PC
running Microsoft Windows 98 or
later or Mac OS 9.1 or later. Palm Inc.,
800-881-7256, www.palm.com.
llllm
If you have a
Bluetooth-enabled
phone, you can use
the T2’s dialer app
to place calls.
er OS’s main
draw is easy
wireless con-
nectivity, a
need met by the
unit’s 70-Kbps (es-
timated average)
1xRTT data con-
nectivity.
Other features
include an inte-
grated
QWERTY
keyboard for two-
thumb typing, a 640-
by-480 digital camera,
and an
SD/MMC card
slot. The 400-
MHz Intel
XScale CPU is partnered
with 32
MB of SDRAM.
The
SH-G1000’s PCS
phone function is well inte-
grated with its PDA features. You
can make voice calls in myriad
ways, such as tapping the on-
screen keypad, entering the
number on the keyboard, se-
lecting from the call log or con-
tact databases, or using Sprint’s
excellent voice-dialing feature.
We particularly like the large
speaker phone button; vol-
ume from the speaker is
sufficient for a small
group during a meeting or
while driving.
Snapping pictures
through the swivel
lens is easy, thanks
to both the side-
mounted and on-
screen shutter con-
trols, and you can
peruse captured
images via the
convenient
viewer utility.
Sharing im-
ages is easy,
too: A wiz-
ard walks you
through image selec-
tion, address selection, and
adding text and voice messages.
In addition to the usual bun-
dled Pocket
PC PIM and produc-
tivity applications, the
SH-G1000
includes Sprint’s Business Con-
It’s a bit of a
handful, but the
Hitachi SH-G1000 is
the most fully loaded
PDA phone
available.
Hitachi PDA/Phone Comes
Loaded for Business