Palm Tungsten E2 vs. iPod Nano

October 14, 2005 11:54 AM

Will I be unhappy if I get a Palm Tungsten E2 and a 2 Gb SD card as a music player instead of an iPod Nano?

I want to get some kind of music player when I come back to the U.S. for the two weeks around the new year. I was thinking about an iPod Nano, but I also wanted to get a new Palm to replace my aging m500. So I was thinking about a Tungsten E2, a big SD card, and some earphones. Maybe these earphones. (I don't know anything about earphones, so feel free to make other suggestions, but I don't want earbuds due to the increased risk of hearing damage.) I figure I could put the storage to a much more versatile use in the Palm, it would be one less thing to carry around, and a memory card is cheaper than an iPod (I would have bought headphones anyway). Probably less fashionable than a gleaming white new iPod, but I never really cared about that.

Is this a sound idea or will I find myself annoyed with the interface or the sound quality and wish I had gotten the iPod instead?

I was probably going to use BizRate or Pricewatch to pick a vendor to order from in early December sometime. But if you can suggest a cheaper place and time to get these things, I'm all ears.

posted by grouse to Technology (13 answers total)

If you lived in the US, I'd say "maybe" if you were going to use PocketTunes with a Plays for Sure subscription service.

As it is, I wouldn't count on it being great. I owned a Treo 650, and never used it to play music, because it was just too cumbersome.

My suggestion would be a Z22, which is going to retail for $99, and an iPod nano.

But then, I USED to owner a Treo 650. I'm officially of the belief that intergration of every gadget is not necessarily a good thing. And if you're worried about carrying to gadets, just remember... the ipod nano is "impossibly small".
posted by benjh at 12:02 PM on October 14, 2005

i am a happy owner of a treo 650 (on vacation now and using it to log in using sprints 1xRTT network and bluetooth - it rocks!) but i considered it a non-starter for music. the amplifier is just too noisy... lots of hiss.

can't say how the tungsten E2 sounds, but consider it a data point.
posted by joeblough at 12:09 PM on October 14, 2005

I used my Palm Tungsten T as a music player until I got an iPod, and to be honest, I wish my iPod was more like the Tungsten (or a more modern Palm device.)

One downside would be if you use the music player to exercise--if that's the case, then go with the iNano. If you're never going to exercise, then a Palm is a reasonable, logical option.

One big downside is that you can't sync a Palm with iTunes like you can with an iPod. Yes, you can somewhat "automate" transferring music from iTunes (or other apps) to the Palm, but I always found it cumbersome and not nearly as robust as it is with the iPod.

Also, check what the battery life implications are for running music on the Palm. My Palm--an old one, granted--doesn't get tons of battery life when I'm playing music and using the Palm for other things.
posted by thewiseacre at 12:54 PM on October 14, 2005

I use a Sony Clie nx80v with a 1GB CF card for music. I'm generally happy with this setup (the sound quality is excellent) but it has two major drawbacks for me.

First, I use fairly high quality mp3s (Lame VBR alt-preset standard) and I can only store about 10 albums worth of music which is not nearly enough. Even 2GB would be inadequate.

Second, like thewiseacre pointed out, it's too bulky to use while exercising.
posted by Asef Jil at 1:04 PM on October 14, 2005

Conversation at my GF's work:

"Hey Dina, why don't you use your Palm as an mp3 player anymore?"

"The batteries died and I lost all my software. What a pain in the ass."
posted by furtive at 1:07 PM on October 14, 2005

For what it's worth, the newer Palms, including the E2, have non-volatile flash memory.
posted by exogenous at 1:38 PM on October 14, 2005

Furtive's comment sounds about right. I was using a Zire 71... Realplayer sucked. Presumably things have gotten better since then, though.
posted by maledictory at 1:46 PM on October 14, 2005

I listen to music all the time on my T5 and it sounds great. Dishing out extra for some good head phones makes all the difference.

As for getting a 2GB SD card, I don't think it'll work. Last I checked, the current palm OS isn't certified to work with anything more than a 1GB SD card ( which is what I use).

Also, yes, Real Player sucks. You'd have to buy Pocket Tunes.

You'll also need to buy a case that has an open top so you can plugin headphones and keep the case closed.

And yes, it is too bulky to use while working out but so is, IMO, the IPods. You're better off getting one of the various super-small MP3 players for working out. These can be as cheap as 40 bucks.

Heh. Once you do all that, yes, the palm-as-mp3-player works great.
posted by nixerman at 1:50 PM on October 14, 2005

I tend to find that the clumsier the interface, the less likely I am to use something frequently. And the iPod interface is as easy and straightforward as can be.
posted by trevyn at 1:58 PM on October 14, 2005

I use a Tungsten E with 256MB. Good sound quality (not great), nice interface (pTunes). I really like having only 1 device.
posted by signal at 2:03 PM on October 14, 2005

I recently switched from using my Tungsten T to an iPod shuffle. With the release of the Palm TX and the 30gb video iPod (same price), I wondered what would be a better solution for me now that I'm looking for something else.

The sound quality using Real on the Tungsten was nowhere as good as the shuffle. Now that I'm listening to podcasts, audiobooks, and music, I do want something with a visual interface and more space than my Shuffle.

I'm trying to decide if I would actually use any of the other features of the Palm TX, such as Wifi, Docs to Go, etc.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 2:20 PM on October 14, 2005

I've got no complaints about the sound quality or battery life on the E2. I use mine for occasional commutes, and I've never seen the battery meter drop because I was listening to music.

Also, if you slip the E2 in your hip pocket facing out, you can feel the D-pad through the fabric with the tips of your fingers and track forward and back and adjust volume easily without taking it out of your pocket.
posted by crabintheocean at 4:09 PM on October 14, 2005

Response by poster: I should follow up that I eventually got a Palm TX, which I am very happy with. Mass Storage Synchronizer (free) and Card Export (not) make syncing with iTunes a snap. Thanks for the tip about the 2 GB cards not working for the E2. They do work with the TX.
posted by grouse at 7:54 AM on February 4, 2006