PPP - Palm V(x)

The Palm V and the Palm Vx

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.The new screen

.CPU and memory

.The charging cradle

.The cradle signals and pinout

.Power source and consumption

.The new OS 3.1

.Summary

.The Palm Vx

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What's really new
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In short: Alot! The Palm V comes with quite some differences compared to all his 'buddies'. The most striking one is the beautiful, stylish metal case and the new form factor. The Palm V finally reached the 'thinness' to fit a shirt pocket really well and it fits your hand like no other 'palm device' I know so far. Well, I know the introduction sounds quite euphoric, but that was just my first impression!
But also on the second look, the Palm V has to offer alot of goodies. The new EZ processor, OS 3.1 which speeds up quite a few things, a rechargeable lithium battery and a new improved LCD. I'll try to discuss all of that below, as always on my pages a bit more from the technical point of view.
For my review of the OS 3.1 and other common facts like the new EZ CPU, please read my review of the Palm IIIx.
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The new screen - As in my PIIIx review, I want to start with the new LCD, since it's really one of the biggest improvements on the new models. But the Palm V uses again another LCD than the IIIx. It's made by Epson, which are well known for good quality displays. And good quality it is!!! The screen has a great contrast and is well readable also in dim light conditions. Interesting, the Palm V screen is a bit smaller than the LCDs of all other Palms. The visible, active area is about 1.5mm smaller from left to right. Of course the 160x160 resolution kept the same and I'd say if you weren't 'married' with your old unit, you will hardly notice the difference in size. The Palm V screen has a bit darker background than the one of the IIIx. The result is, without backlight I would give the Palm V screen half a point more, with the backlight the PIIIx screen looks a bit better illuminated and clearer - but that are really minor differences you can hardly notice, if you don't see both screens side by side. One thing though is much better on the PalmV LCD, it's missing completely the annoying ghost lines of the 'gray' PIIIx screen. I'd say with the Palm V you get the best screen of all in a Palm at the moment. UPDATE: The color screen of a Palm IIIc beats the Palm V LCD :) ... even in black & white, that black on paperwhite is just great.
Another big improvement is the electronic contrast control. Located on top of the Palm V is a new, dedicated button, that pops up a soft contrast slider anytime, in any application. Yet another nice detail: The contrast changes live, while you drag and still *hold* the slider, not only when you release it (as it is in alot of Win applications). And the slider can be moved also with the scroll buttons completely without using the stylus. It makes contrast control really convenient. I like especially the dedicated button, so you don't have to dig through tons of menus to reach the contrast control. It's nearly a pity that you probably will need to use it quite rarely, since the contrast seems to be much more stable regarding temperature differences.
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CPU and memory - The Palm V comes as the Palm IIIx, with the new EZ processor. Please read some details about it in my PIIIx review. But you wouldn't be on my page, if I hadn't some images of an opened PalmV :).
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The PalmV went through an amazing design process. The largest yellow square on the image above is basically the whole 'heart' of the unit, with CPU, 2MB RAM, 2MB Flash, the 32kHz crystal, the power supply, the high voltage generation for the EL backlight and the speaker. Most of the shrink process could be achived by very small chip cases. The CPU and the Flash memory are ball-grid array cases, one of the smallest case variation in the moment (and impossible to be handled by amateurs!). The Palm V has no backup capacitor anymore, it would be useless since the lithium battery is constantly connected to the unit. But, if you disconnected it, or the battery would fail (which is most unlikely), the data is gone instantly. Left of the battery is a high integrated, small charging electronic, which takes care very well of the battery, more below.
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On the image above you can compare quite well the dimensions. Considering that the RAM has still a standard SMT case (the one you find in all other Palms or on the TRG board), the CPU is nearly only half of that size!
Only 2MB RAM for the most expensive Palm in the moment were quite a complaint, what I've heard. But I still think it's not really too less. Just as an example: I have about 40 additional applications installed on my Palm V, I keep all my addresses, birthdays etc. on it and I have always about 300k occupied with various docs to read with DOC. Using FlashPro from TRG, I still have around 800k of free RAM, that's not so bad. But there is also hope for more RAM: Basically the 2MB chip can be exchanged with an 8MB type. But be warned, the modification is more than difficult. First you have to open your Palm V, not easy since it's sealed with glue. Then you have to have the skill and the equipment to desolder the old RAM chip - that's much more difficult without ruining the motherboard. You have to remove the motherboard completely, since on the other side there are 3 tiny resistors located, that have to be replaced. If you were successful so far, inserting the new RAM should be a piece of cake. The last challenge left is then to close and seal the case properly again.
But there's also professional help. On www.efig.com you can find already the first upgrade service. For $150 you get the 8MB upgrade done, when you can go without your PalmV for 4 days. UPDATE 06/15/01: efig is still active, but their PalmV upgrade service was suspended, sorry.
But don't forget, the sleep consumption (unit off) is 3 times higher with the 8MB RAM and also during normal operations the 8MB chip needs clearly more power. If you can live with the 2MB and you want maximum battery perfomance, think twice about the upgrade.
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The charging cradle - The cradle of the Palm V is a complete new design too. It's a bit more 'compact' than the older cradles and it's black. Finally 3Com fitted a quite heavy metal plate in it, so the cradle has a real good stand on the desk. A bit heavy though, to take it with you, but for the road there's a seperate charging/hotsync kit available for the Palm V. The cradle comes - as the PalmV - with a new type of serial plug. The contacts look similar and there are still 10 of them, but no old Palm fits the new cradle, nor fits the Palm V in any old cradle. Also any hardware add-ons that go to the serial port have to be dedicated to the Palm V. If you have any snap-on modem from your old Palm, forget it, it won't fit. The good news are, there is a brand new 33k modem available for the Palm V (April 99) and it's even expandable with an upcoming GSM unit for mobile phones.
When the Palm V is located in the cradle, the lithium cell is automatically recharged and a green light goes on. That light is a neat design detail: It's a transparent plastic ring around a hole on the front of the cradle, lite by 3 leds (what a luxury!) in the cradle. Additionally, that ring is a stylus holder, so you can 'park' the stylus conveniently while using it at your desk.
There is another excellent design detail: To charge the battery, the cradle has to be connected to a power source of course. The cable coming from the supplied power brick is not connected to the cradle directly, but to the 9-pin SUB-D plug that goes to your serial port. From there, power is routed together with the serial signals to the cradle. The result is only one cable running up to your desk - very nice! BTW, the power supply is also not the worst. It's not one of these cheap transformer supplies, but a light, power saving switched power supply. I'm a 'fan' of that type, since I think they can save quite some energy and money. Especially unloaded, the difference is very noticable. While a good switched power brick is using only about 1W when connected to the AC line only, the cheap transformers can easily dissipate 5W without delivering even a single mA, not to talk about the heat they produce. Now multiply these wasted 4W by the amount of these bricks everyone uses nowadays (answering machine, cordless phone, mobile phone charger etc.etc), by 24hrs x 365 days. For my household for example, I can save about 270kWatts / year!! only by using these better power supplies. Beside the fact that in Germany i.e. I save about $50 /year for doing basically nothing and missing nothing (beware, I'm a techno-freak too <g>), whole atomic power plants could be shut down if only these little power bricks would all be as good as the 3Com one ... but back to the Palm V :).
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The cradle signals and pinout - Below you find a table of the Palm V cradle signals. Actually, the pinout didn't change much, the RS-232 signals all kept their place. On the old cradle, pin 2 was a +3.3V output only to pullup the hotsync button. That function remained, but additionally pin 2 is now also input for the charge power. The voltage changed to about 4V according to the lithium cell voltage. Pin 8 is new (unconnected on the old cradles) and it's a strange pin. If you connect it to ground, the green 'charge' control lites up. The strange thing is, that it is in fact not related in any way to the actual charge process, so it just lites because the P5 shorts pin 8 and 10 (sense and gnd). To top that, the voltage for this green light is supplied seperately as a second voltage (6V) from the power supply. That means, even if the 4V charge power failed and the battery is not charged at all, the green light would still go on. BTW, the input stage of that sense input is so sensitive (high impedance), that you can lite up the green light by just shorting pin 8 - 10 with your finger when the cradle is empty :) ...
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Pin Number on cradle from left to right	Pin Number 9-pin SUB-D	Signal description
1	6	DTR (RS-232)
2	-	+3.6 - 4.0V and charging input from power supply
3	3	RxD (RS-232)
4	8	RTS (RS-232)
5	2	TxD (RS-232)
6	7	CTS (RS-232)
7	-	Hotsync button
8	-	Sense for 'unit in cradle' (activates green 'charging' light)
9	-	not connected
10	5	Common signal- and supply ground

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Power source and consumption - The power consumption of the Palm V is basically the same as the one of the PIIIx, but with the lithium cell as power source, there are still quite some differences. The most important is the higher voltage of the lithium battery. Let me explain briefly, why that's so important (BTW that's valid for all Palms). The electronic basically needs a voltage of 3.3V to work, and i.e. for the idle mode a current of about 15mA (not the exact number, but easier to calculate with for the moment). That makes a power of 49.5mW (mW = V * mA) - and the power is in fact the interesting number. The switching power supply used in the Palm to stabilize that 3.3V, is able to convert true power (forget the little loss every power supply has for the moment). That means, the less voltage you give the switcher, the more current it needs to deliver the same power. At a voltage of 2.2V for example, a current of 22.5mA is already necessary to deliver the same 49.5mW. Due to the type of power supply used in the Palm, that fact is also reversable. Supplying 4V means, the battery needs to deliver only ~12.4mA for the needed 49.5mW. Since the battery capacity is only meassured in mAh, the 4V battery really lasts longer than the 2.4V battery (typical value of two rechargeables in an old Palm) at the same capacity.
Conseqently the Palm V draws a much lower current from its 4V battery than all other Palms from their 3V (or 2.4V for rechargeables) source - that's the good news. But the little lithium cell in the Palm V has by far not the capacity of good NiMH cells, not to talk about Alkalines. I meassured the capacity and got roughly 300mAh for the lithium battery. Considering the 4V, I'd guess the Palm V will run for about the same time as a IIIx on good NiMHs or half as long as a IIIx on Alkalines. As a rough estimation, I'd say the lithium battery - when fully charged - lasts for at least 10-12 continuous mixed operation hours.
The handbook of the Palm V states, that a 'few minutes a day in the cradle' are enough to keep the battery charged ... well, I wouldn't be that optimistic. Yes, if you also use it only a few minutes a day, that is true. But my best guess is, that a full charge for an empty battery takes at least 3 hours. It's a lithium battery typical behaviour, that the charging slows down the more the battery becomes full. But there is a good chance to fill up the battery to 80% in 60-90 minutes. The good thing about lithium batteries is, you don't have to care about the charging time or 'frequency'. There is no memory effect and there is no danger of overcharging it. So you can really take out and put back the Palm V into the cradle as often as you like.
Unfortunately the manual tells nothing about the warning levels. The voltage range of the lithium battery is much smaller than the one of the other Palm sources. The battery is full at 4V (mine at exactly 4.04V) and below 3.6V you can't switch on the Palm V anymore. The first warning occurs at roughly 3.75V. Nominal voltage of that battery type should be 3.8V.
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IMPORTANT: To get fully a charged battery, don't leave the Palm V on in the cradle. I did the following experiment: The batteries were full and I switched the Palm V on with backlight. That consumes about 35mA. Then I meassured the charge current and it was only 12mA, far lower than the 35mA consume. That means that 23mA are taken from the battery! While it becomes more empty, the charge current rises and at a certain point the balance between consumed current and charge current is reached. At that point the charge keeps its level, but that is not the 100% full level!! The reason for that behaviour is the lithium charge controller: The higher the battery voltage, the lower the charge current flow from the power supply. Without backlight it looks better, but to get a 100% full battery, just leave the unit off.
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Again, for all other power consumption considerations regarding the new EZ CPU and the OS 3.1, please read my PIIIx review. All the improvement described there are also valid for the Palm V.
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The new OS 3.1 - Yep, I repeat myself :) ... all OS 3.1 improvements of the PIIIx review are valid also for the Palm V, so please read it there. In fact, the ROM images of the PIIIx and the Palm V are exactly the same, the different hardware of the two units is handled by the OS during runtime. And no, the new OS 3.1 is not backward compatible to older Palms ... even if you could flash it, it wouldn't run on the PIII, Pro etc.
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Summary - Considering the combination of size, 'appearance' and power, the Palm V is the best PDA money can buy in the moment. And yes, that is a personal impression. But there are also quite some good facts that speak for the Palm V. The LCD is finally state-of-the-art black & white quality, the case is a beauty and sturdy at the same time and the form factor is truly made for a shirt pocket.
The clearly optimzed OS 3.1 together with the EZ CPU are accelerating the daily tasks even a bit more and are another attack against WinCE, which is still too complex for a palm-sized device. There's no comparison of the resulting speed for small tasks between CE and PamOS!
For most users, the rechargeable battery is a very good solution. If you are not too much and too long on the road, you can basically forget about batteries with the Palm V. And with the money that's saved on regular batteries, the higher price of a Palm V is even partly payed back. Only frequent travellers might have a problem with the Palm V. They need to take a charger with then (travel kit or original cradle/charger) and they need a power socket from time to time. And talking of which, I'm really curious when the first car charger for the Palm V will show up. But I still keep up my statement from the PIIIx review: A replaceable rechargeable would have been the ultimate solution. As usual for mobile phones or notebooks, travelers had the chance to get a second battery for the road for example. But then again, a battery door might have cost some of the beautiful thinness of the Palm V ... I guess you can't have it all ...
But take my word, all these considerations are useless once you see and hold a Palm V in your hands ... I promise, you'll fall for it's appeal!
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The Palm Vx - Actually there's not much to say about the Palm Vx, except it's a Palm V with 8MB RAM instead of 2MB on the 'none-x' unit. But another, often overlooked goody of the Palm Vx is, that it also comes with a *20 MHz* CPU instead of the standard 16 MHz. Together with 'NoWaitZ' (best you search on PalmGear for it), Neal Bridges' benchmark shows 197% on my Palm Vx - a real nice speed up!
Frankly, I didn't meassure the power consumption of the Palm Vx, it's too much hazzle to open a Palm V (glued!). But I used a regular Palm V for quite a while and I can't find any big difference to my new Vx now. For sure the Vx needs a bit more power than the regular Palm V, but under normal conditions the faster clock and the bigger RAM size don't influence the battery life noticable. After all, most users will have their Palm Vx in the cradle for a recharge often enough. If battery life is a very serious issue for you, a wild guess of mine would be 10% less operation time on the Palm Vx compared to a normal Palm V. The Palm Vx comes at least with OS 3.3, some users reported even to have already units with OS 3.5 preinstalled.
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