Lately there has been a lot of talk about how the Pocket PC is overtaking the Palm in the PDA market.  This perception is understandable when you look at some of the features Pocket PC has that Palm doesn't.  Palm has tried to narrow those differences down with the introduction of Palm OS5.  This Operating System was developed to run on ARM-compliant processors.

The first Palm PDA to sport the new operating system is the new Tungsten T Handheld (Sony has also introduced an OS5 based PDA, see Related Reviews).  With a Texas Instruments OMAP1510 Processor, Tungsten T operates at 175 MHz, not too far behind most Pocket PCs.  Although you can add more memory through an expansion slot, 16 MHz of onboard memory is a little on the low end.  Palm OS5 also supports Bluetooth wireless protocol which is definitely a plus.

One of the first things you notice on the Tungsten T is the unique case.  The case slides together to cover the Grafitti section of the PDA.   When closed, the case is a little larger than normal but still fits in your pocket just fine.  There is also a 5 five way directional pad instead of scroll buttons.   Although Sony has done it for a while on the Clie, the Tungsten T is the first Palm to sport a 320x320 screen versus the normal 160x160.  Some other firsts are the ability to record with a built-in microphone and a headphone jack.  There is also the ability to play MP3's but you'll need to purchase a player. 

The software package is decent but not much different then with OS4.1.  You really don't notice much difference in how the Operating Systems look over previous versions, but you'll feel the difference on 175 MHz processor.

Basically the Tungsten T is comparable to the average Pocket PC available now.  The biggest issue is that the Tungsten T is about the same price if not more then the typical Pocket PC.  It's going to be a hard argument not to try a Pocket PC first, but for the die-hard Palm fan this is definitely a step in the right direction.  Don't count Palm out yet.