Palm Users out there?

[Heretic]

Any Palm Pilot junkies out there? I just got one (a cheap ### one M105) and it is soo cool. I cant imagine what the ones that cost 5x what mine did are like.

Can anyone out there program for the Palm OS?

 

[Oz]

I and the Mrs. gave eachother Palm's at Christmas 2 years ago. We bought Palm IIIc's and I also gave her the Kodak Camera attachment for hers. Best Christmas gift she has -ever- received, and best gift period if you ask her. Her daily life would be a mess if the thing ever died on her.

As for me, when I got it, I used different programs and basically nerded myself out of using it. In recent months, restored back to factory settings and software, and I too love it!

I like the color screen, but there's no real advantage to color other than preference.

 

[BudoPo]

Try http://www.palmgear.com/ for tons of programs. Most of them are shareware, but a number of programs are free. I've got a Clie T665, which I really like. There's also http://www.freewarepalm.com/ for freeware.

I have a Sony Clie T665C, and found http://www.cliesource.com/ to be a really helpful bb. It's a Clie-specific site, but the people who post are pretty helpful and will help you out with general Palm OS questions and apps.

 

[Heretic]

Great Piece of Software

Thanks

I found a great piece of software called TinySheet4

Its a totally free spreadsheet program that can import excel files into your palm. Now I have a spreadsheet I can do almost anything with my palm.

I love this M105 so much (got on ebay real cheap) that I may buy a fancier one (something with more ram and maybe a higher res screen)

Anyone have an opinion on the Handspring units? I really think color is cool, but doesnt serve any real purpose, does anyone find color necessary?

 

[Oz]

Re: Great Piece of Software

Originally posted by Heretic
Anyone have an opinion on the Handspring units? I really think color is cool, but doesnt serve any real purpose, does anyone find color necessary?

Not necessary, but definitely my preference.

 

[BudoPo]

Color isn't necessary, but it's nice to have (it tends to use up batteries faster, though). High res screens make text look a little sharper. Most of the moderate/high end PDAs have 320x240 screens, which are fine for most things. Lots of RAM is always good. 8 megs is usually ok, but 16 is available on a lot of units, and it's nice having the extra space. You can also try JackSprat and JackFlash, which are programs that delete and add programs to the ROM to free up the RAM (be careful using them, though). Removable storage devices, like Sony's memory stick, are really helpful. I have a 32 meg stick, and put just about all my files on it. It slows down the PDA a bit, though, since it has to open the files from the stick, which is slower than opening it from RAM.

I use TinySheet4, too, but on my high res screen (320x320) the text is pretty small. You can't zoom the display with TinySheet, so I'm trying Sheet to Go for a while (came with my unit) while I look at other spreadsheet programs. TinySheet is a more powerful program, though.

There's also WordSmith for a word processor (vs. Word to Go, which came with my PDA). For ebooks, I use iSilo (which can read txt files without converting to palm format). CRS is a nice launcher, if you want to get one.

You can also go to Circuit City and play with different PDAs to see which you like.

 

[Oz]

Originally posted by BudoPo
Color isn't necessary, but it's nice to have (it tends to use up batteries faster, though). High res screens make text look a little sharper. Most of the moderate/high end PDAs have 320x240 screens, which are fine for most things. Lots of RAM is always good. 8 megs is usually ok, but 16 is available on a lot of units, and it's nice having the extra space.

My Palm IIIc is an 8Meg unit with color, and with my full schedule, a dynamic and always changing to-do list, and about 300 phone numbers, and I still have over 7 meg free. (Also have a game installed to entertain myself when I don't have something to read to kill time.) Battery life is about 2 weeks, so I don't really consider that an issue. If I travel for a week, I just put it on the cradle before I leave, and do the same when I return. No concerns there.

I saw the Palm M130's this morning at Staples for $239, although I think my next one will be a Sony!

 

[Kizzy]

Handspring

I own one. The basic reason for me getting a handspring was that I have hundreds of phone numbers and addresses. I also keep my check book registry on it as well.

I would be lost without mine.

 

[mrs potts]

Re: Great Piece of Software

Originally posted by Heretic
T

Anyone have an opinion on the Handspring units?

I have the Handspring Edge and I love it! I use a program called Documents To Go for word and excel files. This is expecially helpful when transfering files from my work computer to my home computer, I don't have to worry about a disk.

I have had the Edge for over 2 years and have experienced no problems with it. I was saddened when I found out that Handspring discontinued the Edge.

Good Luck with your Palm!

 

[Heretic]

I had this M105 two weeks and love it so much that I just ordered a better PDA of Amazon. I got a Sony Clie SJ20, got to test one out at Staples but I found amazon had it for $30 cheaper with free shipping so Ill wait a few days.

 

[Oz]

Originally posted by Heretic
I had this M105 two weeks and love it so much that I just ordered a better PDA of Amazon. I got a Sony Clie SJ20, got to test one out at Staples but I found amazon had it for $30 cheaper with free shipping so Ill wait a few days.

Curious why you didn't spring for the color SJ30 for the slight upgraded price?

Also, isn't that super-small? It's about the size of the screen of the M105 you have...???

You have me thinking about posting my IIIc with accessories on Ebay and doing an upgrade too!

 

[Heretic]

The Sony is very small, but its screen is actually bigger than the screen on my M105, its backlight is AWESOME and comes with some great software (Documents to Go Included), 16 MB of RAM and memory stick port. The color SJ30 was $250, all in all I ended up with a price of $150 which was stretching what I wanted to pay.

I've got a Palm Basic compilier and am playing arround with creating my own programs already, can you say Geeking Out.

 

[BudoPo]

The Clie models are nice. The jog dial is great, as is the high-res screen. I prefer small PDA's, and your SJ20 should easily fit in your shirt pocket (my T665 is thinner but taller than yours, and lives in my shirt pocket). I keep the backlight set to minimum (to save battery life), and it's bright enough for almost all situations.

You might want to get a screen protector. Most are around $10 for a pack of 2 to 12 (depending). I've heard the Write Right one in stores isn't very good. Then again, I've heard the G2 that I have is "as clear as glass" (mine cuts down the image brightness and sharpness slightly).

There are a bunch of nice cases for PDA's, too. I have one from EBcases.com, and like it (the magnetic clasp comes in handy to hold the stylus). The cover that comes with the Clie is ok, but I just wanted a little more protection.

CRSlauncher is a nice launcher program that I like better than the standard one, but there are a number of launchers out there to try.