Palm Pilot thingy...how will this make my life easier???

[NTHC]

DH purchased me this awesome burgundy piece of technology for Valentine's Day.......he and the kids think I will love it!

Now by the time I read the user manual I will be dead, so please just tell me how I can use this. It's not that I don't like cool stuff, it's just that I don't like to have to figure it all out.

Where would one start?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Cindy

 

[swift]

I am a school bus driver (lots of field trips and weird hours), union secretary, (keep track of meetings and to do lists), church functions, family appointments and my teens schedule, address/phone book, keeper of all important dates and of course a few games to keep the kids busy when they have to sit through boring situations.

I couldn't get through my days with out my Palm Z22, cell phone and lap top.


Part of the technology generation.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Palm Pilot Illiterate Here.

A couple of years ago we sprang for a Garmin iQue GPS navigation system featured on Woot-Dot-Com for some amazing low price.

It was built into a Palm Pilot. No problem -- other folks figured out how to work Palm Pilot, so chances are I could learn to work it too.

Wrong.

Never did get the hang of it. One time my son the computer scientist set it all up for a Florida trip we were getting ready to take by car. It worked great, but just for the destination he told it to find for us. We couldn't get it to do anything else, not even navigate our return trip. Too bad. It featured an attractive display & easy-to-view driving directions. Satellite acquisition time was not prolonged. Seemingly it was a great little GPS navigator -- except for folks like us too dim to figure out how to work it.

Our Garmin iQue Palm Pilot had hardly any pushbuttons & no keyboard. The idea is that you use a little stick that comes with it to write on the screen -- if you can get it to show you a screen to write on or some on-screen options to select. Sheesh. I felt like a major serious doofus -- not an unfamiliar feeling around here, just 1 more arena in which my essential doofusness shines through. So it goes.

Fast-forward to last Christmas. Our son the computer scientist & our daughter-in-law (parents of our grandson) gave us an outstanding non-PalmPilot TomTom portable GPS navigation unit that's so easy to operate that even we can do it. We love it.

Somewhere around here our unloved Palm Pilot Garmin iQue device lies gathering dust. If I could find it I'd dust it off & photograph it & put it on Craig's List.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

["Roger"]

I am one of those who could not live without my Palm. A lot of people have thethings I mention below on their computer, but you can't slip a computer into your pocketbook or purse, even if it is a laptop. The Palm is soooo portible. Some things that I use it for ...

• Keep a schedule of my appointments, vacation dates, plane flights, etc.
• Keep a list of all my passwords, credit card numbers, account numbers, frequent flyer numbers, etc. (I bought a password keeper for this. You use one password and that gets you into something that you can organize in whatever fashion you wish. I would not put this stuff on my Palm without having it encrypted)
• I have a full scale dictionary on the Palm plus a small scale encyclopedia. (Why not just grab the dictionary off the shelf? You may be no where near home at the time.)
• I keep a list of replacement parts for everything under the sun on my Palm. If I am in the store and suddenly remember that I need an ink cartridge, a halogen light bulb, whatever, .. I always have the part numbers.
• Keep a list of names, addresses and phone numbers. Again, you can have this at home, but you would be surprised how often someone asks "Do you have so and so's address?" when you are away from home.
• This one seems over the top to many people, but there are many people who do this ... Download ereader and then read books on your Palm. It provides its own nightlight, much easier to read than a computer screen, classical books can be gotten for nothing or dead cheap, you have whatever you are reading whenever you need it (car dealership, doctor's office, etc.). In all, I usually have about ten books on my Palm. I am only reading one, but if I finish it, I am ready to open another book at any time.
• I can never remember when some stores that we need to travel to are open, or, the hours of our local post office, or the kennel where we board our dog, etc. All listed on the Palm. (The idea here is that anything that you will want to remember can be kept on the Palm.)

My wife regularly scoffs at my having my "brain" in my pocket, but all the time she is saying "Do you have your artificial brain with you?" I pull it out and answer whatever question has just come up.

As with any electronic device, backup, backup, backup. (I recommend a program that you can buy for about $15 that allows you to backup to a SD card that you carry right in the Palm.)

Most programs allow you to view the information both on your computer and the Palm.

 

[UWSurfer]

I've been carrying a Palm around for nearly 10 years. I'm on call 24/7 and basically get work to pay for it and regular updates as I carry important contact & emergency info with everywhere with me, in addition to all the other useful utilities I have on it. The best thing about the Palm is it syncronizes between my desktop seamlessly, so I can update either one and the info is current on both.

HOWEVER, Palm and PDA's in general are being surpassed by Blackberry's and Treo (Palm) phones. They can do what a palm does plus e-mail, web browsing and (get this), make phone calls.

Truth is I'm in the process of deciding whether I want to update to a Treo, the new Centro (also Palm) or jump off the Palm platform entirely and go with a Windows based device. I've got some new requirements which will require me to access web based devices 24/7 and these newer platforms are very appealing. The notion of being able to carry everying in one device is very appealing.

Also Ipods have incorporated many PDA features as well. I'm probably going to stay with a Palm device (Treo or Centro) for the next update this time around rather than have to reinvent the rest of our back office which is setup & supports the Palm. But know you have choices these days.

 

[David]

I don't go anywhere without my Palm Pilot Tungsten E2. Aside from the calendar with all my appointments and a contact list with phone numbers, etc, here are some of the programs I have on it.

AeroPlayer - allows me to listen to books when I'm on the road.
BigClock - it has 4 alarms.
Converter - converts between various units.
Currency - gives me the latest value of most currencies, US, GB, Canada, South Africa, Euro, ... (automatically updates when I sync with my computer).
Happy Days - reminds me of upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
NeoCal - a scientific calculator.
Numberz - a Sudoku game.
Though Manager - a better version of notepad.
Travel Tracker - keeps track of all my travel details (flights, lodging, car rental).
Tumble - a game my 6 yo grand daughter loves to play.

 

[Nancy]

Palm Person

I'm on my third version. This time I got a Palm Centro phone, so cell and palm are all in one small piece. Love it and have loved all my Palms. I keep my calendar, address (and phone numbers), listing of the many meds. both hubby and I take, plus changes, family photos, play games, plus some other specific stuff that probably wouldn't interest most people.

Nancy

 

[glenmore]

Couldn't live without mine. To me it is one big filing cabinet!!!!!!! Used it when I worked to record all names and addresses, appointments, birthdays, etc.

Now that I am retired, I use it to put down ideas, color schemes, gifts for Xmas, TUG tips, travel tips, golf course info, "how to" info - anything at all that I want to remember "some day" . . . it is all in one place and I can find it!!!

 

[pwrshift]

I used an old Palm Pilot for 7 years, maybe more, and loved it ... especially the fact I could update appointments, etc. on my laptop and/or the Palm.

Last year, feeling I needed more, I bought a Blackberry Curve. Cute little machine but it doesn't come with a printed manual - instead you have to search for stuff on a CD or PDF file on your computer. In addition, there is no program that I've yet found that did what I could with the Palm on my laptop. When I called about it, the guy said I could get something like it with Outlook from Microsoft (not Outlook Express).

It is interesting to get 'live' emails as the day goes on where you can choose to read, delete, or just delete from the Blackberry. I have that on vibrate and get jolted all day long!

The Blackberry isn't as much fun as I remember the Palm being, and games for it are quite amateur...as RIM sells their products 'for business use'. If it was available in Canada, I'd go with the Apple iPHone or a WIFI Blackberry - but neither are available here yet (even though Blackberry is made here) because Rogers and Bell don't want to give up the data revenue. I met someone the other day using an iPhone and was quite jealous -- he went down to Buffalo and signed up there even though he lives in Toronto -- finds it cheaper than comparable services in Canada with north american phone calling too. However, I'm stuck with my decision now for another 2.5 years!

Brian

 

[ctreelmom]

I own a palm pilot--used it for a couple of months then went back to the old fashioned Filofax. I could just never find the darn slot to insert coupons, business cards, my kids' pictures, and the tons of little slips of paper I can't live without that go so effortlessly into the Filofax!

One thing I really hated about it was if the battery ran all the way down, I lost everything that was in it--that only had to happen about twice and I was done. (the Palm software never worked well on my PC; it was always a hassle to get it to sync)

The other thing I didn't like was typing with the stylus; it just seems quicker and easier to write a note or jot an appointment in my Filofax.

It was disappointing, because I liked the idea of the one little compact device holding my info, but it just didn't work for me. Expensive mistake.

 

[swift]

HOWEVER, Palm and PDA's in general are being surpassed by Blackberry's and Treo (Palm) phones. They can do what a palm does plus e-mail, web browsing and (get this), make phone calls.

My DH just got the Treo and he loves it except for one thing. In his line of work he often uses the speaker phone but when someone comes in the room or when it is not appropriate he would quickly switch the speaker phone off. Ok now here is the down side. Since the screen is touch sensitive you need to lock the screen when you are using it as a normal phone because if you don't when it touches your cheek it will hang up or pass the call to voicemail. However, if your screen is locked and you are on speaker phone you can not turn the speaker phone off and can not unlock it with out hanging up first. At least we haven't figured out how to toggle back and for easily yet with the screen locked. We went down to Verizon and they didn't know what to do about it either so needless to say DH is not to happy about that.

 

[rocketraj]

I have a palm treo 700wx and it is great. It keeps tract of all my appointment, contacts, etc.. everthing a PDA does + internet. The data trasfer is what I like most about it.

With a sprint SERO plan it comes with unlimited data which allows me to get internet anywhere where there is a phone signal at broadband speeds. It also allows me to hook up to my laptop to give my laptop broadband internet access anywhere where there is a phone signal. I've noticed several TUG review articles stating they didn't like a place becasue it didn't have wifi internet access for free. -- well with this plan you can use internet, cell phone, pda, all in one whether at home or abroad.

Sprint SERO plans (u can google) start at $29 a mo with unlimited data, 500 min, unlimited weekend and nights (start at 7pm). There is a whole thread on SERO plans and how to make the most of it at http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=80873&t=716694&highlight=sero
So, what makes Palm Treo 700wx valuable is getting the right plan to work with you. the link above also tells you how you can watch you cable/dish tv on your palm from anywhere around the world!

Raju.

 

[M. Henley]

Old Fashioned

I am a state representativer, serving on five House committees (most everyone else serves on three), have two manufactured home parks, and an indistrial warehousing operation.
I have a cell phone and laptop, but not a Palm Pilot. I keep this stiuff in my head (the old fashioned way).
:zzz:

 

[UWSurfer]

With no slight intended to M. Henley, I have a boss who doesn't keep any files and thinks everything should be able to kept these days on the computer hard drives.

Then you go out of her office where there are walls of file cabinets, kept by her assistants and other managers. SHE doesn't need them, but her support staff does as they keep them for her!

I manage a technical department and I find the Palm indespensible, especially when I need to look up an emergency contact or circuit #, purchase order or anything else I have to have at my fingertips where ever I am.

 

[teachingmyown]

My son's favorite thing to do with his (ok, make that MY favorite thing that my son does with his..) is to change the channel and adjust the volume on TV's in public places. You know...doctor's office waiting rooms, restaurants, etc. Many times the folks who set the channel and volume are long gone and the show that was on has gone off, leaving some annoying, perhaps objectionable, thing blaring out at everyone from a tv that's out of reach overhead. Not when ds is around with his handy little handheld...

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I've given up on PDA's. Not because they aren't useful, but because I keep losing them.

I have a calendar function on my cell phone, which I synch with my Outlook calendar. That's as much as I need.

I haven't figured out the great advantage in viewing videos on a 2-inch square screen.

 

[Wonka]

I am a state representativer, serving on five House committees (most everyone else serves on three), have two manufactured home parks, and an indistrial warehousing operation.
I have a cell phone and laptop, but not a Palm Pilot. I keep this stiuff in my head (the old fashioned way).
:zzz:

Melvin, they don't make them like you any longer. I suppose you'll be running for Governor before long. Good to see your post.

 

[NTHC]

Well, I am certainly inspired now to get started. I don't know how long it will take to put my entire life into this though!

As always, you guys are awesome!

Thanks,
Cindy