OT - Palm Pilots

[Growltigga]

I would like to buy a palm computer (if that is the correct phrase).

I have had the Palm M515 16MB reccomended to me but I would be interested if any of the forum lurkers could make reccomendations and/or comments of their own.

[Suicide Junkie]

I had one, but excessive dropping on floors caused it to stop working.

Note: Bubblewrap is slippery!

[dumbluck]

If you find one that I can play SE4 on, let me know! I'll take it to work with me, and go find some quiet corner to hide in a couple times a night...

[Gandalph]

Originally posted by Growltigga:
I would like to buy a palm computer (if that is the correct phrase).

I have had the Palm M515 16MB reccomended to me but I would be interested if any of the forum lurkers could make reccomendations and/or comments of their own.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What to buy greatly depends on your intended use.

[Urendi Maleldil]

Get a Handspring Visor. It uses the Palm OS so it can use all that software and stuff plus it has an expansion slot for mp3 players and whatever. It's cheaper than a palm and I think you can get an older Deluxe for under a hundred bucks. I've got one and I use it all the time.

[dogscoff]

Apart from serving as a source of peurile "Palm Pilot" jokes, what good are these things? What can you actually do with them? Can you do any worthwhile computing without a keyboard or is it just a glorified AddressBook & diary?

[Growltigga]

Dogscoff, they appear to be the modern equivalent of filofaxes (I have one but it is now about 18 inches thick).. I would simply use it as just a glorified Calendar and address book

[Ragnarok]

without a keyboard or is it just a glorified AddressBook & diary?

You can get portable key Boards for them that fold up to the size of a palm pilot. Go here to get a palm pilot. It's a pretty good site. (http://www.storesOnline.com/site/allpda)

If you're wondering no I didn't design it. But I will be re-designing it in the future.

[ November 12, 2002, 15:59: Message edited by: Ragnarok ]

[dogscoff]

I quite fancy one of those new tablet/ notebook hybrids that are just coming out now. Kind of like having a full spec PC in a sort of clipboard shell.

It uses a stylus and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard but I think some of them have keyBoards too, and you could certainly plug one in.

[Ragnarok]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
I quite fancy one of those new tablet/ notebook hybrids that are just coming out now. Kind of like having a full spec PC in a sort of clipboard shell.

It uses a stylus and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard but I think some of them have keyBoards too, and you could certainly plug one in.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes indeed. My dad has one of those. It's pretty nice. It's a little bit thicker then a clip-board but it's still rather thin. Like you said it used a stylus and my dad has a keyboard for it. It's pretty fast too.

[Trajan]

I have had my Handspring Visor for 2 years and have found many many uses for it. Mostly I use it for note taking while in meetings. The ability to sync it to my MS Outlook is critical. All my notes are copied from the Visor to the Outlook Notes -- which is very useful.

Additionally, I use it for the AvantGo features of downloading the NY Times front page (great bathroom reading), the Vintage program which I use to track my wine inventory, the Calendar and address features, and finally...Dope Wars!

I expect I will upgrade my Visor to something with a Sprint PCS cellphone attached, but I am not in that big of a hurry to spend the money to accomplish this task...yet.

Cheers!

[dogscoff]

how many of them have 802.11 integrated into them? If I could get a machine like that for surfing/ emailing while lounging about the flat that would be really cool...

[Urendi Maleldil]

You can get an 802.11 expansion card for the Handspring. Wireless modem too.

[Dead Meat]

Those tablets are sweet. I went to the launch in S.F.. All of the tablet have 802.11b in them. Plus a NIC card and a 56k. My favorit model is the HP/Compaq one. The keyboard detaches from the screen. The battries Last about 4 hours and recharge between 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on if you use it while recharging it. It also has 2 usb ports. The docking station allows for your tablet screen to be on streched onto a montor (dule montors).

HP Models (http://www.smb.compaq.com/html/tablet/models.asp)

[ November 12, 2002, 21:07: Message edited by: Dead Meat ]

[TerranC]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Apart from serving as a source of peurile "Palm Pilot" jokes, what good are these things? What can you actually do with them? Can you do any worthwhile computing without a keyboard or is it just a glorified AddressBook & diary?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That may be a thing of the past.

Lookee here. <link> (http://www.time.com/time/2002/inventions/rob_keyboard.html)

[Gryphin]

On a practical note:
People used to have "Day Timers" which was a hard copy Calendar / to do list / address book.
Palm Pilots (brand name), and i'm sure others link with Outlook. The managers around the office can't live without them.
I guess what I'm saying is I have not seen anything other than the Palm Pilots and the managers here can't live without them. I don't know if you can play SE on them

[ November 13, 2002, 12:33: Message edited by: Gryphin ]

[DirectorTsaarx]

I know a couple doctors & nurses that use a program called "e-pocrates" that runs on Palm OS-based handhelds. The program is basically a database that provides information on prescription medicines (dosages, interactions, recommended uses, etc.). That's probably the best use I've heard so far for Palm Pilots/Handspring Visors...

[dogscoff]

Yeah, that's the sort of market these tablet books are supposed to be aimed at: medical ppl, stores ppl - anyone who spends mnost of their working day walking around a building.

Anyone heard much about this "Grid computing" that's set to be the next big thing? As I understand it you network a bunch of computers together and pool all their memory & processing power & resources into one distributed uber-computer, so you could have a simple wireless-enabled palmtop with the performance of a giant desktop...

[Elowan]

My wife loves her Clie (Sony) and uses it for all the usual things but also to show friends family photos (she takes zillions of those) and maps. She also steals my C-pen and inputs into the Clie directly. C-pen is a pen-like text scanner.

I bought her a folding keyboard for Xmas - Clie plugs into the top of it.

Trying to play something like SE on a PDA is like trying to fly across the Pacific non-stop in a Ford Trimotor.

[dumbluck]

*sigh* A guy can dream, can't he?

[Gandalph]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Anyone heard much about this "Grid computing" that's set to be the next big thing? As I understand it you network a bunch of computers together and pool all their memory & processing power & resources into one distributed uber-computer, so you could have a simple wireless-enabled palmtop with the performance of a giant desktop...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">As a Network Admin, I havebeen keeping an eye on this new technology. The concept is great, it is the implementation and the cost that I have been watching. As of now, the cost outways the benefit by a large margin, but if money was no object it could be a good thing. The main problem I see is the increase on network bandwidth by the constant query of available resources. This is basically a program that keeps track of the unused processors/memory and pools it into one available resource. I could only see an advantage on a very large gigabit network.

[Kamog]

Originally posted by Elowan:

Trying to play something like SE on a PDA is like trying to fly across the Pacific non-stop in a Ford Trimotor.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It'll probably happen in a few years! Computers are getting faster and smaller all the time... think of how far we have come from those days when computers used vacuum tubes and took up a big room...