Running programs on external memory

[Brenos]

G'day all,

I'm quite new to PPCs (just about to buy my first as a matter of fact) and I was hoping to ask a quick question. How effective is running programs from external memory? The programs I want to run are mostly database programs, but they do use graphics (I'm a student and the programs are text books). I want to install quite a few of these programs so it will quickly chew up 32M, even 64M of memory.

I am just deciding whether I should spend a fair bit more money (which as a student I don't really have) on a higher end PPC to get more internal memory or if I can go with a lower end PPC and use external memory for my programs.

Cheers. :beer:

[SteveHoward999]

Most software can run from a memory card. No sense waisting hundreds of your local currency units on a more expensive PDA when you can get 1Gb of space for less than 100 of them ...

If you have doubts about whether the software will run from memory card, contact the software eveloper before you buy.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Running from external cards is just like running a program from a hard drive on a PC - it's pretty painless with a slight slowdown in loading times the only real drawback. The other thing is, today screen items - programs that sit on the front page of your PPC - MUST be put in internal storage or RAM (if you're talking about WM2003SE), as storage cards are initialised quite late in the boot up process i.e. when you do a soft reset. You'll get program not found errors or lockups otherwise. Apart from that, you can pretty much install your programs or files anywhere. Given that you're looking at using big database programs, you'll probably need a machine with 128 MB RAM memory (like the Loox 720, iPaq hx2xxx series), which pretty much rules out any WM5.0 devices - I have yet to see a WM5.0 device which has more than 64MB RAM, and the OS takes a big chunk of that as well. The big disadvantage here is that there is no persistent storage in WM2003, so any programs or files you install to RAM will be lost on a hard reset, or if your battery runs out.

On second thoughts, I'm not sure if a WM5.0 device wouldn't do - WM is quite different from Palm in that it has a file system more akin to the desktop. Files are files, and databases are used for 'real' database applications (like e-mail, contacts etc). Programs are executables just like the desktop as well. May I ask what program you are using to open your textbooks? Converting your textbooks into one of the e-book formats (like MS reader's *.lit or Mobipocket's *.prc) may cut down the file size considerably.

[Brenos]

Thanks for your help Hishamh and Steve.


May I ask what program you are using to open your textbooks? Converting your textbooks into one of the e-book formats (like MS reader's *.lit or Mobipocket's *.prc) may cut down the file size considerably.

I'm not too sure. The programs I'm using are ones like 'Stedman's Medical Dictionary' etc (click on a term or proceedure and it explains it). It doesn't open in a seperate program like MS Reader or Word. I don't actully own it yet (or a PDA even), I've only been shown it on other PDAs. I apologise if I misunderstood your question (like I said, I'm fresh faced beginner with PDAs :oops: ).

[Nurhisham Hussein]

This one you mean?

http://www.stedmans.com/product.cfm/320/227

Hmm, it seems to be in a proprietary format (Skyscape - http://www.skyscape.com/index/home.aspx), though it looks suspiciously like compressed html to me. No problems installing something like this on an external card in any current PDA - apparently they're also sold on cards anyway like here: http://www.skyscape.com/estore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=482 , though for the extra $30, you can get a much bigger and faster card on your own. Basically Skyscape is a program on its own, which you will need to access any of the texts they sell, including the Stedman's you mentioned. You shouldn't have much problems with this at all - though I should say that a higher specced PDA will give you better value in the long run, especially in terms of RAM, processor speed and battery life (which you may really need).

Given you're very new to PDAs, I'd suggest you try and compile a list of the things that you want/need and your budget, and then try to match that against what's available out there. You'll find (like I did) that it can really grow on you, and become a really indispensable tool for everyday life and entertainment. A pocket PC can be much more than just an organiser or reference tool - i use it to track my finances, stock portfolio, sensitive information like credit card numbers and passwords, listen to audio books and music, view movies and e-books, play games, surf the internet, check weather and news reports, sport scores - the possibilities are pretty much endless and really depend on how you approach the thing. it's a substantial investment, so make the best use of it you can.

[Brenos]

Thanks hishamh, that's some really good advice. In the pase I've experienced the annoying nature of purchasing electronics that didn't match my needs - your advice should help me reduce the odds. Cheers again.