Moving from Palm m505 to HP h2210 (or T3)

[ares]

I am thinking to move from Palm to PPC. I need your advice on things below suchs as software on PPC that match with POS that help me organise my lief with PDA. This was posted also on Brighthand.com.

Firstly, I use my PDA mainly to store my schedule (schedule appoinments, presentations, pick up wife, scheduling English Premier League live on tv, remainder, multiple wake up calls, etc) -> Palm is the winner here because ease of use. I use Datebk5 and Megaclock with my m505.

2ndly, telephone contacts and additional data for each contact. -> I never know what PPC can do on this, but on POS I use Tealphone instead of standard software from Palm.

3rd, I need the memo or notepad to store my thoughts or minutes the meeting. Paswoord enabled because I will store my personal information like bank accounts, etc.-> I need file handling to store the notes. Voice recording is a plus if I buy TT3 or h2210

4th, Excel, Words and Powerpoint capabilities. I think I will favor h2210 because its ability to store native files on the RAM. And with CF I can buy cheap 512MB size CF card. I have 64 MMC, and I plan to use this card for backup. It is a headache to convert it every time. But with Palm D2G6 software I will be able to store native files on the SD card. It is a push. Important: I want to take advantage of the landscape mode to do this. How h2210 handle excel files in landscape? I heard that I need to reset the device?

Theme. I often changes wallpapers on my PC and I like it also in my PDA. -> On my m505 I use Zlauncher. I do not like bunch of icons on the screen. I set the Zlaunchers to go to empty directories so that I am able to see clean screen every time I turn on my m505 (or click to home button). As in my PC, I have clear start screen with icons on the side.

I need Unit converter to convert mm to inch or psig to bar or F to C or BPD to MMSCFD, etc. What kind of software on h2210 that I need?

Dictionary is a must. French to English and vice versa. Including French conjugation vocabulary.

I use TealAuto to handle my car maintenance. Is there an equivalent software on PPC?

One tap to Calculator ( I am not good at numbers).

And now multimedia, where I think PPC will be the winner because of no need for conversion, and most important I can store it in the RAM:
I don't play games on my PDA, well rarely.

A remote software to access my TV and DVD player

Movie player, to watch short videos. (with Microdrive I can watch full movie!) -> on my m505 I use Tealmovie. I converted many, many movies. I am tired!

Picture viewer, to look at some pictures or maps of our office or our pipeline facilities. -> on my m505 I use AcidImage Pro and SplashPhoto

I don't do wi-fi and neither bluetooth. But with T3 and h2210, I think I am going to replace my old Nokia mobile phones with the one that has bluetooth built in like T610 or the cheap R520m. Later, If I use wi-fi, then I can buy wi-fi CF card.

Thanks.

[jnajera]

I think you pretty much answered yourself! It look's like the 2210 is the clear winner here!!!

[teq]

I am thinking to move from Palm to PPC. I need your advice on things below suchs as software on PPC that match with POS that help me organise my lief with PDA. This was posted also on Brighthand.com.
I've switched from Tungsten T to 2215 a few months ago. Maybe I can give you a few tips....

Firstly, I use my PDA mainly to store my schedule (schedule appoinments, presentations, pick up wife, scheduling English Premier League live on tv, remainder, multiple wake up calls, etc) -> Palm is the winner here because ease of use. I use Datebk5 and Megaclock with my m505.
On the Palm, I've used Datebk5 myself. On the 2215 I'm using Pocket Informant. Pocket Informant features an excellent weekview which was my original reason for getting Datebk5. Highly recommended.

2ndly, telephone contacts and additional data for each contact. -> I never know what PPC can do on this, but on POS I use Tealphone instead of standard software from Palm.
No idea. I haven't used this software. In general, Pocket Outlook and Pocket Informant allow you to do more than Palm's standard address book - but I don't know exactly what your software does. One exception where PPC is worse (though this doesn't seem to apply to you): Dialing a contact via bluetooth on the PPC is a pain!!! On the Tungsten you can dial single-handed using the central control - it takes about two clicks, is fast, convenient and works like a charm. On the 2215 I need to use the stylus and about 3-4 clicks...


3rd, I need the memo or notepad to store my thoughts or minutes the meeting. Paswoord enabled because I will store my personal information like bank accounts, etc.-> I need file handling to store the notes. Voice recording is a plus if I buy TT3 or h2210...
Personally, I prefer taking notes on the Palm (but that's just my 5 cents - I don't like the note taking functionality in Pocket Informant). I wouldn't know why you need file handling to store the notes, though (the way it's handled on the Palm seems so much easier to me). The built-in file handling abilities of the PPC aren't that great, but I use Resco Explorer which is really nice.

4th, Excel, Words and Powerpoint capabilities. I think I will favor h2210 because its ability to store native files on the RAM. And with CF I can buy cheap 512MB size CF card. I have 64 MMC, and I plan to use this card for backup. It is a headache to convert it every time. But with Palm D2G6 software I will be able to store native files on the SD card. It is a push. Important: I want to take advantage of the landscape mode to do this. How h2210 handle excel files in landscape? I heard that I need to reset the device?
Anybody who has challenged Pocket Word and Pocket Excel will tell you that they suck. D2G6 is far superior. On the 2215 I have Text Maker (but I rarely use it). What I really use a lot is RepliGo - this is because I mostly only carry my PPT/Word files with me for reference (and not for editing).

Theme. I often changes wallpapers on my PC and I like it also in my PDA. -> On my m505 I use Zlauncher. I do not like bunch of icons on the screen. I set the Zlaunchers to go to empty directories so that I am able to see clean screen every time I turn on my m505 (or click to home button). As in my PC, I have clear start screen with icons on the side.

Interesting - I always was perfectly happy with Palm's plain vanilla launcher. On my 2215, I never changed the standard theme. What I do use and really like is Battery Bar/Program Bar - it's a really nice extension of the Today Screen and also seems to solve the PPC 2003 alarm problem (at least for me).

I need Unit converter to convert mm to inch or psig to bar or F to C or BPD to MMSCFD, etc. What kind of software on h2210 that I need?
Sorry, can't help.
Dictionary is a must. French to English and vice versa. Including French conjugation vocabulary.
I use TealAuto to handle my car maintenance. Is there an equivalent software on PPC?
Sorry, can't help.

One tap to Calculator ( I am not good at numbers).
I use the 2215's built in calculator. With Program Bar, it's just one click away.

And now multimedia, where I think PPC will be the winner because of no need for conversion, and most important I can store it in the RAM:
I don't play games on my PDA, well rarely.)
Nothing to add here. Though, if your serious about multimedia you don't want to store your files in RAM?! Get a card reader and store your files on SD/CF!

A remote software to access my TV and DVD player.
Ok, the 2215 has it stored in ROM, but I've only played around with it. Looks a lot like OmniRemote to me...

Movie player, to watch short videos. (with Microdrive I can watch full movie!) -> on my m505 I use Tealmovie. I converted many, many movies. I am tired!.)
Same as above with multimedia!

Picture viewer, to look at some pictures or maps of our office or our pipeline facilities. -> on my m505 I use AcidImage Pro and SplashPhoto
I used SplashPhoto as well and use the PPC version now. Even the registration codes work across both versions! Pretty cool...

I don't do wi-fi and neither bluetooth. But with T3 and h2210, I think I am going to replace my old Nokia mobile phones with the one that has bluetooth built in like T610 or the cheap R520m. Later, If I use wi-fi, then I can buy wi-fi CF card.
Setting up bluetooth on the 2215 didn't work as easy as on my Tungsten T, but once you've figured it out it works fine. (As stated above, dialing via bluetooth from contacts really is a pain on PPC.) WiFi via the CF-Slot works great and the integration in PPC2003 really is seamless - I love it!

Another thing to consider is the hardware quality - Tungsten's housing is made of metal - on my 2215 this week one of the rubber grips has fallen off, so IMHO the overall quality ("durability") of the Tungsten is better.

In summary, both machines do their respective job well. I guess you need to set priorities to your list of requested features. Personally, I won't look at a Palm again before OS 6 comes up.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
teq

[toxostoma]

I thought I'd add a little. I think switching platforms will take getting used to. Once your comfortable with something, you think that's the way it's supposed to work! If a different platform does something a different way, it can seem "wrong."

That said, I love PocketPC. It does have flaws - plain and simple.

I highly recommend that you scour over PocketPC Freewares (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com) and see the width of free software that's avaible. Some of it is very good and very useful. Some of it is crap... They have ratings which hold pretty true (something that has a good rating is probably pretty good and something that has a terrible rating is most likely terrible).

Here are some of the weakness of the PPC and software I've found that fixes them...

WisBar Advance (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/index.php?soft=764). Perhaps THE most important app for a PPC. It allows you to switch quickly between open apps, and most importantly, it closes apps when you press the X button. (In case you don't know, Windows Mobile, if left to it's own means, only minimizes apps when you hit X. It tries to manage the memory itself, deciding when to close apps. You don't want it doing this. Take matters into your own hands with Wisebar). Real quick, there was once a version of Wisbar (I think it cost money?) but when the developer stopped working on it, he made the source code available... There are like three different versions of Wisbar running loose on the web. I really like Wisbar Advance. Finally, I didn't like the skin on Wisbar Advance. Initially I just changed the settings to use no skin, and finally I made my own that I liked... Just play around with the settings to get it to look like you want. You can add or remove different functionality as needed. It's not the simpliest program in the world, but once you have it setup, you don't have to mess with it again and it works great.

Total Commander (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/index.php?soft=653). An incredible file explorer. It's every bit as good as the Resco file explorer, only free. It's interface is not quite as polished as the Resco file explorer...

Calc98 (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/index.php?soft=164). It's a great calculator, and it has a unit converter as well. The interface isn't as great as it could be for unit conversion, but I don't do a ton of unit conversion, so that isn't a problem for me. When I need it, it's there.

PHM Registry Editor (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/index.php?soft=31). Every now and then you can really need to get to the registry. You probably won't use this app much at all, but when you need it, you'll be glad you have it.

DAVA Image Viewer (http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/index.php?soft=761). If the 2215 doesn't come with an image viewer that you like, this is a great free one.

Finally, let me add that Pocket Informant is my absolute favorite app on my PPC. I think you would like it alot and that it would do a lot of what you want for contact management... (It does a great job on tasks and calendar too).