Palm OS transition to Pocket PC, wasn't easy but couldn't be happier!

[LaserProUSA]

I am just making the trasition from Palm OS to Pocket PC and found all these reset posts elsewhere very interesting. Here is my take on the Palm OS transition to Pocket PC platform

My PDA background has been one Palm (m100) then immediately over to Sony Clie units from the N610 to NR70 to NX70 to NZ90 to the UX50 as being my current unit. My dilemma has never been the Palm OS as that is extremely stable, and have only had resets when experimenting with hacks. Palm OS and its software programs just work! I currently own a iPAQ h5555 specifically for GPS and Audio Books and have never really tried out the various software applicatons on the PPC as I have been satisfied with the apps on the Palm OS. BUT at this point in time in my PDA experience the Clie hardware has simply been horrible in reliability whereas the software is extremely stable so I've decided to make the transfer to the dark side :)

So I have decided to make the jump completely over to PPC since all the Clie's I've been through have been a result of defective hardware, i.e., broken hinge (NR70), stolen (NX70), immediate resets (NZ90) and defective bluetooth (UX50). Well now that I'm fed up with regularly having to take advantage of my warranty and replacing my Clie every few months I am going to make the jump completely over to the PPC world. Next week I will be replacing my Clie UX50 with the iPAQ h4155 and already over the last few days I have managed to locate all the PPC equivalents to all the Palm OS apps I have grown to like and master, all in all I think I've made some good decisions hardware wise and software wise. Of course I am going through the tiral periods first just to make sure. For those that would like to know what Palm OS equivalents are available in the Pocket PC world here are my choices in replacement:

Category: Pocket PC app ... Palm OS app
----------------------------------------
PIM: Pocket Informant ... Agendus Pro
Daily Journal: Pocket Informant ... DayNotez
Voice/Notes/Memos: Pocket Informant Notes (one to replace 3, AWESOME!) ... VoiceRec/Note Pad/Memo Pad
[Pocket Informant is an extremely powerful PIM, providing far more than just contact management]
Lists: ListPro ... Bonsai
eWallet ... SplashID
Finance: PocketMoney ... PocketMoney (cool as there is a version for both platforms, PPC version is superior though)
Auto Tracking: Vehicle Manager (one to replace 2, AWESOME!)... MPG & Trip Deluxe
Mapping & GPS: Mapopolis ... Mapopolis (cool as there is a version for both platforms, PPC version is superior though)
Word Processing: TextMaker ... Docs to Go
Spreadsheet: Pocket Excel (this really sucks) ... Sheet to Go
Presentations: Margi to go ... Margi to go (cool as there is a version for both platforms, PPC version is superior though)
MP3 Playing: PocketMusic ... pTunes
Multimedia: Windows Media Player/RealPlayer ... MoviePlay/Kinoma
PDF Files: Acrobat Reader ... PicselViewer
Image Viewing: iPAQ Image Viewer/XnView Pocket ... AcidImage Pro
Web Browser: Pocket Internet Explorer ... NetFront
Net Access Management: iPAQ Wireless ... Clie MobileManager
File Management: Resco Explorer ... ZLauncher File Manager
Desktop: Windows Mobile ... ZLauncher
Mobile Reading: Avantgo ... Avantgo
Email: Inbox ... Agendus Mail
Mail Filtering: Spam Filter ... n/a
Backup: iPAQ Backup ... Backupman
Keyboard: Stowaway Wireless ... UX50 built in keyboard (only hardware item I will truly miss as I used it 99% of the time nearly completely ignoring the horrendous Graffiti 2)

So the move to PPC from Palm OS is not easy because quite a bit of docs need to be recreated but there are equivalent applications available to both platforms with my limited experience being that the PPC version are superior to the Palm OS versions. I personally think the power, speed, hardware reliability, wireless, Windows like interface, multitasking, etc. make the PPC better to this point, but over the next few weeks I will truly be able to make an educated decision on that one. So far my only PPC experience has been GPS and MP3 playing which has been superior on the PPC and now that I understand Pocket Informant this application is superior to Agendus Pro. I think the decesion to make the transition was a good one.

Over the next few weeks I will post here at PocketPC Thoughts my progress and comments on this transition. In the meantime if you are looking at making the transition, the Windows Mobile couple with the PPC hardware couldn't make the decison any easier to make. Good luck and happy PPC'ing :)

[Jacob]

Welcome to the Dark Side, or is this the light side? Welcome anyways :D :mrgreen:

[Partita]

// Spreadsheet: Pocket Excel (this really sucks) ... Sheet to Go //

There is spreadCE if you need more equation supports.
but of course everybody is waiting for planmaker to come out.


// MP3 Playing: PocketMusic ... pTunes
Multimedia: Windows Media Player/RealPlayer ... MoviePlay/Kinoma //

there are more multimedia players than that pMVP, pTV, etc...

Personally, I would have bought A716 over h5555. :D It's a faster machine with bigger battery and extra CF slot, all for roughly same size. But it has no finger print scanner tho'.

[Fishie]

Might I suggest a Toshiba e800/805 instead

The screen is so much better then anything else out there available in the west, it often feels like a mini tablet instead of a PDA.

[Zack Mahdavi]

A couple weeks ago, I switched to the Pocket PC as well after having using Palms for over 3 years. There are some annoying quirks about the Pocket PC interface, but after just an hour of use, I grew to love a lot of things the Pocket PC offers.

Even though there are so many handwriting options (including the cool Newton style transcriber), I still find myself writing Graffiti using the Block Recognizer. Some old habits die hard.. :)