Transition Anything but Smooth

[mll1013]

Having used the PalmOS for several years, I figured I'd better check out the PPC platform, simply because the writing is on the wall for PalmOS... it's on it's way out the door. I suspect that in a few years, there will be no way to acquire a non-smartphone, Palm-based PDA. Even if my prediction is wrong, I am absolutely done with the poor quality of the last three Palm-based units I've owned.

Now, I figured the transition wouldn't be too bad, but I simply can't believe how clunky Windows Mobile feels to PalmOS! (I'm running a Audiovox Thera 2032SP using MS PPC 3.0 on an ARM SA1110 with 32MB.)

To be fair, though, I should state what I like about my new PPC:

LIKES:

1. Drag and drop files from PC to PPC
2. File compatibility between PC and PPC
3. Screen Resolution
4. Hardware Source Selection (i.e. not limited to just poor-quality PalmOne units)

GRIPES:

PPC Gripes

1. ActiveSync is fickle
2. ActiveSync is slower than HotSync
3. Don't like big text/icons in Program menu/other apps. I have less visibility with the PPC built-in apps than I did on the Palm built-ins:
[list:e4ec8b33a7] - can only see 12 icons on PPC program menu, can see 22 icons on Palm program menu
- can only see ~15 characters of filename on PPC notes, can see ~30 on Palm's list
4. Screen is less bright than my Zire31, but battery life is worse (Of course, I realize this is just a limitation of my H/W and does not reflect on the OS.)
5. No address book sync to Thunderbird, (Mozilla developing one I believe)
6. No expense application
7. No categorization of notes???
8. Alarms in built-in clock app will only go off when the unit is on!!!???
9. Snoozed alarm for calendar item will only go off when the unit is on!!!???
10. Contacts load painfully slow
11. Mystery daily 6:00 AM Alarm. Didn't always happen... not sure of event to cause it to occur.
- Checked alarms... none of 4 default are set to 6:00 AM
- Task reminder set for 8:00 AM, but it never goes off anyway, besides... no task called "Alarm"
- Calendar: Checked to make sure there was no event called "Alarm"[/list:u:e4ec8b33a7]

I would appreciate any advise on how to work around these. Of particular concern is the alarm issue... I will simply not be able to use Windows Mobile if alarms only go off when the unit is powered up, or if I can't find the source of my mystery alarm. Why would an initial calendar alarm turn the unit on, but not a snoozed calendar alarm? This is extremely worrisome to me.

Thanks for any advise on dealing with my transition pains,
mll1013

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I hate to point this out, but that's an awfully old version of Pocket PC you have there - it's not even Windows Mobile (that started with CE4.2 onwards). A lot of the gripes you mentioned were resolved by WM2003 Second Edition, which itself is almost two years old. There are a few programs out there that can help you with alarms, though I can't think of any offhand.

For the program icon issue - get a decent task manager. I use Wisbar Advance 2, which allows a ton of modifications to the UI, including a very good cascading start menu though I'm not sure if PPC2002 is supported anymore. There is an older version thats freeware available from the same developer which does support PPC2002 however:

http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/

I'm sure if you look around there are a lot of other alternatives that may be more to your liking. You might want to browse through this site for ideas:

http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com

You might also want to upgrade your version of Activesync, though I would suggest trying to find version 3.8 - I don't think AS4.0 supports PPC2002 either.

HTH

[ADBrown]

I have to agree on the hardware front, the Thera is the technological equivalent of a Palm III. It's got a small amount of RAM (64 MB is standard), a slow processor, and limited communication capabilities.

Regarding ActiveSync, try updating to version 3.8. That should solve a myriad of problems.

Being that the Thera is 3-4 years old, the battery is likely approaching maximum entropy. Its capacity will continue to deteriorate until it eventually dies.

As mentioned, the alarm bug was fixed in 2003SE.

[mll1013]

Thanks for answering some of my questions. The bottom line, as I understand it, is that I'm running on an excruciatingly ancient platform by now. The whole intent behind my purchase of the Thera is that I picked it up dirt cheap on eBay in order to experiment with the PPC platform to see if I like it enough to veer away from PalmOS.

But it appears that my experiment was not useful, since it doesn't give me a good glimpse into the current Windows Mobile OS.

I really, really didn''t want to have to shell out $300+ just to see if I like it...

*sigh*

[Janak Parekh]

So, as others have said, WM2003SE is better in various areas. Here's a more detailed response -- some of your concerns are legit.

1. ActiveSync is fickle
2. ActiveSync is slower than HotSync
AS is still fickle, but less so on WM2003 devices. And it should be faster than Hotsync.

3. Don't like big text/icons in Program menu/other apps. I have less visibility with the PPC built-in apps than I did on the Palm built-ins:
There are third-party launchers that can work around this.

5. No address book sync to Thunderbird, (Mozilla developing one I believe)
Yes, I believe this is the case.

6. No expense application
There are lots of third party solutions, like Spb Finance (http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/finance/?en).

7. No categorization of notes???
On the Pocket PC, there is. Outlook's note support is kinda weak. :(

8. Alarms in built-in clock app will only go off when the unit is on!!!???
9. Snoozed alarm for calendar item will only go off when the unit is on!!!???
This is the infamous alarm bug. That's not how it's supposed to work. If you search the boards, various solutions and workarounds have been discussed. The problem seems to plague certain devices.

10. Contacts load painfully slow
Gotta be device-specific. How many contacts do you have?

11. Mystery daily 6:00 AM Alarm. Didn't always happen... not sure of event to cause it to occur.
Check the Date/Time applet in Control Panel.

---janak

[mll1013]

10. Contacts load painfully slow

Gotta be device-specific. How many contacts do you have?

Thousands! I have my entire corporate phone book in there. My Zire31 was able to load them darn fast.

11. Mystery daily 6:00 AM Alarm. Didn't always happen... not sure of event to cause it to occur.

Check the Date/Time applet in Control Panel.

Did that... checked it til I was blue in the face. Finally was told about CheckNotification, and sure enough, there appeared to be a rogue 6:00 AM notification in the database that was associated with the Clocks app, even though there were no 6:00 AM alarms at all (in fact, I had disabled all four alarms, but the thing kept going off!) Anyway, that one is solved now as well.

Thanks for the other great suggestions... I'm getting slightly happier with the use of my new PPC.

Mike

[ADBrown]

But it appears that my experiment was not useful, since it doesn't give me a good glimpse into the current Windows Mobile OS.

(Shrug) Sorry, but you know the old saying about what you pay for, and what you get. There's a reason that old devices are dirt cheap.

[Janak Parekh]

Thousands! I have my entire corporate phone book in there. My Zire31 was able to load them darn fast.
I have to chalk this up to device speed. I've never had a delay pulling up the Contacts application.

Best of luck with your toy, old though it may be. :P

--janak

[Jeff NYC]

I have been a loyal and longtime Palm OS user. I am using a VZW Treo 650, but recently got the Samsung i730 for a trial. Although I want to make the switch to PPC, the OS is so much more convoluted and involved than the Palm OS. Don't get me wrong, I am very tech savvy and not afraid of a more complex and feature rich OS, but it just seems soooo something- not sure how to put it. :?

I like the Samsung phone, sliding keyboard and larger screen. Obviously the EVDO is also a great feature. However, just using the device is much more complicated than the Treo. Favorites at the bottom of the Treo are easy to get to, not so on the i730. Tons of tweaks and add-ons like TakePhone make finding a number on your address book to dial, about as easy as three taps. Not sure if that exists on PPC smartphones.

I loaded SPB Pocket Plus, Agenda Fusion (NOT LOVING), will now try Pocket Informant and also have WebIS mail. I need to work with the device some more and see what I can come up with.

I am leaning towards making the change after having horrific reset issues with my VZW Treo and simply getting the feeling that PPC, Win Mobile 2005 in particular, is the horse to bet on. I am also hopeful and have read a bit about the i730 getting the upgrade to Win Mobile 2005 sometime early next year.

Any software suggestions to make the phone part of the device more user friendly??? Any other posters with info on the specific transition from a Treo to a PPC smartphone??? I am really unsure of what to do as 10 years on the POS is a long time and the investment in switching (mostly time, some money) is quite involved and I don't want to regret it. Thanks...

[Janak Parekh]

I have been a loyal and longtime Palm OS user. I am using a VZW Treo 650, but recently got the Samsung i730 for a trial. Although I want to make the switch to PPC, the OS is so much more convoluted and involved than the Palm OS. Don't get me wrong, I am very tech savvy and not afraid of a more complex and feature rich OS, but it just seems soooo something- not sure how to put it. :?
FWIW, Windows Mobile may seem complicated at first, but in my opinion, that's largely due to the fact you're used to the Palm OS. When I first adopted Pocket PCs, it took me a month or so before I felt intuitively comfortable with the UI -- just with the different positioning of elements, the way it handles SIP, etc.

That said, WM2003 is not going to have the vaunted one-handability of the Treo 650. If you want that, WM5 is going to be the way to go.

Any software suggestions to make the phone part of the device more user friendly???
There are a few third-party dialers, but I wasn't impressed with them the last time I tried it. You might want to try a few forum searches. Good luck. :)

--janak

[callmemoe]

I have been a loyal and longtime Palm OS user. I am using a VZW Treo 650, but recently got the Samsung i730 for a trial. Although I want to make the switch to PPC, the OS is so much more convoluted and involved than the Palm OS. Don't get me wrong, I am very tech savvy and not afraid of a more complex and feature rich OS, but it just seems soooo something- not sure how to put it. :?
FWIW, Windows Mobile may seem complicated at first, but in my opinion, that's largely due to the fact you're used to the Palm OS. When I first adopted Pocket PCs, it took me a month or so before I felt intuitively comfortable with the UI -- just with the different positioning of elements, the way it handles SIP, etc.

That said, WM2003 is not going to have the vaunted one-handability of the Treo 650. If you want that, WM5 is going to be the way to go.

Any software suggestions to make the phone part of the device more user friendly???
There are a few third-party dialers, but I wasn't impressed with them the last time I tried it. You might want to try a few forum searches. Good luck. :)

--janak

It took me about a month to get used to the ppc UI as well. I initially tried an Axim X5 that a friend sold to me and absolutely hated it. After a couple of months, I decided to give an Axim x50v a try and needless to say, I no longer own a Palm device. I only have one app left that I cannot find a ppc replacement for (Ultrasoft Money) but have found replacements for the rest of the Palm apps I had which are satisfactory. Single-hand control on the Palm is far better than the ppc and there are a few other things from Palm that I miss (speed and battery life). But with that said, I am very happy with my ppc. I would say that it took at total of three months - one to get used to the UI and about two find suitable replacement applications.

[Jeff NYC]

[/quote]
I would say that it took at total of three months - one to get used to the UI and about two find suitable replacement applications.[/quote]

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. My guess is also about a 1 - 3 month transition, although I am a little worried about my wife taking to the i730. :roll:

I am still having a b*tch of a time getting all my data cleanly into Outlook, missing numbers, address not showing up, and that obviously has to come first. I have some new ideas on how to accomplish that and will proceed from there. I really love the device, larger screen, hidden keyboard, etc., but am so tied to the Palm OS that some pain is inevitable.

We'll see... 0X

[Cybrid]

Tons of tweaks and add-ons like TakePhone make finding a number on your address book to dial, about as easy as three taps. Not sure if that exists on PPC smartphones.
.. Try the search field on top of contacts. HTH