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View Full Version : Keep and Carry Both?


Timothy Rapson
05-06-2006, 01:25 PM
Keep both? Should I really keep both my Palm Zire 72 AND my new Toshiba e800 in my pockets all the time?

I know this may sound crazy, but I just got a new Toshiba E800 Windows Mobile. I was surprised by how painless it was to upgrade the OS to WM 2003 SE, load the drivers for my Palm Infrared keyboard, and install software.

BUT, the internal speaker is simply not up to alarms. At its loudest I can hear it OK inside, but as a letter carrier I am outside 75% of my day. I use Diddlebug on my Palm Zire 72 3-4 times a day. I can't miss alarms.
Now, the good part of the Toshiba is its word processing and that is what I am doing with my handheld 80% of the time. This is why I am trying to move on from my Zire 72. I was really looking forward to a Zire 73 that would offer a version of Docs to Go with support for native files that works. I have tried several times and DtG simply won't run reliably on my 72. I also want the full screen.

The e800 I am typing this on has that for sure. I have never, ever seen such a beautiful screen on any device.

I also want the file and picture handling capabilities of Windows Mobile. With literally hundreds and hundreds of documents I have just grown completely out of using a Palm OS model for word processing.
So, I have been carrying both all weekend since I still needed my old alarms, files, and addresses until they were all up and running on the Toshiba. Now it looks like those alarms will never be up and running on the Toshiba. I haven't bought Apmemo. The program looks fine, but the Toshiba OS or hardware or something won't let it replace DiddleBug on my Palm.

What has surprised me is how little bother it is to carry both. I have four pants pockets and my Summer shirts have two big lower pockets and one big top pocket. That even makes room for my folding keyboard.

Here is another silly conundrum. The Palm will pop up the time and date quickly and easily when it is off by just pressing the center button. But, when running a program the top menu line doesn’t display the time at all. The Toshiba displays the time at the top, but not the date. The Palm has the battery status icon up there. The Toshiba does not. The full-screen Palms have a screen rotation icon, the WinMob models need you to go through all these clicking steps to rotate the screen. Why can’t they just put battery, time, date, and screen rotation icons at the top or bottom of the display all the time? There is room for them.

So, I now have the very best of both worlds--and the worst. Of course, what I really want is a single model that would have it all. There is none. I hold out money all day long for the manufacturer that puts one out. I could do most all of it on the PPC if there were a camera model with VGA and the alarms worked. In fact, if HP offered the discontinued RX3715 with a VGA screen and PPC 2002 OS I would be in heaven. Or if Dell added a camera to the x51v and went back to the PPC 2002 OS...Oh, who am I kidding. It’s a mess and it isn’t ever going to get done right. I am hoping that the newer Loox or Fujitsu models come to the US for fully supported sales. Then again, I would need to know that they have louder more reliable alarms than this Toshiba. Another odd thing here is that the Zire won't play music loud enough through the internal speaker for me to listen to outside, but the Toshiba will. Yet, the Zire alarms are louder by far.


I LOVE the Toshiba for: file handling, photo viewing, word processing, big storage options, CAPACIOUS fat battery, 128 MB Ram, easy installation of programs, multi-tasking, standard real fonts, standard real graphics, Aidem Pocket Painter, OliveTree Bible, Resco photo and file, Fitaly, Apmemo.

I LOVE the Palm for: camera, zippiness, reliable Diddlebug alarms, the popup time display, Fitaly Stamp.

I hate the Toshiba for: generally buggy OS, alarms don’t work, programs launch like they are stuck in mud, capacious FAT battery, no flip screen cover.

(One final note on the e800. It is stuck in some kind of mode that makes it fall asleep. After 15-30 minutes of inactivity it automatically acts exactly as if the hold button were slid up. Nothing turns it on except the power button and alarms don’t sound. The alarm screen will be up when turned on, but by then the alarm time is long passed. Anyone know how to fix this? I could almost use the Toshiba alone if I could get this to work.)

I hate the Palm for: generally buggy OS, no real files, no real fonts, small square screen, no software version of Fitaly, 32 MB Ram, dinky battery, generally weaker software, no flip screen cover.

The biggest problems for both are the OS bugginess and the lacking hardware set. The HTC Universal has every single hardware feature I could want and more. The old OLD Psion RevoPlus had practically the perfect OS. I carried one for three months before a hardware failure and it never ever not even once in all that time needed a reboot or had any other OS messup whatsoever. So I know it is possible to do a mobile OS properly. I am pretty sure no one is going to do it.

coosbaytv
07-07-2006, 05:04 AM
Timothy:

I am recently in your shoes and never before thought I would be! (see my post on Registry Tweaks).

I have to say that coming from Palm OS, I really am enjoying the IPAQ 1930 that someone was gracious enough to give me as a test to learn the PPC side. I can't believe the streaming content I can do with this device. As well as the net experience, this is definately my on-line device! I am listening to A LOT of podcasts these days on tech related stuff. To be able to to to www.pod2mob.com and listen or stream any of the listed podcasts on the go via wifi is fabulous.

I am also very impressed with the battery life with the IPAQ and this is a third party used device! Even battery with on-line activities blows my Sony Clie NV-70V away! With the NX, I have to have it connected to an external battery to even surf on-line.

One of the biggest drawbacks to the PPC is the limited amount of software I am finding and the expense of the apps that are not freeware. The freeware I have found is fantastic. Those apps that aren't freeware are about twice the cost that I feel they are worth ( and I have spent alot of money on Palm OS apps).

One of the experiments with this PPC thing is to see how far I can go with what I can do for as little money as possible. So far, I have only spent $40 on the wifi card ( the IPAQ was free). Since the streaming has already worked itself out for the most part, if I can get Skype to consistantly work I will be happy; VOIP on a 200 MHZ processor in a coffee shop via wifi, go figure!!!

My advise if it isn't obvious is to KEEP BOTH, I AM! There is only one exception, if you are duplicating the same apps on both devices there is no need for both. I have $400 or so invested is Palm software and there is no reason to give that up.

Let's start a new club: "I use both OS'es club"!

Also, how cool is it to be able to have one device connected online (PPC) for surfing and realtime IM while writing a Word doc on the other (Palm) on Docs To Go with my Stowaway keyboard! Oh, I forgot, all the while I am listening to mp3s or a podcast off memory card on whichever device is easier at the moment... WOOHOO!!!

Jay

Nurhisham Hussein
07-07-2006, 09:29 AM
I am hoping that the newer Loox or Fujitsu models come to the US for fully supported sales. Then again, I would need to know that they have louder more reliable alarms than this Toshiba.

One thing I can confirm is that Fujitsu-Siemens PDAs are LOUD, and for what it's worth, I have no trouble with alarms on mine (Loox 720).

applejosh
07-07-2006, 01:50 PM
Let's start a new club: "I use both OS'es club"!


While I try not to use both simultaneously, I do flip-flop between platforms at least twice a month (usually twice a week). I've been doing that for over two years now. I'm sure there's some sort of psychological O-C sub-classification for a technological disorder such as this.

blusparkles
07-07-2006, 02:56 PM
I carry around both an O2 Xda Atom and BlackBerry 8700g, and I use BOTH of them for email. Go figure! I like the Atom because Windows Mobile has so much great software, it's got Wi-Fi and can play music and videos. I like the BlackBerry because it has a QWERTY thumbboard and I like the way it handles email. Haven't yet found a Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition with a keyboard that I like.