PDA's

Steve Ebels

I'm thinking about, wondering if, a PDA would be something that can help me keep my days more organized. (Hey, don't rag on me for being so backward that I don't have one yet. We're out in the sticks here ya know.) I don't know anything about them other than you poke 'em with a little toothpick to make 'em work. So...... what models do what? What do those of you who have one like or dislike about it? Is it a useful tool? What can you do with one besides just keep a calender?

Thanks in advance

Unknown

Hi Steve,

Useful? Yes. Laptop, No.

I have been using a Palm V connected organizer for about three months now. I love it but It 's certainly no match for my laptop out on the job. Can't figure a heatloss with it, but it is still a powerfull tool.

I use the Address & Date Book all the time. The To Do List has neatly cleaned up my desk and truck from small pieces of paper nicely. I find the more I use this little thing, the more sense it makes to keep on doing so. I haven't started using it for e.mail yet. If you do want e.mail, get the one with wireless LAN capability. No cords makes perfect sense with a device smaller than the cord itself. Desktop cradle charger is a must for HotSyncing stored data quickly between your desktop and your PDA. The Memo Pad and Calculator also get a lot of usage.

If you have any amount of text other than quick notes, get the collapsing keyboard for it. You will find out why quickly.

It will take a couple of weeks for your left brain to learn how to enter text the way the PDA needs you to write charictors. It's handwriting recognition system doesn't learn your writing like the early Newton Apple did. Can you tell I'm a Mac guy? I sure do miss my Newton :-(

Oh yeah, Make sure you get a stainless steel case for it. They can and will break VERY easily. Don't even think of dropping it and always back up your data with a daily HotSync ™ at least after any important information input. They can't be fixed. Only replaced. Retrieving lost data is nearly impossible.

Buy the most powerfull PDA your mony can afford. Would you rather have a Black & Decker recipricating saw, or a Porter Cable?

No, I'm not a computer geek. Just a Wallie trying to work smarter. Not harder. My PDA helps me toward this goal. I hope this helps you Steve. I know a PDA will if you learn it.

*To catch up with me real time, try AIM. User name: Radiantfloors

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Colin

PDA's

Steve,
I wouldn't be without mine. Old Handspring Prism (color screen) w/ eye module-(Camera).Love--it for writing legible notes that I can actually find and decipher later, take pictures of jobs or odd fittings or parts to show suppliers what I'm looking for, or just to jog my memory. The one drawback I have w/ the color screen is that it washes out in bright sun light.

I've also downloaded B&G's Syzer program, a metric conversion calculator,and an electrical conduit wire fill calculator.

Sorry handspring is no more. They merged w/ Palm and are now Palmone and have headed in the new direction of cellphone/pda combo's called the Treo (on my christmas list)

Ther are also 2 operating systems out there. The palm (Handspring, Palm, ?Sony?) and the mini pc(HP, Compaq, ?)

Best of hunting. And at the next Wetstock we can beam Business cards and notes back and forth.
Colin

Mark Eatherton1

Can't think without mine...

which is not a good thing. If I leave my PDA in the truck at night, and someone calls and asks me if I can be at X at XX:00 o'clock, I can't think... "Let me get back to you..."

I've become addicted and dependent.

But like Colin, I too want the next generation, which is the cell based phone one. Tired of carrying the PDA and the cell phone around. Time to marry the two.

Steve, the only thing you will regret is the fact that you become dependent upon them for your memory, but it does free your mind up to do other things:-)

I have a Palm V

ME

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

PSA's

I'm on my 5th one.......the Tungsten C (Sony, Palm V, Palm III and Palm Professional previous); it has a tiny keyboard that I though would be useless, but I use it all the time now.

I haven't bought any add-on software since what it came with is very adequate; my address book has 3,000 entrys; the improtant ones are my vendors and customers (I separate plumbing and heating customers). I've customized some of the fields so that I can store the customers boiler model, serial number, type of zone valves

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Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

PDA's

I'm on my 5th one.......the Tungsten C (Sony, Palm V, Palm III and Palm Professional previous); it has a tiny keyboard that I though would be useless, but I use it all the time now.

I haven't bought any add-on software since what it came with is very adequate; my address book has 3,000 entrys; the important ones are my vendors and customers (I separate plumbing and heating customers). I've customized some of the fields so that I can store the customers boiler model, serial number, type of zone valves and in the notes section, I keep the service history.

The "memo" sections holds all the inforation for our current jobs: supertintendent's name and phone numbers, permit number, inspector's phone number, owner's contact information, etc.

When I first bought it, it sat in my drawer for a year until I forced myself to start recording calendar entries and addresses. Now, I love it.

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heatboy

My Palm m500.........

is always in my pocket because I suffer from CRS. I have a program called "Documents to Go" by DataViz loaded and it allows me to drag and Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Adobe documents from my desktop into my PDA. I keep all of my current project agreements on there. I also have spreadsheets such as ProPress, Wirsbo and Viessmann part numbers and even a Vitodens Power Point Presentation. It's not near perfect, but it really helps.

hb

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JackFre

Being a new user

Be sensible about the unit you buy. Don't go for the bottam but also do not go full tilt boogie on feautres. I've done it and I find that if I get to "capable" a unit I first of all, overpay, then I underutilize and in the worst case get frustrated with it and Well, then I snap out on it...

As a beginner I'd recommend basic stuff, phone book, calendar, to do list. See how it goes and try to grow into them. Some of the new phones have all of these. I'm using a Palm Zire 71 and like it a lot. Have been using them for about 10 yrs. (palm, handspring, psion, ipaq, newton)

Climate Creator

I love Mine

I use a program called HandBase on my Palm M515. I designed the Database and forms that keep my customer records. unit makes models svc record, etc. I also made a prg with the same Database that does the short form heat loss out of the Burnham Heating Helper. Nice and fast you pick the drop downs and the Palm does the Math. You could even use a portable printer to print receipts or notes. You can get signatures like UPS does, The sky is the limit. I love Mine and would never do this job without it! Besides the scheduling and contact stuff the sky is the limit. (Computers are my second love next to HVAC)

Bill Pidgeon

Handspring Treo 90

I love my Treo 90. They don't make it anymore, but they sell reconditioned ones for $149. The link is:

http://www.handspring.com/products/outlet/index.jhtml?_requestid=578216

It has a built-in keyboard, is small and thin, so easily fits into my pants pocket.

I prefer the "thumb keyboard" to Graffiti. It won't be for you if you prefer Graffiti. Also, the screen resolution is not as good as some of the newer models, so if you want to use it to show photos, higher resolution displays will be better.

Consider how Handspring stands behind their products. I was in a big hurry to get one of my kids to her soccer game and wanted to start the laundry before leaving... My Treo didn't work after going through the washer.

The on-line form for repairs asks questions like when it was purchased, the problem, comments, etc. In the comments, I wrote that it worked great until I put it through the washer. Bottom line - since it was still under warranty they repaired it for free even though I did not make a warranty claim and I wrote what I did to it.

Finally, the Treo is my second PDA. I also have a Palm IIIxe, which still works, but is larger and would sometimes reset. When a co-worker showed me his Treo 90 it was obviously a big improvement and the features/price ratio is excellent. And it never resets.