notes from Alan (from the Yahoo list)

For those of us who can still use an offline web browser such as Plucker (my first choice www.plkr.org), iSilo (my second choice www.isilo.com), or AvantGo, I recommend http://www.movieminder.com/palm/ with a link depth of 3.

The hires version Plucker works fine on OS5 (with occational, largely avoidable crashes, it's still pre-beta), and iSilo works great. The newest iSilo beta includes 5-way Nav support for the Tungsten.

Finally, here's something that I've been using lately that other Windows users might appreciate: Pilot Install - http://pinstall.envicon.com/ It's a Windows app that allows you to bypass the normal HotSync procedure and simply install .PRC and .PDB files. In addition to allowing me to quickly install programs on my regular PC at work, it also allows me to install programs with other PCs. For example, I set it to use IRDA and install apps with my laptop at home, without the risk of having it double up all of my addresses, appointments, memos, etc. The doubling up has happened to me in the past when I've hotsynced with multiple systems, at its worst, I had 4 copies of all everything in my addressbook, datebook, and memopad (I don't use ToDo's).

And before anyone gives me any static about being a Windows user, I only use it because it has the easiest to find Palm conduit support. My primary PC at work is a Linux desktop and my other one serves largely as a HotSync machine. If there existed a Linux conduit that talked to the central calendar server at UNC, I could abandon Windows entirely. At work at least.... Still too many games to abandon it at home ;-).

-alan

Hey everyone. A few links here.

- Brando Screen Protectors -

First, many people have seen or heard about the Brando screen protectors. These screen protectors are made of a stiff plastic and use adhesive to hold to your screen. They are, however, washable and reusable. They are sold in packs of one, but one will last you at least a year of heavy use. The Brando has a slightly textured surface to reduce glare and give a paper feeling to the stylus, without causing any distortion in the screen at all. I have used Brandos on my Visor Pro, Sony Clie T-615, Sony Clie NR70V, and now my Sony Clie NX70V. There are two places to get them:

Direct from the source: shop.brando.com.hk
Shipped from Hong Kong. $9 per protector with $3 shipping for any number. (1 is $12 shipped, 2 is $21 shipped, 3 is $30 shipped... etc)
While they cost a few more dollars and take a few days to arrive, Brando's site offers every model they make.

Third Party US: http://www.glblsrc.com/shop/customer/home.php?cat=10
Shipping is cheaper, but they only carry Sony Clie models, iPaq, and Palm m505. Visor, Handera, and non-M5XX users will need to go to Brando's site.

- Cheap Sonys -

For anyone looking to get a color PDA for super cheap, I strongly recommend they check out the now discontinued Sony Clie T-615 and T-665 models. The T-615 was my first color PDA, and my first Sony. It is a 33mhz PalmOS4.1 model with 16 meg of RAM and flashROM. It has a polyphonic speaker, "enhanced IR port", MS slot, and a 320x320 color screen. Half inch thick aluminum medal casing, you can pocket it without any trouble. The colors are a bit washed out, and the unit does not have MP3 audio, but it can be had as a refurb-model direct from sonystyle.com here for $199, and I have seen them going for as little as $120 on ebay. I just can't help but bring this to your attention.. I paid $420 for my T-615 back around May of 2002.

The Sony Clie T-665 was just discontinued this week, so it is not offered as a reburb from Sony yet, but you can find some great deals in stores. The T665 has all of the same features of the T615 (same casing as well) but adds a 66mhz chip and built in MP3 playback. Also, it has the same screen as is in the NR70V (sans virtual graffiti area, still just 320x320), so colors are vivid and true. However, the battery life on the 665 is much worse than the T615, so the T615 still reserves my first choice for a cheap color PalmOS PDA.

The Sony SJ20 (monochrome hi-res) and SJ30 (color hi-res) have also been discontinued this week to make room for new, slimmer, color replacements (The new SJ33 will have MP3 playback) so look for great deals on these two units in the near future. Buying a Sony PDA is like buying a winter coat... if you do it out of season you can get some amazing deals!

Showtimes

At tonight's meeting, Chris mentioned that the one thing he missed about AvantGo (which he no longer uses) is the ability to have movie listings for local theaters on his Palm. I suggested that he look at Showtimes, which provides this capability without using AvantGo. Showtimes comes in two pieces: a desktop program (Windows, Mac, and Unix are all supported) and a Palm application. The desktop program downloads Yahoo movie schedules for the theaters you're interested in, builds a Palm database, and queues it to be HotSynced to your Palm. The Palm application is a viewer. I've used Showtimes, and it worked just fine for me. I'd be interested in what other folks think of it.

Slap! and a few new pieces of hardware

This month's meeting will feature a new program from an old friend. Slap! is the name given to Hands-High's latest offering. It's a small program that captures notes and other items you enter, and lets you decide later exactly where you want to put them. Think of it an a portable in box. You enter notes from a meeting, an address, the date of a training session, and some more notes. After the meeting, you can send each of these pieces of information to the proper application: the address to the addressbook, the appointments to the datebook, and the notes to memopad - or whatever applications you have that are handling those data types. It's actually a sweet little program, and we'll be raffling off a free copy!

We will also have "Show and Tell" for everyone that got something new during the holidays. I know about a few, but you're welcome to bring your new goodies and let us drool on them! Following up on that, is there any interest in having a Swap Meet? I have some older items I'd like to get rid of, and I am sure there are other folks wo have keyboards that go with a Palm they lost, or a case they no longer use or whatever. Be thinking about what stuff you'd like to bring, and let's brainstorm places for a meeting. (I don't think they'd let us set up shop in Borders!)

See you there Tomorrow (Monday, 20 January) at 6:30 PM!!!