M-A is thinking of getting one - any recommendations? It has to help me to remember things - so some kind of calendar software, with reminders and audible beeps. I presume this is pretty standard. It should also be quite cheap. Beyond that, do things like cameras / sat. nav come as standard these days? I also wouldn't mind some way of synchronising it with my PC, too (Windows2000).
From ToothyChat: MoonShadow: [17:18] Last time I tried using a PDA to help me remember things, I forgot to keep it up-to-date or even look at it at all. AlexChurchill: [17:20] There are two or three main families. I know lots about the WindowsMobile? family and not much about the others. M-A: [17:20] The problem is transferring todo lists between work, home and wherever else I may be. M-A: [17:20] Is WindowsMobile? only on mobile 'phones? Senji has a Nokia 9500, but it's no good at helping mem remember things AlexChurchill: [17:27] No, WM is what's on ipaqs and suchlike also. qqzm also has a nokia 9500 RobHu has a [Nokia N800] which is very very nice, runs Linux, and is not cheap (300 pounds?). It has a webcam built in (no good for taking photos, only for video conferencing), beeps (in fact it has very good loud audio playback), and a high resolution screen (800x480). You can get GPS and route planning software for it, but I'm not convinced it's cost effective to do so. Admiral has a Palm Tungsten T, and has been generally pleased with it, not having wanted to do cameras (already have one on my phone and a proper one) or GPS (that's what a map and a compass is for). I picked it up on Ebay fairly cheaply. I'd also point out that lots of phones have built-in organisers. I haven't even looked at that part of the menu on mine. As for transferring todo lists between home and work, I find that jpilot will run quite speedily over X-over-ssh or vnc unlike most other X programs. I particularly like that I never have to wait for my palm to catch up with me - it's always responsive and hasn't crashed in a very long time. I imagine a Linux or Windows Mobile system would make you wait every now and again.
I find that GPS is very useful, not for finding your way anywhere, but when you do get lost it is good to have something else to blame --Tsunami
I believe it's an American show with lots of weird stuff happening but not much plot, to the extent that some people believe it's a piss-take that the writers are seeing how long they can get away with. --Androidkiller
a "concept" that many GPS users know all too well... --Tsunami
Useful Software
AlexChurchill: My must-install software on a new WindowsMobile? PC is Fitaly (but YMMV, and it's shareware); TotalCommander? (a free file manager that's far far better than the FileManager? that comes with it); MagicButton? (a very good and free process manager); and some kind of soft reset capability (there's a free on on http://pocketpcfreewares.com called reset.exe). I like [iLauncher]'s battery meter, which sits at the top of the screen in every app except full-screen games. Once one gets over the concept of paying for a program launcher (which takes a little doing), iLauncher is a superb app, actually.
May try Fitaly, although the handwriting recog is pretty decent. --CH
Ah, was unaware it also cost. $25 seems remarkably steep, as well. --CH
M-A: OggSync?, PowerStatus?, Birthdays. All available in Freeware versions, although powerstatus has a newer not-freeware version too. PowerStatus? takes the top row of pixels to show power and memory status. OggSync? synchronises the calendar with GoogleCalendar?. There's also GooSync?, but I preferred OggSync?. Birthdays trawls your contacts list for birthday and anniversary dates, then displays forthcoming ones on your Today screen, along with the number of years for each.
I can't immediately find the latest version (it seems to be up to 1.4 now) of PowerStatus? for free, although I may be being blind. Do you have a link? --CH
It looks like v1.1 is freeware, but more recent versions aren't. Searching for "powerstatus 1.1" pointed me to [this link]. --M-A
In terms of power-off utilities, I have found these three:
I've put on Restart, which seems to do the job; I couldn't get Powertoys to install. --CH
Also, how do I actually get them onto the PDA? --CH
On mine, I put it in the docking station cradle and, depending on the installer, run it on the PC or copy it to the PDA and run it there. --M-A
PHM PowerToys? was what I used, until I registered iLauncher (which offers a soft-reset as one of the "special function buttons" you can add to your today screen shortcuts). The Notepad that comes with PHM PowerToys? is handy to have on occasion - the notepad built into TotalCommander? is slightly better, but the PHM one can be launched externally from a shortcut.
Just to check, I presume the "suspend" function is what I need to replace the apparently-broken power-off functionality of my power button? --CH, not yet "owning" the PDA, so unable to try
In general, when you download a WindowsMobile? application, you'll get one of three possibilities. In order from most to least frequent:
A (desktop PC) Windows executable. You run this while your PDA is connected via ActiveSync?, and it'll automatically open ActiveSync?'s installation manager and install the software on your PDA. (You may need to press an "OK" button on your PDA for this to go ahead.)
A .CAB file. You transfer this to your PDA's filesystem via Windows Explorer. Then you navigate to the CAB file on the PDA using TotalCommander? (or File Explorer), and tap to run it on the PDA, while installs the app.
A WindowsMobile? executable - you can tell because when you run the .EXE file on your desktop PC, it says "This isn't a valid Windows application". You transfer it to your PDA's Program Files directory (or similar), and just run it directly from there. If you want a shortcut to it in your Start Menu, you'll have to create one yourself (using TotalCommander?, or your desktop PC's Windows Explorer). --AC
People who deploy in the first manner (desktop PC executables) are evil. --PT
Why? As a user I find it the simplest to install. --Rachael
It is normally simplest, but I do like developers to provide the CAB as an alternative, for when I'm browsing from the PDA itself, like via wi-fi, without a desktop PC to hand. --AC
Because it assumes that everyone who has a PocketPC? also has a Windows desktop, which is an incorrect assumption. Alex points out one case - that the user doesn't have a desktop at all. I'm a different case, in that I have multiple desktops but they all run Linux. Sometimes running the .exe with Wine will get far enough that it extracts the .cab to a temporary directory and I can copy it, but it's rather hit-and-miss. For example, the Oxford Concise Spanish Dictionary is available for PDA (trial version which can be unlocked), and I wanted to see whether it was worth getting in preparation for moving to Spain, but it won't get anywhere unless it can find IE6. In general, if you're developing for a given platform you shouldn't assume that your end users have anything other than that platform. --PT
I had a hard case on my PDA, didn't stop it breaking when it slipped out of my pocket :( --Tsunami
Hard case for me, as the soft cases were zip-up cases, which would make me annoyingly slow to answer the phone. --M-A
Having used both, the hard cases seem much better to me. But I've been using hard cases with [custom cutouts for][my PDAphone's controls], which means I don't get the phone-answering delay to which M-A refers. --AC
To clarify: My hard case also has various cut-out bits, so no problems answering the 'phone. [This] is the kind of zip-up case I was describing, and [this] is the case I have. --M-A
Given my PDA is not a phone, that isn't an issue. So probably a hard, then. I understand Rhino Skin is a good make, yes? --CH
I have a soft(ish - it's leather, after all) case. I don't drop my PDA particularly often. It still works fine, and I've had it for about 2 years. --PT
Pondering the paucity of free PDA games, I found [this]. Emulators. Lots of them. NES, GBA, MAME, DOSbox, even Atari, and SCUMM. Now I just need some ROMs or dos games! (and probably a memory card...) --CH
Actually, [this] port of DOSbox is the one recommended by [AximSite]. Initial opinions are that it starts. I haven't got it set to have enough memory to run AdvancedCivilization? yet. (It would help if I could edit .conf files on the PDA - I probably need a notepad variant).--CH
This may be time for me to mention TotalCommander? again... it has a built-in notepad that's very handy. --AC
Ah, and has the magic word "free" in your description. It might well be time, yes. --CH
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