Some Advice for Those
New to Palms
Welcome to the world of Palms. Some people might argue that it's
really a cult. A very nice, happy cult of Palm-obsessed people ;-)
It's an international community which grows daily.
What is a Palm exactly? "Palm" is a generic term used to describe any
PDA (personal digital assistant) which runs the Palm OS (operating system).
The original Palm Pilot 1000 was made by Palm, the company. Now,
however, the original Palm company has been renamed to palmOne, and there
are many companies that make "Palms" -- such as palmOne, Sony (makers of
Clie's), Zodiac, and some smartphones (such as the TREO 600 by Handspring/palmOne
and others by Samsung, and so on).
If your Palm is brand new, you will need to charge it for a little while
(usually about 2 hrs) before you start using it. Unlike the batteries
for laptops, Palms have batteries that are not troubled by "memory"
-- that is, you can (and probably should) top them off whenever you have
the chance.
Accessories
You can get a lot of accessories for your Palm. It's a good idea
to get a screen protector right away. Screens scratch easily, even
if you use the stylus that came with your Palm. Crazy but true. So
get a screen protector. You can find them in electronics stores (usually
in packs of several, these protectors are disposable). Or you can mail-order
them. Many people have been very happy with the ones found at Boxwave (not disposable,
but very sturdy and they last forever).
You can also get cases, a different stylus, additional cables (e.g., for
traveling) car chargers, etc. Take a look at our links
section for more info.
Understanding Palm Memory
Unlike traditional computers (desktops or laptops) which save data on
hard disks (non-volatile storage), Palms store their data in volatile memory.
This means that your data will be lost (erased! gone!) if your Palm loses
its battery charge. This surprises many new Palm users who suddenly
find themselves without their precious data... But not to worry. Palms
are designed very well -- you will not run into this problem if you do things
right. Here is what you should do routinely:
1. Hotsync. (This backs up your data onto your computer so you can
restore it if you have to.) Hotsync regularly. It takes just a minute to
do and it gives you peace of mind.
2. Charge your Palm frequently (or replace its batteries if yours is a
grayscale unit).
3. If you use any third party application (which you almost certainly
will -- more about those below), we strongly recommend that you use BackupBuddy. Here is why. The hotsync operation backs up
your data, as claimed above, but not necessarily everything... It backs up
all the data that is part of the "native" Palm applications (the apps
that come with your PDA as part of the operating system; for example, data
in your calendar, such as appointments, or data in your contacts list, such
as phone numbers and addresses, etc.) However, third party apps may not be
entirely backed up. For example, if you use a third party app to keep
track, say, of your daily exercise activities, and you have customized it
using that program's preferences, you may or may not get your setup restored
in the event of data loss, even though you have been hotsync-ing regularly.
This can be very frustrating. What to do? Get BackupBuddy. It
really (really!) backs up everything, on every hotsync operation. Then, in
the event of data loss, you will be able to restore everything with the click
of one button. Easy.
Third Party Apps
"Apps" is short for "applications": programs you run on your Palm. If
they are not the native ones (i.e., those that come with your Palm), then
they are "third party." There are thousands (over 20 thousand). Some are
excellent, some are good, some so-so. There is some app for just about
everything you can imagine, from databases to track birds to movies, and everything
in between. Here are some apps that are excellent:
These are listed in no particular order.
1. Agendus
or Datebk5
(these are two different apps that do something similar: they integrate 3
native Palm apps in a very clever way: Calendar, Contacts, and ToDo's with
links between them. Agendus has a better GUI and is more intuitive;
Datebk5 is more powerful but less intuitive. They are both significantly more
powerful than the native apps, and well worth considering).
2. Handyshopper (list-maker extraordinnaire -- keep track
of your shopping, movies to rent, books to buy, clothes to pack for a trip,
and so on)
3. SplashID (encrypted
db for secure storing of passwords, credit card nums, etc. -- has excellent
desktop component that works with Macs and Windows)
4. SplashMoney (manages
financial matters intuitively)
5. Wordsmith (best ever editor for Word and other RTF files,
doubles as an ebook reader)
6. Snapture
(OK, this lives on the PC not the Palm,
but it lets you grab text and automagically creates a memo or doc that
will be nicely accessed with Wordsmith after the next hotsync -- unfortunately,
only for Windows, not for Macs).
7. BackupBuddy (see note
above)
8. Easy Calc (excellent, extremely powerful calculator [can
do elliptical integrals], and it's free)
9. LyME
(this is basically a MATLAB clone for the Palm -- a powerful app for mathematics
and modeling -- and it's free, it's wonderful!)
10. BugMe! Notepad (for taking notes fast, like a yellow post-it
pad; allows setting quick reminders via alarms)
11. DayNotez (diary app)
12. Audible (listen
to books on tape and NPR radio programs downloaded from , Palm app is
free, books are not)
13. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (this is the electronic version
of the thick paperback movie guide -- wonderful for the next time you go
to the video store and have no idea what to rent, or when a friend says "what
was that movie with Tim Robbins and... ?")
14. RepliGo (converts just about any document to a viewable
version for the Palm, lets you carry spreadsheets, PDF files, webpages,
etc. on the Palm for easy reference, though not editing -- this is a wonderful
app)
15. Cycle View (for tracking menstrual periods)
16. Pilotraining
(for tracking exercise -- mainly for running/cycling/swimming -- excellent
summaries and graphs)
17. Reflex tracks weight-training
workouts (if you are serious weights, have a look at Muxles which
gives you anatomy charts with all the major muscles)
18. PocketLingo's
American Heritage College Edition dictionary (there are several editions
and other dictionaries, but this is the largest we've found: 260,000 terms,
and it's very nicely designed)
19. Bonsai
is a hierarchical list-maker -- excellent for project planning (a work project,
a baby shower, etc.).
For more apps, take a look at our Past Meetings, you will find many good
ideas.
Games [they belong in their own category...]
There are thousands of games. New ones are posted on Palm websites
every day (see our links section). Here is a handful of games that many of
us like:
1. Tumble
2. PicFrame
3. Triclops
4. TextTwist
5. 100 Boxes
6. Abatis II The Mound
7. Pocket Nums
8. WindowsPE [it makes fun of Windows, this is a
joke]
Do you have apps you would like to recommend? Comments? Objections?
Ideas? Let us know!