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Putting Palms to work

ClassicHasClass

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Mar 22, 2013
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I've started getting back into Palm OS devices -- I loved my m505 until the battery crapped out (haven't gotten around to replacing it, but it's still working as long as it sits in its cradle). After the m505 I went to a Zire 72, which I used even after I got an original 2G iPhone because the Z72 had better medical software and could record video, something the iPhone couldn't do until the 3GS.

My next device after that was a AlphaSmart Dana. If you've ever wondered what a Palm OS-based laptop would be like, it's this: 560x160 backlit display, full (wonderful) keyboard, two SD/SDIO slots, USB, and Wi-Fi (on the wireless variant). My mother uses one for her church notes, takes it home, plugs it into her Mac mini and "dumps" the text into Word since the Dana emulates a USB keyboard. The only complaint is that even with an overclocker, the DragonBall VZ CPU is just too slow for tasks other than basic word processing and some games -- TuSSH is agony to generate keys.

Since then I picked up a Bluetooth wireless access point which still speaks Bluetooth LAN Access Profile (these devices don't speak PAN), which the Zire 72 connects to. I also grabbed a nearly new T|X, which is cool but I don't like the non-replaceable battery, and a Centro, which is lovely and tiny but Blazer doesn't like to talk over Bluetooth and it won't run NetFront, and they both use that horrid Athena connector which I can't stand. So the resurrected Zire 72 and the Dana are my typical Palm devices of choice; the Dana has a Bluetooth card in it now also.

Recently I found a good use for the Zire 72, which is as a light switch to control my Philips hue lights:

http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/2014/12/and-now-for-something-completely.html

I really loved Plua, the Palm port of Lua, back in the day. I've dusted off my old Gopher protocol client for it and that's coming along nicely.

It's fun to put these old devices back in service.
 
I have a Treo 90 that I won at a trade show in 2002. I used it for everything for years. But, eventually I got sick of losing evetything when the battery would die. i put it back in service about a year and a half ago, but again got sick of losing everything once in a while. I sure liked it better than these newer touch screen phones, but it's just too impractical. I've lo.g thought about trying to somehow refit it with NVRAM...
 
Fortunately Palm went to NVRAM with the later devices. My T|X and Centro have NVFS. Just avoid the T5, which was cursed by God and all the system updates in the world didn't fix all of its problems.

But it's a problem for the earlier ones. I forgot to mention my PalmPilot Pro (in USR livery), but fortunately all my m505 apps were backed up onto my card, so I could restore that from the card and the old HotSync backups.
 
No longer have it, but my favorite PalmOS device was the TRG (later called "Handera") Pro. It was a Palm III with a CF card reader slot on top (http://www.geek.com/hwswrev/pda/trgpro/). That would you could use an IBM Microdrive (340MB or even 1GB!). Problem was, accessing the drive was like revving the gad pedal of your Lamborghini in a gas station ... new batteries, do something useful, bye bye electrical juice! I also had a CF adapter that plugged into a WAP phone, so that the phone served as a modem in conjunction with the original PDAnet software. Fun time, but it all became moot when the Treos came out. I had several of those, then multiple classic BlackBerrys, and now Android ..... for which there's a PalmOS emulator. :)
 
I liked the Handeras. They seemed even more functional than the Visors because of that CF slot (I really didn't see much come out for the Visor slot, at least not in large quantities).

PHEM is fine as far as it goes on my Nexus 5, but I like my ARM Palm devices more, and they seem more functional. After all, PHEM's just POSE (admittedly with Android integration and that's worth a buck to me).
 
Never used raw POSE, but I like PHEM because my phone is the Note 3 = plastic stylus! Graffiti wouldn't be any fun if I had to use my finger as the writing implement. I'm using a PalmOS 3.5 ROM. Older ones were buggy.

palmdroid.jpg
 
I still use my Tungsten T3 daily.. because of the "Timesheet" program. There is nothing like it anywhere in the Android world. The T3 is partly on life support because the battery is old (even though I surgically inserted a new one many years ago).
 
I still use my Tungsten T3 daily.. because of the "Timesheet" program. There is nothing like it anywhere in the Android world. The T3 is partly on life support because the battery is old (even though I surgically inserted a new one many years ago).

I had used the various Palm OS for many years. Over the years I had the first model through the T3. And then several version of the Sonly Clie. Favorite Apps were DateBK4, HanDBase, TealInfo.

As to a TimeSheet program for the Android, I'm using Time Recorder Pro by DynamicG on my Moto X phone and Nexus7 Tablet. Pretty good program for recording times on a project basis.

Bill
Smithville, NJ
 
I have tested the non-pro version of time recorder, along with a lot other tools, and unfortunately time recorder doesn't cut it either - managing to at the same time being more complex and slower to use, and not able to track my complex work day. The Android apps all seem to suffer from viewing work hours tracking from a different point of view than what I need. So it's the T3 for me in the forseeable future.

-Tor
 
It seems like you really have something mission-critical there. Have you thought about switching to an NVFS device? Someone's on eBay blowing out unlocked Palm Centros, which don't need a SIM card, are NVFS and have a more easily swappable battery (the T3 battery at least isn't soldered in -- it looks like the same type as the Z72 but does need a little work to get into).
 
I still have and use a Palm IIIxe. I also have, in storage, a Palm Professional, and my nephew gifted me with an M105. I prefer the older, regular AAA battery models for simplicity. I'm thinking of getting an Alphasmart Dana for more work (looking for a good replacement for my recently sold off eMate 300).
 
I bought a TX for my sister back in 2013 which she primarily uses for bible study and doodling I imagine... I asked her awhile back and she still uses it. She has/had fairly severe dyslexia to the point that here reading was delayed so I think having alternate input methods like handwriting work well for her. She reads well now from what I understand, I don't get to see her much though since only myself and my next youngest brother live her in the states.

When I was 10-12 I used to read the PC magazine my uncle got and thought the REX Credit card size / PCMCIA pdas were pretty awesome :)
 
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I'm the owner of a Dana Wireless, and it's amazing. been able to connect to IRC and get it to work as a client, but the 802.11b range is limited. there's circuitry in the case for an extension but it's not hooked up.

I also use a Treo 755p still daily, with the latest ROM and a 4GB MircoSD in a MiniSD adapter. batteries for it that don't smell like horrible fruity LiIon degradation are starting to become hard to find. Before this I used a Centro that the keyboard fell off of and I superglued it back one-too-many times. and before that, a Treo 700wx, which had SMS issues when Verizon had the company that's in charge of the SMS format between carriers flip the switch to the new format. the Centro and 755p are unaffected, funnily enough.

the 755p is a little on the slow side however. I haven't had to get a data plan because it was released before 11/2008 (just in case anyone wants to go get one) and that's the cutoff for a data plan requirement. everything works normally and I'm pretty much keeping it because of the threaded SMS and long battery life (with the extended battery.) also, 700 series batteries will fit with a small tab modification, and will stay put with a small piece of padding with the extended back on.
 
When I was 10-12 I used to read the PC magazine my uncle got and thought the REX Credit card size / PCMCIA pdas were pretty awesome :)

The REX PCMCIA pda were fantastic. At that time, I didn't have a smart pda phone - just a "candy bar" phone. Since I work on many projects, my phone book had over 2000 entries. The REX was great for having a very small phone book I could carry with me at all times. Back then, I had two - one for the pocket and once for the glove box of the car.

Bill
Smithville, NJ
 
The keyboard fell off the Centro? How did that work?

the Centro uses a rubber keyboard membrane over the buttons and it's pretty much sticky-taped down. if you don't mess with it, it stays forever. but in my case, it's from rapid abuse through keeping it in my pocket and pulling it out and putting it back in and such. I had to replace it once, and the down key always had issues on both the key daughterboards. so in the end I found the Treo 755p for $3 at the local thrift shop and moved to it.
 
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