1src Forums - New TH55 owner and a few question

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suppaman

02-21-2008, 04:36 PM

Hello,
I just got a TH55, unluckily it's a /U so no bluetooth.

I was thinking about taking an iPod touch to have a good player with a little PIM. Now I hope to get a good PIM with a little media playing :-)

I can't connect via wifi, I run a La Fonera access point, I've tried several configuration like WEP/no-encryption, manual-configuration/dhcp and Open-System/Shared-Key but I'm not able to browser with NetFront, I can't even reach a local webserver, I see in webserver's log that there are no requests. What could possibly be wrong? What information should I provide to get help?

Next thing is syncing, I used my PalmOS 4 with PalmDesktop on OS X but didn't like much the app, I tried the iSync conduit but it didn't made a good job with categories so is Missing Sync really worth it?

Third question: my SJ20 had a physical graffiti area that I protected with Scotch Tape, should I get a screen protector for TH55 instead?

I absolutely want one of those mini usb/charge cable I saw from someone here on forum, they look as a great solution to "lot of cables lying around" problem, do they break easily?
I'm asking as I found them on ebay.co.uk for like 6 pounds and I'm wondering if I should get more than one, I had a mouse with the "mini" mechanism on cable and it broke.

Another point is about MS cards, I read a few devices built before 2Gb MS Pro have problems formatting cards so big. Being TH55 a younger product has it problem with certain MS Pro size?
What's the "FAT32 driver" for TH55 I heard about for?
What are biggest size nowaday?

I read on the forum there's a wifi upgrade for th55, I found only a .exe (I'm on OS X) does it expand to a prc or do I need a windows pc to upgrade the TH55? Are there any further system upgrade I should perform?

Thanks

intellidryad

02-22-2008, 01:12 AM

Hi, welcome to TH land :)
I'll answer the questions that I can give good answers to. I have long given up on syncing (only use MSbackup from time to time), and never used some of the stuff you are asking about, with others, I just don't know.

Third question: my SJ20 had a physical graffiti area that I protected with Scotch Tape, should I get a screen protector for TH55 instead?
I would recommend it, as sometimes dust or other small particles do get on the tip of the stylus. This applies to any stylus/force based touch screen device.

Another point is about MS cards, I read a few devices built before 2Gb MS Pro have problems formatting cards so big. Being TH55 a younger product has it problem with certain MS Pro size?
There are 2 main restrictions on MS card use:
1. File system format restrictions of Palm OS leads to a max support of 2GB cards.
2. Somehow Sony screwed up on the MS card drivers on all Clies, leading to the following weird situations: Sony branded 2GB cards sometimes work, sometimes don't; Sandisk 2GB cards should work fine. Any MS card of 1GB or under should work fine.

What's the "FAT32 driver" for TH55 I heard about for?
It's a PalmOne patched driver ripped from the LifeDrive that enables the Palm OS to support cards larger then 2GB (I don't remember the max limit, though). Tests on the main thread for that driver (do a search if interested) have shown faster reading speeds, shorter battery life and some issues with built-in Sony apps.

What are biggest size nowaday?
Of Memorysticks? The largest that I know of available on the market: 8GB.
A 16GB stick would be available in Japan in March.
http://www.sony.jp/products/ms/news/product_080117.html
(Japanese news link)
But as discussed above, it's not meant for Clies.

I read on the forum there's a wifi upgrade for th55, I found only a .exe (I'm on OS X) does it expand to a prc or do I need a windows pc to upgrade the TH55? Are there any further system upgrade I should perform?

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=PEGTH55
Pick whatever you need. If you like, you could just download the "Update Wizard", run it and it will download all of the updates for you. But, all of them are patches to tiny bugs that seldom occur, and I've never noticed any difference before and after the patches. The TH55 is pretty much a complete and stable product out of the box.

Sony only supports the use of Windows, so you might want to have the Windows version Palmdesktop installed somewhere. (Got Bootcamp? That's what I use :) Too bad if you're still on PowerPC, though...) But hay, as I said, you're pretty well off without the patches.

intellidryad

02-22-2008, 01:23 AM

I was thinking about taking an iPod touch to have a good player with a little PIM. Now I hope to get a good PIM with a little media playing :-)

I use both PIM and media heavily on my TH55. The media experience might not be as smooth as an iPod, but I get freedom of control. I can rename files, edit tags, delete files, and arrange my music on my MS card on any computer, with out the need of iTunes and iTMS account management. Also, playing videos with TCPMP is quite nice, except that it's a battery juice guzzler.

I may be a Mac user, yet Macs are the only Apple products that I like :D

suppaman

02-22-2008, 02:30 AM

Thanks for replying.

About screen protectors I see them coming in many different offers, from cheaper lots to not-so-cheap. Is there any difference in their quality or should I just go down the first shop and take whatever I found?
I'd like to sync as I was trying to have a desktop computer extension so I'd like to sync iCal and have alarms when I am at the computer. Or have a synced Address Book.

Sadly I am on ppc, but I think I can find an XP computer in case.

One of my wish when I was stuck with MS non Pro was putting dictionaries and (eventually) wikipedia on a stick but with a 2Gb limit I see it's quite hard...

Oh I've got a Belking G700 for SJ lying around (can't find it just now, it has been collecting dust for too long) will the connector fit?

My main point was using WiFi, I'd really like it but I'm not able to make it work what could I try?

I read a guy on forum got iPhony on TH55 and was curious about trying it but I see the downloads have been removed due to Apple's menace of threats, is it legit to use/available somewhere?

I used to got on freewarepalm for finding nifty stuffs, are there alternatives nowadays? I follow a pda newsgroup and have seen PalmOS scenario sinking slowly but unavoidably in last years, this forum apart is there any other resource that's worth to check?

edit:
I found hard buttons camera, hold and rec over all a bit uncomfortable, expecially compared to my old SJ20 that was actually a real one-hander.

Cyker

02-22-2008, 06:46 AM

suppaman

02-22-2008, 10:44 AM

re. memory sticks:
The TH55 will work with any MSPro up to 2GB
BUT! There is a caveat: Some of the new 'high-speed' ones have issues so try to avoid them
The most compatible are the 1st and 2nd gen MSPro ones (Pearly white and Pearly blue). Try to avoid the black ones.

TH55 can use FAT32 driver, but then the AudioPlayer, VideoPlayer and anything else that uses the DSP chip stops working (The DSP seems to somehow access the MSPro directly, and is hard-coded for FAT16 so it'll get confused with a FAT32 card, even with the FAT32 driver installed).

Nobody's even gotten close to figuring out how to access the DSP, nevermind re-program it, so I doubt this situation will change...

Well so this puts a "no-no" to the FAT32 driver, I mean I'd like a big MS to take mp3 but if AudioPlayer stops working it's senseless.

I can get a Sony 2Gb for 25 euro in a shop down the street, from what I read in this thread I should get a SanDisk instead or at least try the Sony one.

Should it have problems would they be evident as soon as I put the MS into TH55?

Btw what DSP is it? (producer/model)

Screen protector:
Deffo recommend it.
I was using a sheet of acetate film tucked under the screen, but recently changed to a Boxwave Crystal-thingy.
Boxwave crystal is really nice; Is very slick and almost as scratch resistant as a bluray disc ;)
Downsides are that it doesn't cover the whole screen like my acetate (ALL sticky screen protectors have a 1mm boundary round the edges :(), and a major downside is it's a lot thicker than the acetate I used to use, and suffers from uneven screen pressure (i.e. I have to press harder in some places to register a tap/stroke, which is REALLY annoying when you're trying to scrawl quickly.)
I've tried re-applying it a few times, but it seems to be an attribute of the screen protector.

If they made a slightly thinner one (0.25mm would be enough!), that wasn't adhesive and slid under the screen bezel that'd be perfect! ;)

This morning in fact I cut a piece of acetate sheet like I used to do with my Newton, poor's man protector, it get scratched quite easily but with 10 cents I can cut like 8 so no big deal.
I put them "into" the screen borders (there's always some spare space left) could this harm something?

glaganie

02-22-2008, 11:28 AM

intellidryad

02-22-2008, 02:22 PM

About screen protectors I see them coming in many different offers, from cheaper lots to not-so-cheap. Is there any difference in their quality or should I just go down the first shop and take whatever I found?
Try to get a mid-range one ($10~$15 a piece), those would survive half a year and still be reasonably affordable. The dirt cheep ones wears out in a week, and if you really did change every week, it's not only a pain, you end up paying more.

I'd like to sync as I was trying to have a desktop computer extension so I'd like to sync iCal and have alarms when I am at the computer. Or have a synced Address Book.
If you must use iCal, then the Missing sync is your only choice. But get the 1 month trial before buying, and be sure to back up to a MS card before your first sync. I had experiences where it screwed up my PIM database (multiple copied entries, shuffled categories...)

Sadly I am on ppc, but I think I can find an XP computer in case.
I heard a friend sync successfully with virtual PC, though...

One of my wish when I was stuck with MS non Pro was putting dictionaries and (eventually) wikipedia on a stick but with a 2Gb limit I see it's quite hard...
My English dictionary file (using KDIC) is less then 10MB.
With Wikipedia, I guess it's best to leave it on the web as the will be at least 95% entries that you'd never read. (unless you really check up on everything in the universe)

Oh I've got a Belking G700 for SJ lying around (can't find it just now, it has been collecting dust for too long) will the connector fit?
I'm not sure what that is, but as far as I know, of all Clies (with the exception of the UX, which uses miniUSB), the connectors are the same.

My main point was using WiFi, I'd really like it but I'm not able to make it work what could I try?
I've got a Japanese version, so the controls are labeled differently. Maybe try glaganie's advice?

intellidryad

02-22-2008, 02:41 PM

I can get a Sony 2Gb for 25 euro in a shop down the street, from what I read in this thread I should get a SanDisk instead or at least try the Sony one.

Should it have problems would they be evident as soon as I put the MS into TH55?
Sony Japan posted some years back then on their Clie support site that currently available Sony branded 2GB sticks are "not guaranteed to work, and may be unstable during use" (whatever that means, you'd want to avoid that). That includes the black 2GB sticks that you can find every where nowadays, and some red colored high speed stick that I have never seen anywhere. The pealy-white-and-shinny-orangish sticks would work, but those are long discontinued and very few to produce. Those were the 1st gen MS pro sticks, which were 2~4 times the price of current generation sticks. Sony later on switched to black sticks and dropped the prices, but Clie support gone with the price drop.

That's why, to put a long story short, I just told you to get a Sandisk one if you want 2GB. Mine has worked for 8 months by now and still works smoothly.

Btw what DSP is it? (producer/model)
It's a chip bundle called the "Sony Handheld Engine" that includes the CPU and DSP, put together to provide better media performance (although I like the previous Yamaha DSP in the NX series as it has better MIDI support...) and battery life. It's Sony's proprietary chip, and Sony would never release any documentation of it, because it's what's powering the PSP. (If you were Sony, you wouldn't want to see PSP clones on the market, right?)

To think of it, isn't it interesting that you are using the granddaddy of the PSP? :D

suppaman

02-22-2008, 06:21 PM

get the update here:

Wireless Update for TH55 (http://membre.oricom.ca/glaganiere/wifith55.zip)

To setup the wifi network on the TH55, you do know you have to go to :
-preferences
-network
-and under service select Wireless LAN

Don't you?

I did this way actually, were there other ways?

Thanks for the update.

If you must use iCal, then the Missing sync is your only choice. But get the 1 month trial before buying, and be sure to back up to a MS card before your first sync. I had experiences where it screwed up my PIM database (multiple copied entries, shuffled categories...)

I had already got the demo before I read this and.. it's amazing BUT it's like 50 bucks so maybe I could use the TH55 as independent device and just backup it on MS, I'll think about it.

I heard a friend sync successfully with virtual PC, though...

Ok but that wouldn't be a good use of computer :-)

My English dictionary file (using KDIC) is less then 10MB.
With Wikipedia, I guess it's best to leave it on the web as the will be at least 95% entries that you'd never read. (unless you really check up on everything in the universe)

Sounds reasonable, a wikipedia dump was my desire but I actually don't need it (well I'd need less if I could join the wireless network).
Dictionaries would be a great bonus tho', are there free resources?

I'm not sure what that is, but as far as I know, of all Clies (with the exception of the UX, which uses miniUSB), the connectors are the same.

It's this (http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/belkin_g700_keyboard_for_the_sony_clie_t_series_review)

I've got a Japanese version, so the controls are labeled differently. Maybe try glaganie's advice?

I did.

Sony Japan posted some years back then on their Clie support site that currently available Sony branded 2GB sticks are "not guaranteed to work, and may be unstable during use" (whatever that means, you'd want to avoid that). That includes the black 2GB sticks that you can find every where nowadays, and some red colored high speed stick that I have never seen anywhere. The pealy-white-and-shinny-orangish sticks would work, but those are long discontinued and very few to produce. Those were the 1st gen MS pro sticks, which were 2~4 times the price of current generation sticks. Sony later on switched to black sticks and dropped the prices, but Clie support gone with the price drop.

That's why, to put a long story short, I just told you to get a Sandisk one if you want 2GB. Mine has worked for 8 months by now and still works smoothly.

Did you find MS Pro native? I can only find things with adapter, like Pro Duo with Pro adapter or M2 with Pro adapter or even the microSD with Pro adapter.
Do you guys know anything about this microSD adapter compatibility?

It's a chip bundle called the "Sony Handheld Engine" that includes the CPU and DSP, put together to provide better media performance (although I like the previous Yamaha DSP in the NX series as it has better MIDI support...) and battery life. It's Sony's proprietary chip, and Sony would never release any documentation of it, because it's what's powering the PSP. (If you were Sony, you wouldn't want to see PSP clones on the market, right?)

Unlikely.

suppaman

02-23-2008, 04:42 AM

Update:
I noticed Scan reported my network as infrastructure, I created a new network with the ibook, this newly created network was reported as "Ad Hoc" instead and I was able to connect to it and browse the webserver running on the ibook, so it's definitely a router issue.

I installed the patch provided by glaganie but apparently nothing changed.

jj2me

02-23-2008, 10:05 AM

This morning in fact I cut a piece of acetate sheet like I used to do with my Newton, poor's man protector, it get scratched quite easily but with 10 cents I can cut like 8 so no big deal.
I put them "into" the screen borders (there's always some spare space left) could this harm something?

I've never done that, because I recall reading posts on a Tablet PC forum that said not to put the screen protector under the borders. However, a search just now turned up nothing about such dangers (the TabletPCBuzz forum where I thought I saw this has had several crashes and permanently lost their archives each time). In fact, I found
one manufacturer's installation instructions (.pdf) (http://www.pdascreenprotectors.com/install.pdf) that said to indeed install under the bezel.

If Cyker had success, then the TH55 would seem to have no such problems. However, it's probably tricky to remove a thick, glued-on screen protector installed under the bezel. (But every pixel is valuable on our small screens.)

suppaman

02-24-2008, 04:15 AM

If Cyker had success, then the TH55 would seem to have no such problems. However, it's probably tricky to remove a thick, glued-on screen protector installed under the bezel. (But every pixel is valuable on our small screens.)

I was not talking about glued protector, I just cut a piece of transparent sheet and put it under the grooves. I had my SJ20 working like this for few times, once put under the border it will not move easily if cut of the right size. It scratches easily but I don't mind as it's easily read through, plus it has exceleent sensitivity, I couldn't feel any difference on SJ20 nor on this TH55.

My only worry was about some flat going to the display that the sheet edge could damage but I think flat going to display would stay under rather than on top of it.