Why did you switch from PalmOS?

[NJL!2016]

I got an iPAQ rx3715 and I'm loving it. I went PPC because I became bored with the bland PalmOS interface. I also think that the current lineup of Palms is lackluster.

[mike p]

kuz palm is dead and crappy

[NJL!2016]

!viva multitasking!

[mike p]

!VIVA MICROSOFT!


ole ole ole

[treffmeister]

¡Viva the best mobile computing platform, PalmOS!
¿Donde es Pocket PC for doctors?

[mike p]

palm user souls rot in the bowels of hell, and they smell like poo

[treffmeister]

Sad that PPC users have to resort to personal attacks to justify their hopeless platform.

[rcxAsh]

palm user souls rot in the bowels of hell, and they smell like poo
You used to love your SJ33 as much as the next ClieSource member :rolleyes: ;)

Anyways. If I didn't just buy a UX40 and could afford a Sharp Zaurus, I'd switch in a heart-beat. (PPC is something that I prefer to avoid, however, for personal reasons).

[ucfgrad93]

I have owned both in the past. I have owned the following devices:

Palm Vx, Palm IIIc, Casio EM-500, Palm m515, Sony T665C, hp1910, Palm T|3.

I tend to switch fairly regularly to whatever suits my needs at the time. I still own the 1910. I switched from it to the T|3 so I could get a Bluetooth GPS.

[ssulux]

just so in love with my pocket loox720. i don't know why but i am still waiting for os6 cobalt with hardware spec as of my loox 720, min 524mhz, vga, wifi and bt, 1.3 mp, dual slot, voip capability, abundant of rom and ram. maybe only in my dream.

[Rebel76]

I just couldn't find a PDA with a decent integrated camera like my NX80 plus my clie died on me....So I went ahead and got a Fujitsu Siemens Loox 720

[SamuraiCatJB]

palm user souls rot in the bowels of hell, and they smell like poo

"read" next time you need to fall asleep. :p

[Cyker]

What happened to the new mature mikep anyway?
Someone must have hacked his account or something :p :D

[Tam Hanna]

Oh damn, yopu know that PPC users have lot of time at their hands because their OS tends to clog up eventually and become mind blowingly slow...
And then... They need entertainment and attack PalmOs users out of glee
;-P....

[mike p]

*pisses on palm os*

[zackepceo]

Activesync is the least intuitive most overengineered peice of absolute crap I have ever used since Windows XP.

[NJL!2016]

Thanks alot mike p for ruining the point of this thread :/

Anyway, I like Activesync better than Hotsync. I also like Outlook better than Palm Desktop.

[RD100]

Anyway, I like Activesync better than Hotsync. I also like Outlook better than Palm Desktop.I fully agree !!! :)

I used a Palm for a year, and I switched from Palm because I saw a great deal on a really nice Toshiba E330 PPC a year ago, and I thought it would be interesting to try a PPC. Once I tried a PPC, I never looked back.

To me, my PPC is like an extension of my Desktop PC. I can easily keep my required data files synced up between the two platforms. And it's nice to be able to run similar programs on the desktop and the PPC, like Pocket Word and Pocket Excel. I also like the way Pocket Outlook allows me to easily maintain data with the desktop version of Outlook.

People who bash Microsoft are just focused on the negative aspects of their products. When I use a program like Windows XP, all I can say is wow !!! It is a truly wonderful OS. I'm not saying it's perfect. I know they occasionally run into security issues which need to be addressed. But I love using Windows XP.

And I can say the same for Pocket PC. It may have a few minor issues, but for the most part Pocket PC is a joy to use. :)

[zackepceo]

I would switch to PPC if it weren't for Activesync. I hate everything about it, and yes, I have used it for a long time to maintain someone else's PDA. To top it all off, I don't use outlook and never have. The whole thing seems clunky.

There are positives to using MS, but when you have a superior platform of comparison, the negatives just shine. I'm not talking about Palm OS at all with that, either.

[RD100]

I'm certain you are referring to Mac when you say superior. I don't doubt that Mac is an excellent platform. But there's no reason to treat Windows XP like it is trash. Mac may have a few nice features that XP doesn't have, and it may handle some tasks more efficiently, but that doesn't make XP a lousy OS by comparison. And it doesn't make Mac totally superior to XP either. They are both excellent operating systems. :)

I think it just comes down to personal preference. I like Pepsi. You like Coke. They both taste great. :)

My main reason for choosing Windows is because 90% of the world uses it, and the vast majority of software is written to run on Windows. It also keeps getting better and better with each new release.

And since I've used Windows since version 3.0, I've become somewhat of an expert. There are very few problems I can't resolve on my own, or by searching the internet for an answer.

[zackepceo]

Yes, of course. I have used many different OSes, many of them supereor in some ways to Windows. It's not exactly fair when Windows is the lowest standard that OS makers will go to, no matter what Microsoft does, but there are a few things that are just plain stupid. I can't totally hate Windows at all, it's at least easy to diagnose most of the time; in Mac OS X the errors are at least cryptic and half the time you'll never know what's wrong.The frequency of problems makes them more or less equal in that department.

But I disgress. Back on topic; if I were to switch to PPC, it's because it has the most software I use and the most rediable hardware expansion.

[RD100]

In terms of hardware, Pocket PC's are probably the most advanced of PDAs at this time. Many come with built-in WiFi, BlueTooth and VGA screens. Their SD slots often support SDIO, and many have Compact Flash slots which support a wide range of other devices. Their CPU speed are currently as high as 624mhz. It's easy to attach GPS to many Pocket PC's, and some come with GPS built-in. There are plenty of external keyboards available for PPC's. And you can even get USB host attachments to use USB mice and USB keyboards, along with other USB devices, providing a driver for PPC is available.

In terms of software, there are thousands and thousands of programs available for PPC. I downloaded approximately 800 freeware programs alone since I got mine a year ago. And PPC programs can be very high quality, with teriffic graphics and sound. gfDoom plays nearly as good on my 300mhz PPC as the original Doom did on my desktop. The sound quality is identical. And Virtual Pool Mobile (an unbelievable 3D billiards game) will make you piss yourself when you see it played on a PPC. The graphics and sound are outstanding!!! You can fully move around a 3D pool table, and zoom in/out just like you were in an actual pool hall. The billiard balls look and sound like balls. They have highlights, shadows, and rotate just like in real life. And as for the typical PIM stuff, programs like Pocket Informant and Agendus Fusion can easily rival Palm's Agendus. Map/GPS software for PPC is fantastic. MP3 programs for PPC like Pocket Music and GSPlayer are incredible. The variety and quality of PPC software is one of the main reasons I like Pocket PCs.

Plus, if you are interested in writing your own programs for PPC, you can either download Microsoft's free Embeded Visual C and VB programs, or you can use the Visual Studio.NET platform. If you are a student or teacher, you can purchase Visual Studio.NET for only $99. Normally sells for over $1000. The Visual platforms make development easy.

[JackAxe]

I worked for Interplay when the original Virtual Pool came out. They shipped it on CD to detour pirating, because the actual game was less than 720k. :)

SCUMMVM runs good on my PPC now, but at first it was an absolute dog. I have one of the older XScales, so even though it's overclocked at 500Mhz it's not the speediest device, becaue it's 100Mzh bus and 16bit memory. :rolleyes:

I would be interested in developing for PPC for fun, but not until I ugprade to a new unit. This Dell has been complete blah for the most part. But once PPC utilizes the Intel or ATI accelerator for everything, I'm going to invest in a VGA version.

<]=)

[CraigBMCM]

*pisses on palm os*
*Pisses on mike p's PPC*

Oh wait, that wouldn't make much difference to it :D

[mike p]

I Will Not Rest Until Ur All Ppc Users

[SamuraiCatJB]

I Will Not Rest Until Ur All Ppc Users

that is called insomnia. :)

[JackAxe]

Exactly. :D Maybe you should take a sleeping pill. :)

<]=)

[Gizmo]

For me, the perfect combination is Outlook 2003 and my new Treo 650.

Of course, upgrading from my Clie N760 would make darn near anything new seem like a luxury. But I really like the Treo. I kept holding out and Sony goes and takes a dump! Oh well, I'm glad I waited. :)

And Outlook 2003 is wonderful. I don't find it clunky at all. But then again, I was using Lotus Organizer for the last 10 years. :rolleyes:

[JackAxe]

Frig, I'm still on a NR70. :o

<]=)

[NJL!2016]

OMFG that device is like almost 3 years old. I've been through 4 PDAs since then!

[JackAxe]

I know it's old. I've had it for just over 2 now, bought it about a month before the NX70. Yipee, what a nice surprise. :rolleyes: It does have a 4 year warranty and as a PIM device it still does a great job. It even plays SCUMMVM decently, not as good as the PPC, but good enough. :)

But when(if) it breaks, I have $600 credit at GoodGuys. :D

<]=)

[JAmerican]

I'm a Palm OS user and I've never used a Pocket PC fully. I want to know the pros and cons about using a Pocket PC device compared to a Palm OS. One thing I like about PPC is the Streaming WMV and WMA through Windows Media Player. What other aspects does it have? Thanks.

BTW, please be as objective as possible giving me all the goods and bads. Not just a whole bunch of goods (from PPC users) or bads (from Palm users).

I'm really considering a PPC. I'm a Visual Basic Programmer and my apps would be perfect for the PPC.

Thanks.

JAmerican

[RD100]

I'm a Palm OS user and I've never used a Pocket PC fully. I want to know the pros and cons about using a Pocket PC device compared to a Palm OS. One thing I like about PPC is the Streaming WMV and WMA through Windows Media Player. What other aspects does it have? Thanks.

BTW, please be as objective as possible giving me all the goods and bads. Not just a whole bunch of goods (from PPC users) or bads (from Palm users).

I'm really considering a PPC. I'm a Visual Basic Programmer and my apps would be perfect for the PPC.

Thanks.

JAmerican
See this post (http://www.1src.com/forums/showpost.php?p=767320&postcount=22). :)

[rcxAsh]

I've never owned a PPC, so I can't say much. But these are some brief current thoughts that I have regarding PPC and PalmOS.

Initially, some years ago, I would always be amazed when it came to PPC. At that time, PalmOS was still 160x160, mostly black and white screens. And PPC was already 240x320 colour. Even with polyphonic sound I assume. And of course, the processors of PPCs were already at higher clock rates. However, there was a period in time when I feel that the PalmOS market really began to be gaining momentum. Suddenly, Sony pulled out it's more advanced Clie line. 320x320 colour screens, polyphonic audio. Already a higher resolution screen than a PPC. And then of course, the 320x480 screens. Thumb boards, cameras, the whole works. And PalmOne followed somewhat by at least giving higher resolution screens and polyphonic audio (BTW, I feel that Sony's audio API was better than PalmSource's, it's just that no one could really use it).

But now, PalmOS is falling behind again. Not to mention no more Sony outside of Japan. PPC has began to move again. 640x480 screens truly sound attractive indeed. I remember using a resolution of 640x480 on my desktop computer.

So in a nutshell, I feel that Palm was lagging behind PPC. But then pulled ahead - only for a short while, however. Now Palm has begun to fall behind again, IMO.

I don't know much about PPC. They just haven't really attracted me. Also, I've invested too much into Sony Clies to pull out of them now. I don't have the money to start again.

The Visual Studio integration sounds nice. If only I used Windows as much as I used to, then perhaps it would be more attractive.

One thing that I'm pretty sure about, is that PPC is better tied with Windows than PalmOS is.

Anyways. If you get a PPC, you will be missed JAmerican! You've contributed so much to the UX community.

[mike p]

palm doesnt need more power, u run a single app at a time


ppc needs the power cuase u have multitasking going on

u dont need 624 but isnt it nice to be current, this dell is my last pda for a few yrs now

[rcxAsh]

Ah yes. Forgot about that. PPC multitasks fully. PalmOS only semi-multitasks; based on the application (eg, MP3 players..)

But of course, more megahertz always looks better on flyers and when people ask you about what you're using. ;) Though, battery life will suffer, of course...

[JAmerican]

I will get a PPC probably in 3 years (when my warrenty on my UX is done). I'm not a person who buys just to buy. I buy my devices so that I can use it soley. I love my UX and will be contributing to the UX forum for years to come. But, I'm most definately getting a PPC next. By that time, Windows Mobile 2007 should be out. LOL. As well as a new OS for Palm probably.

JAmercan

[NJL!2016]

Ah yes. Forgot about that. PPC multitasks fully. PalmOS only semi-multitasks; based on the application (eg, MP3 players..)

But of course, more megahertz always looks better on flyers and when people ask you about what you're using. ;) Though, battery life will suffer, of course...

I love multitasking on my PPC, but I miss the DSP chip on my CLIE. Playing WMAs and such uses alot of the CPU. I love NetFront, it's kinda like Mozilla with the tabbed browsing. It also dosen't use alot of program memory like PIE because NetFront can store the cache on my iPAQ file store.

[JackAxe]

My PPC won't play video at 30 FPS, if even one app like calculator is open in the background. And since I'm required to always double check if the app I just quit is really closed, I find this annoying.

I'm really intersted in a VGA PPC, but will wait for proper video support of the few accelerators on the market and it's definately not going to be another Dell. Dell = Cheap, as in poorly made in my book. I'm going to look into a HP this time. Maybe since they worked out a deal to sell iPods, we'll see an iPAQ/iPod device in a few years.

<]=)

[Gizmo]

Could somebody explain to this 'ol monkey why multi-tasking on a pda is so gosh darn important? :)

Edit - I'm a little OT here but, I'm curious to know what people are doing when they multi-task on their ppc's. Maybe I'm missing something. :)

[JackAxe]

Multitasking is a joke on them, since something like playing audio in the background slows down everything else, well anything running in the background does that, at least on my 500Mhz behemoth. :rolleyes: And the screen is really only big enough for one app at a time. :) Maybe some PPC peeps are using their device to process SETI@Home while they input address info. :p

I do think it's a step in the right direction though, but by the time a PDA can really rival a desktop, they'll probably be one in the same. :o

<]=)

[mike p]

Could somebody explain to this 'ol monkey why multi-tasking on a pda is so gosh darn important? :)

Edit - I'm a little OT here but, I'm curious to know what people are doing when they multi-task on their ppc's. Maybe I'm missing something. :)


for me any way


im, email, net, music, and sometimes, a game

[rcxAsh]

Multitasking is a joke on them, since something like playing audio in the background slows down everything else, well anything running in the background does that, at least on my 500Mhz behemoth. :rolleyes: And the screen is really only big enough for one app at a time. :) Maybe some PPC peeps are using their device to process SETI@Home while they input address info. :p

I do think it's a step in the right direction though, but by the time a PDA can really rival a desktop, they'll probably be one in the same. :o

<]=)
Does MP3 slow everything down that much? Because, on my TG50 (no DSP IIRC), I could listen to music, and the slow down was still bearable. Noticable, but not that bad.

Or are PPC applications just more demanding than PalmOS?

Hmm, but if everything is fullscreen, then that's not terribly useful IMO. At least they should have allowed something like a split screen... My Texas Instruments Graphing Calculator can do this. Ok, it's not really really multi-tasking. But at least I can look at tables and do calculations at the same time on the same screen. It really is quite useful.
Could somebody explain to this 'ol monkey why multi-tasking on a pda is so gosh darn important?

Edit - I'm a little OT here but, I'm curious to know what people are doing when they multi-task on their ppc's. Maybe I'm missing something. I don't have a PPC, but I can think of some reasons for multitasking. Checking email. So you're downloading your email, and you have a lot of it incoming. Or at least one with a big attachment. This could take a while. With multitasking, you could still go on to do something else. There are a couple of times that I wished I could do this on my Clie.

Another example on my Clie where I woudln't mind multitasking: when I'm logged into my computer via SSH. Perhaps I need to check a memo or some note where I have something written down. Currently, this involves disconnecting from my computer and then reconnecting when I'm done. It would be quite nice if I could just stay connected and check what I need, then return later - without having to login again with my user name and password.

Small things like this would really benefit from multitasking.

Though, if not handled properly, I could see how annoying it would get if your PDA started getting overloaded and bogged down so slow that you found it difficult to close the applications causing the problem.. Though, I'm not speaking from experience here. Just thoughts.

[RD100]

Here's an example of how I used multi-tasking on my PPC.

Today I was reading a very large PPC tips text document on my PDA. I wanted to keep track of the most useful tips from this document, so as I was reading the document, any tip I found useful, I copy/pasted as a separate task in my Task List.

I was able to keep the tips document open, and I could easily switch back and forth between the document and the Tasks application.

Another example ... I might be playing a game on my PPC. And in the middle of the game, I might want to start another app, perhaps to jot a quick memo, or look up a phone number. And once done, I can easily go right back to the game right at the spot where I left off.

And yet another example ... I can start an app which lets me listen to MP3s, and then start another app, maybe to read an ebook at the same time.

There are countless uses for multi-tasking.

[rcxAsh]

Though, can't these things be done in PalmOS as well?

Applications like Plucker will save your spot. You can leave the application and come back. The document will still be at the same place.

A lot of games will also save your spot when you leave. Eg, Bejewled, TextTwist, Warfare Inc, etc.

You can also listen to MP3s in the background on PalmOS.

Granted, there's still the email problem.. but sometimes when I think about it, PalmOS doesn't do too bad without actual multitasking. There are often ways that programs get around it.

[JackAxe]

Part of the biggest issue with my peticular PPC, which they resolved with the newer ones, is my XSlug. It's bus speed is only 100Mhz and the memory is a pathetic 16bit.(This wouldn't be an issue if the chip was 16bit, but I read that it creates a huge bottleneck.) So besides a few apps like ScummVM, most things are poky. I get about 4-10FPS on Quake(If anything is running, less then half that. ) as an example, where as I read some of the new peeps are getting 30-40fps. So multitasking on my model is blah. I overclock it to 500, because without it, things like scrolling through files are even slow.

<]=)

[mike p]

last nite, i was watching a vid with pocket tv ( it was a rc vid) i noticed it was playing at 75 fps :P

[rcxAsh]

That's pretty nice. However, 75 FPS is really overkill if you're watching TV or movies. Unless you're playing video games, 75 FPS really is just a waste of processor power and video space.

NTSC = 29.97 FPS
PAL = 25 FPS
Some movies = 24 FPS

So really, you're not getting anymore other than bragging rights ;) :p :)

(edit: all IMO.. because, in my mind, it seems like if the video was only recorded at 30 FPS, you wouldn't get any extra when you watch it at 75 FPS, except maybe that you could watch it 2.5 times faster than normal without dropping any frames)

[JackAxe]

And unless his PPC's LCD has a refresh rate of about 12-16 ms, his screen wasn't actually displaying it. :)

<]=)

[mike p]

rc vids have alot of action


so....


:p i still gte higher


i also play a pinball game that gets 50

[JackAxe]

Errr, my Clie get's well over 70 fps second with Kinoma when running the performance test and it's a NR70. :p :p :p All that says, is that a DSP chip is better for video then relying on the CPU for everything like most PPCs.

<]=)

[Perk]

I never wanted to leave the Palm OS, I started with the first Palm ever made and owned numerous Palm and Sony devices over the years. I've always been a PDA nut. The first true PDA I owned was a Casio B.O.S.S., very cool form factor. To me anyone that would move to the dark side was selling their soul for broken promises.

Then Sony pulled out of the non-Japan markets, and over the last couple of years I started using my PDA for things like video, Internet browsing, GPS, and other advanced tasks. This created the issue of lack of memory, lack of card slots, lack of speed, lack of BT and WI-FI built in, and other short comings with todays Palm based hardware.

I finally jumped ship a few months ago and bought a HP 4705. It was very expensive and the software and accessories I bought to have all the things I had on my Palm almost required me to take out a second mortgage on my home.

I can't speak for older versions or less feature packed PPC's, but I can say that the HP 4705 PPC is the best PDA I've every used.

I wish Palm would have gotten it's act together, I wish Sony hadn't abandon the Palm platform, especially given the fact I have a Sony laptop, camera, etc. (Anyone need a deal on memory sticks at great prices :( )

For those wondering if the PPC is a viable working alternative to the Palm units you grew up with, the answer is definitely yes.

[SamuraiCatJB]

I wish Palm would have gotten it's act together, I wish Sony hadn't abandon the Palm platform, especially given the fact I have a Sony laptop, camera, etc. (Anyone need a deal on memory sticks at great prices :( )

For those wondering if the PPC is a viable working alternative to the Palm units you grew up with, the answer is definitely yes.

A lot of us have the same wish....

I know PPC "can" do the job, that has always been a given. I just have a personal disagreement with design. I actually do not consider multi-tasking a feature, I consider it a flaw.

I would much rather suspend the app and switch to another, not share CPU resources. If I need to switch from email to word processor to view an attachment, suspend the email to memory, run the document, when I am done, kill the document task and return to the suspended email. It looks the same, but the difference is that CPU resources aren't shared. Multi-tasking is cpu intensive. I need it on a desktop, and on a laptop, but in a handheld I see it only as a market drive for bigger CPUs than we really need to do the job.

Sony simulated the multi-tasking with MP3 playing by running the Mp3 playing capability through the secondary DSP chip. But even that I rarely used. I just don't see the need to buy a 650mhz processor to do the work of a 300mhz processor because the OS is doing multi-tasking.... I much prefer efficiency to brute force. :(

ahhh, well... the point is moot though, eventually I will give up my TH55 and go to PPC, but I will hold out as long as possible....

[bloney]

I've come from a Palm background (Visor Neo, Tungsten T, T3 and T5) and was very well versed in the Palm arguments I've been reading on this thread. I really went in for the anti-multitasking, anti MS, etc.

But, although my T5 had some great features there were a few issues that really put me off and question where Palm was headed (I think it'll all be alright tho - maybe Treos tho).

I decided to take the plunge and try a PPC, despite my reservation (listed very nicely on this thread).

I got a hx4700 and good grief! Wow! It's an eye opener - it really is. I love it!

But at the end of the day, what I want out of a pda will be different to the next persons.

But I was wrong in my critisisms of PPCs that you read - like in many posts in this thread. I won't be rehashing all my previous unfounded critisisms of PPCs any more!

Anyway, just my honest experiences. If Cobolt is cool I might well jump back to Palm..!

Bloney

[JackAxe]

For me it's not rehashing, since my Dell Axim is a POS. :)

I stopped replacing it's backup battery which dies every other month. Now I just put up the annoying message stating the battery is deed. :rolleyes:

I'm buying a HP this time around. This way I'm guaranteed that my PPC experience won't be a Dellish one.

<]=)

[mike p]

jack, i say give an x30 a try, theres no hardware probelms on mine


and u get a jog dial on it

[bloney]

JackAxe,

A week or so on and I'm still very chuffed with the 4700. I'm shallow, I know, but I mean it's got a magnesium alloy case. Ooh, just feel it..!

Anyway - do miss the T3/5 a bit tho', but glad I made the switch!

Good luck

Bloney

[zackepceo]

My TG50 has a magnesium case. :)

[JackAxe]

My NR70 alsot has a magnesium case. :) I wonder how long it would take to light it on fire.

<]=)

[bloney]

Darn it! I thought I'd out cased the lot of ya - but might have known Sony would have gone and done the mag case thing!

Now - gotta go and find out why my memory is disappearing on the 4700...

Bloney

[NJL!2016]

It sucks that there is only 64mb of RAM on the 4700. I wonder why there is twice as much ROM than RAM on PPCs. It seems to me that it would be the other way around.

[bloney]

NJL!2016 - yup the 64M is rubbish. Especially coming from a P1 T3 (and T5 briefly) where I never seemed to get close to running out of memory.

But, it seems to me the PPC runs applications off the SD/CF/filestore much more 'naturally' than PalmOS does. I'm considering doing a hard reset and putting as much as I can on filestore or soemthing.

And I guess having 80M filestore is quite handy - a bit like the flash ROM on the T5. Just gotta bring myself to use it.

Thats the biggest downside I've found from the PPC compared to T3 - RAM.

[sebring]

Like Perk,

I purchased a PPC after Sony left the market because, IMO, when Sony left the market so did Palm OS innovation. I do still have my NX80 and use it regularly. My first PPC was a HP2215, which IMO was very nearly the perfect PPC (the flaws were 1) Lack of builtin wifi. 2) Those awful rubber sidegrips that have to be replaced regularly. 3) Could always use more battery life.). I now have a Dell Axim X50V, which I also like very much (my backup battery does stay charged, so far). Like the 4700, I don't understand the reason for only 64mb of RAM and all that extra ROM. Seems to me RAM would be much more useful and much faster memory, but I guess it does consume more battery keeping the data when the device is off. Biggest downside to the Dell is the battery life (this the first PDA for which I had to purchase a larger than standard battery to meet my normal usage pattern.) I plan on keeping my Sony until I find suitable replacement apps for some that I use regularly. By then, it will probably be a collector's item. :D

[Ezra4no1]

I got an iPAQ rx3715 and I'm loving it. I went PPC because I became bored with the bland PalmOS interface. I also think that the current lineup of Palms is lackluster.


Anyway...... With regards to the original question asked...

I switched back to the Pocket PC for several reasons..

1. I got tired of waiting for the OS6 for Palm to come out.

2. palmOne and Palm Source's future seemed than and even still now to a point to be in doubt - which drew much of my confidence away from them.

3. With the acception of the Treo being as populare to the first time non-experince PDA user in the business world as an iPod would be to an 8th grader girl getting one because all her friends have one, I do see Pocket PCs more in the business world providing real solutions such as with symbal devices, remote terminal, and even having a broader range of platforms to use with software such as GoodLink than the any Palm PDAs. It strengthen my idea that Pocket PC would be around for the long hual and Microsoft would continue to throw money at the platform to make that so.

4. There was a wider selction of PDAs from different OEMs that I could choose from than just what palmOne has to offer

5. I was able to get a Pocket PC with Bluetooth and WiFi and 64 megs that is still actively being supported by the OEm cheaper than what I was able to find from the Palm camp.

6. I began wanting to use Outlook as a tool to archive my daily appointments and ToDos believe it will be supported longer with third party tools than the Palm Desktop. Even though Palm PDAs are able to use Outlook as well, I like it better on Pocket Pcs.

7. I wanted true multi tasking

8. Sony CLIEs were no more. Inmy eyes it was Sony that made the Palm OS interesting. When they stopped so did my interest in the Palm OS. I tried to hang on for months.. but couldn't anymore. palmOne kept doing dumb things to drive me away, like prolong OS6. Make wishy washy statements about making a PPC OS device for the Treo. And betting the farm on the Treo line and ignoring growth and prosperty in their other line of PDAs. That was it for me and my last straw,

[NJL!2016]

NJL!2016 - yup the 64M is rubbish. Especially coming from a P1 T3 (and T5 briefly) where I never seemed to get close to running out of memory.

But, it seems to me the PPC runs applications off the SD/CF/filestore much more 'naturally' than PalmOS does. I'm considering doing a hard reset and putting as much as I can on filestore or soemthing.

And I guess having 80M filestore is quite handy - a bit like the flash ROM on the T5. Just gotta bring myself to use it.

Thats the biggest downside I've found from the PPC compared to T3 - RAM.

I love how the PPC file system works. The application does not have to be copied to main RAM when you run it from a storage card. I install everything to the iPAQ Filestore unless the instructions tell otherwise or if it does not work properly.

[eric2002]

I've owned a Palm III, a Visor Prism, a Sony NZ90, and a Palm Zire 72. I am seriously considering switching to a PPC (Dell Axim 50v is what I've got my eye on).

My reason for considering to switch is simple:

There are no current palm devices that interest me in the least. Palm's devices are boring and far behind the times. I've owned my NZ90 for over 2 years, and the Palm Zire I just bought at Christmas can't do a quarter of the tasks my Clie can. It seems that with little competition Palm has become very very lazy in developing products that push the envelope. With Sony out of the market there aren't many options for me in the Palm OS world.

I loved Sony and would have stuck w/ them for ever... their devices were absolutely elegant and cutting edge.

[darhorn]

I have been a longtime palm user.. V, Vx, 505, TT, T3... and though I love the T3, I had always been interested in the capibilities of the PPC.. well now that my wife went full time at MS, I was able to get some good Dell discounts.. and so last week, I took the plunge.

My x50v will be arriving today... so it is going to be quite the switch, and even though I really enjoyed making skins for palm apps, I will just have to learn to do the same with the new PPC programs..

I really made the switch based on where the innovation is... palm just seems to be stagnating a little, and now with Sony out of the picture, they havent done enough to put anything really compelling out there. as a T3 user, I really thought that the T5 was a step backwards in a lot of respects..

Darrin

[NJL!2016]

I just got Voice Command for my iPAQ. For me, it's more of a toy than functional, but it is soooooo geeky to have a conversation with my PDA. I think I just had a techgasam.

[blues]

I have a friend who has let me borrow his Toshiba e740 and I played with it for a good while to see if I might like the switch to PPC. Granted, this device is not as nice as the newer devices out there, but it is a PPC. PPC 2002 I believe.

Sometime during my trial run with the e740, I decided that the Palm OS is my platform of choice. My friend also decided the same thing, considering that he has let me borrow it for so long.

Am I missing the ball here? Newer devices might have more memory, a faster processor, or some other nifty feature, but in saying that, are the newer PPC devices significatly different than this e740?

[jjesusfreak01]

I love how the PPC file system works. The application does not have to be copied to main RAM when you run it from a storage card. I install everything to the iPAQ Filestore unless the instructions tell otherwise or if it does not work properly.Now thats not true. It has everything to do with its cycle speed, and as of right now there is no implemented memory that can act as both ram and nonvolatile storage. The only reason some things can be run off of the card and some cant is because some programs only access databases in the internal memory, and not off of the card.

The only type of memory in existence that is nonvolatile and can be used as RAM is quantum optical ram (I am not making that up), and it doesnt exist in any device I know of right now. The info on optical ram is here. (http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/ces20047.htm)

[applejosh]

Actually, all the programs, regardless of where they are on a PPC (non-volatile storage, etc.) run in RAM. The PPC OS works just like a miniature Windows machine in that regard. The reason some apps have to run out of main memory (which is just a portion of the RAM allocated like a RAM disk) is because the non-volatile stores (ROM or external card) aren't "recognized" until a little bit after you turn the device on (or following a soft reset). Things like Today plugins or apps that always run in the background don't get initialized (since the card isn't available yet) when coming out of what is essentially a "standby" mode, and you end up with issues. I can still run programs off the non-volatile storage that access databases in the RAM (eg. SplashID). It works fine.

I actually like the simplistic PalmOS file system for most things (although I do find it handy on the PPC to save any kind of file to RAM if need be). PPC hasn't quite reached the DLL hell that Windows on the desktop has, but it probably will.