Question for Current Zodiac Owners

[derekweb]

I have a software compatibility question for those of you that have a Tapwave Zodiac. My T3 is literally falling apart (half of the screws are missing, and I've tape holding it together. God Save The Duct Tape!), and I'm researching possibilities for either replacement of screws (and superglue) or just a whole new handheld.

I'm not impressed enough with the T5, but when my friend gets his in a week or so I'll abscond with it and get a better impression of the device.

But. Back to my main question: Do you know if any of the following listed software have any issues running on your Tapwave Devices? I know that the manufactures of the programs have said they're compatibile, but I'm wanting ENDUSER experience here. :D

ZLauncher
PocketQuicken
DateBk5
HappyDays
IdeaPad
iSilo
maClock
My Roots
PayOff
HomeLoan
XO Weight
Smart Lists To Go
Mobi Systems Database
Kinoma 2x or higher
Pocket Tunes
SplashPhoto
Bejeweled!
Earth Defender
FreeJong
GemDrop
Monopoly
Scrabble
Solitaire
BF% Calc
Cesium
Moon Info!
Moon Phase
Planetarium
SC-103PC (freeware Scientific Calc)
Sol II
Star Pilot
Stop Watch
Due Yesterday
File Man (File Manager)
FileProg
FileZ
Icon Manager
SnapCalc
SnapDates

Thanks in advance.

[Bendrix]

I have the following proggies on my Zod2 and they have been running (so far) without any problems:

ZLauncher
DateBk5
iSilo
Kinoma 2x or higher
Bejeweled 2
Moon Phase
FileZ
Icon Manager

[xMist]

I can confirm that ZLauncher, Kinoma 2x or higher, and FileZ work on the Zodiac. The only other one I use on your list is Due Yesterday - it works, too.

Most (if not all) PalmOS5 apps work on the Zodiac. So, if they work on your T3, they'll work on the Zodiac.

Side note: Not what you asked, but I am very, very happy with the Zodiac, its quality, and what it provides. Especially with the new WiFi drivers. As Wayne would say, "Excellent!" :p

[hellokitty]

Of the apps not already mentioned, the following are crashfree for me:

iSilo
SplashPhoto
Bejeweled!
Earth Defender
FreeJong
GemDrop
SC-103PC
FileProg

[kennyd]

I have these loaded without problems:

ZLauncher
PocketQuicken
DateBk5
iSilo
Kinoma 2x or higher
Pocket Tunes
SplashPhoto
Moon Phase
FileZ
Icon Manager
SnapCalc

I have yet to find an application that doesn't function properly on the Zod. I've been uing Palms for three years now and have 126 applications loaded on my Zod running both from the card and my 128mb of ram (Zod2!). I think because TapWave innitially marketed the Zod as a gaming device (of which I'm no gamer) I wondered whether or not a zod was just another PalmOS handheld or whether it had limitations because it's really a gaming device. A zod is a Palm with better gaming buttons.

[hellokitty]

I have yet to find an application that doesn't function properly on the Zod.

Not true for me. The games below crashed at the end of the game, win or lose.

Nice Nine
Summing (same developer as Nice Nine)
Yahdice (now using Dice 121 instead)

I'm rather disappointed about the first 2 and will probably email the author one of these days.

Also, these apps did not work for me:
Quarter Crazy
BigClock

Of course, YAHM does not work because it is not signed by Tapwave, so no hacks.

I make do with DAs, most of which work.

Still, very happy with my Zodiac2 :)

[xMist]

Also, these apps did not work for me:
Quarter Crazy
BigClock

I don't know about the rest of your apps (except Yahdice soft-reset mine too), but BigClock is not an OS5-ready app, never has been. BigClock didn't work on my old T|C or my friend's T|E either. The Zodiac's got its own built-in clock that can play mp3s as alarms. If that doesn't satisfy you, there are plenty of freeware and pay-ware clocks out there (Palmary, etc.)

I couldn't find any info on your other apps, which suggest that they haven't been updated recently and therefore aren't OS5-ready.

Most earlier PalmOS apps run on the OS5 devices, but not all - especially the ones that haven't been updated in the past couple of years. ;)

Nutshell: all OS5 apps should/will work on the Zodiac, with a bunch of OS4- apps too. :)

[hellokitty]

I don't know about the rest of your apps (except Yahdice soft-reset mine too), but BigClock is not an OS5-ready app, never has been. BigClock didn't work on my old T|C or my friend's T|E either. The Zodiac's got its own built-in clock that can play mp3s as alarms. If that doesn't satisfy you, there are plenty of freeware and pay-ware clocks out there (Palmary, etc.)

I guess it turns out I was venting more about the apps that didn't make the transition when I switched from OS4 to OS5 instead of the T3 to Zodiac question.

Yeah, I have Palmary and SplashClock.

Still, I consider the freeware apps I listed to be of high quality, and with BigClock being so popular, I thought it should be mentioned. :o

[archangel]

Among that list I currently use:
ZLauncher
Kinoma 2x or higher
Pocket Tunes
SplashPhoto
Bejeweled!
Earth Defender
Monopoly
Scrabble

They all work great. I also haven't found many programs that won't work on the Zodiac. I know a few of the hacks like the one for font smoothing don't work.

[xMist]

Hellokitty, you're right. I do wish BigClock was working with OS5. It is (was) such a nice app - it was indispensable on my i705. I wish it still worked. :( Oh, well.

[derekweb]

Wow. Thank you for the awesome replies. Another quick question, as I continue to evaluate for my next handheld. does the Screen rotate for the Zodiac1 or Z2? I mean, obviously it sits at landscape mode. Does it go portrait? Do you need to patch the OS on the Zodiac to do that, or is it willing-and-able right out of the box?

Reason I asked about the specific list of software above, is that a friend of mine brought her Tapwave over one night. We beamed a couple of apps to her handheld, and one of them HARD Crashed her brand new handheld. she had to do a reset on the device, and lost her data (we backed her data up so she got it all back :eek: :rolleyes:, but she still gets nervous now when bragging about her new toys.). So I don't have a good opportunity to truly evaluate it. But I did get to hold it. Definitely a different feel.

[xMist]

Derekweb: it's willing and able to go to portrait and landscape right out of the box. It's also hardware rotation, so the screen rotates quickly and there's no processor slowdown in either orientation. :)

[JohnKes]

I've been happy with my Z2.

If you really miss BigClock, try BigClock Treo:
http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&PartnerREF=&siteid=1&prodID=53279
Seems the author took the code from BigClock and substituted some OS5 code that caused it to crash on his Treo. It mostly works on my Z2 but it is not rock solid stable like most of my other apps:

LauncherX
Bike or Die
Bzzz!
Bombel (freeware)
Crash (freeware)
Hellfire
InkStorm
HMaki (freeware)
Lunar (freeware)
Kalk (freeware)
MicroQuad
Mars Needs Cows
Orbs
Palmary Clock
PalmReader (freeware)
Parens
Runtime (freeware)
Seven Seas
Space Trader (freeware)
SplashClock
SSManager
Stuntcar Extreme (included with a Zodiac)
Vorum
Wordsmith (included with a Zodiac)
Zap2016
Zodtris (freeware)
TopSecret (freeware)
YAPS (freeware)

I have QuickOffice installed but it is very touchy. Too much scrolling ... and crash!