Picsal viewer is cool but seems worthless

[Sneezy]

I can't get this thing to open up any of my doc files, isilo files, and what-not. Seems like the coolest reader around, I just can't use it. What are you guys doing with it?

[ngwailung]

It can't read standard Palm formats like doc or isilo. It reads native Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, HTML, gif, jpg, etc. without the need to do any conversion.

The idea is good but the user interface is terrible. The icons are hardly readable and it lacks "search" and "go to page" function. Well, one thing I can say is that you can directly read your Word/Excel/PowerPoint/PDF files on-the-go without the need to install any additional programs like the almost-over-1-MB QuickOffice or Document-to-go.

[jwang0416]

"The icons are hardly readable "

that's very true!! i have to try every icon to find out which one is for each feature...i never regonize them and really have no crule if i just see the icon pics....

[MatNeh]

Try Repligo (http://www.cerience.com). In many ways it is superior to Picsel Viewer in that you can view any PC-printable file on the Palm. However, it also does not have a search function.

[itommy]

For me, I use it on pdf's and word docs that i download out of my mail. No time or need to do some desktop stuff. Just download and go.
Need a better user interface you bet, but it works for me.

[pschmeling]

Can it synchronize word or excel docs. Like Documents to Go.

[iJITSU]

The biggest advantage I see is being able to dowload and view word/excel files from email when you are checking wirelessly. If only you could edit the files and send them back via wireless email.

[iJITSU]

Originally posted by pschmeling
Can it synchronize word or excel docs. Like Documents to Go.

No.

[orol]

Originally posted by MatNeh
Try Repligo (http://www.cerience.com). In many ways it is superior to Picsel Viewer in that you can view any PC-printable file on the Palm. However, it also does not have a search function.

wow, i'm quite surprised that the picsel viewer doesn't have a search function, it's damn important to me ..
not even mention it doen't have go to page feature ..
with repligo it's clear why the search function is missing .. but why the heck also picsel lacks this featue ..

well then i guess quickoffice premium 7.0 is way better in this ..

p.s. adobe are you listening ?? i WANT adobe acrobat reader for palm havint the ability reading NATIVE pdf files, please please :D

[ngwailung]

Repligo is good in some way, but it has to be converted in PC before saving to memory stick. In this sense it is similar to QuickOffice.

Picsel viewer's strong point is that it can handle native formats without any conversion in PC, and it does not occupy any of your Clie's precious memory. If you have short document (I think 1 to 3 pages) and do not need to edit them, Picsel viewer is a good choice.

However, it has the following shortcoming:

1. Sometimes unstable, especially with longer documents;

2. Not user-friendly, e.g. not in standard Palm interface and the icons are hardly readable;

3. Has no "Go to page" function and has no search function, so if you need to go to page 60 you have to do the turn-page keystroke 60 times, making it not usable for longer documents like manuals and handbooks.

I think Picsel is in its version 1.0 and if it improves in the future it has the potential to be the best document viewer. But not now.

[actura]

Totally agree about the unfriendliness. I tried to use it to read a couple long PDFs. It is just too much trouble to zoom/unzoom/scroll pages. It looks fancy but that's about it.

[papa_picsel]

Originally posted by ngwailung

3. Has no "Go to page" function and has no search function, so if you need to go to page 60 you have to do the turn-page keystroke 60 times, making it not usable for longer documents like manuals and handbooks.



When you open up the control carousel a set of page thumbnails appear along the bottom of the screen. You can use these to quickly navigate to any page within the document, you don't need to do multiple turn-page operations

[ngwailung]

Well, it hangs up after you navigate some more thumbnail pages. That's what I meant to be "unstable".