Max Power

As I first time Palm user I wanted to share some of my experiences after using a Palm TX for about 6 months.

My goal was to replace my Franklin Planner with the Palm. I’ve also been using Lotus Notes, so I wanted to use it for my calendar, to do list, and address book and be able to also have those available on the Palm. I use the Lotus Notes calendar extensively at work and had been spending a lot of time copying everything into my planner. I got Lotus Easy Sync Pro 4.23 and found that it works pretty well. It’s a little tricky to set up and unfortunately it deactivates most of the Palm Desktop program. You can’t sync to both at the same time.

I’m using Documents to Go Premium v8 for my daily notes. I make a new document for each week of notes. At the end of each week I paste the document into the Lotus Notes My Journal database. Before I got Easy Sync I was using Memos and the Palm desktop. I’ve read there’s a 5000 character limit on memos, but I never had a problem and my memos were 8000 – 10,000 characters. Once I started using Easy Sync, it was truncating the memos to 5000 characters, that’s why I switched to Documents to Go. I like it better than memos because I can use bold, underline, and bullets. The premium version adds spellchecker, which runs very slow, and the Adobe pdf reader is much nicer than in the free version. One disadvantage is that with memos you can edit and sync with the memo open on both devices. With Documents to Go you have to close the document on both devices or it won’t sync.

I can search through my notes with the Find button. The search takes much longer once you add a lot of documents, so I don’t plan on keeping a lot of other large files on the Palm. Again, if I’m near my computer, it’s much faster to search the Lotus Notes database.

The Palm contact list pretty much duplicates the Lotus Notes personal address book. The Palm has more data fields, but I only use the basics.

The Palm task list syncs with the Lotus Notes To Do list. I’ve found that for recurring tasks, it’s best to enter it in Lotus Notes and have it transfer to the Palm.

Same thing for the calendar. I make most entries in Lotus Notes. Having my complete calendar in the Palm TX with out having to re-write anything has been a big improvement for me.

I don’t plan on ever using the TX for my Lotus Notes email, so I don’t have that feature turned on in Easy Sync. But I do use Versamail for my personal e-mail at home.

The speed of graffiti input is my biggest limitation. It won’t work if you try to write fast or sloppy. You have to be very deliberate and write larger, slower, and press harder than normal writing. That’s why if I’m in my office I’ll write my notes on my computer, not the Palm. It would be a big advantage if Palm could improve this.

The Palm TX hardware seems to have some problems. #1 the cradle is cheaply made. Both of the LED’s in it burned out after a few months. It occasionally makes a popping sound like a static shock. An LED should last 100,000 hours. #2 I also have trouble with the on off switch. For a while it didn’t work at all. I think it was caused by some freeware games that I had installed. It worked again after a hard reset and not installing the freeware. But I have to push the switch harder and hold it longer than I expect to and then it doesn’t always work. It’s much easier to turn it on with one of the other buttons and let it turn off by itself.

I had a problem with the battery frequently going dead over night and tried to work it out with Palm support and they were no help at all. Their suggestion was a hard reset, which did not help. I’m certain now that this problem is caused by a software conflict between Solitaire and the Automatic Keylock. If you activate the keylock and you play solitaire, the Palm TX will eventually lock up. If it stays locked up long enough the battery will go dead. This will happen overnight. I’ve verified this several times, but they didn’t believe me. The solution is to do a soft reset whenever you’re done with solitaire, don’t use the keylock, or don’t play solitaire. I turned off the keylock.

The BoxWave Clear Touch Crystal screen protectors work great. They are much better that the Palm screen protectors. They come already cut to the right size. They’re easy to apply without bubbles. Be careful to remove all dust before applying because it will show up and can’t be removed. The boxwave protectors are more clear and slipperier than the palm protectors. They also last at least 3 times longer. Too bad they cost 10 times as much.

The Papermate PhD multi is a great stylus. Using a full size stylus has really helped me a lot with graffiti speed. I also made my own stylus from a Pilot G-2 gel pen and the tip from a Wacom tablet pen. Take an empty ink refill and pull out the metal tip. Glue the Wacom tip in its place with some super glue. I’d like to see someone make a stylus in the shape of a cross or parker refill, that way you could use your own pen. Why does a pen with a plastic tip cost more than a real pen with ink in it?

I’m also using a Linksys Bluetooth USB adapter for hot sync. Since I make entries on the palm and my computer I have to hot sync several times a day. With the Bluetooth I don’t have to put it on the cradle every time. I’ve turned off the sync for all the applications I don’t use, like Addit, so it doesn’t take as long. I only use the cradle for charging, which takes less than an hour a day. The bluetooth range is at least 30 feet and will go though a couple walls.

I use Blazer and Versamail through WiFi and cable internet at home. It’s very nice to be able to check if I have any important e-mails when I get home since I can do this in less time than that it takes my computer to boot up. Blazer is too slow, so if I want to accomplish anything on the web, it’s worth it to turn on the computer.

I have mp3 files on a 1 GB SD card for Pocket tunes. I think it works pretty well, but it’s heavy for an mp3 player. If you’re serious about music, you’ll probably want a separate mp3 player.

The only extra software I’m using now is Documents to Go Premium and Lotus Easy Sync Pro. I don’t want to add anything else right now because I’m afraid it will cause more problems.

In summary, I find that the Palm TX works well enough to be useful and I don’t plan on going back to a paper planner. Easy Sync does what I need to combine the Palm with Lotus Notes. I bought the Palm TX without trying it first or doing much research, but I think I’m satisfied with it. Next time I plan on seriously evaluating other options like pocket PC.