I recently bought a toshiba pocket pc, I hope to synchronize with my toshiba laptop….What I was wondering, was if any of you guys or gals are using these things to assist your business. Any software tips or downloads that you like would be greatly appreciated. Now I must return to the nerdery with my fellow nerds….
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
This deconstruction program leader oversees the collection and reuse of a variety of products and materials.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?sid=92052120011224154306&prodID=43500
__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Personally, I find those things just too unreliable. When the batteries die at your utmost time of need, you begin to appreciate paper!
However, I did once ask a contractor friend about the usefulness of the one he had, here are a few comments I remember.
- If you have pocket Excel or the Palm equivalent, set it up with all of your conversion tables so it is always handy.
- If you are in a northern climate, never leave the unit in your truck or out in the cold. The LCD will get destroyed by cold temperatures - it does not even have to freeze.
- It is a great place to note going market prices on commonly used items. I.e. 2x studs, drywall, or whatever your trade needs. It's nice be able to quickly double check if that deal at the 'yard is as good as they say. Also keep track of board feet vs standard length prices so you don't need the (albeit simple) mental Olympics.
Not having the time or interest to study all of the available PDAs in the market place at the time, I ended up with the PALM Vx. When I purchased it, this model was probably considered somewhere in the middle of the heap. Not the most expensive, limited bells and whistles, but it seemed to fit my criteria. That said, I find it indespensible. I use it daily even if for nothing more than an electronic rolodex. My estimates are all done on MS Excell which converts to the Palm via "Documents To GO". I must recomend that you look at the hard cases as opposed to the soft leather type. Although not as stylish, in this biz they tend to get bumped from time to time.
I`m not much of a techno-junkie, but had I the cash today, I`d at least be looking into the Sony Cleo. Full color screen, digital camera, Palm OS...the works. Looks like a fun and functional toy!
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
Heck, and here I am, still using a slide rule.
People sure do freak when I use it, though.
Damn right. Slide rules rule. Had a friend that worked in a high energy lab that kept a sliderule handy. In some locations the forces at hand would destroy, or at least screw with, an electronic calculator.
I contend most people would be better off with a stack of 3by5 cards and a stubby pencil than a PDA. Had a neighbor give away his PDA after he noticed that he was writing everything on a small pad and then spending otherwise free time transcribing the notes into the PDA. Eliminating the PDA saved time and cut out an intermediate step. It didn't help that he dropped his PDA in a puddle on a job site and lost important information. Had it been on 3by5s he would have still had the data in a muddier format.
Perhaps if your freind was a tad more technologically savvy he could have put the original info directly to PDA and avoided transcribing. : )J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
It wasn't all that bad. He types like the wind, at least compared to me, and his transcription was done on a PC keyboard and fed to the PDA. Between writing and typing he never got around to getting used to the PDA. Your right maybe if he was just a bit more tech savvy or if he got one of those folding keyboards. I like him because he is a fellow codger who grunts and moves slow before the second cup in the morning.
I had a old palm and then when it died I bought the HP Jornada. Much more powerful. The only gripe I have is that with the Palm the are tons of shareware out there but with the PocketPC ya have to pay for everything. That is unless you pirate it...but that is illegal....yo ho."in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king..."
>I like him because he is a fellow codger who grunts and moves slow before the second cup in the morning.
Is that all it takes is two cups? I`m unable to determine the date before my third! It didnt always be like this.....guess I`m gettin` old!J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
"DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE"
We use bigger cups down here. :-)
I know what you mean when you say it wasn't always this way. When I was in nursery school I fought not to have to take an afternoon nap. As a young buck I would stay out, drink like a fish, dance and chase skirts all night. Throw on a hardhead in the morning and tote lumber all day to repeat the performance after work. Now that afternoon nap beckons seductively nearly every day. I feel soon it may become a non-negotiable term of employment. I will check with the union on this. ]-) zzzzzzz. For reasons of dignity I will rename it from "afternoon nap" to "power pause".
I don't know about you guys, but my best ideas pop into my head at the worst times....showering, or driving, when it's tough to write ot type. And as my memory is ...what was I saying?? Oh yeah....so recording my thoughts caught my attention. The Compac Ipac can record my babblings 9at least on the road, still working on the shower problem!), and can do it into previously set up files. So when I'm stuck in traffic, I can just babble away, then later it actually gets done! Plus, you can do all sorts of things with these devices. The back up of computer files is super important, and you can even download digital pictures onto them if your camera runs out of space. You could even email a pic to a window manufacturer (or somebody like that) showing the defect you'd called them about that they said "Never hapens", right from the site.
And they tell me you can play cool games too...
I was excited to get mine- I was just filling a techno lust at the time. Since then however I cannot understand how I stayed organized without it. I've got all my vendors, all my customers, all my tenants phone #s and info(personal notes), at my fingertips info on every current job, and the datebook features- HOLY time mgmt batman! Every schedule (family+ work), every inspection, every honey-do, anything that changes is just a couple of clicks to move instead of writin' everything somewhere else or ripping out that sheet. It all uploads to the comp. painlessly and vice-versa. And if one breaks down, you've still got the other one 'til you can back it up again.
All that plus the games (who has time for them?) and your calculator right at your side, note pad for supply lists.
All in all... I like mine!
Enjoy your days!
Jon
Mine's a Handspring Treo 90. No Graffitti to learn, just thumb-type on the keyboard.
If you're going to buy one of these, you've got to train yourself to keep it with you.
Eric
I got my first Palm Pilot Professional in May, 1997 and my life hasn't been the same since (now I'm not in the building trades, so not everything I do applies). The best thing about it is that I use the alarm function on the datebook to remind me of coming appointments - I miss fewer meetings now than I used to.
The number one, best add-on that I've installed is BackupBuddy. It backs up almost *everything* on the Palm, including add-on software and configuration settings. I have, quite infrequently, had to do hard-boots of the device or upgraded to a newer or repaired model (I carry the device in my pants pocket almost all the time, which can be tough on it - buying the extended warranty at BestBuy, where it's cheaper than the one from Palm, was an excellent purchase and I'd strongly recommend it to you guys: most of you work under relatively harsh environments). Since I have installed a fair number of add-ons, this feature is very important to me - before I got it, I had to reinstall a bunch of software, which was a real pain in the @ss. You can get a trial version for free. And, no, I don't work for the publisher, BlueNomad Software.
Another highly-useful add-on that I like is MemoSafe, which allows me to encrypt entries in the MemoPad so that I can store, securely, the dozens of web-site passwords that I have. I also have a complete list of all credit cards and whatnot in my wallet - if I ever lose the wallet, I have all the numbers I need to call in one place. You can change the assignment of the button that brings up the MemoPad application to use this one instead. Very useful.
For after-hours use, there's always PalmaSutra. It's definitely good for a laugh, but I can't imagine pulling out my Palm at an intimate moment while telling my partner to hold on while I looked up what to do next.
Of course, I have some games to play when I'm sitting and waiting for my take-out orders with nothing to do. I like Klondike (a pretty standard version of solitaire) and Blocks (Tetris) the most.
Without coffee, chocolate, and beer, in that order, life as we know it would not be possible