Packing the Palm IIIse
by Tony Thomas
Even though I am a palmtop veteran with over ten years of experience playing with devices like the Atari Portfolio, HP95LX, Psion 3c, Psion 5 and the TI Avigo, I can't believe how much I've fallen in love with Palm's IIIse (which is a Palm IIIe with a clear case). And just because it doesn't sport the fast CPUs and sexy color screens of Windows CE machines doesn't mean that the Palm isn't a useful device. In fact, it is the "less is more" principle defined.
Sporting a Motorola Dragonball EZ processor operating at a maximum of 16.58 MHz, just 2MB of RAM and a touch-sensitive B&W screen 160 x 160 pixels square, the Palm isn't designed to be a number crunching multimedia machine. It is made to be the logical extension of your hand and desktop computer. That is why every Palm is shipped with a cradle that attaches to your PC via a serial connection (or USB in the case of the Mac) and software that allows it to synchronize perfectly with your desktop PC.
The Palm IIIse's internal apps comprise a standard PIM suite: calendar, address book, to do list and memo pad. These four core apps have desktop equivalents in the included Palm Desktop software. Also included are an expense manager that hooks up to Excel on your PC and a fully functional e-mail client that trades messages with any MAPI complaint e-mail program like Outlook or Eudora.
You can enter in data using the Palm's stylus and digitizer using a simple alternative alphabet called Graffiti or tap the information in using an onscreen QWERTY keyboard. Data entry isn't the Palm's strong suite, but it is possible to enter a considerable amount of data into the Palm if you are patient. There are third-party keyboards that facilitate more heavy duty data entry. However, this is a bit irrelevant since the Palm concept assumes that you will do the bulk of your heavy-duty data entry on your PC and use the Palm as an "information appliance".
The key to the Palm's power is its ability to Hot Sync with your desktop computer. During the Hot Sync, all the main PIM apps are compared and synchronized. This process, which typically takes anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute, insures that the same data is resident in the Palm and your PC. Make a change on one and it is reflected on the other as soon as you Hot Sync. Amazing considering how long it takes other PIMs to perform the same feat (often unsuccessfully).
The Palm's battery life is also another huge plus. Instead of just hours of life that you have come to expect from CE Palmtops with color screens, I got a month's heavy use from my first pair of alkaline AAAs. I have switched to rechargeable NiMHs and still get a week out of a pair.
After surfing the net, I can say that the Palm is one of the best supported palmtop computers out there with literally thousands of programs and dozens of third-party accessories. A lot of the available software is shareware, but there is a lot of freeware available as well. I have loaded in a few shareware programs (which I promptly registered--they are tiny and very inexpensive) and an array of nice freeware apps including some great games. Besides my appointments and address book, I also loaded in databases, documents, web pages, news reports, etc. Even with all that, I have about 1/2 of the Palm's 2MB memory left.
I keep the Palm strapped on at all times (in the Palm leather beltclip case) and it has become more of a companion than any of my other palmtops. The folks at Palm are onto something!
Copyright 2000
Tony Thomas
All Rights Reserved