I have been a Palm user for 4 1/2 years now and after seeing what my
friends new Pocket PC Dell Axim x50v can do I am considering
switching. I have a lot of questions though.....

If I don't use Microsoft Office what do I use for a desktop
application in place of the Palm Desktop? Or does the Pocket PC come
with its own desktop version. Is Outlook usually included with the
Pocket PC?

Is it easy to switch from the Palm Desktop to Outlook or what ever
desktop version I use?

Can any program small enough to fit on the Pocket PC run there as well
as on my desktop?

Is there a lot of software out there now? I seem to see more on
Google now than I did a few years ago. One reason for going with Palm
then was the availability of software. Especially freeware :-)

What minimum memory, cpu, etc. should I look for?

Lots of questions I know but my friend is new to his and could not
answer me.

Thanks for any help with this.
--------------------
Ralph Numbers

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:38:28 GMT, Ralph Numbers <turbotek@yahoo.com>
removed the duct tape and proclaimed:

I switched from Palm to PPC about a week ago, after over two years on
the Palm. Here is what I can tell you so far:

My iPaq came with Outlook 2002.

In my opinion, yes. Mind you, I have been using Outlook for years,
synchronising my Palm to it.

Desktop and handheld programs are not interchangeable. Different
architecture, or processor if you will.

Piles of software. I already have some of my favorites going on the
iPaq: Mapopolis, Pocket TV Browser, SplashID, Leonard Maltin's movie
guide, Monopoly. I will transfer all my MobileDB stuff soon as well.

And in my opinion, the PPC version of all of these programs is much
slicker than the Palm versions. For example, Mapopolis seems to be
reading the maps right off the SD card. The Palm had to copy the maps
to RAM first.

The newer machines will do fine. I have a 400MHz machine with 64MB of
RAM. Runs for about 4 hours on a charge, and I can swap batteries just
like on a cell phone. It has WiFi and Bluetooth. And mine is a
year-old model. The HP hardware beats anything Palm is building these
days.

Be warned: It is not an entirely smooth transition from Palm to PPC.
The paradigm is quite different. But I have to remind myself that it
took a while to learn the Palm, too. My patience is paying off,
though. And I am liking this new environment very much.

Too bad for Palm. I was not willing to risk any more of my good money
on their hardware.


--
I put 2 and 2 together and got 22.

"Ralph Numbers" <turbotek@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:haf6t0t1orpumabi1uel4259ae2r2d84n4@4ax.com...
Bruno has already answered some of your questions. I, also a newbie will
add a little.

No experience with Palm. I am a total newbie.

The win CE comes with the calendar/appointment book. If you currently use
outlook it will sync with it. Outlook for the desktop and the mobile is
included with the Win CE set up CD.

Pocket word and excel are included with the OS.

Some applications for the PPC has a desktop companion (usually shareware,
not freeware) it depends on what you need to do.

I choose the x-scale processor 624MH (Dell Axim X-30, 64MB). I think I
bought a bit more than I need right now but I hope it will last an extra
year because I did.

Colbyt

Just to add a coup;eof points to what you've been told:

"Ralph Numbers" <turbotek@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:haf6t0t1orpumabi1uel4259ae2r2d84n4@4ax.com...
It depends what you're talking about. Really memory intensive things may
not, but you can buy a word processor called Textmaker that has all the
features of Word and exchanges files seamlessly with it (the built-in word
processor is rather feeble).

One further point: I came to the P/PC from Psion, and though on the whole
it's a wonderful machine (Ipaq 5550) it has one serious limitation which
surprised me: you cannot rely on it to play alarms when it's turned off.
Effectively this means that it doesn't have an alarm function, because an
alarm you can't rely on is no use at all. Apparently this is some sort of
complex bug that good old MS haven't got round to fixing (or even
ackowledging) yet. At the moment I have to rely on my phone to play alarms.

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 12:24:56 GMT, "Peter Groves"
<Montiverdi@NOSPAMbigpond.com> wrote:

.....snip...

Uggh!! That is big for me. I use my Palm to wake up by and have a lot
of reminders with alarms. Has this been fixed in the latest
greatest hardware and software.? Anyone???

--------------------
Ralph Numbers

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 18:20:17 GMT, Ralph Numbers <turbotek@yahoo.com>
removed the duct tape and proclaimed:

http://www.mtekk.com.au/browse/page826.html


--
I put 2 and 2 together and got 22.

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:38:28 GMT, Ralph Numbers <turbotek@yahoo.com>
wrote:

Clie, and switched to a Dell Axim X30H a few months ago. A really good
price, and the right combo of features. Kinda plain looking, but not
butt-ugly.


docs and spreadsheets in OpenOffice and Wordperfect12, and as long as
they are in the Synch folder, they go to PDA and look just like they
should. Edit on the Axim, and they go back to the PC just fine. Don't
get too fancy though.

Outlook was included, I just don't want to use it.

I didn't actually use Palm Desktop, just installed it for the Hotsync
function. I have used Lotus Organizer for years (from 1.0 in '94 to
current 6.0). I just happen to like the look and feel of Organizer,
although it is rather pricey for just a PIM. (alright for a business,
pricey for a consumer).

I use Intellisync for Handheld to synch Organizer's Calendar,
Contacts, & Tasks to and from PDA and it works just fine. Setup can be
a pain tho', and it may take a few attempts to get the field-mapping
the way you really like. I usually just let the PC have priority the
1st couple of times until I am sure it looks the way I want.

The drawback to using Intellisync is it is another overpriced product
for the limited use it gets, and updates for both Lotus and I/S are
not great deals.

I/S does not (yet) support Sync of "Notes/Memos" section of Organizer
to PPCs "Notes", (its Palm version did tho'), but I have been told
that it *may* be included in next release. I/S works with a number of
other PIMs. The "notes" field in Contacts/Addresses syncs OK tho'.

My email reader is Eudora, which has a conduit for sync to Palm
(separate download from Eudora), but not for PocketPC (at least I
haven't found one). But that is not a big issue for me, I just leave
mail on the server when using the PDA, and grab again from desktop
later.

NO - different OS. But, some PPC programs include in the download a
Desktop component, or version that duplicates the function you want
..
Tons of programs for PPC. My big motivation for switching was
limitations in Calendar and Contacts. Among other things I wanted way
more Categories than the limit of 16 in Palm. Has this changed,
anybody know? The other thing that disappointed me with Palm hardware
was the lack of features such as removable/replaceable batteries, the
right combo of wireless/BT etc
Get 1 (or more) SD cards. Install programs to the Card rather than
built in memory. Copy "reference docs", i.e. the stuff you don't
really edit and synch, to the SD card as well. MS ActiveSync does NOT
sync to SD card (not on mine anyway), but I just put the card in a
7-in-1 reader in PC and copy direct. Faster that way as well.
The new Axim X30/X50s support Landscape mode (WM2003se) and it is just
great. Nearly all programs that I have installed warn that they may
not display properly as they are written for a previous version of
WM2003. I just ignore - they display fine in Portrait, and are
truncated on the right in L/S mode - no biggy.
Hope this helps (a bit)

Glen