.KEYWORD techskeptic1199
.FLYINGHEAD TECHNOLOGY SKEPTIC
.TITLE First things first
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY If you took Kevin Quin’s sage advice last month, you immediately went out and bought a Palm IIIe. On the other hand, you may have ignored his sage advice (shame on you!) and purchased a Handspring Visor, which also uses the Palm operating system. Either way, before getting much into Palm devices, you should take a few steps to protect and enhance your new device. Read this fun article to find out how.
.AUTHOR Kevin Quin
If you took my sage advice last month, you immediately went out and bought a Palm IIIe. On the other hand, you may have ignored my sage advice (shame on you!) and purchased a Handspring Visor, which also uses the Palm operating system. Either way, before getting much into Palm devices, you should take a few steps to protect and enhance your new device.
.H1 Do I really need to read the instruction manual?
Probably not. The beauty of Palm devices, even for non-power users, is that there’s little, if anything, on it that you won’t understand the minute you see it. The software on the CD should install itself and walk you through the process of setting up your Palm device. Glance through the "quick tour" tutorial on the CD, then put the manual in the same place that you keep those odd-but-useless little keys that came with your PC. You’ll use the manual just about as often.
One thing not to do is to install extra software (like games) until after you perform your first HotSync. Some folks have had HotSync problems trying to install extra software on the first HotSync. It seems as if the system is a bit coy, and wants to get to know you before handing out the goodies. So, leave that install button on your desktop alone until after the device has introduced itself to your PC.
.CALLOUT My wife, even more technology resistant than I, thinks it’s utterly stupid to learn a new alphabet to please a plastic brick with less brainpower than a Furby.
.H1 Should I use Graffiti?
That probably depends on where you fall on the Geek-o-Meter. I use it. My wife, even more technology resistant than I, thinks it’s utterly stupid to learn a new alphabet to please a plastic brick with less brainpower than a Furby. At least Furby learns from YOU!. When I told her that you make an A by drawing an upside down V she stared at me as if I had suddenly sprouted an extra head.
She uses the on-screen keyboard, and she claims to be much faster than me. Given the results of my typical sentence, "if oou can read this oou have mastereb wraffiti!" she’s probably right. But at least try it out. Success depends largely on your handwriting. Me, I’m a product of public schooling, but maybe you learned penmanship from nuns with steel rulers.
Palm’s official line is that Graffiti is incredibly easy. In practice, I’m betting that less than half of us regular folks use it. On the other hand, I’m pretty darn sure that ALL the tech types ripped open their PalmPilot boxes, yanked out the Graffiti chart, and said, "Hey! The K is like half a squiggly infinity symbol! COOL!"
.H1 My wild geek genes are taking over, and I’m going to use Graffiti. Do I need to protect my screen from scratches?
Yes. Although your plastic stylus can’t scratch your screen, invisible bits of grit trapped between stylus and screen will gradually abrade the Graffiti area. So put some removable Scotch tape (the kind in the blue box — No. 811) over the input area. One roll will last you until the next Ice Age.
.H1 I have hundreds of address listings scribbled in my soon-to-be-trashed little black book. Is there an easy way to get them into my Palm unit?
No. Sorry, but you’ll have to use your desktop PC to type in all your address book entries. The only exception is for those who already use certain desktop "personal information manager" programs. If you do, you may be in luck. Check out http://palm.3com.com/products/compatible.html to see if there’s already a "conduit" that you can buy to transport your data into the Palm device. The software is supposed to walk you through the process.
You’ll also want to stash a paperclip in the battery door of your device. Although it will be a blessed relief from the typical crash-magnet desktop PC, your Palm device may freeze up (preventing you from even turning it off) once in a very long while, usually when some add-on software misbehaves. But with a gentle poke in the reset hole in the back, you and your Palm organizer are back in business.
But you need a poker, and you can’t use the stylus on the IIIe or Visor for this, because the tip is too blunt. So cut a plastic-coated paperclip (they don’t rattle) in half and nestle it down between the batteries for when you need it. Add this insurance policy to your device before you enter a lot of data. I can assure you there’s nothing quite like sitting on a long train ride watching your frozen Palm unit drain away its batteries until its memory evaporates.
Also, because we regular folks tend to be butterfingers around technology items like a Palm unit, get a nice, safe case. For information about cases for your Palm device, see case addict Fredlet’s articles on the subject at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199908/cases001.html, http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199806/casestudy001.html.
.H1 But 3Com says I can carry it in my shirt pocket!
And Hollywood screenwriters say cops can stash their guns in the waistband of their pants. If you’re one of them, feel free to carry your Palm device in your shirt pocket.
I use Palm’s plain black leather belt clip case. Sure, it’s geeky, but if fashion was really an issue you’d be reading Vogue, not PalmPower. (Sorry, David!) That said, Palm’s new dayglo neoprene cases do look pretty slick.
.H1 What about batteries?
Although it’s not a Windows CE palm-sized computer, which sucks down electricity like a frat house sucks down beer, your Palm organizer will eat lots of batteries, to the point where buying stock in Duracell will seem like a smart move. A cheaper solution is to use rechargeable batteries. I’ve been using Rayovac Renewals, but a lot of people also use NiMH batteries, which are more expensive but last much longer.
I’d recommend against using NiCad rechargeables. These lose their power rather quickly, even when not in use, and because of the way their "discharge curves" (don’t ask) work, your Palm device will give you little warning before they suddenly die. One morning, you might awake to discover that your Palm unit took a few too many sleeping pills.
You also might want to buy another cradle so that you can HotSync at the office as well as at home. Life has probably inflicted a PC upon you in both places anyway, so you may as well get some benefit out of them. By performing HotSync operations with two PCs, you will always have an emergency "storage dump" for your data.
.H1 Speaking of which, is this Palm device stuff safe?
Yes, as long as you protect your data by performing a HotSync every day. This is the most important thing you will ever do with your Palm device. I’m regularly amazed at the number of people who almost never HotSync. No electronic organizer, even your Palm device, is perfect. And sooner or later you are going to lose data. As I said last month, more than once I’ve lost ALL the data in my PalmPilot. But it’s no big deal — because I HotSync regularly. Just drop it in the cradle, and all your data is back, as long as you make sure that the first time you perform a HotSync after losing all your data that you customize the operation, specifying "desktop overwrites handheld".
Of course, by "safe," perhaps you’re referring to the "Dark Side" of the Palm, when people start to give you that look. You know, the one that says, "Gee, I never knew she was a…GEEEEEEEEEEK!!!"
Hardcore technophobes will shun you. Regular folks will figure you’re the Daniel Boone of the electronic frontier, and might ask you to fix their PC when Windows crashes. (Try turning it off and then on again.) Worst of all is if a tech type at the office spots you. It’s like gasoline on a fire. Pretty soon they’ll be dropping issues of Pen Computing in your mail slot. You’ll be asked to participate in office "power user" surveys. And the computer support people, who had previously treated you like bacteria, will suddenly start saying things like, "Do you have a TCP/IP stack in that thing?" (I have no idea what it means either, but say no. They’ll go away without breaking anything.)
But hey, it’s worth it. You’ll see.
One last thing on the safety issue. As an absolute last lifeboat, you should periodically copy your Palm "user directory." This is the directory on your PC’s hard drive, usually located at c:\palm\<your name>, that stores all your data. Every week — or any time you do something that seems a bit risky with your device, such as a software update — copy the whole directory into another place on your hard drive. Anywhere is okay, as long as it’s not under c:\palm. That way, if all else fails, you’ll always have a fairly recent copy of your data to turn to in case disaster strikes.
When I first drafted this article a few weeks back, I wrote that in two and a half years with a PalmPilot, I never had to rely on my backup directory. Surprise. Last week I lost all the data on my wife’s PalmPilot when updating the software. I can assure you that I am still married today because I made a backup immediately before doing this!
.H1 Um…speaking of data, this thing still doesn’t have any in it.
And whose fault is that?
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Check out http://palm.3com.com/products/compatible.html to see if there’s conduit you can buy to transport the data already on your computer into your Palm device.
Visit http://palmorder.modusmedia.com/P3/P3-10123U.htm for more information on the Palm Leather Belt Clip Cases.
For more information about cases for your Palm device, see case addict Fredlet’s articles on the subject at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199908/cases001.html, http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199806/casestudy001.html.
Palm Computing/Body Glove Neoprene Cases are available at http://palmorder.modusmedia.com/P3/P3-3C10286U.htm.
You can find extra cradles for your Palm VII or Palm III series device at http://palmorder.modusmedia.com/P3/P3-10126U.htm.
Remember to check http://www.shopper.com to compare prices from Internet retailers.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Technology skeptic Kevin Quin organizes himself in the PDA wilderness of Washington, D.C.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.ee6d999
