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Advice on hardware, software, and whether you really need a pda.

I love my Palm PDA. I bought my first one--a PalmPilot Personal--in 1997 and have upgraded a few times since. I would hate to have to revert to a paper calendar; its use has become part of my daily routine and it is an integral part of how I stay organized. As I am what would be considered a "power user" of my PDA, I am frequently asked my opinion on them. This page aims to sum up my thoughts on a wide range of issues regarding PDAs.

If you are really impatient and don't want to read my yammering, go buy a Palm Tungsten E2; it will run you about $200. And while you are blindly trusting my opinion, go buy DateBk5.

Reasons you might want a PDA

There are lots of reasons you might want a PDA; some good, some bad. Here are a few to consider.

• To be cool: Not a very good reason, as at this point you are very much behind the times. PDAs were "cool" a few years ago.
• To make my appointments/contacts searchable: Now this is a good reason, and one I personally make use of fairly often.
• You are tired of moving data between planners each year: When I was using a paper planner, it was a serious pain to transfer notes and yearly events to a new planner each year.
• Data density: I can store more data in my Palm than I could even in a doctor's office style paper planner.
• Desire for a multipurpose device: A pda is only OK as an mp3 player, gaming machine, and ebook reader. If you already have a reason to carry a PDA, than doing these things is an extra perk, it should not likely be a primary reason.

Do you need a PDA?

Lots of people I know have tried PDAs over the years, yet very few have stuck with them. A PDA will not suddenly cause you to become organized. It is a useful tool toward that end, but in and of itself it won't make you organized. A younger me would likely have said that everyone should have one, but now I know that they are not for everyone. So a few suggestions...

To those who already use some sort of organizational system involving a calendar (be it on the computer or pen-and-paper based), go ahead and give a PDA a shot. See below for which PDAs I recommend.

To those who are trying to get organized from scratch, go out and purchase a pocket-sized calendar/planner and use it for a few months. If after that time you still think a PDA is a good idea, see below for my hardware recommendations.

Which PDA should I buy?

You have three choices for PDAs: a PDA phone, a Windows Mobile PDA, or a PalmOS PDA. While the idea of a converged device that is both phone and pda is attactive, the hell that is cell phone contracts and cell phone companies precludes me from even considering it as a possibility at the moment. I find Windows Mobile-based PDAs to be an exercise in frustration. While the OS offers lots of gee whiz neatness, actually using it on a daily basis is slow, involves rebooting, and generally clunky (these issues have greatly improved in the last several iterations of the software). That would leave PalmOS based PDAs.

Seriously, which PDA should I buy?

If all you need is a basic organizer, get the Palm Z22. It's street price is $99, and it is quite capable of doing pretty much everything for which I use my own Palm.

If my Palm were to die a horrible death tomorrow, I would immediately replace it with a Palm Tungsten E2 (street price of $199). The extra $100 gets a physically bigger screen, a higher resolution screen, and a headphone connector. If I had extra money to blow, I would love to go buy a Palm TX ($299 street price). It's everything the E2 is, but has a larger screen and wifi (so I can surf the net from my Palm).

If this is for work, and work uses Exchange and/or you are an Outlook user, then go ahead and consider a Windows Mobile device. That said, modern Palms do a fine job syncing with Outlook (this was not the case a few years ago).

Random Thoughts

Herein lies the stuff the doesn't fit elsewhere.

Do not sync your PDA with a work machine: Your personal data simply does not belong on a work machine. If your PDA is work provided, only keep what personal data on it that you wouldn't mind your boss seeing.

Software

I have toyed with alot of software on my Palm's over the years. Here is the list of Palm software that I have installed.

Things I use Daily

• Datebook5: A Datebook replacement for the Palm. While the PalmOS datebook is competent, it's missing a few things that make life better. DateBk5 adds floats (sort of like To Do items, but they can have times and alarms associated with them), more flexible repeating events, integrated To Do list management, and categories for appointments.
• A password manager. I am currently using Gnu KeyRing. Although I will likely be switching back to Strip when I get a chance. Both programs use strong encryption, but the problem with Gnu KeyRing is that the name of the site/account is not password protected.

Things I use each Week

• BigClock: An alarm clock, timer, and stop watch combined into one free program.
• EasyCalc: A full featured open source scientific calculator
• SiEd: A text editor that can load large text files from a memory card. While I use the builtin notepad program to keep track of simply notes, I take long form notes and reference things I maintain on my computer with this.
• TCPMP: THE media player for the palm. It isn't exactly pretty to look at, but it is functional. I use this for listening to a variety of podcasts.

Useful utilities I use at least monthly

• Documents to Go: A suite of programs that can read and write native Excel and Word files from the memory card.
• converter or YAUC
• SmartList To Go: An impressive flat file based database system for the palm.
• RFBackup: Backup your entire palm to a memory card.
• switch5: A preferences extension that enables flipping back and forth between programs easily.
• DrawIt: A color sketching and drawing program.
• Mapopolis: A full fledged mapping program with GPS capabilities. While the software is free, the maps do cost money.
• Converter: A general purpose conversion utility.
• PalmPDF: A native PDF viewer for the palm. Doens't work so well on large or complex PDFs, but it's enough to briefly peruse one.
• Bart QuickPlanner: Bay Area Rapid Transit schedule reference. This is provided by the BART system.
• ChemTable: A perodic table. Perhaps this one isn't used monthly, but I have used it more often than is likely reasonable.
• Metro: A large collection of train/subway/bus schedules for many major cities.
• NoahPro and Thesaurus: a thesaurus and dictionary. RiseSet

Written March 2006, updated April 4, 2006.