VisorCentral.com - PiDirect Email

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Springboard Modules (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=10)
-- PiDirect Email (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=17226)

Posted by thepromoter on 07-27-2001 11:04 AM:

PiDirect Email

Did any of you get emails from PiDirent lately that sent a whole bunch of unlock codes for different reg codes??? Whats up with that?

Posted by headgamer on 07-27-2001 02:25 PM:

Re: PiDirect Email

quote:
Originally posted by thepromoter
Did any of you get emails from PiDirent lately that sent a whole bunch of unlock codes for different reg codes??? Whats up with that?

Yep. I got three emails. Two of them had the same code, though a third one had a different code. I did notice that my card had gotten charged twice (their ordering system is all screwed up over there and tends to time-out frequently), and got the second charge denied by my credit card company. However, I have a second code that I don't know what to do with. I am thinking about emailing PI and telling them about this and destroying the email. It's almost like getting software for free...

Guess you could always sell the codes... LOL...

__________________
J. Sean McKay, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In every work of genius....
we recognize our own rejected thoughts."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted by kamizuno on 07-28-2001 02:20 AM:

Yeah, got the same pidirect email as you guys, hope I didn't get double charged as well .

__________________
garinballbarin

Posted by mgizzi on 07-28-2001 08:34 PM:

Pi Direct---- ughhh....

I am pretty ticked with Pi Innovations and pi direct.

I ordered Pi Direct on Palm Gear, and it took them six full days to get the blasted unlock code to me. I will admit that I didn't download the software before buying (I had ordered a MemPlug CF at the same time and I wanted to have the software ready when it arrived). BUT no where on the product description page on palm gear did they indicate that you needed to submit a long convoluted regcode to get the unlock code. WHY they can't just generate a code based on the Palm user name is beyond me. This is the ONLY software I have ever bought that used that route.

Anyway... after six days I did finally get the code, and I have to say that I am pretty disappointed with the software. Yes, it allows you to sort programs into different subdirectories, but you can only run files out of the path you specify in the pi direct preferences. PLUS they want you to limit executables to about 50 files in a directory.

More importantly, I am finding that my Prism is taking a performance hit when I use Pi Direct. Everything seems slower. And I am even running over-clocking software (FastCPU).

While I was thrilled with the idea of having 64MB of storage, I am not particularly impressed with the implementation of Pi Direct, and I will probably just use it when I need to travel and need to bring a lot of files with me. I think my 16MB Hagiawara flash module is a much better solution for day to day usage.

Of course... what really should happen is for the concept of executing files from storage media to be built into the Palm OS itself, and not require additional software. Oh well... done venting.

Mike

Posted by dvIceT on 07-28-2001 09:23 PM:

Re: Pi Direct---- ughhh....

quote:
Originally posted by mgizzi
I am pretty ticked with Pi Innovations and pi direct.

I ordered Pi Direct on Palm Gear, and it took them six full days to get the blasted unlock code to me. I will admit that I didn't download the software before buying (I had ordered a MemPlug CF at the same time and I wanted to have the software ready when it arrived). BUT no where on the product description page on palm gear did they indicate that you needed to submit a long convoluted regcode to get the unlock code. WHY they can't just generate a code based on the Palm user name is beyond me. This is the ONLY software I have ever bought that used that route.

Anyway... after six days I did finally get the code, and I have to say that I am pretty disappointed with the software. Yes, it allows you to sort programs into different subdirectories, but you can only run files out of the path you specify in the pi direct preferences. PLUS they want you to limit executables to about 50 files in a directory.

More importantly, I am finding that my Prism is taking a performance hit when I use Pi Direct. Everything seems slower. And I am even running over-clocking software (FastCPU).

While I was thrilled with the idea of having 64MB of storage, I am not particularly impressed with the implementation of Pi Direct, and I will probably just use it when I need to travel and need to bring a lot of files with me. I think my 16MB Hagiawara flash module is a much better solution for day to day usage.

Of course... what really should happen is for the concept of executing files from storage media to be built into the Palm OS itself, and not require additional software. Oh well... done venting.

Mike

I realize you're venting, but what would happen if PI Tech had generated a code based on Palm user name? People would complain that they could use PiDirect on only one of their Visors. At least this way, you could store the reg code on the MemPlug, then transfer it over to whatever Visor your MemPlug happens to be plugged into, regardless of what the Palm user name is.

I agree that the Hagiwara is probably better for everyday use, but its usability comes at a price of ~$9 per MB while CF or SM cards can come in at <$1 per MB. Also, with a separate card reader, you still have access to docs and files on the external memory card w/o having to work through the Visor to access them.

As for your last point, I think it's pretty ironic that one of the PalmOS's biggest strengths, its ability to run programs from the same RAM that it's stored in, now presents problems when users want to run programs from external memory cards. Maybe we should get used to PocketPC/WinCE-type thinking, where users have to decide how much of their handheld RAM to dedicate to running programs and how much to dedicate to storage. Inevitably, it will come to that.

Posted by mgizzi on 07-28-2001 09:46 PM:

Re: Re: Pi Direct---- ughhh....

quote:
Originally posted by dvIceT

I realize you're venting, but what would happen if PI Tech had generated a code based on Palm user name? People would complain that they could use PiDirect on only one of their Visors. At least this way, you could store the reg code on the MemPlug, then transfer it over to whatever Visor your MemPlug happens to be plugged into, regardless of what the Palm user name is.

I agree that the Hagiwara is probably better for everyday use, but its usability comes at a price of ~$9 per MB while CF or SM cards can come in at <$1 per MB. Also, with a separate card reader, you still have access to docs and files on the external memory card w/o having to work through the Visor to access them.

As for your last point, I think it's pretty ironic that one of the PalmOS's biggest strengths, its ability to run programs from the same RAM that it's stored in, now presents problems when users want to run programs from external memory cards. Maybe we should get used to PocketPC/WinCE-type thinking, where users have to decide how much of their handheld RAM to dedicate to running programs and how much to dedicate to storage. Inevitably, it will come to that.

Yup, I was partially venting. But regarding the regcode, I think that:
1) It is incumbent upon them that they make the need to do this clear on their description on the Palm Gear site. Had I known, I could have saved several day's worth of frustration. As it was, they took FOUR days before even alerting me to the missing regcode issue.

2) There are ways around the user name issue for multiple palms. See the program tweak user.

Regarding the cost of the memory, you are right, CF and SM are cheaper, but we need to balance out the cost per MB versus the performance hit on the visor. To me, the CF is great to be able to store a lot of stuff, but for everyday use pretty much everything I need (including several large ebooks) fit comfortably on the 165MB flash module, with no performance hit at all. Had there been no performance issues, I would be using the memplug all the time.

I hope we will not need to get used to the Pocket PC style of thought, with splitting ram and storage. Given that Palm itself is now making devices with external memory storage, there should be pressure on them to find the solution to this issue - at least by version 5.0 of the OS. Ok, I know this is wishful thinking!

Cheers,

Mike

Posted by dvIceT on 07-28-2001 10:15 PM:

Re: Pi Direct---- ughhh....

quote:
Originally posted by mgizzi

Yup, I was partially venting. But regarding the regcode, I think that:
1) It is incumbent upon them that they make the need to do this clear on their description on the Palm Gear site. Had I known, I could have saved several day's worth of frustration. As it was, they took FOUR days before even alerting me to the missing regcode issue.

Sorry. I didn't mean to gloss over your reg code issue. There's no excuse for not telling the customer what's needed in order to issue a reg code.

Increasing numbers of VFS-enabled programs and soon-to-be-beta-tested MemPlug VFS may present a partial solution to the performance issue, allowing access to data on the external memory card without PiDirect's overhead.

Posted by brycelb on 09-07-2001 09:59 PM:

I am going through the same disaster. I ordered the PiDirect software 7 days ago and still do not have a reg code. I have replied to 4 different emails and still cannot get the point across, HOW DO I GIVE THEM THE REG CODE FROM MY PALM! I know where to find but not where to send it. I can find no explination of how to do this on thier website. If anyone could help me resolve this I would appriciate it.

As a side note, does anyone else find it a little odd that the box claims that any type one CF card will work with the Memplug. I wish i would have known this wasn't true. I wasted $70 on a card that isn't compatible. I found this out after the fact though the yahoo groups website.

This is turning into the absolute worst experience I have had with any company. When you purchase a product you expect it to work when you bring it home, not two weeks later.

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