Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Posts: 18

I use my Visor Deluxe and stowaway keyboard when I travel in place of a laptop for a varitey of reasons including price, weight, etc.

The major downside of this is that when I write something and want to give it to other people or print it off of a shared computer, I'm in trouble. Even if the machine hasa USB port AND supports it, you don't have the software necessary and downloading it is a royal pain.

What would be AWESOME is a floppy device you could attach to the Visor and save files to. I would buy something like that INSTANTANEOUSLY.

Anyone agree/disagree? Know of a place doing this?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

not a bad ID...

as an FYI, you can print directly from your Visor if the printer has an IR port (some HP models do have them) you just need to get the print software (I think it's called IR-print suite) and off you go....

Also in Win2K you can send receive files through IR... so any Win2K machine with an IR port will do the job too...

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<IMG WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="50" SRC=http://www.visorcentral.com/images/visorcentral.gif> VisorCentral Discussion Moderator
Do files get embarrassed when they get unzipped?

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

If they have an IR port you may be able to beam them the data. Now personally I haven't had much luck with IR, but then I use Windows NT when I use a laptop (UNIX is out because I have to run specific Windows software for business/political reasons, and reliability rules out Windows 9x) and its IR support is kind of flakey.

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Rev. Peter da Silva, ULC<br>
<a href=http://www.taronga.com/~peter/>Ar rug t� barr�g ar do mhact�re inniu?</a>

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Posts: 18

IR no good

IR ports aren't much of a solution as they're pretty rare to find on printers and essentially non-existant on desktops. Most of the time when I travel to conferences, etc., my only access to computers is at an Internet cafe of some sort, and these are never much up to date, and locked so that you can't add new software.

BTW, how do you use the IR to beam files to a computer? Does the computer have to have the palm software to allow this?

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Plant City, FL
Posts: 385

Interesting idea ...

My old Compaq Aero (laptop, not PDA) used an external floppy that plugged into the PCMCIA socket. Too bad replacements are so scarce because it probably wouldn't be too hard to modify one to work with the Visor. You'd probably need an AC adapter for power (the Springboard slot provides 3.3v but a floppy needs 5V for the electronics and 12V for the motors) and the driver software would be a bit of work, but I think it could be done.

However, it might be a lot more cost effective to just get a modem (either wireless or landline). Then all you have to do is email your work to the recipient. That's the aproach I use and it works great

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<ul><li>Dave Kessler<br>President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

quote:

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Originally posted by argent
Voisitteko ohjata minut l�himm�n �lyllisen nis�kk��n luo?

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That would be me (the nearest Intellectual mammal)

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<IMG WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="50" SRC=http://www.visorcentral.com/images/visorcentral.gif> VisorCentral Discussion Moderator
Do files get embarrassed when they get unzipped?

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

So what's this?

quote:

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Als je dit kan lezen en het ook nog begrijpt, ben je een kaaskop

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__________________
Rev. Peter da Silva, ULC<br>
<a href=http://www.taronga.com/~peter/>Ar rug t� barr�g ar do mhact�re inniu?</a>

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Posts: 18

Quote:
"However, it might be a lot more cost effective to just get a modem (either wireless or landline). Then all you have to do is email your work to the recipient. That's the aproach I use and it works great"

I'd do that, but most of my travel is international, and I don't want to have to:

1. Pay international phone rates.
2. Hope the hotel is on analog rather than digital lines
3. Pay the monthly rates of ISP's that have local phone numbers all over the world (anyone heard of an ISP I can use from Japan, Switzerland, the U.S. and the Ivory Coast?).

Also, to get the file to someone else's machine, THEIR machine has to be networked which I can't necessarily count on.

Any developers out there? Make me a disk drive!

Steven

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Plant City, FL
Posts: 385

Oops, I wasn't thinking "globally" ... my bad. I can definitely see how modem connectivity on international trips could leave a lot to be desired.

So, I did a little digging and here's what I found ...

PCMCIA floppy drives do exist. Most use the LS-120 disk drive which can read/write standard 1.44MB floppies as well as the 120MB floptical disks. The bad news is that this setup alone sells for around $250! Add in development costs to adapt it to the Visor (a fairly substantial effort) and you're looking at a very expensive floppy drive. I have to believe that the number of people who'd actually purchase such an item is very small.

So, how about a different solution? Are you familiar with SmartMedia cards? SmartMedia cards are about 1.5" x 1.25", as thin as a credit card, and can hold up to 64MB of data. They are commonly used in digital cameras and MP3 players. For under $100 you can get a floppy disk size device that the card plugs into and allows it to be read in a standard 3.5" floppy drive. If there was a Springboard module that could read and write SmartMedia cards, would that plus the floppy adapter give you the capabilities you need?

Unfortunately, I don't know of an existing module that will do that ... but I've toyed with the idea of building one. I'm working on a compact flash adapter now and if that works out, a lot of the driver software would carry directly over to a SmartMedia adapter. Not to mention that, unlike a Visor floppy, there's actually a chance of selling more than one unit since it could be used not just for file transfer, but to expand the Visor's memory. What do you think? Should I move this up my priority list?

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<ul><li>Dave Kessler<br>President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

Why stop there?

quote:

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I'm working on a
compact flash adapter now and if that works out, a lot of the driver software would carry directly over to a SmartMedia adapter.

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__________________
Rev. Peter da Silva, ULC<br>
<a href=http://www.taronga.com/~peter/>Ar rug t� barr�g ar do mhact�re inniu?</a>

Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 6

quote:

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Originally posted by argent
So what's this?

quote:

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Als je dit kan lezen en het ook nog begrijpt, ben je een kaaskop

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it means:
'If you can read and understand this, you're a cheesehead'

Cheesehead is a nickname for dutch people

btw I agree the SmartMedia/CF adaptor would be the best sollution. especialy if you have one of those SmartMedia/CF to floppy adaptors too...

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Plant City, FL
Posts: 385

Re: Why stop there?

quote:

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Originally posted by argent
Do you have an online pointer to this CF adaptor of yours? The only one I've seen was at one of those japanese hardware hacker sites.

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No, I don't have a web page up yet. Things are still in a state of flux since I haven't been able to get the lowest level driver code functioning properly yet. Once I'm satisfied that the hardware can get the job done, I'll put up a web page so that others can start playing with it.

As for a full-fledged PC Card (PCMCIA) adapter, you're looking at much bigger project than a CF only adapter. The problem is that the Springboard slot doesn't implement the full PCMCIA interface. There are no IO read/write lines, the CS0/CS1 lines work the wrong way, the Visor has no way to use the WAIT signal to extend the bus cycle, etc. These problems can possibly be addressed by adding logic to the module, but what I'm shooting for with my CF adapter is a completely passive interface (unlike the design on TTMKR's Japanese web site). Since CF is an even smaller subset of PCMCIA than what Springboard provides, it's a lot easier to make it happen. The down side of my approach is that it may only work with CF storage cards ... but since other needs (modem, NIC, etc) can probably be better served by native Springboard solutions, I think that's an acceptable trade off.

Of course the biggest challenge with full PCMCIA compatibility would be implementing the required pile o' software (socket services, card services, and card drivers). Take a look at the Linux PCMCIA software to see the magnitude of such a project.

Don't get me wrong, I think a PCMCIA "sleeve" is a great idea and I'd love to see one developed, but it's gonna be a lot more work than my little do-it-yourself CF adapter

__________________
<ul><li>Dave Kessler<br>President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Posts: 18

quote:

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Originally posted by dkessler

So, how about a different solution? Are you familiar with SmartMedia cards? SmartMedia cards are about 1.5" x 1.25", as thin as a credit card, and can hold up to 64MB of data. They are commonly used in digital cameras and MP3 players. For under $100 you can get a floppy disk size device that the card plugs into and allows it to be read in a standard 3.5" floppy drive. If there was a Springboard module that could read and write SmartMedia cards, would that plus the floppy adapter give you the capabilities you need?

Unfortunately, I don't know of an existing module that will do that ... but I've toyed with the idea of building one. I'm working on a compact flash adapter now and if that works out, a lot of the driver software would carry directly over to a SmartMedia adapter. Not to mention that, unlike a Visor floppy, there's actually a chance of selling more than one unit since it could be used not just for file transfer, but to expand the Visor's memory. What do you think? Should I move this up my priority list?

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Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Here's an idea. Buy the Serial module from EDIO and then get a floppy drive that connects to the Serial port. I don't know for sure about the Floppy drive that connects to the serial, but I'm sure somebody makes one.
BEN

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

EDIO? You mean EFIG? http://www.efig.com/?

__________________
Rev. Peter da Silva, ULC<br>
<a href=http://www.taronga.com/~peter/>Ar rug t� barr�g ar do mhact�re inniu?</a>

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Sorry, you are absolutly correct. I don't know why I though of EDIO, it was what came to mind when I was
typing the url. Guess my memory's going, (@ 16) the EFIG page was in another window while I was typing.
BEN

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: New York
Posts: 14

SD flashcards

As for removable media, I would strongly suggest not go with a bulky floppy or full-size PCMCIA slot, and instead develop an SD flashcard interface module. Palm has already state that their next generation of Palm Pilots will have SD card slots. It would be wise to remain directly compatible with Palm.

SD Secure flashcards are based on the tiny MMC flashcards by Sandisk. the SD (Secure Digital) cards contain strong anti-pirate protocols and will be showing up EVERYWHERE next year in Palm Pilots, Cellphones, etc. The SD flashcard is brought to you by Sandisk, Toshiba, and Siemens, a powerhouse coalition strong enough to make it a new standard.

Again, I strongly wish my Visor to remain directly compatible with Palm by Handspring developing an SD flashcard slot module.

__________________
Rocky

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

Secure Digital worries me. I don't want to store my data on a medium that reqires crypto software out of my control to use. I'm leary enough about using Equifax for client certificates for Netscape, and have argued that being our own certificate authority would be safer...

Anyone remember DIVX?

__________________
Rev. Peter da Silva, ULC<br>
<a href=http://www.taronga.com/~peter/>Ar rug t� barr�g ar do mhact�re inniu?</a>

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Re: SD flashcards

quote:

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Originally posted by rockreid


Again, I strongly wish my Visor to remain directly compatible with Palm by Handspring developing an SD flashcard slot module.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Plant City, FL
Posts: 385

Re: SD flashcards

quote:

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Originally posted by rockreid
As for removable media, I would strongly suggest not go with a bulky floppy or full-size PCMCIA slot, and instead develop an SD flashcard interface module. Palm has already state that their next generation of Palm Pilots will have SD card slots. It would be wise to remain directly compatible with Palm.

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__________________
<ul><li>Dave Kessler<br>President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>