Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

It's time again for another Soundoff topic. This week I want to know what you think of the built in applications that come with the Visor and what you would like to see in future Visors.

I would love to see the Address Book modified to have more contact entries (similar to Outlook), especially a Birthday entry so I can type in the birthday for a contact and have it automatically show on the Calendar. Of course, removing the 4k size limitation on Notes is a must.

What would you add/change?

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James Hromadka
VisorCentral.com
Personal Website: http://www.Hromadka.com

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Miami, FL, USA
Posts: 96

I would like to see the scrolling change so it works similar to how avantgo lets you scroll a story. I find that more natural than pressing the up and down arrows with the stylus.

If I think of more I will post, but that is one that comes to mind.

Mike Vidal

Registered: Apr 2000
Location:
Posts: 266

I'd like to see a better email app. Something that allows checking external email with a modem or wireless module. And perhaps support for longer msgs.

Ryan

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 241

I'd love to have Avantgo, and some graphing ploter (a full one that can do cartesian, polar, etc. output) and a calculator without the bianary estimation mistakes. Also, a Memo pad that can break the 4kb barrier wouldn't hurt :-)

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-Petro
Go to The Hunger Site and help eliminate hunger!
All you have to do is click one button! No catch, no personal information requested!!
Please go once a day! Every day!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

Give me a Datebook4 app... full-featured instead of stripped down. Additionally, integrate the apps so that Datebook can link to Address, etc... I know these are available now with 3rd party apps but I'd like to see them as standard equipment.

On the desktop side, we need more "standard" data file structures (DB, DOC, etc) so that integration with real-world everyday apps is seamless. This is part of my "keep it simple" philosophy... not another discrete platform, just another means of access to my data (which has become such an integral part of my life).

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MarkEagle - Ice is nice!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Without a doubt, either Hackmaster or a reverse-engineered equivalent that implements the Hackmaster API. DB4 wouldn't hurt either.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 251

My wife wants an option for first name/last name displayed in the address book.

The ability to beam with catagories intact, but optional for the receiver. Maybe prompt the receiver for a catagory to file the item in.

To Dos with alarms.

More fields in the address book with customizable field names by catagory.

Encrypted "private" records rather than hidden.

Auto Locking (timed, etc.)

An option for keeping your place in a application (rather than starting at the top again) when you re-access the application.

Replace the Memo Pad with built in Doc/iSilo/Memo reader that reads them all and lets you file them in a "directory" structure.

Even without all that, this things great!

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 144

quote:

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Originally posted by MarkEagle:
Give me a Datebook4 app... full-featured instead of stripped down. Additionally, integrate the apps so that Datebook can link to Address, etc... I know these are available now with 3rd party apps but I'd like to see them as standard equipment.

On the desktop side, we need more "standard" data file structures (DB, DOC, etc) so that integration with real-world everyday apps is seamless. This is part of my "keep it simple" philosophy... not another discrete platform, just another means of access to my data (which has become such an integral part of my life).

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You said it.
In addition, I would like to have IR sync/connectivity capability out of the box like the Palms have and an email app that doesn't truncate my mails and has a little more features (attachments, etc.).

I know, by the time we're done with this thread, and all our wishes are granted, there will be almost no need for third-party apps except some really specialized software.

But for my $ 250, a couple of more features would have been nice.

Just my thoughts,

mc9

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

A memo pad without the 4k limit is a must for me. Now that I've got my stowaway I keep on hitting the limit.
BEN

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 2

A spreadsheet app would be appreciated. Also, the ability to view addresses by different fields such as business, city, state, etc.

A simple solution would be to adopt address+ or datebook, and other 3rd party apps as the standards. I know handspring has an opinion that 3rd party is the way to go, but let's not require users to download app after app as I have.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NC, Indiana
Posts: 465

I would want a more developed e-mail program. I would also like a full version of the Datebook software--preferably DB4. That way it could be fully integrated from the start for the user to get used to.

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-Vincent
All these guys have no game, I wish I would have stayed

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 24

At the top of my "wish list:"
Integration of features in Datebook and Outlook - into one full-featured, mutually compatible app so that I can use one or the other, and not "have" to use both. It would be especially useful if Datebook included U.S. Holidays as part of its calendar/sked feature. This is the ONLY reason I'm using Outlook for scheduling - I have to know when a holiday is coming up, so I don't schedule a meeting, etc.. It's such a small thing to ask.......

Lynne

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: College Station, TX
Posts: 143

It seems like the built-in contact and datebook don't even match very well with how Palm desktop is laid out (at least on a Mac, I've never seen it on Windoze), much less the third party organizers like Outlook.

My radical suggestion is that the built-ins not be built in at all...why not just bundle and install them when the user does the first hotsync? That way upgrades could be done more easily. I don't use all of the built-ins and I can imagine different replacements for different end-users. Right now I'm using Hi-Note instead of the memo pad (with there was a Mac synch for it though) but others might want to use pedit or something completely different.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: nowheresburg, PH
Posts: 98

I wish they'd get rid of datebook. We already have datebook+ anyway. Everything's been pretty much said.... hmmm.. I think I also want a digital signature software. and print capabilities on all built in software.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 70

Handsprings best move would have been to kill the standard datebook when they decided to add dateBook+, but in future generations of the Visor I hope to see a licensing deal with Iambic for action names....one program to do both the contact and datebook functions just makes more sense when we are dealing with a limited amount of memory.

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 103

I'd love to see Outlook Contacts fully integrated into the address book. All fields.

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Jay

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

Handspring couldn't have killed the standard datebook app if they wanted to: it's burned into ROM. They can add apps, but they can't take the built-in ones out.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 10

a built in fax would be nice.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Huntsville, AL, USA
Posts: 1

I'd like the e-mail addresses in Outlook to sync with the Address Book. A aeperate field in address book just for e-mail addresses would be nice.

Get rid of Datebook, just use Datebook plus.

There should be a function built into the Desktop software for printing labels and envelopes.

I wish the Notes in Datebook +, Address Book, and To- Do were all the same. When you enter notes in one, it updates in all. A automatic date stamp on the notes would be great also.

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Kevin Rutherford, Primerica

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 46

I have said it from the moment I got my Visor...

How the hell did Palm get so popular with this wimpy address book? It holds MUCH less info than the cheap-o organizer I bought my Visor to replace!

The race is on for my next PDA purchase...

If a CE machine comes along with a monochrome display at a reasonable price (like Palmax P7M maybe?), I'm going there.

If someone comes out with an addressbook (at close to free, because to my thinking it should already do it) replacement for Palm which I can sync with Lotus Organizer (same basic issues as with Outlook), I will more than likely stay with the Handspring product.

I currently discourage my friends from purchasing ANY pda other than an interim cheapie, because none of them have it right.

There are some changes to the OS itself that I might make, but as for additional software, the only thing that I've added onto my Visor that I think should come as a standard app is a picture viewer, and you should be able to link the picture to an addressbook or calendar entry.

The other things I've added should stay add-ons to keep the base price down: PocketQuicken, games, etc.



[This message has been edited by LambdaFox (edited 07-21-2000).]