Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 9

Okay, I bought the Prism

Yup, I'm a proud owner of a shiny new (well, refurbed) Prism. I love it. In another week I'm going to be wondering how I lived without it. And yes, I'm glad I went with the color.

I'm going to post this also in the "Software" forum.

I've been going crazy trying out software. I've settled on TinySheet for spreadsheets, and so far, I like both WordSmith and FastWriter. FW doesn't seem to have a spell check, though, unless it's in the full version. I d/loaded Iambic Office, thinking that would be the full version. I did notice that FW seems to support more formats than WS.

Since I don't do a lot of word processing, and I think that TinySheet works better for my purposes, I'll probably go for Iambic office to save a few bucks.

The big question is choosing the PIM software, the reason that I bought the Prism in the first place. I like both DateBK4 and ActionNames. They seem to overlap in a lot of areas, but no so much to make it a snap decision. DB4 has tons of options ans settings, and I really like it for scheduling flexibility. OTOH, AN will let you jump into a datebook format, set alarms, and link a name to an action. It's more like ACT in some regards, while DB4 is more like Outlook or Organizer.

The only thing that I'm not crazy about is that if I go with DB4, then I'm locked into using the Palm Address book, which limits my sorting options (I have close to 1,000 contacts). OTOH, grouping within AN is a bit slow anyway, so I might not use it that often.

Anybody have any thoughts on which one to choose? WHat are *you* using, and why?

Thanks again!

Tom

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 17

For PIM software, I use Maximus 3.01, a great freeware app that I found at www.webvisia.com

Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 108

Here is my setup - And the reasons why I choose them

PIM - Action Names - There is a lot of power here with tracking information. The views that allow you to see your To Do's and Calander at the same time are helpful. You can also attach an alarm to a to-do with AN. This is very helpful. I do wish it allowed multiple calanders, though...

Word Processing - Wordsmith (Blue Nomad) - Big program (Especially with the dictionary loaded - Get a Memplug!) The best Word Processor for the palm. It looks like Quickword is trying to catch up, though. Wordsmith has great font and color support, as well as the ability to work with memory cards. The only thing I miss is the ability to automatically make bulleted lists.

Spreadsheet - Quicksheet - Very powerful spreadsheet. I tried Docs to go and it is OK, but Quicksheet just seems more powerful. It does take a LOOOOONG time to load large documents with multiple pages. Once the spreadsheet is loaded, it is very fast.

Other important and useful utilities:
1. Eudora Internet Suite
2. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 for Palm OS. (Really Useful)
3. Strip (Password and account information security)
4. yodlee (www.yodlee.com) - Keep track of all of your bank accounts, Credit Cards, Ebay info, etc... from one website - syncs with Palm.

Try the free demos of all of these - Just be sure to buy them if you like them!

__________________
Visit us online at www.tdscomputer.com

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

My set-up (I got my Prism around Christmas!):

1. Launcher III. It is not super colorful (Silver Screen is a LOT sexier looking), but it is very effective, especially in conjunction with a memory card! I like the simplicity, power, speed, and small 'footprint' of this launcher compared to the others I tried.

2. ActionNames Datebook. Datebook 4 is also great.

3. WordSmith. Excellent program, but I find myself not using it as much lately. For a reader, I am using iSilo and iSiloX to 'suck up' and display web sites and HTML documents, PalmReader and CSpotRun for other documents, and Pilot Install to load .txt files as Palm DOC's. I do not compose a lot of big documents on my Visor now, so I am thinking about pushing WordSmith off onto the memory module instead of taking up RAM.

4. Games, lots of games. Astraware stuff, Red Mercury's stuff, Landware's Shanghai, Yahtzee clones, Reversi clones, and more. I tend to get bored with a given game rather easily, so again, I have a lot loaded on the MemPlug instead of eating up RAM.

5. Small applications: OmniRemote, Mapopolis (using VFS), TealInfo (on PiDirect), Handmark's SuperClock and MobileDB, MyBible and BibleReader (using VFS), and a bunch on the memory mod- intervals, tipster, roman numeral converter, quizzler, date difference, etc. (I LOVE freewarepalm.com!)

6. Documents- tons of documents and reference materials. Triviopedia, for example.

7. Utilities- Handmark's SuperUtility, UnDupe, dbScan, inocculate, and some others on the memory mod, including XMaster and a bunch of hacks I no longer actively use. Also, PalmPrint for my SiPix printer.

8. BugMe!- How could I have almost forgotten this? Quick notes, color, alarms, and a great way to kill time in meetings!

As far as hardware and modules... Stow-A-Way keyboard, eyemodule 2, HandyGPS, MiniJam, SM MemPlug, SiPix A6 printer, Visor Solutions BattPlug, Fisher Space Pen Stylus, Brando (and PDAScreenProtecter Gs) screen protectors, and a travel charger/sync cable for my laptop and work computer to share.

__________________
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are at!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 560

great post madkins.

But, how often do you use roman numaral converter?

:-)

__________________
Felipe Garcia
Happy Treo 600 user, so far. Thanx Cingular for having an unlocked phone.

My Treo 600 is my phone, my PDA, my watch, and my MP3 player. Oh yeah, I take a picture once in a while with it. Convergence is such a great thing.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

quote:

---

Originally posted by Felipe
great post madkins.

But, how often do you use roman numaral converter?

:-)

---

__________________
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are at!

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 9

I see by the replies here and on the various Usenet groups that either AN or DB4 is on a lot of machines.

I also see that Wordsmith also gets a lot of votes for the best wordprocessor, with Quicksheet following pretty closely. I have been using the Wordsmith demo, and I like it. I might download and try the QW demo later this week. I've been running WS and iambic's Fastword side by side. I can't believe that FW has no dictionary or spell check. I do like that FW will "read" text, HTML, MS Doc, and RTF files.

The spreadsheets seem to be all over the place. To me it looks like Docs-to-go, Quicksheet, Minicalc and Tinysheet all seem to have their camps. I tried TS first because I had read that it was the best for reading Excel sheets. I do have some sheets that I've converted that seem to crash :-(, but that could be from macros, odd coloring, etc. I'm downloading a few of the others and will try them out this week.

I don't have a lot of games yet, but I'm sure that will correct itself soon.

I can see that trying and buying software can be a real hobby for some people. Looks like I'll have to invest in a memory module <g>

Tom

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Phoenix Arizona
Posts: 74

Yea, seems like a lot of folks (including me) went nutso with the software and peripherals. But - all in all the Prism is one of the best investments I've ever made, and, I'm not anxious about going out and getting something else. Every time I'm in a meeting and someone with an M505 looks at my color screen -- they get envious right away.

With the software - most everything has a trial period - try things out and see how you like them. There's an age old battle between Wordsmith and Docs to Go -- since I'm a Mac Person I use Docs to Go.

Here's my line-up:

Prism
Matchbook w/ 64mb flash
Thinmodem
EyemoduleII
Sipix A6 thermal printer
Targus portable keyboard

Launcher III (waiting patiently for the new version)
Datebook 4 (I've tried both DB4 and AN - it's a toss-up personal preference)
HanDBase database management
Documents to go pro (Word, Excel, Acrobat, PowerPoint & Jpeg pics)
JB Backup to card
SiPix IRPrint and Docs to Print
Travel Tacker
Plonk
Benchmark / Cruise Control
Khroma
HackMaster
Tons of neat games
Bug Me
Avant Go