what's new?
Well, this section is now called PDA instead of Psion, which is an indication in itself...
Some time ago I came to the conclusion that I wanted to upgrade my Psion Series 3a, but by that time I was equipped (along with most of the British population) with a mobile phone. I'd already found myself leaving the Psion at home because it was too big for my pockets (I don't habitually wear suits, and the 3a is built for jacket pockets - and big for those!), and when the phone came along carrying two gadgets around became impossible. So I decided to wait until something came along which combined the two, but which didn't resemble a brick (which ruled out the Nokia communicators, nice though they are).
the big switch
About two years ago I found what looked like the perfect thing: the Handspring (now palmOne) Treo, which is a PalmOS PDA combined with a phone. So off I went, credit card in hand, and it was love at first sight. Since then it's been something of a mixed relationship (see Treo downsides, below), but I'm basically lost without it and it goes everywhere with me. I even cart it around the house, which is something I never used to do with either the 3a or my old phone!
I initially got an early Treo: the 180 model with a monochrome screen. I've since upgraded to a 270, which has a colour screen, illuminated keyboard and slightly longer battery life. Largely as they were being flogged off cheaply once the Treo 600 came out: the 600 is vastly improved over the 180/270 series in many ways, but in order to get a decent price I'd have had to switch networks and lock myself into a new contract. No thanks!
treo upsides
- It's small. Not as small as some mobys but slimmer than my old Philips Savvy. Wider because of the screen. Much smaller than the Psion 3a: it fits into most pockets with no problems! The 600 is smaller still.
- I like the form factor: as the lid has a window in it, you can see the screen for caller ID on incoming calls, incoming texts and for quick diary checks etc without having to open it, and with the lid closed the screen and keyboard are protected. I've never had a problem with the thing dialling out by itself, unlike exposed keypads even when locked. The 600 has lost the lid, so the screen and keyboard are exposed, which worries me.
- It actually looks quite swish, at least to my eyes. Particularly the 180s which had a metallic slate blue finish. The 270 is dark sliver: stilll nice, but not as unusual.
- It's capable of a proper internet connection, rather than just WAP. It includes a browser (Blazer) which can access most web sites (after a fashion), plus most WAP sites, too. Best of both worlds!
- It has a keyboard: lack of which always put me off PalmOS PDAs previously. Though I have found Graffiti (handwriting recognition) easier to use than I'd thought and it's occasionally useful (there's an add-on called RecoEcho which lets you write Graffiti on the screen).
- There is a huge amount of software available for PalmOS devices (PalmGear lists over 20,000 titles).
treo downsides
- Battery life could be better. The 270 is better than the 180, I believe the 600 is better still. Though still not as good as some ordinary phones. I charge my 270 every day, which isn't too onerous as I hotsync it with the PC anyway, and it charges while it's plugged in for that.
- It's not the most reliable thing ever built. The TreoCentral message boards list lots of people having very similar problems and having to have replacements. I've had to have my 180 replaced once under guarantee, though with an odd problem: I couldn't get the stylus back into its slot after a while, which didn't strike me as particularly good on an expensive unit.
- It's radio part is a bit iffy: when it loses signal it sometimes fails to reconnect afterwards and can drain it's battery trying, which isn't good on an expensive phone. Even my old Savvy could manage that! Anyway, you can usually spot it's got into that state as it's LED flashes red, and turning the phone part off and back on solves the problem.
- Handspring's customer service isn't exactly great, and heaven knows
what it's like now they've been gobbled up by palmOne:
- I was initially a bit dubious about buying an inevitably obscure phone, due to potential problems getting accessories etc. When I bought it, Handspring had an online shop, where you could get everything, so I was reassured. They then closed the UK online shop, and Handspring's US site only sold to US/Canadian customers. Haven't checked out what you can get from where since they merged with palmOne: I've been buying stuff (including the 270) from Expansys in the UK.
- They also had a reasonable repair/exchange system, but that changed in January 2003: it's been hived off to a local agent, and the old system where they sent you a replacement and you sent the broken phone back (so you weren't left without a phone for days) has been replaced by one where you'll be without a phone for days/weeks. I had a replacement at the tail end of the old system, and it wasn't a particularly hassle-free process, but at least I wasn't left without.
- They also started to charge for telephone support, which I find appalling on devices which cost this much.
- Compared to my Psions (I can remember having to reset the first one once, the second twice: three resets in a decade), PalmOS is dreadfully unstable. At times I've had the thing crashing three or four times a day until I've found the rogue bit of software which was causing the problem, which really isn't acceptable on a phone. It's a sign of how things are that I think I'm doing well at the moment if it hasn't crashed in three weeks. Some people reckon it's very stable if you stick with the built-in apps, but then that defeats the object of having it as far as I'm concerned. Half the phones around these days have basic organiser functions, at a much cheaper price. I wanted something with a keyboard, word processor, spreadsheet and database, at least.
- The ergonomics are a bit off when using a lot of software, as most of it assumes you have a stylus in your hand, so the combination of keyboard and stylus can result in you needing three hands at times. That said, the phone ergonomics are pretty good: you can do most things with the jog rocker and things have got better with the GPRS update - better keyboard/jog rocker support for phone, SMS and web browsing apps. The 600 has apparently greatly improved the stylus/keyboard issues.
- Unlike the Psions, there isn't any built-in word processor, spreadsheet or database software, so you have to find applications to fill in these gaps.
- Much of the huge amount of PalmOS software available is, frankly, crap. Especially commercial and shareware programs which are frequently no better than freeware equivalents, often worse. That said, there are some gems: HandyShopper, Plucker and Pilot-DB spring to mind (all free, interestingly, and Plucker and Pilot-DB are open source).
- I find the PalmOS way of handling data extremely frustrating: lack of a proper file system and reliance on desktop conduits/utilities for conversion of data is annoying, and the reason why I never upgraded to later Psions, too. The Psion Series 3 managed to have a proper file system and to have its software capable of saving in standard formats (eg RTF, Lotus, CSV), so you could use it with any sort of computer capable of running a serial link with X or Y modem file transfer (just about anything - I used mine with an Atari ST for years).
treo verdict
Looking at the upsides/downsides lists above, you could be forgiven for thinking that I don't actually like the Treo very much. You'd be wrong, however:
- I really like it.
- I take it everywhere, and I use it much more than I used to use my 3a, largely because I have it with me much more.
- I haven't seen anything else on the market that does everything I want
in as neat a package:
- The Palm Tungsten-W needs a headset to use it as a phone: no, thanks!
- Other Palm-based smart phones aren't available in the UK anyway.
- The Sony-Ericsson P800/P900 looks good, but only has Word and Excel viewers, no full-blown word processor or spreadsheet available. And not much software available (yet). And no sync software for Win98: I don't want to be forced to upgrade my PC to use the thing. Particularly as I'm considering Linux on my next machine. The upcoming 910 has a keyboard and is beginning to look attractive: I might be tempted if I can find suitable office software to replace the viewers.
- The Nokia communicators are too big.
- Nokia Series 60 phones have no keyboard or handwriting recognition, and not much software (yet).
- I am most definitely not interested in a Microsoft smart phone: they'd only been out a matter of days before having security issues, so it looks like Microsoft OS problems translate from the desktop and server to handhelds and phones. No, thanks!
smart phone wishlist
In an ideal world, and with unlimited cash, I'd like the following features that my Treo doesn't already have:
- A higher-res screen: 160*160 looks a bit clunky even on a screen as small as the Treo's.
- Built-in MP3 player (and adequate RAM to store some MP3s...). One less box to carry around. The 600 can do this.
- Built in radio.
- Memory cards for expansion. The 600 has this.
- Non-reliance on a particular desktop platform: standard file types, easily transferrable via terminal software if no sync software available. I really don't see why this can't be done, considering Psion had it licked with the Series 3... and you could still have single-click/button-push syncing - I used such software for years with my Series 3.
- A reliable OS (ie as reliable as the OS in my Psion 3a), preferably open-source.
- A camera would be handy, but not exactly essential. The 600 has one.
recommended treo/palmos software
"Recommended" as in "I've currently got it installed". *grin*
software bundled with Treo
- Gobble
- PacMan clone
- Hardball
- Breakout clone
- Invaders
- Space Invaders clone
- MineHunt
- Minesweeper clone
- One-Touch Mail
- Serviceable e-mail program, has the advantage of being free with Treo! Alternatives all have disadvantages, though Snappermail is looking interesting (if expensive).
- SubHunt
- Submarine depth-charge game
freeware
- Acupressure and Do-in
- Acupressure point reference: useful for self-treatment of minor ailments, though no substitute for professional advice.
- BigClock
- Alarm clock/timer: open source.
- Blocks
- Tetris clone.
- Crash
- Hack to help identify which program caused a crash. Also resets the device automatically after a crash so it doesn't run the battery down etc. Which begs the question as to why PalmOS doesn't do this automatically, of course...
- Delphi
- Excellent astrology program, though I'd like Campanus houses as an option in an ideal world. No interpretation, though.
- Diddlebug
- Handwritten notes and alarms, has plugins for passing appointments etc to other programs: open source. Also has it's uses creatively, as you can see in my PDA art gallery.
- Easy I-Ching
- Electronic I-Ching, has movement to second hexagram but no text for moving lines.
- E-ching
- Electronic I-Ching, not as good as Easy I-ching, but has text for moving lines.
- FishBowl
- Ridiculous virtual fishbowl…
- GrayPaint
- Excellent freeware art program. You can see some of the results in my PDA art gallery.
- GreenLightHack
- No longer in use now I've switched to a 270. Hack for inverting backlit display: I used it occasionally when viewing photos so they weren't in negative when the backlight was on: open source.
- Hackfinder
- Hunts out programs which use hacks, particularly those which aren't using your hack manager: helps with tracking down stability problems.
- Handspring Photo Album
- Does what it says on the tin! I suspect this is no longer available, but happy hunting on the palmOne web site.
- HandyShopper
- Shopping lists and more: any kind of checklist, really. I use it for presents, packing lists, project to-dos etc.
- Keyring (GNU)
- Keeps your passwords etc encrypted: open source.
- Mahjongg
- No longer in use now I've switched to a 270. I used an old version, I think from some compilation of freeware games I found on the net somewhere. It didn't support colour. Later versions, such as Mahjongg+ available from PalmGear, are shareware and terribly slow, at least on my 180.
- Oblique Strategies
- Electronic version of oracle cards by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. My one and only foray into "real" programming was a Psion 3a program to do the same thing, so I was very glad to find a PalmOS substitute: open source.
- Open
- Odd little program which lets you record shop etc opening times and see at a glance what's open/closed and how long it will stay that way. Bizarrely compelling idea, though I don't use it as much as I thought I would.
- Oracle
- Simple decision-maker oracle.
- Owner
- Acts as a shortcut to owner information preferences screen. Most useful when I used MaTreo, which I had set to switch to Owner a few seconds after opening the lid, in case I lost the phone. Unfortunately, MaTreo seems to have been a cause of instability so it's not currently installed.
- Palm Biorhythms
- Simple biorhythms display.
- Patience Revisited
- Excellent patience (solitaire) program, with many games: open source.
- Pilot-DB
- Excellent flat-file database program. Go for the 1.1beta: it seems stable enough to me and you can have as many filters as you like. I'm using it to record film/book recommendations, a gazetteer of longitudes/latitudes (for use when constructing horoscopes), potential music for wave dancing, keeping track of installed software/versions: open source.
- Plucker
- Combined offline web browser/document reader. Comes with a desktop application which will scoop up a set of web pages and store them on the Palm for later viewing. In the past, I've use it to read the BBC PDA-formatted news each day. It saved bandwidth compared to doing it online (matters if you're paying for data by the kb with GPRS). You can also convert local HTML files and some pictures for viewing on the Palm. However, this is greatly expanded if you use another desktop tool called pdaConverter, which will convert a whole load of document types (including RTF and Acrobat files) into Plucker format. Plucker is open source, pdaConverter is freeware.
- ReadThemAll
- Doc reader: I like its way of scrolling, and it's the only one I've tried which can open docs created by both AbiWord and QuickWord. Isn't bursting with features, but it seems OK for what I want.
- Snake
- Clone of the Snake game on Nokia mobiles.
- sntp
- A basic SNTP client, for setting the Palm's system time accurately, from an internet time server.
- Switcheroo
- Hack which lets you switch apps by using a keyboard shortcut; much faster than messing with the application launcher, and you don't need to get the stylus out.
- Toss Up
- Silly clone of an early Nintendo handheld game, which I have now deleted. At last.
- Virtual Coin
- Electronic coin flipper (part of my raft of oracles/decision-makers).
- X-Master
- Freeware hack manager, more up to date than Hackmaster and not shareware.
- Zen Garden
- How wonderful is this? A virtual zen garden: configurable rocks, and you use the stylus to rake gravel around them. OK, yet more proof that I have no life...
shareware/commercial
- Cell Plan Tracker
- Tracks voice and dial-up data minutes so you can see roughly how much your bill will be.
- KB Tracker
- Tracks GPRS data usage, so you can see roughly how much your bill will be.
- QuickOffice Pro
- Word processor (crude compared to Psion Word, though the PalmOS alternatives don't seem to be much better), spreadsheet (OK), PowerPoint viewer (not a great deal of use on a small screen, and dreadfully slow). Reasonably-priced bundle for what are essential functions (word processing/spreadsheet) for me.