Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

I'm very happy with my m515 except for the screen resolution; ready to
switch to a higher resolution screen.

I don't care about taking pictures (but it would be nice to view
photos from a card on the new improved screen).

I don't care about recording music or even playing it (but it would be
very nice to have voice instructions in a GPS application).

I don't think I care about Bluetooth (unless that's the most
convenient way to use GPS). And I don't want to use the Palm to
connect to mail or internet sites.

I DO care about battery life and general quality of construction.

Which model should I buy? (Thanks in advance).

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

I am very happy with my Garmin iQue. It is a great photo viewer with a
320x480 16 bit color screen. I use Resco View to view photos. The GPS
built in has no equal in the Palm world. Garmin had some early on
quality problems but they are very solid now.

There is a review on my web site.

Dale

Gary wrote:

> I'm very happy with my m515 except for the screen resolution; ready to
> switch to a higher resolution screen.
>
> I don't care about taking pictures (but it would be nice to view
> photos from a card on the new improved screen).
>
> I don't care about recording music or even playing it (but it would be
> very nice to have voice instructions in a GPS application).
>
> I don't think I care about Bluetooth (unless that's the most
> convenient way to use GPS). And I don't want to use the Palm to
> connect to mail or internet sites.
>
> I DO care about battery life and general quality of construction.
>
> Which model should I buy? (Thanks in advance).

--
_ _ Dale DePriest
/`) _ // http://users.cwnet.com/dalede
o/_/ (_(_X_(` For GPS and GPS/PDAs

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

Just about any Tungsten model would do the trick. Although I'm not sure
about the suitability of the Tungsten E (The least expensive, about $200
USD) for GPS. It's plenty powerful I should think, but it's new enough that
I'm not sure there are GPS add-on devices/software available for it. That's
something you'd have to research.

For all the other stuff, the E works just fine for me The Palm Audio Kit
(costs extra) comes with the RealOne Player and the Audible manager for
reading books. The Audio kit is convenient to purchase, but I'm sure you
could find suitable substitutes with more appropriate features for your
needs if you wanted to.

"Gary" <gary_w1@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:na19705bt5eqrjo95rkao5ou8pgfdlq88g@4ax.com...
> I'm very happy with my m515 except for the screen resolution; ready to
> switch to a higher resolution screen.
>
> I don't care about taking pictures (but it would be nice to view
> photos from a card on the new improved screen).
>
> I don't care about recording music or even playing it (but it would be
> very nice to have voice instructions in a GPS application).
>
> I don't think I care about Bluetooth (unless that's the most
> convenient way to use GPS). And I don't want to use the Palm to
> connect to mail or internet sites.
>
> I DO care about battery life and general quality of construction.
>
> Which model should I buy? (Thanks in advance).

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

Take a look at www.tapwave.com I like my Zodiac and you can get one with a
high res screen,128mb of ram built in MP3 player with stereo speakers and
factory headphones for 399.00. You can get the 32mb version for 299.00. It
uses palm OS 5.0 and has two sd card slots for lots of mp3 storage space.

"Gary" <gary_w1@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:na19705bt5eqrjo95rkao5ou8pgfdlq88g@4ax.com...
> I'm very happy with my m515 except for the screen resolution; ready to
> switch to a higher resolution screen.
>
> I don't care about taking pictures (but it would be nice to view
> photos from a card on the new improved screen).
>
> I don't care about recording music or even playing it (but it would be
> very nice to have voice instructions in a GPS application).
>
> I don't think I care about Bluetooth (unless that's the most
> convenient way to use GPS). And I don't want to use the Palm to
> connect to mail or internet sites.
>
> I DO care about battery life and general quality of construction.
>
> Which model should I buy? (Thanks in advance).

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

In article <na19705bt5eqrjo95rkao5ou8pgfdlq88g@4ax.com>, Gary
<gary_w1@hotmail.com> wrote:

> I'm very happy with my m515 except for the screen resolution; ready to
> switch to a higher resolution screen.
>
> I don't care about taking pictures (but it would be nice to view
> photos from a card on the new improved screen).
>
> I don't care about recording music or even playing it (but it would be
> very nice to have voice instructions in a GPS application).
>
> I don't think I care about Bluetooth (unless that's the most
> convenient way to use GPS). And I don't want to use the Palm to
> connect to mail or internet sites.
>
> I DO care about battery life and general quality of construction.
>
> Which model should I buy? (Thanks in advance).

In a matter of days to weeks, Tungsten E2 will be out. Worth waiting to
check out the latest line. So hold your horses.
--

--
--

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

"JunkMonkey" <Jnkmonkey@notscape.not> writes:
>Just about any Tungsten model would do the trick. Although I'm not sure
>about the suitability of the Tungsten E (The least expensive, about $200
>USD) for GPS. It's plenty powerful I should think, but it's new enough that
>I'm not sure there are GPS add-on devices/software available for it. That's
>something you'd have to research.

The E doesn't have a serial port, does it? Just a USB slave port for
syncing. Nor does it have Bluetooth. So I don't see how it could
connect to any GPS receiver, unless you happen to have one that plugs
into the SD slot (and you may want *that* to hold a card with mapping
data on it).

Likely any model that uses the standard connector will have a serial
port, and most GPS receivers will talk serial data. The Tungsten models
with Bluetooth support should also be able to talk to a Bluetooth GPS
receiver.

Dave

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 22:54:05 +0000, Gary wrote:

> I'm very happy with my m515 except for the screen resolution; ready to
> switch to a higher resolution screen.

I'm happy with my Zire 71. Highly recommended over the T|E, since the
latter, as mentioned in this thread, can't connect to a common GPS.

The Zire 71 uses the Palm Universal Connector, so there are lots of
options for GPS there.

Obviously, the more expensive models add bells & whistles, but the Zire 71
suffices for me.

Of course, as mentioned, I'd be one to wait to see what the T|E2 will add...

--
Lenroc

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

This brings up a question that I've been wondering about. Why CAN'T
properly designed USB devices supported by appropriate software be attached
to the Tungsten E?

That's how a lot of devices are attached to a PC, and USB is superior to
serial communications in so many ways. It would seem to me that USB would
be the natural "universal" connector allowing third party designers to
create hardware that could function on a wide variety of handheld devices
and the only difference would be the software supporting it.

The reviews I've read about the "E" mention that the USB port limits the
expandability of the "E". Yet they don't say WHY! Is it because No one has
done it yet? Is it because the manufacturers see a cash cow in proprietary
connectors? Or is it that the reviewers don't know that much about
computers?

This argument just doesn't make sense to me - I hope someone can set me
straight on this! At this point, I can't help but believe that eventually a
wide variety of Palm OS devices will support USB for its expandability!

"Dave Martindale" <davem@cs.ubc.ca> wrote in message
news:c547ms$m5l$2@mughi.cs.ubc.ca...
> "JunkMonkey" <Jnkmonkey@notscape.not> writes:
> >Just about any Tungsten model would do the trick. Although I'm not sure
> >about the suitability of the Tungsten E (The least expensive, about $200
> >USD) for GPS. It's plenty powerful I should think, but it's new enough
that
> >I'm not sure there are GPS add-on devices/software available for it.
That's
> >something you'd have to research.
>
> The E doesn't have a serial port, does it? Just a USB slave port for
> syncing. Nor does it have Bluetooth. So I don't see how it could
> connect to any GPS receiver, unless you happen to have one that plugs
> into the SD slot (and you may want *that* to hold a card with mapping
> data on it).
>
> Likely any model that uses the standard connector will have a serial
> port, and most GPS receivers will talk serial data. The Tungsten models
> with Bluetooth support should also be able to talk to a Bluetooth GPS
> receiver.
>
> Dave

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

"JunkMonkey" <Jnkmonkey@notscape.not> writes:
>This brings up a question that I've been wondering about. Why CAN'T
>properly designed USB devices supported by appropriate software be attached
>to the Tungsten E?

As I understand it, USB buses have one controller and a bunch of slaves.
USB peripherals are just slaves. They can talk to the host, but not to
each other. The Tungsten E, like most USB devices, is a slave to your
host computer. It isn't set up to be a master on its own, like a laptop
is.

>That's how a lot of devices are attached to a PC, and USB is superior to
>serial communications in so many ways.

It is, but there is some complexity involved, and part of that is the
device has to know what role it's playing in the conversation.

A serial port is just a lump of hardware, equally capable of sending and
receiving. You can't do much useful without higher-level protocols,
which the software has to provide. But the hardware is essentially the
same for all devices, so one device can be both master and slave.

In the case of connecting to a GPS, the GPS normally generates a NMEA
data stream and transmits it continuously, with no idea whether anyone
is listening. A computer or Palm connected to the GPS merely reads and
decodes the data, with little or no idea where it's coming from. The
communications may be entirely one-way. Simple but effective. You
couldn't do this with USB.

>The reviews I've read about the "E" mention that the USB port limits the
>expandability of the "E". Yet they don't say WHY! Is it because No one has
>done it yet? Is it because the manufacturers see a cash cow in proprietary
>connectors? Or is it that the reviewers don't know that much about
>computers?

You *could* build a Palm with a USB controller port that would talk to
slave devices like keyboard, mouse, scanner, etc. But apparently that's
not what the USB port on the low-end Palms is intended to do. I don't
know how the recent "universal connector" Palms provide both USB and
serial interfaces, as well as talking to modems and keyboards, but they
do.

Dave

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

Good response Dave, Thanks.

So If I've read you correctly, the T-E has a USB port similar to what would
be found on say a mouse or a keyboard. Which is why expansion beyond the
built in functions would be difficult.

However I gather from what you've written that USB technology itself would
not preclude the development of a PALM or WinCE device that could be
expanded via a USB port. Since a PC or a laptop has the ability to send and
receive via USB (and even can use USB ports as network connectors instead of
a NIC card), there is no reason that a Palm device couldn't do that as well.
Am I getting this straight?

If so, I think I still see a market for Palm devices with USB expansion
capabilities. Particularly, in the beginning, for business applications
that would need strong PC to handheld inter-communication (beyond normal
synching functions). What do you think?


"Dave Martindale" <davem@cs.ubc.ca> wrote in message
news:c54lst$q57$1@mughi.cs.ubc.ca...
> "JunkMonkey" <Jnkmonkey@notscape.not> writes:
> >This brings up a question that I've been wondering about. Why CAN'T
> >properly designed USB devices supported by appropriate software be
attached
> >to the Tungsten E?
>
> As I understand it, USB buses have one controller and a bunch of slaves.
> USB peripherals are just slaves. They can talk to the host, but not to
> each other. The Tungsten E, like most USB devices, is a slave to your
> host computer. It isn't set up to be a master on its own, like a laptop
> is.
>
> >That's how a lot of devices are attached to a PC, and USB is superior to
> >serial communications in so many ways.
>
> It is, but there is some complexity involved, and part of that is the
> device has to know what role it's playing in the conversation.
>
> A serial port is just a lump of hardware, equally capable of sending and
> receiving. You can't do much useful without higher-level protocols,
> which the software has to provide. But the hardware is essentially the
> same for all devices, so one device can be both master and slave.
>
> In the case of connecting to a GPS, the GPS normally generates a NMEA
> data stream and transmits it continuously, with no idea whether anyone
> is listening. A computer or Palm connected to the GPS merely reads and
> decodes the data, with little or no idea where it's coming from. The
> communications may be entirely one-way. Simple but effective. You
> couldn't do this with USB.
>
> >The reviews I've read about the "E" mention that the USB port limits the
> >expandability of the "E". Yet they don't say WHY! Is it because No one
has
> >done it yet? Is it because the manufacturers see a cash cow in
proprietary
> >connectors? Or is it that the reviewers don't know that much about
> >computers?
>
> You *could* build a Palm with a USB controller port that would talk to
> slave devices like keyboard, mouse, scanner, etc. But apparently that's
> not what the USB port on the low-end Palms is intended to do. I don't
> know how the recent "universal connector" Palms provide both USB and
> serial interfaces, as well as talking to modems and keyboards, but they
> do.
>
> Dave

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

JunkMonkey wrote:
> However I gather from what you've written that USB technology itself would
> not preclude the development of a PALM or WinCE device that could be
> expanded via a USB port. Since a PC or a laptop has the ability to send and
> receive via USB (and even can use USB ports as network connectors instead of
> a NIC card), there is no reason that a Palm device couldn't do that as well.
> Am I getting this straight?

You are right. In fact, two Palm OS devices ship with USB host ports --
the Alphasmart Dana and Dana Wireless. Both have USB host ports, used
to talk to USB printers and modems.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

"JunkMonkey" <Jnkmonkey@notscape.not> wrote:
>However I gather from what you've written that USB technology itself would
>not preclude the development of a PALM or WinCE device that could be
>expanded via a USB port.

In fact, the spec for the Universal Connector notes that while current
Palm devices are slave-only, master devices will be available in the
future.

Of course, now you are going to want every device manufacturer to
write Palm device drivers for their products, find a way of delivering
and installing them, and test them over dozens of different models...

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

<William P.N. Smith> wrote in message
news:ug3d70toore7r55f2fepb6cvujootg8njq@4ax.com...
>>
> Of course, now you are going to want every device manufacturer to
> write Palm device drivers for their products, find a way of delivering
> and installing them, and test them over dozens of different models...
>
> --
> William Smith
> ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

But wouldn't that be cheaper (and more profitable in the long run) for,
well - everyone, for there to be a body of expansion modules that could fit
ANY Palm or Windows handheld with the only variation being the software
drivers required? I would suspect that a properly designed set of driver
specs would require that only a single driver for a given OS version would
be required for the majority of handheld devices.

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (More info?)

"JunkMonkey" <Jnkmonkey@notscape.not> wrote:
><William P.N. Smith> wrote in message
>> Of course, now you are going to want every device manufacturer to
>> write Palm device drivers for their products, find a way of delivering
>> and installing them, and test them over dozens of different models...

>But wouldn't that be cheaper (and more profitable in the long run) for,
>well - everyone, for there to be a body of expansion modules that could fit
>ANY Palm or Windows handheld with the only variation being the software
>drivers required? I would suspect that a properly designed set of driver
>specs would require that only a single driver for a given OS version would
>be required for the majority of handheld devices.

Great for the consumers, but somewhat problematic for the vendors. I
suspect that the USB market for Palms (once Palms with USB host
hardware exist) will probably grow fairly slowly. Look at the state
of BlueTooth today, and you'll get some idea...

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com

Archived from groups: alt.comp.sys.palmtops.pilot,comp.sys.palmtops.pilot (