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Past Meetings: April 12, 2001
| Date: | Thursday, April 12, 2001 |
| Time: | 7:00 PM |
| Location: | Kensington Community Church |
| Attendees: | 48 |
One of our largest groups ever, thanks in part to our scheduled guest speaker, Mike Wendland of the Detroit Free Press. Mike is one of the Technology Columnists at the Free Press, and if you've read any of his columns, you know he's a Palm fanatic. In addition to listening to Mike discuss handheld devices, we also reviewed one software application and gave away some protective hard cases:
Summary of Mike Wendland's talk:
- Mike has owned every Palm model released since the Palm Pilot.
- He has also had Pocket PC's but ends up trashing them.
- His current handheld of choice is the Visor Prism; he has purchased several Springboard Modules which he demonstrated:
- eyemodule2; the new and improved color digital camera
- digital voice recorder
- MP3 player
- Mike is expecting the Palm m505 (color Palm Vx) to arrive in about one week, and he's excited to check that out. He'll be reviewing it soon in an upcoming Free Press Technology column.
- Some of the pet peeves Mike talked about re: handhelds are the screen clarity, especially outdoors. He has the Visor Prism, and the color Palm OS devices are infamous for being practically unusable outside. He's curious to see if the Palm m505 has addressed this issue, which some DPUG members said they heard it has.
- Mike feels that wireless is where it's at, and that's where all handhelds will get to eventually. However, something needs to be done about the cost of wireless access; Mike had the Palm VII and was paying $40 per month for unlimited access which he felt was way too much to spend.
- Mike encourages DPUG members to e-mail him some of the cool ways we use our Palms. He'll collect our stories and use some toward a future story he's planning re: handhelds.
- To view past Technology columns Mike has written for the Free Press, click here.
- Mike also has another web site call www.pcmike.com; he wrote up his experience speaking at our DPUG meeting in his on-line e-journal.
- E-mail Mike at mwendland@freepress.com or mike@pcmike.com.
Software Review:
- Timesheet v1.53 - free application that allows you to track hours spent working on various projects. Great for consultants or corporate employees who need track time on various projects when they submit detailed timesheets. Timesheet comes with a DOS based executable file that allows you to convert the database that gets backed up to your Palm into a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file which you can export to a MS Excel or Access for report-generation. Timesheet is available at : http://members.nbci.com/sbnic/palm/timesheet.html
Protective Cases -
- Otter Boxes - watertight, perfect for travel and boating. They make dozens of sizes and styles. Check out the Technology Holders link for PDA's, digital camera, and cell phone cases. Otterboxes come with a lifetime guarantee, and they are extremely reasonably priced; the 2000 series models that holds most handhelds lists for $14.95. Otter boxes are available at www.otterbox.com
- Scribble cases- touted as "The worlds most protective hard case or your money back". PDA cases and guaranteed to be indestructible. The Scribble line is currently only available in the Palm V-series size and the Palm m100 size. Scribble cases are available at www.scribble.uk.com; they are a sister company to Palmtec which makes many other hard cases (www.palmtec.com).
Give Aways:
- 4 cases from Otter Box (three of their 2000 series which holds any generic PDA, and one of their 3000 series which will handle the Visor with the GPS unit installed)
- 3 Scribble cases from PalmTec