advice needed re: Palm

[Anonymous]

Need advice from GTD users perspective as I am going from paper to Palm as soon as I can decide what to buy! I have 140 projects that range in size from 2 N/As to 75, and my N/As are in 20 contexts. I want to keep essential project notes and details at hand on the Palm. My only Palm experience was using a 6 year old "hand me down" for a few hours and then dropping it and it will not recover from the trauma despite various re-sets, so a purchase is in the works. It appears from PalmOne's site that the Zire 72 is available now, replacing the 71, but if a 71 can actually be found in a retail outlet you can get a $50 rebate. This brings the price of the 71 down to $200, same as the TungstenE. Consumer reviews that I have found on Amazon are really pretty mixed, esp. regarding battery life of the 71, but as noted in "Value" thread below the availability of the cradle that comes with 71 is a positive. I would also anticipate purchasing one of Palm's key boards. I would grately value the views of the cognicenti about which model Palm and which Key Board would be the most trouble free for a GTDer with little technical experience. And could I make good use of the ZIRE 31 at $150.00 (16MB, cable only, and the OS is v5.2.8)? Also, how reliable are these devices and are the extended warrantees advisable?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi James

Before you buy check eBay !!
I bought my m500 from there (in australia) at a considerable reduction against the then current recommended retail and what I could do face to face with my local Palm retailer.

Depending on how you plan to implement GTD on your Palm the key to making it fly will be the synchronisation software you choose. If you are going with a vanilla implementation and you intend to use the standard Palm desktop to run GTD Hotsync will be fine. Beyond that and depending on what mail proggie you run ie Notes or Outlook at work / home you'll need ot choose your sync software pretty carefully.

If you are going to rely on carrying project notes around, go for as much onboard RAM as you can get, make sure your PDA has expansion card capability and then buy a SD card 256mB or better.

Also invest in some backup software like BackUpBuddy or similar and make sure it has the ability to backup the contents of your SD expansion card.

Good luck with the transition, I used a paper based system for many years (Daytimer and later Covey) and now happily live in Palm land !!
Theres no escaping the paper though.

Just an afer thought go and have a look at Natara Bonsai its project planning software that allows you to work from desktop or PDA http://www.natara.com

 

[spring]

I use the bottom-of-the-line Zire. I bought it some time ago, so perhaps it is below the bottom now. It has 2Mb of memory, which I have never ever come close to filling up, even with 200+ to-do items and calendar stuff and memos and so on. It cost me $99. It has no backlight; some people hate that. Myself, I have never missed having it.

I recommend you allocate some money towards getting a hard case to go with it. The case will encourage you to take it along with you wherever you go.

I have enjoyed the Fitaly One-Finger Keyboard layout. I got the FitalyStamp version.

One thing I do not like about my Zire is that it only has two application keys. I have mapped these keys to "Calendar" and "To-Do", but I would love to have two more keys that I could map to "Memo" and "Address".

 

[Anonymous]

thank you!

I appreciate your both taking the time to share your experience and knowledge. I will follow up on adding memeory and backing it up. I found a Zire 71 (maybe I could have done better on e-bay but I made my purchase when I found the last Zire 71 in the neighborhood). While I think I could have done as Spring is doing in terms of a a very basic Palm for a basic implementation, but I expect that I would then still be lugging mounds of paper because I like to keep project notes at hand (outlines, summaries, or specifications) .

 

[ceehjay]

Zire 71

I'm using 4.7 M on my Zire 71, which I bought in July 2003. I haven't tried Bonsai or some of the other outliners, but I plan to in the near future. I do have an expansion card -- have my games are on there.

I haven't used it for MP3s, and I've used the camera only 3 or 4 times, but I do like having it available. I went from the Handspring Visor Deluxe, which I used and loved for three years, to the Zire 71, and I couldn't believe the difference the backlight made in my ability to clearly read the screen. I upgraded primarily to get the color screen.

Other PDAs have features that I would like, but I don't really need another one. This one satisfies me and I will probably using it for a long time.

Carolyn

 

[xdg]

For a budget model, don't overlook the Treo 90. This is the old model Handspring released without a cell phone built in. Key point: it has a keyboard! It was a huge step up in the utility of my palm for quickly jotting down notes, lists, etc.

xdg

 

[Anonymous]

don't be seduced by camera in Zire

I probably would have been just as happy with the Treo90 mentioned above, probably happier bec. I am so text oriented and I would not have spent as much money. The camera in my zire 71 is pretty limited, it is not hard to use but it is hard to get the exact photo you want (its just sort of clumsy) and the resolution it pretty limited. I mention this bec. it just should probably not be the deciding factor unless "rough" photos enhance your productivity or life experience. It would be great if you are in construction, landscaping, or antiques or just want rough photes of your kids to share with their other parent.

 

[Anonymous]

switching to palm

As far as which model of Palm to buy, that would depend entirely upon your needs. My recommendation: buy as much memory as you can afford. the need always expands, and if you have many projects that you are running, along with many, many details, the simpler model handheld may soon prove to be inadequate.
However, in terms of the extended warranty, service, etc., Palm is notoriously unreliable in terms of providing service. Buy your Palm from Staples, along with their extended service contract. An associate dropped his and cracked the screen. He brought it in to Staples, and they handed him a new one on the spot. You won't get anything like that from Palm. Wish I had bought mine from Staples. Palm argued with me for 2 weeks that my contract was invalid, and it was only when the state department of consumer affairs got after them that they decided to "give" me what I had paid for. Since that time, I have become aware of many stories similar to mine.

 

[apinaud]

I will recomend you download the software first, then you can try the system, also i will recomend you list pro, since you are going from paper to palm that is going to let you set the list as you have those in paper, with the software for pc if you have one.
also you can try the pc software for free....
check the post here there is a better explanation of the software