Palms
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After reading RPoD Phlog [1] i have learned that I have very similar experience
with Palm devices [2]. I have found green/black Palms to be much more useful
than the more modern ones.
The latest and greatest Palm, the T|X was excellent in its days (it has the
WiFi build-in) but today it's WiFi is just useless and it's battery weak (one
can probably find a replacement, and to solder it). And many nice apps no
longer work (the Google Earth, for example) or are not updated for longer time
(programs for GPS navigation). And it's non-standard, proprietary connector for
charging and synchronization also does not make things simpler.
I'm not sure about color Palm's with m68k CPU but I think that all of them have
build-in battery which is not nice. But some of them ale smaller than the T|X
which can make them more handy.
The black and white (or black/green) models are the old m68k CPU and many of
them use pair of the AAA batteries. The Palm V and some newer black/green
models have build-in batteries, too (unfortunately). But at least the V can use
the cable designed for the Palm III models (of course only for synchronization
and not for charging; also the cradles are different). So there is at least
some compatibility.
There can be exceptions but in general the 2 modern AAAs are enough for 14-21
days of moderate use. I'm not sure if any Palm with color screen can compete
with them.
I personally use a pair of Palm III devices: a IIIx for home use (reading in
the CSpotRun, the Plucker, some ToDo lists and more) and one for use outside
the home (the IIIe for passwords storage and so). I use the IIIe also as a
companion for the Kodak PalmPix. This device is not ideal here as I can usually
store not more than 11 pictures. So I'm thinking about finding of the Palm
IIIxe (which has 8 MB of RAM) to replace it. I should have the IIIxe somewhere.
The serial connection (which they use for synchronization) is somewhat
problematic in modern times. And the original applications (like the Palm
desktop) are very problematic on modern Windows. But on Linux (and I assume
that on the BSDs, too) everything work as expected. The serial-to-usb adapters
are working and all important software is still available (the Jpilot, the
pilot-link package and so). So for me the Palm III is almost an ideal PDA (it
also works with the SGI machines very well, of course if one has IRIX 6.5).
Of course, the TRG Pro device would be even better: it is actually a Palm
IIIxe with a CompactFlash card slot. The use of such card is not simple and
special software is required (fortunately it is available as default) but at
leas one can do backups to the CF card. It is extremely practical hare as all
old (green/black) Palm use their RAM for data storage and loss of power means
loss of all data and applications...
I have the TRG Pro in my collection but it is too precious to be used
frequently. The same applies to the HandEra 330 (it was made by the same
company as the TRG). It has better screen, faster CPU (still the m68k), a SD
and the CompactFlash slot and if uses 4 (four) AAAs so it is heavier than most
of Palms. And with its silver color it is also the ugliest. Still, it is as
precious as the TRG Pro.
References:
[1]
gopher://sdf.org/0/users/jynx/dat/20180121.post
[2]
gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Palm%20%28PDA%29
