How?

No, me not speak with forked tongue. In my previous blog entry I mentioned starting to cut the umbilical cord with the Treo. I didn't mention how. Well, I've started using the Motorola V600 as a cellphone now, leaving the Treo at home. Instead of the Treo I use a Tungsten T3 for handheld computer functions.

The Tungsten T3 is quite an awesome handheld. The Virtual Graffiti area is better than that of the Sony NX60 and the landscape mode really handy. The 400 MHz processor makes response times snappy, and the Treo 600 is slow in comparison.


T3 closed


T3 open (in Portrait Mode)


T3 in Landscape Mode

Untitled?

This blog entry was originally entitled: "Treos, T3s and the Dark Side", but it was just taking me too long to finish, and I just wasn't getting to the Dark Side. So I decided to post it in sections, not quite episodes, but smaller chunks.

This week I started to cut the umbilical cord with the Treo. It only has one or two programs that are not on the Tungsten T3, but I had to do it sometime. The biggest move of course will be getting the Tungsten T3 to HotSync with my main Desktop. I have to totally uninstall the Treo Palm Desktop, and then install the T3 Palm Desktop from scratch, and install the programs that need to synchronize with the T3. This is a multi-step process, as I need to have a running Treo Desktop on another machine (or partition) first.

Hold on, why am I moving off of the Treo?...

I sit corrected

In a previous post which mentioned subscription music and "Music To Go", I implied that subscription music and "Music To Go" were one and the same thing.

They are not. The Music Subscription Services offer "To Go" as an option - usually a more expensive one, which means that downloaded music can be transferred to a compatible device. Otherwise the music can only be played on one or more PCs.

Dell captures aliens!

Oh no, got that wrong, it should read - "Dell buys Alienware" - according to this article from My Way News

Sidetracked but successful

To back-track for a moment, before I started looking at the iPod Mini, I was sidetracked by a non-iPod Flash memory based player - a Sandisk Sansa - on sale at a local store. Cheaper than a 1 GB iPod Shuffle, it has a display, as well as an FM Radio. (No iPod that I know of has an FM Radio - although FM is not really a factor for me, as I am unable to listen to commercial radio because of the commercials). The 1GB Sandisk Sansa had fairly good reviews online, so I got it. It isn't as sleek as the iPod Nano, but it is small and light and has a readable mono display. The controls are quite simple too figure out. Downloading songs didn't require any special software either. The problem is, it didn't take me long to fill up 1GB with songs. This was especially true since the Sansa supports subscription music or "Music To Go", and I started a free trial of one of the subscription services.

What's subscription music or "Music To Go"? Basically, for a monthly fee you can download as much music as your portable device can handle. Then, as long as you keep on paying the monthly fee you can listen to the music. The players use Digital Rights Management (DRM) to disable playing of the songs if you don't synchronize with the music service as a paid up subscriber. The songs also cannot be burned to CD and cannot be played on devices (including computers) which are not "Authorized" by the subscription service. So, of course I filled up the player with songs I liked but don't have on CD, and albums I'm considering buying as well as music from artists I haven't yet heard.
CNET has a whole article about it here.

Okay, so 1 GB wasn't enough, so I begun looking at higher capacity MP3 Players, and that led me to the 4 GB iPod Mini. I made the mistake of buying a refurbished one from eBay. If I'd shopped around more I would have found a refurbished one on Apple.com for cheaper. Oh well..

Oh, and how is the iPod? I had to read the manual to learn how to use the controls, but once I got them they were intuitively easy. The sound seems better than the Sansa. Best of all I discovered that the accessories for the iPod Mini are deeply discounted since it has been discontinued, so I was able to get an FM transmitter (iTrip) for less than $10. Now I can listen to the iPod in the car or on my home audio system.

The Search narrows

One thing that bothered me when I read reviews of the iPod Nano was that because this is a product which was only released in September of last year, there would be no bargain prices for it yet.
What set me thinking was this "quibble" from Consumer Reports:
"A 2-gigabyte (500-song) Nano costs $200, which bought you a 4-GB iPod Mini before it was discontinued. There's a 4-GB Nano for $250, which used to buy you a 6-GB iPod Mini."

It got me thinking whether the iPod Mini was still available. It is!

CNET Review of iPod Mini

MP3 Player Hunt Continued

Back issues of PC Magazine and an odd copy of Handheld Computing magazine helped clear up a misconception I had about the iPod Shuffle: from the name I wondered if it could only play in "shuffle" or random mode. This isn't the case. I looked at the low-priced 512 MB shuffle first, but discovered that it could only hold about 100 to 120 songs, depending on format. The 1 GB Shuffle was sold out wherever it was on special. One thing that put me off was a reviewer who recommended the iPod Shuffle as a second MP3 Player for those who already have a larger hard drive-based player. The Shuffle has no display to tell you what song you're listening to. After much thought, I decided I could not do without this feature so I could at least see what song, or Podcast or whatever was that I was listening to - and be able to find a song. This was especially so since most non-Apple MP3 players in this price range have this display.

Sticking with the iPods, the cheapest model with a display was the iPod Nano. This iPod has excellent reviews, and a price to go with it. For $140 and upwards for the 1GB iPod Nano you are really paying a premium.



So, there is a tiny color (176-by-132-pixel 1.5-inch) screen, on which you can view photos or album art. If I really want to view photos I'd use the 480-by-320-pixel 4.3 inch screen on my Tapwave Zodiac.

Apart from there being MP3 players from other manufacturers with larger capacity and more features, what finally put me off the Nano altogether were reports that the device scratches easily ("Although the device is durable, it scratches easily; blemishes show up more drastically on the black version" - excerpt from CNET.com review). I didn't want to pay so much to have to baby an MP3 Player.

And yet the coolness factor of the iPod is so strong.

Oh, what to do?

MP3 Player Hunt

Okay, so I knew very little about the latest MP3 Players, but I wanted to get one (for why see Got an MP3 Player?). I had last looked at MP3 players in early 2003, before deciding to buy the Sony Clie NX60. Of course, things have changed a lot since then.

There seem to be two types of MP3 Players: Flash-based Players and Hard Drive-based Players. According to wikipedia there are three types, but I'm not counting MP3 CD Players.

There are also iPods and Everything else, or Anything But iPod.

My criteria was for a small player, definitely smaller than any of my handhelds or even my Sony Net MD Walkman MZ-NF520D.

Since I had recently seen one on special, I first looked at the iPod Shuffle:



(to be continued...)

Mobile Internet Part III

In a previous blog Mobile Internet II I said that the Dell Axim X30 with built-in Wireless "worked like a dream" at a hotel hotspot.
Okay, well that hotspot did not have encryption, and at home I have encrypted wireless. The Dell Axim runs like a dog on my home Wi-Fi (and I don't mean a greyhound!). Possibly I'm not using the correct wireless client - there are several available on the Axim. Anyway, the only site I can get onto is Yahoo.

My Linux-based Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 with a Compact Flash Wi-Fi card has no problems with this encrypted wireless network, and puts the Dell to shame. I was planning to sell the Zaurus, but not any more.

Just for interest, here is a picture of the Treo 600 next to the Sharp Zaurus (the Zaurus is closed, it is even longer with the keyboard opened).

Sony didn't invent Virtual Graffiti!

According to wikipedia, the first Palm OS Device with a Virtual Graffiti area was the HandEra 330 released in 2001.

This handheld had some impressive specifications for a Palm-OS based device at that time:

240 x 320 QVGA high resolution screen
Virtual on-screen Graffiti text entry areas
360° rotation of screen image with special applications (Portrait and Landscape modes!)
Ran with AAA alkaline batteries or with optional lithium-ion batteries
One CompactFlash Type I/II card slot and One Secure Digital (SD) or MultiMediaCard slot
Jog wheel and auxiliary button for one hand operation
Internal audio amplifier and speaker
Microphone to record audio files

Full Specs are here at HandEra.

Geek.com gave it a 4 star rating in their review. The Gadgeteer also liked it.

Unfortunately it wasn't too stable...

Got an MP3 Player?

I always thought I already had an MP3 Player. Since the Sony CLIE NX60, just about every handheld I've owned has a stereo headphone jack and can play MP3s. Even the Treo 600 comes with a basic version of the Pocket Tunes music software which has playlists and an equalizer. Since I usually have a handheld with me, its just a case of carrying headphones too and I have an MP3 Player.

The only problem is space. MP3 files take up space on expansion cards (SecureDigital Cards mostly). Since SecureDigital Cards which are 1 Gigabyte and larger are relatively costly (anything from $50 to $120), I mainly have 512 MB SD Cards. Being cautious (some would say paranoid), each handheld has its own memory card, and I keep multiple backups on a card. On my Treo where internal memory is low, I store and run software from the card. On the cards for the Tapwave Zodiac I have video files. All of these compete for space with MP3 files. I have a Sony Minidisc player, but a Minidisc can only hold just over 2 CDs worth of songs. It fits in my shirt pocket but is a bit bulky.

So maybe I need a real MP3 player...

eBay Bargains?

I was idly browsing through eBay (which can be dangerous) looking at iPods, and saw a new iPod Shuffle for $71, excluding shipping. Not really knowing the prices I looked elsewhere and found the new iPod Shuffle with the same 512 MB capacity for $65.99 on special at MacMall. It was also going for $69.99 at Circuit City and Best Buy.

Mobile Internet Part II

In a previous blog Mobile Internet I mentioned problems accessing certain websites with a Palm and a Wi-Fi card. I also referred to having better luck with a Linux-based Sharp Zaurus and a Wi-Fi card. Anyway, this "Handheldoholic" bought a Dell Axim X30 Pocket PC on eBay - the model which has built-in 802.11b wireless. I then did a real world test by taking it down to Atlanta with me, where we were staying in a hotel with free wireless access in the lobby. The "Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition"-based Pocket PC worked like a dream, once I had found out which of the supplied connectivity utilities to use. I did not have any problems accessing any website, including Google Mail and eBay. Being able to browse in landscape mode was great, but - a minor quibble here - Palm's implementation of portrait and landscape mode is far superior, both with ease of switching between modes and Virtual Graffiti area placement in Landscape Mode.
I can't wait to try the Beta of the Opera Web Browser on the Dell Axim.

High tech, high price

One of the things I enjoy when in South Africa is looking at the prices of electronics and software. It makes me feel a bit better about leaving the beautiful weather here and going back home to New York.

Since my renewed interest in gaming I looked at gaming hardware and software:
First I priced a Sony PSP Value Pack - the exact same one I bought brand new on eBay - 2600 South African Rand (ZAR) at a computer chain store. That is around $430 at a good exchange rate - $180 more than street price, and almost double what I paid on eBay.

Then there was a GameBoy (probably an Advance) for sale at a toy store for the equivalent of US$140, as well as a Sony Playstation 2 (I'm not sure if it was the Slim edition) for about $240, which is $90 more than I paid at NewEgg.com.

As for Sony PSP games, the cheapest I saw was "Metal Gear Acid" on sale for about $47 (normal price $65) - it normally goes for about $40 in the USA, and may drop to $30 on special. Other, more popular games like "Burnout Legends" or "Need for Speed Underground Rivals" sell for around $65 minimum.

The main reason for such huge price differences is the import duty the South African government levies on electronic goods.
Of course doing direct price comparisons like this doesn't take currency exchange rate fluctuations into account, or the relative buying power of the local currency

Different juice - technical problems

Since this is a tech blog, I won't refer to flight delays, although I have certainly had my share this week.
Instead I had electrical problems - due to an incorrect assumption.
Since my Sony NX60 handheld had a power brick which accepted the South African 220 volts without a problem, I assumed that the Tapwave Zodiac that I took with for gaming and my wife's Palm Zire 72 would be the same. They aren't - both come with power adapter plugs that only accept 110-120 volts input.
Fortunately, on a previous visit I had seen a 220 volt to 110 volt converter plug. It only cost slightly more than $10, and since we both required our handhelds for the important task of playing games we bought it.
I had initially thought of bringing my Sony PSP with, but decided that the Tapwave Zodiac would do, since I had several games for it as well as 2 pre-recorded TV shows on SecureDigital Card. Also, I left my Treo 600 behind, and brought an old unlocked GSM Motorola V60 for use with a PrePaid SIM card on one of the South African cellular networks. Ironically both the Sony PSP and the Treo would both handle 220 volts without an extra adapter.
Of course I couldn't do without a handheld computer, so I brought the Tungsten T3, for which I had just bought a travel charger for (otherwise it would require carting a cradle around just to recharge). The Zod (Tapwave Zodiac) would have been adequate, but I was concerned about "toasting" it with one of the games. I must confess that although I have had a couple of Fatal Errors from games they were only soft resets and the Zod is a pretty stable PDA.
However, I've grown to really like my Tungsten T3. With the slider closed it has a really small form factor and it has a more intelligent Virtual Graffiti area than the Zod (You cannot popup a virtual keyboard inside the Zod's Virtual Graffiti area). In fact the Virtual Graffiti and Portrait to Landscape mode is even better than that of the Dell Axim X30 Pocket PC - but that is another story. The Tungsten T3 also has the updated PIM applications (Alarms from Tasks etc.) and its screen is as good as, if not better than the Sony Clie NX60. The T3 is fast becoming my top choice to replace the handheld computer part of the Treo 600. Its main drawback is that the battery life sucks - possibly due to it being a used unit when I bought it.

Ooops!

In a previous post "Go figure" I wrote that the Handspring Visor Pro runs on 2 AAA batteries.
This is not correct. According to the Wikipedia entry for the Visor Pro, and other sources, it runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery

A Handheldaholic's nightmare!

From an article on Brighthand.com to a link in
The Inquirer: One man company fixes PDAs.

But I really do need a new one!

Mobile Internet

No, I'm not referring to mobile phones and the internet. I try to avoid paying by the kilobyte for checking email. I'm referring to accessing the internet via a Wireless access point using a handheld computer.

My experiences with my Palm handhelds were not promising:
First I tried to get status of eBay bids with Tungsten T3 and a Wi-Fi card - first couldn't get onto Google Mail, then I wasted 15 minutes trying to get onto eBay before I gave up. Using my Tapwave Zodiac and the Wi-Fi card gave me a Fatal Error - but I was running some utilities in the background, and need to try it with those switched off.

I had better luck with my Linux-based Sharp Zaurus.
I managed to get onto eBay with the Sharp Zaurus and a CF Wi-Fi card, and also managed to get onto Google Mail! The speed was also a lot faster than on the Palm Tungsten T3. The Opera browser also allowed me to have more than one window open at a time.

Go figure

Yesterday a Handspring Visor Pro with 16MB RAM, a 33 MHz processor and Palm OS version 3.5.2.H sold for $145.50 on eBay.

About three hours before that a Tapwave Zodiac 2 with 128MB RAM, a 200Mhz Processor and Palm OS version 5.2.7, sold for $130.11 on eBay.

The Handspring Visor Pro doesn't have a color screen, but a 160 by 160 pixel 4-bit (16 shades of gray) monochrome screen. It weighs 5.7 oz and runs on 2 AAA batteries.

The Zodiac 2 has a 480 x 320 (half VGA), 16-bit color backlit display (65,536 colors), and weighs 6.3 ounces. It has an ATI graphics accelerator, Yamaha sound system, Bluetooth, two SD slots, one of them an SDIO slot for Wi-Fi cards etc.

Tapwave closed it doors in July 2005 when venture capital dried up.

Handspring was bought by Palm in June 2003

The only possible reasons I can think of for someone paying more for an older handheld (released in 2001) are:
- Palm still supports the Visors (see Palm Visor Pro Support)
- There are still numerous springboard expansions modules available for the Handspring, everything from MP3 players to voice recorders to GPS devices.
- The Visor Pro runs off AAA batteries

Retro-tech

Just recently I got my hands on a HandSpring Visor Deluxe. This Palm OS handheld relic is the precursor to the Treo. I say relic, but the handheld still works - it uses AAA batteries so there is no rechargeable battery to wear out. The most interesting feature of all Handspring Visors was the springboard slot (see this article in the Wikipedia). This allowed the handheld to be expanded with peripherals like a GPS (which is why I got the Handspring), a backup module or "Memplug" memory expansion module. There is even a camera, a modem and a Wireless modem. One of the more interesting Springboard modules was the cellphone one. Slide it in and the Handheld was transformed into the first smartphone. Unfortunately the Handsprings were mainly bulky. the one which wasn't - the Visor Edge, allowed springboard modules to be attached via a sleeve. Handspring discontinued the Visor line in 2002 and brought out the first Treo. The rest, as they say, is history.