PDA's & Wireless

Palm OS 4 and OS 5 side-by-side

This article gives you a side-by-side comparison between Palm OS4 and OS5

eWallet by Iliumsoft

If you have a multitude of user names and passwords, credit card information, PIN numbers, and account information to store and you are looking for a secure, encrypted and password-protected software, which will work and synchronize with your handheld devices, including your Pocket PC and Palm or Handspring devices, this is the software for you. eWallet uses a strong 256-bit key RC4 encryption for its software encryption, a built-in password generator lets you instantly create unique and secure passwords, has nested categories, and complete card-level synchronization on any platform. Change your cards anywhere, any time, and keep all changes when you sync. I have found this to be an invaluable piece of software.

* eWallet on your Pocket PC, Palm-Powered Handheld, Handheld PC or Windows PC for $19.95

* eWallet (Professional Edition) on a Windows PC AND a Palm-Powered Handheld, Pocket PC or Handheld PCs for $29.95 (This is the best value as you can run it on your desktop and all of your handheld devices.)

Documents to Go (Comes in Standard, Professional, Premium and Total Office Editions)

I have used this software since I purchased my first Handspring. It is a must for a power user who wants to synchronize their email (including attachments), PDF files, pictures and Excel charts. The Total Office Edition allows you to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on your handheld in addition to PDF support, pictures, charting password protected files, a spell checker, wireless document retrieval, Outlook E-mail, Outlook Calendar, Outlook Contacts, Outlook Tasks, Outlook Notes and MS Access Databases. When you synchronize with your desktop, changes and additions made on your handheld will be reflected on your desktop. Pricing starts at $29.99 for the Standard Edition to $89.99 for the Total Office Edition.

Pocket Quicken

Pocket Quicken is a great Palm OS and PocketPC oftware which synchronizes with your desktop Quicken. This allows you to not only give you financial information when away from your desktop, but you can also make entries on your handheld unit. The software costs $39.95 and can be purchased from LandWare.

PrintBoy

PrintBoy, by Bachmann Software is afavorite print software of mine for the Palm OS (3,4 and 5), Pocket PC, Nokia Series 60 and Symbian UIQ Smartphones. It is compatible with a wide variety of printers, including orks with most printer models, including HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark (Optra), Ricoh, and more and includes Postscript printer support. It integrates with Documents To Go (versions 6 & &), QuickOffice, Wordsmith, MobileDB, SmartList To Go, HanDBase, and other popular software applications. It also prints over infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, modem or cellphone connections.

If you are interested in printing via IR (infra-red), but your printer does not offer IR printing, you can purchase Bachmann's InfraReady Adapter (connecting the InfraReady Adapter to the parallel port of any printer the user can immediately convert any printer to accept IR beaming) or BTReady Adapter (connecting the BTReady Adapter to the parallel port of any printer allows the user to convert any printer to accept Bluetooth beaming). PrintBoy works from with the Palm OS applications, Memo, To-Do's, E-mail, Calendar and Contacts

. Upgrades from previous versions costs $19.99; full version for $39.99. They also offer a 30-day trial download.

Thunderhawk

If you've ever browsed the Web on a PDA, you've probably found it frustrating, particularly if you were expecting a desktop like experience. With PDA browsers, the most you can view is a portion of an HTML page. Even with plug-in support, users will spend a lot of time scrolling around a Web page. Enter Bitstream's ThunderHawk ($50 per year, street), a mobile browser that marks impressive improvement in the PDA browsing experience.

Some features of ThunderHawk include effortless scrolling and fast, fluid Web page navigation (ThunderHawk doesn't relying on WAP [Wireless Application Protocol] or cHTML [Compact HyperText Markup Language], as if you were browsing on your desktop.

This is an impressive browser. If you surf the Internet on your wireless, it is a must have. At $50.00 per year, it provides the user with an improved Web browsing experience, enabling a Pocket PC's typical 320 x 240 LCD screen to display a very legible VGA screen at 800 x 600. If you want to try before you buy, it is available for a 30-day trial period.

Palm and PocketPC Repair

PDA Specialists, Inc. offers PDA upgrades and repairs for both the Palm and the Pocket PC, including, but not limited to battery replacement, memory upgrade, screen replacement, etc. Turn-around time is extraordinary.

GetHighTech.com sells quality new and used Palm OS parts and accessories and provides quality repair service for Palm OS units. In addition, GetHighTech.com provides free technical assistance via email (turnaround is usually one day) and offers free PDA repair videos.

iPAQ Repair.Com is a one stop iPAQ repair shop offering many services including but not limited to repairing everything from cracked screens to adding memory (both RAM and ROM) to bringing your iPAQ back to life from the dreaded Parrot of Death.