Palm's on the road

[Fritz]

No, not some plea for amputation, but a plea for advice.
I have a T3 (and keyboard) that I want to use as a diary (etc etc etc).
I'll use back-up SD cards, but really I want to get the info from Palm to email / web.
I haven't (and don't want) a mobile.
I know a bit about computers and software but am far from expert / nerd.
I have been trying (on Brighthand) to seek a way of accessing the palm from an internet cafe - obviously I can't synch as they won't have the software or allow installation.
I've read of two possible options - both using the SD card - one for the PC to read SD card in Palm as a 'mass storage device', the other as a 'card reader'.
See http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=5478 for card reader, and http://www.synclive.com/cardexport2/ for the software for 'mass storage device'

The question is does anyone have a practical experience of these - or another bone fide method of getting text off the palm and onto an internet PC ??(without mobile).
I'm concerned the above may only work if software installed on PC - ie back to square one. I want a solution so palm will connect to USB in ANY PC and be picked up (card at least) as accessable 'mass storage device'(like a Scan Disk pen drive) using software or whatever on device not PC.
Tried a search here - if the answers already here please point me to it.
It must be possible - but how ?
I'm sticking with the T3, but I will be taking pen and paper just in case :-0
Cheers in advance, Fritz

[Smellybiker]

I'd bring the sync software with you anyway.

You'd be surprised how many cibercafes let you install stuff, especially if you dont ask first ;-)



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Last seen in S.America, missing presumed fed.
http://www.smellybiker.com

[LuckyStriker]

Fritz
I also own a palm T3 and have taken it along on one or two trips (The MP3 player came in handy).
I have not found a way for my palm to communicate via USB to a PC acting as a mass storage device (like a USB Flash drive) without the sync software.
The other thing I hate is its tendency to run out of power when it’s most inconvenient. I managed to misplace the charger and lost a month’s worth of diary and log entries when the battery ran dry! (A diary application that exist solely on the SD card might cure this)
I am cautious now and prefer to stick to pen and paper. You can always photocopy the pages and keep them as backup or mail them home.

Beware of being like NASA and invest millions in a zero gravity ‘space pen’ whilst the USSR used cheap lead pencils…

Cyril

[rob_evans]

Hi Fritz, all,

Not sure about the whole pencil thing, isn't that an urban legend? All those bits of highly conductive graphite floating around in a spacecraft...

I've travelled around with a couple of handhelds, first of all a Psion Series 5 and more recently a Palm Tungsten T5.

The Series 5 was great, you could save files in plain text and use a CompactFlash reader to transfer them to a PC -- when the PC had an available USB port. One memory that comes to mind here is sitting on a small balcony overlooking a paddy field (rice) in Malaysian Borneo whilst writing up a diary.

The T5 has different strengths. Whilst its NVRAM means there is no danger of losing information when the batteries run flat, and the "drive mode" means you can plug it easily into a PC where it looks just like a USB key drive, editing and transferring files means you need certain applications on the PC (you can of course save the Palm Desktop on the device itself). Although "Documents To Go" on the Palm can save in Microsoft Word format and there may be other apps to do the same, you can't guarantee that an Internet Cafe will have MS Word installed.

The T3 doesn't have quite the same advantages, so you'll need a card reader, and even with the T5 I'm probably just going to take a (paper) notebook and pen on my next trip. I feel alot safer scribbling in a pad in a cafe in Random_City, than I do pulling out a palmtop and keyboard. You're going to attract attention when you do the latter! Neither do I have to leave it on public show when trying to recharge it in a dorm.

Cheers for now, and have a good trip,
Rob

[Fritz]

Cheers all. Pen and paper will be there too !
Wanted to use Palm discretly anyway, rarely write in 'public' anyway - people think you're a restuarant critic or something worse.
I'll give the SD card a try I think, just keep plugging it into any PC I come across and see what happens.
The T3 and keyboard packs and weighs virtually the same as a small notebook so I'd prefer to use it if I can, but I'm no techno junkie.
Anyone else with practical experiences let me know - otherwise I'll report back, hopefully by Palm, in few months time ;-)

[Fritz]

Have this on trial at mo'
http://www.softick.com/cardexport2/
does what it says to date, not tried win98 etc drivers, but so far so good. Access to SD card as per 'mass storage device' and USB.

[Vaufi]

No difference between handhelds & other computers: Important data should be saved frequently for obvious reasons (re Cyril's experience).

[mattmbishop]

I've got the T3 and use it while travelling, mostly for the MP3's but I'm planning to write articles with a portable keyboard as well.

To upload to the 'net I've got a seperate SD card reader device, with built-in drivers. As long as I'm plugging it into a computer with windows ME and up I don't need any drivers and it's not that often you can't find a computer with ME nowadays.

I'll then write and save my articles as plain text (you'll need a program on your palm like SiED to do this), open them on the host computer and cut and paste straight to a web-log. This gets round the hassle of needing special applications on the computer or needing ftp software.

A bit more on SiED. It's possibly the most simple program I've seen for the palm, akin to windows notepad but with the facility to save, rename and move files and create directories. It's possible to write full webpages using SiED, but you need to know alot of html and it's easier to use a weblog.

I also have a camera with an SD card. I'll then upload them from the SD card to the web, using the upload facility on my weblog.

By uploading photos and text to the 'net, I don't need to back up the information I carry personally. Any reputable web server will be able to back up data a lot better than I ever will on the road.

In saying all of this, I'll only use the palm for longer articles. For day to day stuff a pad and pen is always quicker and easier.



[This message has been edited by mattmbishop (edited 09 November 2005).]