I recently got a Palm IIIe as a gift and while it provides me hours of amusement (with old-school arcade games), I find it quite pointless. I've looked everywhere for useful software, but I haven't really found anything where I can't do the exact same thing with pencil and paper, or with a normal PC... Aside from about 50 million games, I have:

a map of Paris (I'm going there in a week =)
the periodic table
an American Sign Language alphabet drill
"miniPiano", on which I can compose mini tunes
a program that analyzes your handwriting - it's not as cool as it sounds
all the R.E.M. lyrics up to "New Adventures in Hi-Fi"
a virtual magic 8 ball
a daily fortune

Anyway. So what I'm interested in is... other Palm Pilot owners, what do you primarily use yours for? Is it really that useful? What programs do you have on it and are there any that you recommend?

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Answers

I personally don't have one (yet), but I think if you write at all it would be great to have. You can just jot down notes of ideas you get during the day (which is what I used to do with paper, when I still had ideas)... and in Paris you can keep a record of all the stuff you went to, and what pictures you took or what, and people's phone numbers and addresses that you meet...

The other thing you should get is DopeWars.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Oh, honey.

Everything you could ever want is here.

That's where I got the Magic 8 Ball and the periodic table for my Palm V, among several other nifty programs.

I use my Palm mostly as a replacement for my huge bulky film notebook -- when I hear a great bit of conversation that should go in a future movie, I write it in the Palm. It's really good for keeping all the little tiny notes organized in the right categories and stuff.

And Laural was right, you totally have to get DopeWars, it's the coolest thing ever. There's nothing quite as fun as standing at a crowded bus stop and shouting "Dammit! I have 17 units of cocaine and no one wants to buy any! Crap!" : )

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Do you have it linked to your computer? My friend's got one and he finds that very useful for scheduling, etc. I think he links to Outlook, but I'm not sure.

I don't have one (yet), but I'm seriously considering purchasing one. I haven't really decided. They look like fun. And useful, of course.

Piper

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Unless you take advantage of the Address Book, Calendar, To Do List, Calculator, and Notepad all you have is a GameBoy.

These programs are all a part of the Palm OS, and are usually hardwired to the buttons on the front. You haven't discovered the primary function of your device yet?

You can sync it with your PC right? Have you tried AvantGo?

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

For starters, go to www.daggerware.com. There, you will find Hackmaster, which is a programs that manages things called Hacks that make your Palm easier to use. Also, you will find AppHack, whick allows you to open programs by pressing a combination of two of the buttons on your Palm. You can preset these combinations so that your buttons have the ability to open up to 24 programs. Daggerware also makes DinkyPad, in case you feel like doodling on the screen. There are many other Hacks not made by Daggerware that are very useful.

www.utilware.com is the location for a program call Mirror. This program makes the screen black, making it into a pretty good mirror. No bullshit.

Most programs can be found at either www.palmgear.com, www.palm.com, or www.eurocool.com. What you should do is browse around and see for yourself which ones you want.

Some cool programs to search for: Showtimes (allows you to carry movie showtimes on the Palm -- BADASS!), Tipsy (a program that calculates tip and portion of the bill for multiple diners), Cesium (a clock/timer/stopwatch); Gaydar (point it at someone and probe to see if they are gay), Golf Score (score your golf round and keep stats).

Finally, get a document reader. A good, free one is CSpotRun, which allows you to read read .docs, a common format. Right now, I have 3 science-fiction short stories, the U.S. Constitution, a Sopranos episode guide, the 2000-2001 NFL Schedule, and movie scripts for "The Big Lebowski" and "The Fifth Element." I have previously had Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" and various other things. The best site for documents is www.memoware.com. You can also get stuff at www.fictionwise.com.

Now remember, don't use your Palm so much that it grows hair on it.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

I'm starting to use the To Do list for things to pack, and the address book so I can send postcards to people... But normally, The main utilities on the palm aren't all that useful to me because I have a pretty good memory (except when it comes to "to do" lists, so that's kind of helpful.) I also like writing things down on paper. Sometimes I use the notepad, though, for lists of things I want to auction, or interesting things people say, etc. (I write quotes like you do, Wendy, except for no reason. Do you write screenplays?)

I've gotten about three electronic organizers for birthday presents in the past, and I never had any use for them. But I really like my Palm. It has a lot of potential. But right now, it has limited potential as I have yet to buy a modem for it.

Chito - thanks for all those programs. I will check them out. And Laura, I downloaded DopeWars.. thanks. It's interesting =)

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Palm Gear and Palm Spot have tons of software and most of it has 30 day trial periods.

Last month, I received a Handspring Visor Deluxe for my birthday in advance of a trip to Belgium. I was excited.

It crashed a couple of times before I left (losing ALL information), but always in conjunction with a low battery (and it went through batteries like water).

By the time I left, I thought I had it down. In Belgium, I opened the address book and everything blew up. All my business notes, meeting time and places, places I wanted to go, addresses, EVERYTHING GONE and no way to get it off my computer 5000 miles away. Fortunately I had paper backup for alot of it.

So I returned it and am going back to my trusty Filofax which, in 10 years, has yet to let me down. $250 is just too much money for me not to be able to rely on the damn thing. I probably just got a lemon, but having it crash means I would forever be taking the paper as well for backup. The whole point is to not need the paper.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm pissed and when I called Handspring they literally said "We don't care why you're sending it back since it's within the month."

Frankly, the games were really fun but there wasn't anything else the thing did that I can't do with paper. I adore new technology and usually go for all the new gadgets, but this is one I'm totally turned off on now. If I want games, I'll buy a gameboy.

A friend just bought a Handspring and *it's* crashed a couple of times already. The masses of people I know with Palms have not had this problem at all.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Anyone- I am having problems with my Handspring- getting it to sync with my Mac. I have already taken all of their suggested tips. Any suggestions?

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

Chito,

I wondered how long it would take you to respond to this forum. You're a geek. Geek.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

I'm interested in getting that Sign Language drill!

And AvantGo rules, especially when you can read Kymm and Pamie and Beth on the bus on the way to school in the morning. :) It just kinda takes up mad space, and there's nothing more frustrating than realizing you don't have that one link you wanted.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

I got the ASL drill from www.palmpilotsoftware.com....

And just so you know, I am officially addicted to DopeWars.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

I've had a Palm IIIx for a couple of years now, and I love mine. I have been having problems with the screen going all wonky on me lately -- it seems to want percussive maintenance when that happens! But for the most part, it's great. Never crashed or anything -- not irretrievably, anyway. As far as applications go, I use the Memo thingy a lot, jotting down notes (especially of web pages people tell me about), lists of movies I want to remember to rent, etc. I don't have that busy a schedule (being unemployed really helps in that regard), but I imagine I would use the date book a LOT if I had more things to keep track of. I really like the alarm feature of the date book -- I use it to keep track of birthdays, and I have it set to remind me of each one 5 days prior, so I remember to send a card. (If it would only actually SEND the card for me...) I also use it as a sort of diary, to remember things that HAVE happened. But there are SO many great applications out there that you can download. I think a lot of the ones I know about have already been mentioned here. Most are shareware, which is good, because you can try before you buy, but a lot are freeware. There are also games galore, as it seems you've discovered. I actually use my Palm most of the time to play solitaire Backgammon with! Dig it! That one I downloaded from Stand Alone, Inc. They also have games like solitaire [several versions] and bridge, casino games, crosswords, plus more useful applications like an alarm clock, web tracker, spell checker, etc. You can also find fun stuff like pinball games and a Palm version of Frogger (Froggy)on the web too! Other fun (and useful sites) for games (and applications) that I don't think have been mentioned are: Palm Creations




Pacific Neo-Tek.

(Hope my HTML worked up there. I'm kind of a neophyte at it!)

I really think the best thing is to just browse sites that have Palm software and see what applications you think you might need. For example, I thought "Tipsy" would be the greatest, but I find myself using the plain ol' calculator more than it. But there is all sorts of stuff out there that you never even knew you needed -- did you know that you can actually download a remote control application, so you can use your Palm as a universal remote? What WILL they think of next? Hope you enjoy your new "toy" as much as I have mine. By the way, where on earth did you find the handwriting and piano applications?? Liz

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

Crap, it didn't work. I'll try again with the links.

Backgammon: Standalone
Froggy: PilotFan
Palm Creations
Electron Hut
DDH Software
Seahorse
smallWare
Pacific Neo-Tek

OK, that should be better! Sorry 'bout that. I obviously needed the coding practice.

Liz

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

I think I got the handwriting and piano from download.com. The handwriting program requires this other program called HanDbase. Basically, it's just a checklist of handwriting traits. You check the traits you have, and then it gives you a summary of what it means. The piano, though, is quite amusing.

-- Anonymous, June 24, 2000

Kathy --

Yes, I write screenplays. I suck at it, though. : ) Mostly I write down things I hear people say so that I can either use them in my own writing, or I can hand them off to my filmmaker friend Mike so he can use them in a future movie. (Of course, we do need to get his first movie finished. If you want to read about that, check out No Extra Day.)

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I don't own a PalmPilot, but I just have to be a shill and advertise something that I know they're good for.

Waiting For Bob is the first comic strip available for the AvantGo browser. Since I am still PalmPilot-free, I can't tell you much more than that, but mad props go out to my business partner Doug (he's the writer, I'm the artist) for having and implementing the idea. I think one other online comic is doing the same now, but we did beat them to it by a few weeks.

To have the comic delivered to your Palm-thingie every Monday through Friday (hey, it's free), check out this press release (the subscription link is near the bottom). And thank yew fer yer support.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000