On Wed, 5 Apr 1995 jpedigo@pacrain.com wrote:
> As a relatively new Zoomer owner, just thought I'd like to make some
> observations that might help other new Zoomer owners. These are my
> opinions; take 'em or leave 'em!
>
> I bought my Zoomer in the big Costco rush last year, but never used it much
> because of several limitations that I felt it had, namely terrible
> handwriting recognition and slow performance. About a month ago, I bought
> Palm Connect and Graffiti, upgraded my Zoomer to expert mode, and all I can
> say now is: I love my Zoomer!!! Here's why:
>
> 1. Face it, the handwriting recognition that comes with the Zoomer is
> useless. Graffiti is fast and accurate. I has alot of nice features (like
> shortcuts) that let you automate your entry. It is singlemost reason that I
> use my Zoomer today. It's so easy that I no longer bring a pad and paper
> into meetings; I just bring my Zoomer. Graffiti is available from Palm
> Computing for $79.
>
> 2. To load Graffiti, you'll need the serial transfer cable. You can get
> one at Radio Shack for about $20. I opted to buy Palm Computing's Palm
> Connect (which comes with a cable), but only because I got a deal ($50!,
> usually $110). Palm Connect gives you file linking capabilities between
> your PC and the Zoomer and includes a PC version of the Geos operating
> system, along with the main apps in the Zoomer. If you don't want to spring
> for the software, buy the Radio Shack cable and use the freeware program
> ZDOS, available for download in a number of places.
>
> 3. Another option for file linking is Palm's Ensemble. It's available for
> about $80 (without the cable). It also is a PC version of the Geos
> operating system and includes a number of nice apps like GeoWrite and a
> bunch of utilities. Note that you won't be able to load most of these apps
> on your Zoomer unless you buy a RAM card and are willing to fill it with a
> number of required system files. Ensemble also gives you the same file
> linking capabilities as Palm Connect. In fact, if you don't want to use
> ZDOS, I would recommend Ensemble with the Radio Shack cable over the Palm
> Connect package. For a test drive, download the shareware version (called
> GeoPublish).
>
> 4. Once you have file transfer capability, update your Zoomer to expert
> mode. It's pretty easy to do, but make sure you backup your data files
> first (the files in the "documents" folder). Expert mode allows me to keep
> all the apps I regularly use open, which makes switching between them
> relatively fast. This is probably the secondmost reason that I now use my
> Zoomer. For more information on expert mode, consult the FAQ. I was lucky
> enough to stumble across a uuencoded version of the files that need to be
> changed when I was going through the Zoomer mailing list archives.
>
> I know all of this probably seems basic to Zoomer power users, but it took
> me hours of poring through the mailing list archives to get me to a comfort
> level where I was willing to spend additional cash on the Zoomer. My final
> recommendation (in a nutshell): Buy Graffiti (it'll be the best eighty
> bucks you've ever spent), buy the $20 PC to Zoomer transfer cable, and
> download Geopublish. Use Geopublish during its 30 day evaluation to backup
> your Zoomer and make the expert mode changes. If you feel that the file
> transfer capability and the additional apps in Ensemble are worth it,
> register the software.]
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Jeff
> jpedigo@pacrain.com
>
>
________________________ ___
(__) / Nick Dolezal \ / \
(oo) ( SDolezal@Montana.Com ) ( Moo )
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