>Thanks in advance,
>Susan Sim ssim@vnet.ibm.com
Alright! Someone new to bombard with my Zoomer uses/opinions!
I got a Zoomer about 3 months ago. Before that, I was a dedicated Daytimer
user. I carried my black book everywhere. I thought the Zoomer would
provide that service, plus other things. My original ideas were off a
little, but I still love the Zoomer.
I keep a complete "To Do" list on the Zoomer, which I don't have to manually
carry over each day like I did with my Daytimer. I also keep appointments
in there, although the audible alarm is pretty much useless (not very loud).
The pop-up reminder is handy, though. One thing I gave up on was keeping
daily and meeting notes on the Zoomer. I bought a small version of the
Daytimer that fits into the case I keep my Zoomer in. This way, I can
easily write notes that are keyed to a particular date. Once the monthly
notebook is filled up, I archive it on my shelf with the previous months in
a yearly box. I can easily look up past events and the format is in keeping
with the previous 6 years of notebooks. The Zoomer will do this, but the
built in handwriting recognition is not that good. I tried keeping my notes
in "ink", but that really slowed my Zoomer down. Plus, it eats up memory.
I just got Graffiti. It works really well, and with it I may be able to
keep notes on my Zoomer, but I think I'll keep my current system with the
paper notebook.
I have found that the Zoomer is a great way to carry lots of frequently
needed information. I have set up several different note book files. One
contains notes I make on solving a particular engineering problem at work.
Each page of the note book refers to a specific problem or system. Another
note book contains information I find useful that isn't particularly work
related. Another note book contains restaurant listings for different
cities. Each page contains 11-12 listing for one city. This comes in handy
for travel. The address book is similarly useful. I downloaded from AOL a
file containing toll-free phone numbers for travel-related companies (car
rental, airlines, hotels). I even set up a separate address book file into
an inventory of equipment I am responsible for (like a simplified database).
Then I can look up the history on a particular piece of equipment that
needs maintenance.
America On Line (AOL) is handy for checking e-mail while on the road. It is
also a good source for programs for the Zoomer. A general terminal package
would be nice, though. I've tried ZComm Lite (from AOL), but it is pretty
limited. A commercial version is promised. Also missing is fax software.
I've just started using the Pocket Quicken. I used Quicken for years on my
PC, but this is somewhat different. It is handy, though, with the ability
to set up multiple accounts and types of accounts. Plus, since I usually
have my Zoomer with me, I can update my account instantly on my (many) trips
to the ATM.
There is no spell checking other than the dictionary. Nothing interactive
with the note book, for instance. However, the dictionary/thesaurus is
handy on occasion. I'd never carry a paper version around, so I count this
as a bonus. The same goes for the consumer info. All of these occasionally
come in handy, so I count them as a bonus. This is in contrast to the
custom note books I created which I use regularly. Also, I can only carry
this information around electronically, and the Zoomer is small enough to
carry everywhere. The Zoomer is not a replacement for a notebook computer,
though. It's a good way to carry information. Entering information is
more difficult than a notebook computer, but the Zoomer is smaller than a
notebook computer. For carrying information, the Zoomer is great. For
heavy computing, the Zoomer is terrible. I only need information
storage/retrieval, so I love my Zoomer.
Final notes - buy Graffiti. It's great and very easy to use. Buy Palm
Connect ($75 at Radio Shack if it's in stock, more if ordered). It gives
you the cable and software to transfer information between the Zoomer and
your PC. Plus, it gives you PC versions of the Date Book, Note Book and
Address Book, which makes it real easy to create these custom files and them
dump them to the Zoomer. Buy a couple of static ram cards (PCMCIA). I got
a 1 meg and a 2 meg, which should last for a while. Office Depot sells a
cordura paperback book cover for $16. It holds a Zoomer and a small
Daytimer, plus business cards, stamps, extra SRAM card, etc. I cut up a
mouse pad to pad the case. I even keep 3 spare batteries in the spine.
There. That should stir up some debate and hopefully give you some ideas.
Everyone uses their Zoomer differently. That's the beauty of the machine.
Good luck!
Russ
russ.fortson-1@ksc.nasa.gov