PCMCIA Card

Information Systems Manager (pscott@usaid.gov)
Thu, 10 Aug 95 2:37:39 -24000

I often read recommendations that people by Palm Connect as a method to get
files back and forth from the Zoomer to their PC. 7 months ago I installed a
Western Digital PCMCIA card interface into a floppy bay on my desktop. The
cost was about the same as Connect, and works a lot better (yea, I fell for
Connect before I figured out I could do the hardware installation). Backing
up and copying files is MUCH easier with the drive. Also, formatting a RAM
card that has gone south doesn't require a laptop for those times when the
Zoomer refuses to recognize a card. The drives only cost about $60, and
interface to a standard IDE connector. Highly recommended over Connect.

For anyone interested in uses of Zoomers in exotic places, I am based in
Kampala, Uganda. I seriously think I have the only Zoomer in either Uganda,
Zaire, Rwanda or Burundi (places I work in). Everyone out here is fascinated
with it. I am using it for taking notes in association with AIDS research
here. I find that Grafitti is great for meetings, esp. since paper is
sometimes hard to come by here. I am also using it for email connections
from fairly remote sites when I can get a telephone line. The biggest
drawback so far is that it hard to take it out to use it without generating
an inordinate amount of interest in it. My only real problem in using it is
that I cannot get any of the serial/parallel converters to work driving a
Citizen printer I also carry. Second drawback is the inability to send faxes
with the thing. That is the primary means of communication out here.
Hopefully, the new version will cure that.

If anyone can recommend a specific serial/parallel converter that they
**KNOW** works, I would appreciate it.