On 2008-01-25, Baron Samedi wrote:

> The only key point I have is that I need a device that will let me
> password protect certain data like bank account numbers, PINs and
> passwords. I also want to carry one or two hundred addresses.
>
> For cell phones, I always buy on battery life, which means low end, so
> not so many features. If there is one that will let me password
> protect my Pins, then I might consider it.
>
> But data portability is a consideration. If I have a Palm, o r even
> (shudder) windows PDA, there is no problem. I am not so sure about
> phones. However, I did manage to transfer my REX data to Palm, so
> maybe it can be done.

I have a Nokia 770, with which I am very pleased, and have finally replaced my
Psion 5MX. All the other PDAs I tried were rubbish, especially the iPaq. *What*
a piece of trash. And as for Windows Mobile (shudder)...

The '770 is obsolete now, but the 800 is available heavily discounted, since
the '810 has come out.

--
"Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain
and presumptuous desire for a second one."
[email me at huge {at} huge (dot) org uk]

On Jan 25, 5:48 pm, Huge wrote:
> On 2008-01-25, Baron Samedi wrote:
>
> > The only key point I have is that I need a device that will let me
> > password protect certain data like bank account numbers, PINs and
> > passwords. I also want to carry one or two hundred addresses.
>
> > For cell phones, I always buy on battery life, which means low end, so
> > not so many features. If there is one that will let me password
> > protect my Pins, then I might consider it.
>
> > But data portability is a consideration. If I have a Palm, o r even
> > (shudder) windows PDA, there is no problem. I am not so sure about
> > phones. However, I did manage to transfer my REX data to Palm, so
> > maybe it can be done.
>
> I have a Nokia 770, with which I am very pleased, and have finally replaced my
> Psion 5MX. All the other PDAs I tried were rubbish, especially the iPaq. *What*
> a piece of trash. And as for Windows Mobile (shudder)...
>
> The '770 is obsolete now, but the 800 is available heavily discounted, since
> the '810 has come out.
>

Unfortunately, I have an Ipaq :-( But I don't use it.

Maybe I should, I dunno.

For 'phones,. I have a Phillips which claims a 45 day(!) standby time,
and probably does come close - I charge it so rarely that I don't even
know how often I do.

That ran me less than GBP 50 over here in Singaproe. I am not keen on
the fonts, though, or SMS entry (need to push the "1" key 13(!) times
to get a question mark).

Much slicker, with weekly charging, is a Chiense LG which I bought in
7-11 for about GBP 20.

I really won't accpet anything that needs charging daily.

My alternatives seem to be
1) use the Ipaq
2) buy a Zire 22, which is small enough to always have with me, just
as I always have a camera wherever I go
3) find a 'phone with long life *and* some form of data compatability
(porbably with MS Outlook, although I hate that). No proprietary data
formats in case I switch phones later - *BUT* the phoine also *must*
let me passowrd protect bank a/c numbers, passwords and PINs, which
seems like a tall order

What do you think ?

On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:46:24 -0800 (PST), Baron Samedi
wrote:

>On Jan 25, 3:53*am, r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:
>> On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:39:59 -0800 (PST), Baron Samedi
>>

clip

>>
>>
>
>Hi, Robert,
>
>Most of my data is read-only. So I don't mind if I have to wait until
>I get home at night to enter a new one..

I treat most data on my PDA as read-only. Partly because entering info
is too hard, and partly to avoid synchronization problems (I have
"desktop" always override PDA).

>
>The only key point I have is that I need a device that will let me
>password protect certain data like bank account numbers, PINs and
>passwords.

I use a program called eWallet to store such things, and it provides
password protection. I know other similar programs exist.


>I also want to carry one or two hundred addresses.

I use the PIM that comes with my PDA for these, and I don't think they
are protected.


>
>For cell phones, I always buy on battery life, which means low end, so
>not so many features. If there is one that will let me password
>protect my Pins, then I might consider it.
>
>But data portability is a consideration. If I have a Palm, o r even
>(shudder) windows PDA, there is no problem. I am not so sure about
>phones. However, I did manage to transfer my REX data to Palm, so
>maybe it can be done.

Windows Mobile phones exist. Unfortunately, phone quality (radio
reception, voice quality) tends to be poor, especially for the small
ones; look for reviews that actually discuss it. I am generally very
happy with my HTC S730, although I would have preferred a flip style.
It's been very stable, except when I tried some programs that didn't
work well. The battery lasts one or two days with light usage. I
synchronize it with Outlook, and it comfortably holds several hundred
contacts, my calendar, and a few tasks. eWallet holds some passwords
and dozens of pages of notes; I enter these in my "desktop" copy of
eWallet and treat the phone copy as read-only.

I added a 6 GB microSD card that comfortably holds eWallet plus:
a) Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary
b) a very nice media player (CoreCodec), about a dozen albums, a few
hours of podcasts (including video), and a couple hours of other
videos (youtube, etc.)
c) a couple of eBook readers and a few dozen books
d) my photo album with several hundred pictures (cut down to reduce
load times)

The camera is good enough for quick snap shots when I don't want to
carry something better.

I took a few years before really trying a "converged" device, but
really like it now.

For backup and when I want a bigger screen, I sometimes carry a
Windows Mobile PDA phone. It also synchronizes nicely with Outlook and
has a copy of eWallet.

>
>The Palm Zire Z22 looks nice, and extremely small and it costs US$99
>(in the USA).

eWallet is available for Palm:
http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/mprods/palmprods.php

That price is definitely lower than my HTC S730

The Zire is about twice as wide as many cell phones, including my HTC
S730. The Treo 680 is about the same size as the Zire, but includes a
cell phone; I didn't check price, but assume it is quite a bit more. I
didn't check reviews for phone quality.

If you're comfortable with the size of the Zire and with separate
phone, the Zire plus eWallet (or similar program) looks like a good
deal for you.

-----------------------------------------
To reply to me, remove the underscores (_) from my email address (and please indicate which newsgroup and message).

Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
PenFact, Inc.
20 Park Plaza, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02116
www.penfact.com
Useful reading (be sure to read its disclaimer first):
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

On Jan 29, 3:54*am, r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:
> On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:46:24 -0800 (PST), Baron Samedi
>
> wrote:
> >On Jan 25, 3:53*am, r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:
> >> On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:39:59 -0800 (PST), Baron Samedi
>
> clip
>
>
>
> >Hi, Robert,
>
> >Most of my data is read-only. So I don't mind if I have to wait until
> >I get home at night to enter a new one..
>
> I treat most data on my PDA as read-only. Partly because entering info
> is too hard, and partly to avoid synchronization problems (I have
> "desktop" always override PDA).
>
>
>
> >The only key point I have is that I need a device that will let me
> >password protect certain data like bank account numbers, PINs and
> >passwords.
>
> I use a program called eWallet to store such things, and it provides
> password protection. I know other similar programs exist.
>
> >I also want to carry one or two hundred addresses.
>
> I use the PIM that comes with my PDA for these, and I don't think they
> are protected.
>
>
>
> >For cell phones, I always buy on battery life, which means low end, so
> >not so many features. If there is one that will let me password
> >protect my Pins, then I might consider it.
>
> >But data portability is a consideration. If I have a Palm, o r even
> >(shudder) windows PDA, there is no problem. I am not so sure about
> >phones. However, I did manage to transfer my REX data to Palm, so
> >maybe it can be done.
>
> Windows Mobile phones exist. Unfortunately, phone quality (radio
> reception, voice quality) tends to be poor, especially for the small
> ones; look for reviews that actually discuss it. I am generally very
> happy with my HTC S730, although I would have preferred a flip style.
> It's been very stable, except when I tried some programs that didn't
> work well. The battery lasts one or two days with light usage. I
> synchronize it with Outlook, and it comfortably holds several hundred
> contacts, my calendar, and a few tasks. eWallet holds some passwords
> and dozens of pages of notes; I enter these in my "desktop" copy of
> eWallet and treat the phone copy as read-only.
>
> I added a 6 GB microSD card that comfortably holds eWallet plus:
> a) Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary
> b) a very nice media player (CoreCodec), about a dozen albums, a few
> hours of podcasts (including video), and a couple hours of other
> videos (youtube, etc.)
> c) a couple of eBook readers and a few dozen books
> d) my photo album with several hundred pictures (cut down to reduce
> load times)
>
> The camera is good enough for quick snap shots when I don't want to
> carry something better.
>
> I took a few years before really trying a "converged" device, but
> really like it now.
>
> For backup and when I want a bigger screen, I sometimes carry a
> Windows Mobile PDA phone. It also synchronizes nicely with Outlook and
> has a copy of eWallet.
>
>
>
> >The Palm Zire Z22 looks nice, and extremely small and it costs US$99
> >(in the USA).
>
> eWallet is available for Palm:http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/mprods/palmprods.php
>
> That price is definitely lower than my HTC S730
>
> The Zire is about twice as wide as many cell phones, including my HTC
> S730. The Treo 680 is about the same size as the Zire, but includes a
> cell phone; I didn't check price, but assume it is quite a bit more. I
> didn't check reviews for phone quality.
>
> If you're comfortable with the size of the Zire and with separate
> phone, the Zire plus eWallet (or similar program) looks like a good
> deal for you.
>

Yes, I think I'll go with the Zire. You say that the 680 is about the
same size, but I doubt if it matches on thickness :-)

The Zire is so small that I won't notice that I am carrying it.

I guess this thread is over, whcih is a pity, as I was enjoying it.
Ooth, we could start in about multi-function devices, versus carrying
a separate phone, pda, camera, GPS, etc, etc ... LOL

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 19:38:22 -0800 (PST), Baron Samedi
wrote:

>On Jan 29, 3:54*am, r_z_aret@pen_fact.com wrote:
>> On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:46:24 -0800 (PST), Baron Samedi

clip

>>
>> The Zire is about twice as wide as many cell phones, including my HTC
>> S730. The Treo 680 is about the same size as the Zire, but includes a
>> cell phone; I didn't check price, but assume it is quite a bit more. I
>> didn't check reviews for phone quality.
>>
>> If you're comfortable with the size of the Zire and with separate
>> phone, the Zire plus eWallet (or similar program) looks like a good
>> deal for you.
>>
>
>Yes, I think I'll go with the Zire. You say that the 680 is about the
>same size, but I doubt if it matches on thickness :-)
>
>The Zire is so small that I won't notice that I am carrying it.
>
>I guess this thread is over, whcih is a pity, as I was enjoying it.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.


>Ooth, we could start in about multi-function devices, versus carrying
>a separate phone, pda, camera, GPS, etc, etc ... LOL

Anyone who wants multiple functions needs to compromise between
carrying too much and too little. And that compromise is subjective
and personal (not as in private but as in individual). So I don't see
much reason for a public discussion, and tend to stay away from them.

Good luck with your new tool.
-----------------------------------------
To reply to me, remove the underscores (_) from my email address (and please indicate which newsgroup and message).

Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
PenFact, Inc.
20 Park Plaza, Suite 400
Boston, MA 02116
www.penfact.com
Useful reading (be sure to read its disclaimer first):
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html