Cons: no color screen, but then color screens can have problems that this one doesn't.
The Bottom Line: A very simple, user friendly handheld computer that has definitely helped me organize my life. Any brainstorm or important thought immediately goes on my Palm VIIx.
About 3 years ago a friend was staying at our place for a couple of days, and he had a very ancient Palm Pilot with him -- which he showed me and demonstrated some of its capabilities.
Having never heard of or seen such a gizmo before, I was naturally impressed. (Goes to show how effective advertisements are because at that time I already had a nice desktop computer with internet service, yet somehow I hadn't been introduced to or enticed into buying a PDA!)
When he showed me his Palm Pilot, I knew right then that someday I would have to have one of those.
That day came 4 months ago while rumaging through stuff at Ebay. Without very much research I bid on a Palm VIIx and by golly, I was the lucky high bidder. It wasn't all that sweet of a deal because after paying the outrageous shipping fees the seller was charging, it ended up costing me $110.
And now I want to tell you about this wonderful gadget.
A PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)is basically a miniature computer that you can hold in your hand. There are many brands out in the market and each brand has many kinds of PDA's so with a little research you can find the one that best suits your needs and your wallet.
I can't even pretend that I know any of the technicalities of PDA's, but all I want to do here is tell you simply how I have found this Palm Pilot to be of great use to me.
Calculator
A very simple calculator (no scientific calculations, just the basics) but very handy
Memo Pad
Write or type notes. Lots of them. There is a small square area on the screen that you use to "write" notes. All you have to do is learn how to write each letter and number and symbol with one stroke (or a tap and a stroke) and you can learn to write notes as fast as you could on a regular note pad. You can also purchase a portable keyboard so you can type your notes instead. I have not bought a keyboard, so I have no experience there.
To Do List
Similar to Memo Pad, you write things to do in list form, and you can check off items as you accomplish them, and they disappear from your list. You can put deadlines on your to do items so your PDA warns you when something is due.
Address and Phone book
Store hundreds of names/addresses/phone numbers and even email addresses and you can categorize them under "Personal" "Business" "Friends" or any category you create. Or just leave them "Unfiled"!
Scheduler
A great feature! Basically a calendar that you can use to write down things that have a time or date associated with it. You can look at the daily view and write down hour by hour things you need to do during the day. Appointments, meetings, calls, trips -- you name it.
I use this feature a lot. You can put alarms on certain events. I have mine set to beep (and you can choose different sounds just like on a cell phone) in the morning to wake me up at the same time every day. At night around 10 pm. it beeps to remind me to check a certain email address. Once a month on the same day every month, it reminds me to pay my credit card bill. I've put some friend's birth dates on it so it reminds me when that day arrives, and I no longer have to worry about forgetting birthdays or anniversaries (especially mine!!).
Those are some of the basic tools that you get with a Palm 7x. But that's just the basics. The Palm 7x comes equipped with wireless internet capabilities. It has an antenna that you flip up when you want to connect. Of course, you have to pay for the service, just like regular internet. Since I live in Alaska, and wireless internet isn't an option, that feature is completely useless to me. I deleted all of the internet stuff from my Palm pilot to free up memory space.
And speaking of memory, this one comes with 8MB, which doesn't sound like much, but when you're dealing with just text - no graphics - that memory goes a long way.
Added Features
I was able to go to www.palm.com and download the Bible and a dictionary for free and put it on my handheld. I'm not very impressed with the dictionary (can't expect much from something free I guess) but the Bible is great. Since I have no use for the antenna, I've set it so that when I flip the antenna up and down, it automatically opens up the Bible program.
There's an infrared port that can be used to communicate with and transfer info back and forth with other PDA's.
Buttons
There are six buttons on my PDA. One is the power button and that is obvious what it does. If you press and hold the power button, it lights up a background LCD light that helps you see and use the Palm 7x in the dark.
Then there's a button for scrolling up and down, and the other 4 buttons are for opening the Scheduler, Address Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad programs.
Well, that's about it. The Palm 7x comes with a leather slip cover. It also comes with a software CD that has all the programs on it so that if you accidentally delete something from your handheld, you can get it back. You install the software on your regular computer and you can type notes with your computer to later put on your PDA. This also comes with a HotSync Cradle that connects to your desktop or laptop computer so you can set the Palm pilot into the cradle, push a button, and it synchronizes all the info between your computer and your handheld. It's a good idea to synchronize them regularly so in case something happens to your handheld, you won't lose any information.
It's a bit troublesome carrying the Palm pilot around. If you don't carry a briefcase or purse with you all the time, you have to rely on your pockets. It fits quite nicely in a back pocket, but then you have to remember not to sit on it!
I've only compared the Palm 7x with one other handheld. It was an HP Jornada which a friend bought after he saw how useful my handheld was for me. His PDA is more like a regular computer. It has a color screen, windows, etc.. and a lot more memory. The only thing that I didn't like about the Jornada is that because of the higher graphics and such, the responses to commands are much slower than my simple PDA and it tends to freeze up like a regular computer if you try to navigate too fast between programs. The only time mine froze up was when a friend was frantically trying to crack my password that I had set to lock my handheld
8 MB RAM, 4 times the memory of the standard Palm VII handheld Stores thousands of addresses, appointments, to-do items, and memos Provides instant ac...More at Amazon Marketplace
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