PPCing in the Work Place

[digiSal]

Pocket PCing in the work place is a definate must in the IT industry or in any other job where you have to have information on the fly. I should'nt just say Pocket PCing, Palms can carry just about the same information as a PPC can.

Working here at the Clinic I have had to have information, such as static IP addresses to available liscenses for software, without knowing i needed it when i left my office. And each time the Pocket PC has come to the rescue. It beats the hell out of carring a clipboard with printouts of spreadsheets. And since we are running a small WIFI network I have been able to compose emails or access network shares from all sorts of locations.
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I have just about Maxed out my Dell Axim though. 32mb of Memory is just not cutting it anymore. I really dont need Journal Bar to give me Weather and News reports on my today screen, but its really cool and comes in handy when bored. I really dont need Dashboard, but it makes accessing my often used programs, appointments, and tasks a whole lot easier to get to. But these two apps hog up a lot of memory. I really dont have much installed into the PPC itself. A lot of the apps reside on my SD Card.

So what do I do? I want a new Pocket PC bad, but I am not going to do it. I had rather spend the money on the Vette which I have not driven in forever....Also, the IT Director placed and order for 2 Toshiba 805s, the Pocket PC of my dreams, and if it gets approved one will be mine for the duration of my employment. So I am hoping to get that......

The moral of the story, get a Pocket PC and you will see how it comes in handy in the work place, but you have to want to learn how to use it.

--Sal-

[Rob]

If i get one Jay can i use it at the BAR ?  haha.  you said workplace .  Use the Sears card if ya need something.

[digiSal]

You could use one at the bar for all kinds of crap. Tracking your beer inventory, payroll, or even as a coaster....

and dont temp me with your sears card. Can you say Plasma TV?

I applied for one of their cards and i got a letter from them that said something to the effect of Keep Dreaming, or thanks for the laugh...

dirty rats...

[Weave]

I love my PPC. I have one of those jobs that somtimes is busy, but sometimes is quite slack. The PPC is for taking up the slack.

I have the email setup, but mainly use it to email others. Interestingly, if I get some email that has a picture attached it will download the picture and let me view it. Cool!

My PPC, the Toshiba e355, is not WIFI capable. That kinda sux... but it does have 64 megs of onboard and I currently sport a 256 meg SD Memory card. I keep text files, MP3's, etc... on there.

Reading is what I mainly do on the PPC. I use a freeware program called Haali Reader as my text viewer. I tried using Pocket Word, but it was too slow to load the big text files I play with. No auto scroll on this (or at least I couldn't make it work). Haali Reader also can play with text files that are zipped. The main "bug" I have found is that it gets a bit confused sometimes if you are reading text off of a memory card, so I usually move the file I am currently reading to My Documents.

I also use AvantGo with PocketIE to view webpages. Slashdot, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Weather Underground, etc... I currently have the 2 meg freebie account, but I am seriously considering upgrading to the 8 meg paid (something like $15 a year).

In order to get around, I use the onboard FileExplorer and I also use the freeware Total Commander. What is cool about this is that it can play with zip files. Cool! Much more control over things that File Explorer.

For games, I play:

Solitare (included with ALL GUI'd versions of Micro$oft OS's)
Jawbreaker (another M$ freebie)
Pocket Irked v2.1 - FREEWARE - this is a PPC port of a Palm game called Vexed, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Black Jack for PocketPC - FREEWARE - A decent game of black jack with hints, etc...
Chess - FREEWARE - Valentin Iliescu has created a rather pleasant looking and playable Chess game.
Gemswap - FREEWARE - Valentin Iliescu strikes again - this is a clone of Bejeweled.
And finally:
PocketNES - FREEWARE - THis is a great Nintendo Emulator, if you can get behind the emulation thing.

I also have a few Today screen hacks that I run:

I use cLaunch - FREEWARE - to put a tabbed index on my Today Screen (kinda the same thing as a desktop). This tabbed index has a bunch of icons on it.

I also use a thing called BatMemTime - FREEWARE - to track my battery and memory use. I don't bother with the uptime thing on this... it will give how long since last system reset (I almost NEVER reset). You can see in the screenshot three gauges... one is battery charge, next one is my system memory (can drag the memory allocation from this, too), and the bottom one is my SD Memory card status. I currently have an arseload of MP3's on it from nuggs.net, which has a bunch of old timey hippy jam band concerts for download.

Here is a screenshot of my Today Screen:

[digiSal]

You got that thing all juiced up, just the way i like it!

the only thing you missing is

Icbar
http://www.ictinus.com/icbar/

Lets you know what is running in the background really closes your apps, not minimizes like the standard OS does, has battery and memory meters (but you already got that).  And its skinnable and free...

Below is a screen shot of it, you will see some apps in the system tray and then the full name of the app in the little menu also, so you can close the apps individualy. YOu can also see a setting to hide the apps from the System Tray, so the only way for you to know they are there is by clicking this little menu......Check it out.... You can also see where my Memory shot down to nothing....

[digiSal]

and Below are the games i have loaded on the SD card. I think thats all of em, the TIger Woods Icon always disappears on me...

By the way i have one 256 MB CF card, one 64MB CF card and one 64SD card...

 

[digiSal]

and for giggles here is a BAD video of my Ax in action.

keep in mind its a BAD video and quality and preportions(sp?) got lost in conversion....

[Weave]

Cool! Messing with Icbar now...

What is that onscreen keyboard thing you had in the video? And the "Handy DOS Reference" thing in Programs?

[digiSal]

 

[digiSal]

 

[digiSal]

and the Unix reference is just that. A reference to Unix commands. I loaded it because a lot of the commands are similar to Linux, and that I am working here at the Clinic it comes in handy because we have a Unix server. The main command we use is KILL though... to log off users.... I also have the DOS command reference loaded as well.

YOu can get that here:
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=10698&arseociateid=262

[chupame2]

hey sal, im thinking bout getting an axim when my income tax rolls in, the one with integrated wireless.  got a question though, does the card slot allow for more memory and allow programs to be installed on the card?  How much integrated memory is on it and useable?  What accessories would you recommend getting at the time of purchase?  Lemme know, im seriously thinking about getting one.  would be very useful if i get a job up here or go back to school, or both  :frosty:

[digiSal]

Cool man!

I think the Dell Axim X3i (like Mikes) is a good way to go. It comes with a Secure Digital Slot, intergrated Wifi, 400mhz Processor and 64MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM. You sure can install Apps on the SD card. It would be better to do so that if you run a big app that takes up all your 64MB of RAM it can also use your 64MB of ROM. So go all out and buy a big SD card! They are at 1gig now i believe. The SD card slot also acts as a way to add peripherals like Cameras or GPS. The prices on these things are going down and they also popping up on sale at dell.com. So check frequently.

A damn good review of this Pocket PC can be found here:
http://www.aximsite.com/reviews/index.php?qid=143&catid=97

In fact, I would spend sometime at www.aximsite.com. Check out the forums for tons of info.

As far as accessories, a keyboard would be great when you back in school or if you have to type up something on site while working. These boards fold up small. I never used pen and paper for notes the last few semesters in College. Dont get Dells keyboard though. Get something like this:
http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/tips/stowaway_IR.htm
I dont remember if you ever saw the wireless keyboard I have. Mine is this one:
http://www.pocketop.net/

Don't just look at Axims though. Compaq has a variable cornacopia of Pocket PCs and then there is the mother of all Pocket PCs. The Toshiba e805... 128MB of RAM...need I say more?

Would like to have another Pocket PC user around here!!

hey sal, im thinking bout getting an axim when my income tax rolls in, the one with integrated wireless.  got a question though, does the card slot allow for more memory and allow programs to be installed on the card?  How much integrated memory is on it and useable?  What accessories would you recommend getting at the time of purchase?  Lemme know, im seriously thinking about getting one.  would be very useful if i get a job up here or go back to school, or both  :frosty:

[neuromancer]

but you have to want to learn how to use it.

If you think on it hard enough and are creative there are limitless possibilties to stream line aspects of your job. Information retrieval is the most obvious and perhaps the strongest plus. I use my T/E everyday and I have started to make some heads turn of past users of Palm systems who have since turned to PocketPC. Nothing earth shattering but a lot of "Damn, I didn't know that you could do that on a Palm." One of the things that I am thrilled with is the ability to pull out the wireless keyboard and work on "native" Word and Excel (Excel is the biggie for me as it can be used to imput data at work in a decidedly mobile mode.) I want to start getting the lab to think about mobile units to input data and synch into the main structure rather than relying solely on the single computer to maintain work records. One thing I have to worry about is Hippa regulations and the proper encryption of data to arseure compliance with federal regulations. For the moment though I am just utilitzing it to get stuff done while others are fumbling helplessly at the main computer in the lab. hehehehe. Part of a solution is that we often write data down on forms and then walk to the computer to input it. Wasted step if you ask me. Much easier to simply input the data once into the mobile unit and then synch it into the computer.

Recently I picked up a second T/E for Bev. (Actually Tim made me a good offer on his T/E. Thanks Tim!) We have loaded a "Drug Guide" and other medical reference manuals into it so that she can have the information in her pocket rather than having to look the information up in a book on some far away shelf. The beauty of the system is that the outfit we bought the manuals from offer "live" updates so if the reference material changes the manual is up-dated via synch. She use it a lot and has gotten several other nurses to look at buying into "pocket solutions".

Interesting side note: Not a work place usage but the other night we played with beaming between the two units. Often we settle in for the night reading a book on the Palm. We decided to give beaming a try and it worked pretty good. (No not "toothing" or "dogging" so don't get funny with it. LOL) The beam works at a short distance although I have not tested it's extreme ranges but often fails if the other user is actively using thier unit. The beam can bounce off the walls not unlike your remote control but Bev has a case for her's that partially obstructs the port. Interesting though. You can beam just about anything ... books from Palm Digital Media to subtly amourous thoughts.  

David

[digiSal]

I have seen two nurses using a Sony Clie at the Clinic but have not asked them what they use them for.

As for as the Beaming goes, look for two player games that you can play over that beam. The one i used to use was:
http://www.megasoft2000.com/palm_division/billiards.htm

Of course, I didnt know anyone with a Palm so I would carry an extra one so they could use that one. There has got to be some free ones over at freewarepalm.com

The Infrared beam on my Axim sux, but you can get a CF Card Infrared Beam that will beam about 50 feet or so.....