I have used my PDA as a “book” all the way back to my Series 3 Psion. I have no trouble reading from a screen – which is what most people complain about, however I suspect many have not tried using a modern PDA screen and reader program.
I was at a party last night and got talking about electronic books – so I passed my X51v round and everyone said how easy it was to read, and use.
Using a handheld is a green option,
You already own the device – if you have a Windows Mobile phone – so no new purchase needed
The electronic book is not printed on paper, bound, transported etc – a great saving in resources
Storage of ebooks is very efficient – so you can carry a large library with you at all times
Do you like reading at night? – If so you need a light on to see the text, however a PDA has an illuminated screen, no bedside light required – I know the device needs charging but I am sure that is not as much energy as running a lamp
Paper books can be recycled but so can the PDA – eventually
One downside is that you cannot lend DRM secured ebooks to friends – this is something the industry will have to sort
One bit of advice, I would not bother with the Microsoft Reader ebook program. I tried it out on my first WinCE handheld where it worked OK, but the real problems came when I changed my PC (and then my PDA), something I do several times a year because of my job. The program counted how many devices I had it installed on, and as I had it on my PC in the office, and on the one in my office at home, and a laptop, and maybe the office development machine etc it threw a wobbly and I stopped using it. Now the people from Redmond may well have solved those issues or not, but why bother going back and trying again when there are other reader programs out there. As I said eReader pro (www.ereader.com) is my favourite – and I regularly buy books from them. Mobipocket Reader is another option (www.mobipocket.com). Both offer versions for PCs and handhelds but eReader does not yet have a version for Blackberrys but they are promising one soon.
Both the readers can read the long established doc (not .doc by Microsoft word) format books – and it is easy to make your own ebooks from text files – there are a number of places on the web to find freeware ebooks, use Google or start your ebook collection by searching for Project Gutenberg.
An issue arises when it comes to commercial ebooks because both companies use different (incompatible) DRM systems – so once you buy into one system you are committed, so think carefully before you buy into a system. (Microsoft of course uses a third DRM system and I am sure there are other ebook companies using still other incompatible systems!) Have a good look at the various companies catalogues before you commit, so make sure they offer a selection of the books you like. Of course you could always put all the different readers on your handheld and buy from everyone.
I have just watched the BBC News programme, Click (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/default.stm) and they have reviewed a web site www.ubik.net. This site enables you to create web site suitable for display on a phone or PDA. So I have just been over there and got an account and here is the link http://octech.ubik.net. Light on content at the moment, but what an excellent idea for putting more content onto your PDA or phone.
There was also a service shown that helped find PDA friendly pages online – I have not looked at that yet, although it seemed to be for phones and will require call charges to work. The service is zabidoo.com/push.
As the holiday season draws to a close – it is time to plan the upgrade of my PDA.
At the moment I have a Dell Axim X51v PDA and a Blackberry Curve for email & telephone – and until now I have always had a separate PDA and phone as I have never found a phone with the capability of a high end PDA – until now.
PDA History
Over the years I have had a number of PDAs.
Psion Series 3
Psion Series 3A
Psion 5
The original Palm Pilot – with 2 MB memory upgrade from TRG
TRG Pro Palm – with CF card slot, I had a 32 MB CF card and a CF wifi card for it, clip on modem and a full sized remote keyboard
Palm Tungsten – I got probably the best folding keyboard with this PDA
HP Jornada WinCE – worse PDA I ever had
Dell Axim X30 – with wifi but only wep encryption
Dell Axim X51v – first one – this suffered a major memory failure so I bought the current Dell Axim X51v. I bought a second Dell X51v as I had invested in several sets of dedicated leads and accessories for the unit, and although it had failed I did not want to waste that investment.
The phone I had before my Blackberry was an MDA Compact from T-Mobile running Windows Mobile – but it had many short comings (however it is still in my desk as a spare unit).
The new phone / PDA combo I am looking at is a HTC Touch Pro (for the spec see www.htc.com) – it looks almost perfect for my needs, combining all the things I want in a single package. I will get the largest SD card I can for it and a spare battery but as it uses regular mini USB cables for charging and syncing, no more expense on dedicated cables and chargers. The last folding, full size keyboard I bought was bluetooth, so I am hoping that will work with the new handheld.
I am going to buy it (and insure it) sim and contract free. I have had really bad service from our telecoms supplier here in Lincoln, they even messed up my Blackberry contract, having promised it was a fair deal following a previous “mistake”. No names at the moment as I am looking into the options of reporting them for miss selling.
The plan is to but this sometime around the end of November – hopfully the prices will drop a little by then.
We went to Elgin today – to see Elgin Cathedral. Diana had been there when she was six or seven and had been very impressed by it, so we were going back to have a look.
As we entered the town there was a sign saying it was an “Historic Cathedral Town” – and that was the the only sign we could see for the Cathedral. We parked and tried to find the Tourist Information – there was a sign for that and we followed it, but we could not find the Tourist Information. There were a number of information sign posts – showing where the post office, town centre and other things were but no Cathedral sign.
So out with the PDA, Memory-Map and the GPS unit – the cathedral was marked on the OS map and the GPS took us there. (See here for my mobile tech kit.)
There was sign for the cathedral which we found eventually, and if we had been coming in from the other side of the town we would have seen it – of course we would have seen it if we had given up, got the car and left Elgin to go to Aberdeen instead – as we were leaving the town!
Come Elgin council get your act together – it cannot be hard to put a few signs up – where the tourists can see them.
The Cathedral was impressive – we shall go back next year and have a good look round. The Biblical Gardens next door to the cathedral were excellent and well worth visiting Elgin for on there own.
Although I forward my business calls and refuse to do my email, the moment it appears on my Blackberry, whilst I am on holiday, there are times when a small problem at the office dealt with now stops it being a big problem when I get back. So I do need some computing device with me.
Now my wife brings both of her laptops with her and a bag full of paperwork she plans to catch up on. Meanwhile I like something a bit more portable – my Dell X51v PDA, with six gigs of storage in it and six gigs in the PDAs belt pouch, and a portable bluetooth folding keyboard,
Dell X51v PDA
So what can I do on the PDA
I synchronised it to my Vista laptop before leaving so I have the most up to date copies of my Contacts, Calendar and Notes from my Outlook, and the last two weeks email including the attachments. I also synchronise a folder of my most important work and personal documents (including a list of thing we want to do on holiday). This gives me access to both personal and business information I may need whilst away – in my pocket.
I have used ereader.com for many since I was first introduced to it when I had a Palm handheld – and I use my PDA to read book all the time. I purchased half a dozen books for the holiday – and I have about twenty other books stored on the SD card. I have used eReaderPro for many years as my book reader of choice. For large text files I need to read (help files for programs etc) I use ELFView.
I have some software that converts DVDs to a format that I can use on my PDA – so I loaded Series 5 of Star Trek “The Next Generation”, three movies and a documentary about the “Coast to Coast” Walk onto one of the compact flash cards.
I have several hours of Big Finish Dr Who stories and other various audio books and podcasts.
Lots of music stored on CF card.
I use TCPMP for watching and listening to things on my PDA – I have a very good set of in ear headphones in my PDA pouch.
Whilst away I have gone online, at various hotspots, and have downloaded a number of new podcasts to listen to – I use BeyondPod for this and as my RSS reader.
I have SoftMaker Office loaded for Word and Excel – and have been putting the final touches to my “Coast to Coast Experience” document.
I have XnView Pocket installed this allows me to review my digital photos on a larger screen.
Memory-Map is one of my essential applications add to that a bluetooth GPS receiver and a waterproof bag and it is a great navigation tool. The Memory-Map database contains walks I want to do, places we want to go t and notes about places we have been to in past – our favourite cafes, campsites and attractions.
Bluetooth GPS Unit and AquaPac
I have not got an FTP program loaded on my Asus EEE Linux laptop – so I used Total Commander on the PDA to ftp the photos for my blog up to the internet.
For fun I have a Star Trek web site (don’t look for it on the web it is stored on my PC at home) and I keep a synchronised copy of it on my PDA CF Card – I use PocketHTML to add to it and tweak it.
My son uses it to play Space Trader and I have Vexed installed.
The PDA has wifi so I can get online with it, browse the web and check my email, use Skype, RSS, get weather reports etc.
As this is such an important tool both for business and personal use the night before we left I used Sprite Backup to make two copies of the device which I put on two different SD cards just in case. In the past I have had my PDA crash when away and the Sprite Backup has allowed me to rebuild the PDA.
Life Venture PDA Case with accessories – headphones with pouch, spare PDA battery and cover, PDA charge plug and adaptor leads, spare stylus, memory cards, Swiss Card and a Victorinox pencil
Security
I have a password set on the unit and it locks itself after a very short period of inactivity. The backups are password protected and no sensitive information is stored on the CF or SD cards. If the PDA is lost and then hard reset to clear the password protection then all the sensitive data is lost. If the unit is synchronised to a new computer the password is again required.
A Real Job
I had a call from one of our major clients – and unfortunately I could not get anyone in Lincoln to cover it as they were all committed. So we found a McDonalds – free internet for 24 minutes for the price of a coffee and a bap. I used the Remote Desktop application that came pre-installed on the PDA to access their server. A call to the staff member with the problem, I changed some passwords and provided the help needed.
Now one small disadvantage is the size of the Dell X51v screen – it is a bit small so server screens are displayed with very small fonts (of course let’s remember the size is also its strength, I always have the device with me). I have a folding magnifying glass in my work kit so I can use that to see the server screens, as they are displayed on the PDA, better.
This is a small media case given away free in Amateur Photographer a few years back. I use it to carry some essential accessories for work – but they are equally useful when away.
Power
I have two spare batteries for the PDA, a standard and a high capacity (I have a high capacity battery in the Dell all the time). I carry the spare standard battery in the belt pouch.
High Capacity Battery – Dell X51v
To charge the Dell as I travel I have a mains charger and two battery back-up chargers. For the camping part of the trip I also have an in car charger – I use a USB plug and a Dell synchronisation cable for this.
AA Cell Emergency Charger
More About Charging
I have a bluetooth GPS receiver, an iPod Nano and a Blackberry all of which I charge using the same mains unit with a USB socket – I just need the right lead – and in the car I use a plug with a USB socket and the same leads.
Accessories, cables and chargers
The flat rectangle in the bottom right hand corner is a 2Ah rechargeable battery I got from Maplins – which I can use to recharge my devices.
Other Stuff
The Life Venture pouch I use is great for carrying the essentials (including, money, bank cards, business cards and a pencil) and protects the PDA. It has a very secure belt clip and a shoulder strap can be added if required. It is not waterproof so when I am walking I put it in a zip lock plastic bag to protect it.
The downside of the bluetooth keyboard is it uses batteries reasonably quickly so I carry several sets of AAA cells. The usefulness of having a full sized keyboard when I need to write or input a lot of data out weighs the battery use.
Other Backups
I have an eight gig memory stick with me which has copies of the installation CDs of company and personal software. I have my Outlook PST file stored on a CF card (it is password protected) and my collection of 50k Memory-Maps is backed up onto a DVD.
I also have my PortableApps memory stick on my key ring – I can use it on my wife’s laptop if needed.
Asus EEE
Since the beginning of the year I have been been using one of these laptops for support work – it is a lightweight and capable machine. I have the 4 gig model with an eight gig HCSD card for extra storage. I wasn’t planning to bring it with me but at the last minute I packed it – and now we have wifi in the timeshare house I am glad I brought it. I have uploaded photographs to Flickr and watched several things on iPlayer – things that I cannot do on my PDA.
If there is one problem with the small laptop is the small keyboard, for long documents it is hard work – but that’s why I have the full size keyboard for my PDA.
Everyone has had the experience when you have forgotten to charge your phone and you realise it part way through the working day.
I have.
So I bought one of these from Maplin – a Battery Powered Emergency Mobile Phone Charger. It uses a single AA cell battery to put a useable charge back in your device. I experimented with it this weekend and it put a charge back into my Blackberry when it was completely discharged.
I then got my soldering iron out and made a cable up so I can charge my Dell PDA as well. This gadget will also charge my GPS receiver when I am walking – a good safety device.
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