Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Thank you for the wishes! And a little brain picking for tech advice

You guys! Thank you so much for all the birthday love. You are all amazing and reading the comments and wishes made me warm and fuzzy all weekend, as I tried to recharge my batteries on the couch at my folks' place. All very, very good. I needed that.

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So, the tech thing. I'm travelling every 2 weeks for the next 3 months, and am now faced with the need for ultra-portable access to the web. Here's what I'm trying to put together: a little something that will fit in my purse that I can take wherever I go. It would have wifi, would allow me to edit HTML files [in text mode, not Word's funny HTML editor] and FTP files as well. Doesn't need to be a phone, camera, butler or manicurist. I need to be able to get a large number of html files on the thing from my Mac laptop in some way -- USB or whatever.

I have a laptop, and that's not the solution here. It's got to be a stripped-down marvel of connectivity that can go wherever I do. There are ultraportable laptop solutions, but I don't really want to go into the $1500 land of doom. I can get a new full-featured laptop for that!

Things I've looked at already:
- Newton eMate 300 (don't laugh -- if it weren't for the Newton OS that doesn't save files like a Mac OS does, it might have been the perfect solution! it's certainly cheap enough!)
- various Palm devices. Current leader, the TX, plus an external keyboard
- Blackberry Pearl...can you get an external keyboard for a Blackberry?
- HP Jornada 720 (again an eBay purchase...but would it even work?)

Does anyone use any of these (or other things I haven't mentioned) and have feedback for me? The Palm TX seems to be the winner so far, as long as I watch for the bugs and keep the software lean. I think the FTP and Wifi won't be the hard things to get; it'll be the simple text-editing of HTML files without the complication of Office's faux intelligence.

All input welcome! The comments are at your disposal.

Thank you!

posted by amy [Knitty] @ 9:41 AM 12 comments

Comments:
Amy,
I use a Dell Pocket PC. Most of them have built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. They are file size expandable with a SD card, which come in a variety of sizes from 512mb to 2gig. With this device I am able to do just about everything that I can on my laptop. The prices range from $300+ depending on the options you choose. The only thing that you have to remember about using these or any other handheld device for the internet is that many sites are not yet formated for these size screens and may show up out of wack. I hope this helps.
# posted by Anonymous Knitting Nea : 11:16 AM, October 31, 2006
 
When I first started working in the travel industry, I needed to write up reviews while on the road. I ended up using the Jornada, and got a nice little folding key board. It was a great set up. I did all my work in a text only program, like Notepad. It also had Word, and a few other programs, too. And compact, the thing was SMALL. I liked how it could be synced with my laptop by IR, and it took only seconds.
Hope that helps. Keep us informed on what you get!
# posted by Anonymous Dave Daniels : 11:34 AM, October 31, 2006
 
external KB for BBs: yes, they're available, but I don't know if they've been tested for the 8100 yet.

The Pearl is awesomely sized, and I'd switch from the 7100 to it if it were offered to me. But if you want to do a lot of html text editing, you would prefer a larger screen size because of all those markup tags. It's good for e-mail composition, not coding.
# posted by Anonymous j. : 11:50 AM, October 31, 2006
 
I've got a TX that I'm having great fun with. It's great to be surfing while waiting on the corner for friends to meet up. Important to get an SD card for all the programs (and data files) that don't come with the Palm, otherwise the OS crashes constantly. I like it a lot because of size, but I don't think it's reliable enough for work. Just make sure you sync regularly.
# posted by Anonymous eve : 12:12 PM, October 31, 2006
 
I'm also shopping for a PDA and the Palm TX is currently on the top of my list currently. Main selling point - ease of synch with my Mac. From what I'm reading Palm OS is the way to go - the other OS's have issues with Macs. Good luck!
# posted by Blogger Dene : 2:50 PM, October 31, 2006
 
I've been doing some research on PDA's. I also agree with dene, the PalmTX is on the top of my list so far.
# posted by Blogger Diane : 3:54 PM, October 31, 2006
 
for sure you can get an external keyboard for your blackberry.
# posted by Blogger nadine : 4:57 PM, October 31, 2006
 
I actually have the
latest Sidekick, but that is because I wanted something basic and could be edited online on T-Mobile's website without having to synchronize. If I had to choose, it would be a toss up between the HP and the Blackberry. However, if you use a Mac, I would go with the Newton. Good luck!
=:8
# posted by Blogger somebunnysloveDOTcom : 5:47 PM, October 31, 2006
 
I love my TX with the external keyboard. I've never had any problems with crashing.
# posted by Anonymous Nicki : 7:37 PM, October 31, 2006
 
The TX is the top choice for me, and all of my tech-geek friends agree. What I can tell you is DO NOT whatever you do, for the love of all things yarn and holy get a HP. I could bore you for days on end with my horror stories of "it should work..." Just know...Don't do it. Get the TX. You'll be a ton happier!
# posted by Blogger Laura : 8:31 PM, October 31, 2006
 
I like looms.
# posted by Blogger denny Mcmillan : 10:12 PM, October 31, 2006
 
Having used several different generations of the Palm OS (and now I resort to paper to jot notes and a notebook pc for travel) I can also recommend the Palm OS devices. Documents To Go will take care of synching .doc and .xls files. A text editor program like http://benroe.com/sied/ might work for html.

I'm not sure a palm device has a wide enough screen (even in landscape) to edit html, since text strings in html can get very long. Also, color coding the text helps me edit html and any html editor would need that function.
# posted by Blogger Freecia : 11:31 PM, October 31, 2006
 
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