In a moment of weakness I bought a T5 PDA. I wanted to use it to read text files and like that.
It was recommended by Mac Addict, although it does not synch with Mac OS X. You have to use it in Drive Mode.
I would hardly complain if it did not work. I can deal with that. I regret to report that it works some of the time. Some text files I can see, others I cannot. Same for some photos.
So I suspect that it is an Operator Problem, not a hardware/software one.
Do we have anyone out there who can engage me in an e-mail exchange on this problem? My e-mail is in my profile.
I’m far from the best person to answer this question, but just so we all know, what application are you using to read these text files on the Palm, and what application created the text files?
They are Word documents which I modify by adding a ‘.DOC’ extension. I load them on the T5 and (if I can see them) click on them. They open using ‘Documents to Go.’
Other documents get me to the ‘Docs to Go’ screen, but the system hangs and I end up cramming a paperclip in the reset button.
Even worse, some documents simply do not appear on the Palm, but I can see them clearly in the PDA icon on my desktop.
Why the heck don’t they include a good manual anymore?
Doesn’t the T5 comes with The Missing Sync? It was aftermarket for my Clie’s, but work supurbly. I’d thought the T5’s came with it included. If not, I can recommend it based on my Clie (Palm OS 4.x) experience.
Which version of Documents To Go are you using? I’m assuming you’ve checked DataViz’s support site to make sure you’re up-to-date…? I’m using Version 5 with my Tungsten C – I tried version 7, but found it dog-slow and not worth the price.
And yes, the documentation for DTG sucks. I find I get the best results if I do the following:
Create a directory on your computer to act as a “mirror” for your Palm documents.
To load a document on the Palm,
2a. Copy your file to the mirror directory.
2b. Open Documents To Go on your computer.
2c. Drag/import your file from your mirror directory into the DTG window.
2d. Let DTG convert it to whatever Palm-friendly format it uses.
Hotsync. However… If you want to only read text files/images/HTML/whatnot, you’re not limited to using Documents To Go. Go grab a copy of iSilo (the Palm reader) and iSiloX (a program to convert documents to iSilo’s format), and have at it. I find them indispensible for loading up web pages, RSS news summaries, and images for read-only use on my Palm.
Whatjootalkin’ about, Willis? Last I checked, the latest Palm Desktop software will sync under MacOS X without any problems. You can also get Apple’s iSync Palm conduit to sync your contacts/meetings with Apple’s iCal and Address Book applications.
Or have I been imagining the nightly Palm-to-MacOS X syncs I’ve been doing all this time?
The review in Mac Addict says that you had to use drive mode to use the silly thing with OS X. So does the (totally inadequate) manual that came with this technological boat anchor.
Of course there are aftermarket software solutions to let it synch, but this PDA is still just about out-of-the-box, and so they are not yet part of the situation.
I think it’s Palm 5 and, ahem, “better” that no longer offers Palm Desktop for the Mac. And of course no one really uses Palm Desktop, but in Palm-speak, Palm Desktop “is” the syncing solution.
