New toy for Christmas! Palm T3. Now what?

[Moses]

Really cool gadget. Anyone have favorite applications or accessories they like? Help me trick this baby out!

[Hugh R]

My older Palm came with a program called Avantgo on the main software disk. It allows you to download news articles and other similar stuff when you hotsync. I put a TV remote program on mine, its great when you can't find the real remote.

[jyl]

The Palm needs a good calculator. Try:

http://www.geekzilla.geekazoid.com/palmcalc/

or if you are a HP48 buff:

http://www.hpcalc.org/hp48/pc/emulators/

And of course there are the Palm-based automotive data loggers, of which I know nothing, but maybe there's some info here:

http://www.eautoworks.com/html/ord-Auto~Performance-Electronics~Product-1-15671.htm

http://www.auterraweb.com/scantoolbasics.html

[chuckw951]

I bought one of these for my wife. She swears that she will learn how to use it.

I installed "Avantgo" on it.

Remote control program? What is that? I have 5 remotes for my home theatre system....going to one remote would be great...do you have URL for the program.

I was also able to get the "bluetooth" working. I installed one of those bluetooth devices that plug into the computer's USB port.
AmbiCom bluetooth USB thing at BEST BUY
Works great once you figure out how to get it to work. Apparently windows has some settings regarding sharing internet access that you have deactivate and reactivate. This tidbid of info is buried in the documentation.

In terms of accessories I bought the silver hard case...not worth it IMHO...doesn't seem to fit well and it is bulky.

[nostatic]

sadly, I've migrated to using PocketPC devices (the new HP hardware is awesome, and although it isn't perfect, the PocketPC 2003 OS is pretty good...the handwriting recognition is good). I've got a T3 that I use for testing, but I find Graffiti2 to be totally unacceptable, especially after you've used real recognition (my Newton 2100 is still my favorite pda).

That being said, I still want to really like the T3. The Palm os5 is much better, and in fact the built-in calendar app has almost completely done away with my need for Agendus (www.iambic.com). The thing about Agendus that I still find incredibly useful is that appointments are contact-centric, and it stores a history for each person...ie is you make an appointment with Joe Blow, then go to Joe Blow's contact, there is a history button that shows all appointments, todos, etc associated with him.

I haven't used AvantGo in a year or two, but it was useful.

[Hugh R]

Chuck

There are several out there. Mine is from www.pacificneotek.com. You buy it and download and then install when you hotsync. I created a remote for each of my TVs and VCRs (haven't tried one for the DVD player yet. You can demo it free for about 30 days and then buy it online and they give you an activation code.

[jyl]

Wow, nostatic, you have a Newton? My old MP2000 (upgraded to 2100) is still in my office drawer. I can't bear to throw it away. I've been using a Tablet PC for a year now and the HWR is much inferior to the Newton.

Do you think the Newton remains usable? I mean, have people kept up with the software so that it'll access an ISP, use a wireless modem or 802.11b card, render a web page, etc?

[nostatic]

no, I got rid of my 2100 some time ago unfortunately. I've been using a Tablet too, and it is worse than the PocketPC.

There actually is still an active Newton community around, and people have been hacking various things to keep them relevant. I occasionally check on eBay, and you can get them fairly cheap (they were expensive about a year ago...odd market).

[ronb]

better than the datebook that comes w the palm is datebookV - www.pimlicosoftware.com

get a 512k SD card, and turn your palm into an mp3 player - headphones are great, or get an output jack for your car or other sound system (get the outputs from radioshack)

zagat for the palm is a good app if you travel

slovoed - incredible foreign language dictionaries