Teeny Tiny OPF...

Well, call me a bit geeky LOL--but I love electronic 'stuff'. I've used a PDA for years and my old Sony Clie just got flaky on me so I ordered a new Palm last week. The 'extras' were WiFi and Bluetooth--not that I need them really with a laptop, but.... So--today I had to try it (well, you HAVE to know how it works, don't you??--I had 'synced' my email and set it up yesterday--but didn't have a clue if it would work decently or how it would be displayed). Since I was going to the library in town anyhow I went back to the work area and scanned for networks and connected. Then---surfed to OPF---I even logged in on it--and sat there reading the forums in miniature LOL. Nothing like looking at the splash screen and the opening photos on an itsy bitsy monitor--but you quickly adjust to the size, using a stylus and just go ahead.

I don't have a Smartphone so never have looked at the web on a small screen (though the Palm T/X is pretty decent for a PDA and you can change it to a horizontal view, drop out the 'write area' so you see the whole screen). Just thought I would mention that I now can pretty much keep up with OPF anywhere LOL (even bookmarked it)--and email is a snap--I'm fast with graffiti so can dash off an email pretty quickly--and even here in the hinterlands there are quite a few free 'hot spots'.

Considering I was born quite awhile before TV was even available for homes (or probably even thought of by the public), I've come a long way baby LOL.

Diane

I'm delighted!!

Diane can now say, Honey, I shrunk the Forums! LOL

Mary

Diane,

Can one have Broadband for internet connection with the Palm?

Asher

Asher,

High speed connections are available for some of the latest generation of Palm smartphones, such as the Treo 700.

Mike

www.mikespinak.com

Any of these take a chip from one's camera?

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Any of these take a chip from one's camera?

Asher

Click to expand...

Mine uses a multimedia or an SD card--is that what you mean?? I haven't used mine yet--but plan to put a few images on just for fun.

Diane

Mine also takes an SD card. My 1Ds2 will also take an SD card, though I've never put an SD card in it.

Mike

www.mikespinak.com

Just thinking how long it would take to tansmit files!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

..Can one have Broadband for internet connection with the Palm?

Click to expand...

In fact, the "broadband" part is independent of the device itself in this particular example since Diane mentioned using WiFi. If the device is connected to the Internet by means of a WiFi connection, this will typically be either an 11 Mb or a 54 Mb connection. On the other side of this connection, there will be Wireless Access Point (and/or router). This in turn is wired to the Internet and the service provided may or may not be broadband. If the service is broadband, then in the worst case scenario you'll reach a speed of around 512 Kb (taking WiFi performance into account), which can still be considered as "broadband" for surfing only purposes.
BTW, the WiFi part in this story can also be replaced by a Bluetooth connection to a router PC which is connected to the net using a broadband service.

The situation is different if the device itself is making a phone connection to the Internet directly by means of GPRS, UMTS, HSDPA or any other mobile access service they are nowadays providing. GPRS is definitely not broadband. With UMTS, you get similar speeds to a basic ADSL connection. (round 256 Kb). Newer technologies such as HSDPA promise speeds of 1.8 Mb download and 384 Kb upload speeds.

Hope this clarifies it a bit.

Regards,

Cem

Cem Usakligil said:

In fact, the "broadband" part is independent of the device itself in this particular example since Diane mentioned using WiFi. If the device is connected to the Internet by means of a WiFi connection, this will typically be either an 11 Mb or a 54 Mb connection. On the other side of this connection, there will be Wireless Access Point (and/or router). This in turn is wired to the Internet and the service provided may or may not be broadband. If the service is broadband, then in the worst case scenario you'll reach a speed of around 512 Kb (taking WiFi performance into account), which can still be considered as "broadband" for surfing only purposes.
BTW, the WiFi part in this story can also be replaced by a Bluetooth connection to a router PC which is connected to the net using a broadband service.

The situation is different if the device itself is making a phone connection to the Internet directly by means of GPRS, UMTS, HSDPA or any other mobile access service they are nowadays providing. GPRS is definitely not broadband. With UMTS, you get similar speeds to a basic ADSL connection. (round 256 Kb). Newer technologies such as HSDPA promise speeds of 1.8 Mb download and 384 Kb upload speeds.

Hope this clarifies it a bit.

Regards,

Cem

Click to expand...

Thanks Cem for explaining this. I had in interesting short discussion with a young woman at ABC (Atlantic Bread Company, a deli type chain in the US that offers free WiFi) There is one close to me so that's where I initially wanted to test it out. I stood outside since I didn't want to buy anything at the moment, found their network but couldn't connect--it continued to fail. I suspected I needed a code but wondered. I walked in, found a host of folks using their laptops as always and asked a young woman (two were sitting in a booth with the net browser obviously open). I asked her what she had needed to do to connect to the WiFi connection and her response was 'Oh, no, this isn't WiFi--isn't that something that you have to pay for??? I just click this button and the window opens and I put in this'---showing me a receipt that had the code printed on it along with the amount she paid for her coffee. I assured her that she WAS using WiFi (it interested me that many don't know what it is---but know how to use it since the connections are so simple) but knew then that I had to input the code and just decided I didn't want to do it that day---the deli was full of surfers LOL. I decided to try the library since its WiFi connection is free--as are library connections in many parts of the country. And---of course places like Starbucks, other coffee shops and and other 'hot spots'. YOu can check for some free 'hot spots' in your area here http://www.wififreespot.com/

There are many other places to use WiFi too---I had WiFi access in every place we stayed traveling to, while in and traveling from Maine---and we stayed in local, family owned motels for the most part--and in some fairly out of the way places--sometimes you had to go to a lobby or the patio outside but we ended up with rooms that were close enough to pick up without doing that. It just means that people like me LOL---are very common and expect to be able to use their laptops and other mobile devices wherever they are--within reason. I used it to google map where we were going, checking the National Park system, checking for area things that we may have missed (even the small islands in Maine seem to have their own community pages). BTW--if you have an older laptop as I do, and it has a PCMIA slot, you can buy a WiFi card that is small, works fine and is pretty reasonably priced.

Diane

I have a Treo 700p, on the Sprint PCS EVDO network, and download speeds are rated at up to 2.4 Mbps. It certainly is faster than my older Samsung i500, which run 1xRTT on Sprint PCS, and was rated at up to 160 Kbps.

The nice trick is to be able to use EVDO phones like the 700p as laptop connections. Even though there is a lot of WiFi hotspots scattered around, Sprint PCS coverage is quite good everywhere in all major metropolitan areas, and along major highway arteries. With a PCS Vision account and the right handset, you can get laptop access with no airtime or data charges. This is in stark contrast to most of the other carriers, who charge a premium (usually $50 a month) and monitor data usage, charging by the kilobyte for overages.

In the past, I've sat on the Amtrak train going from Chicago towards Montana, and been continuously connected until the middle of North Dakota (where the Sprint coverage gets kind of sparce), because the rail lines follow I-90/94 out that way.

I'm also aware that a number of bulletin board systems similar to the one that OPF is running on have an option for formatting their forums for small palm-size screens. The software either detects the Palm browser in use, or else the forum member accesses the forum through an alternate URL.

Asher, does this forum have that capability?

Dave New said:

I have a Treo 700p, on the Sprint PCS EVDO network, and download speeds are rated at up to 2.4 Mbps. It certainly is faster than my older Samsung i500, which run 1xRTT on Sprint PCS, and was rated at up to 160 Kbps...............

I'm also aware that a number of bulletin board systems similar to the one that OPF is running on have an option for formatting their forums for small palm-size screens. The software either detects the Palm browser in use, or else the forum member accesses the forum through an alternate URL.

Asher, does this forum have that capability?

Click to expand...

Dave, Diane, Cem and Mike,

All this is great information!

Dave,

How expensive is the Treo 700p? My provider doesn't, as yet, have EVDO.

When you give download rates of 2.4 Mbps, you are referring to bits not bytes I presume?

Cem,

"In fact, the "broadband" part is independent of the device itself in this particular example since Diane mentioned using WiFi. If the device is connected to the Internet by means of a WiFi connection, this will typically be either an 11 Mb or a 54 Mb connection."

Again, you're talking bits?

Asher

Here you go Asher
http://web.palm.com/promos/treo700_verizon_promo.jhtml?creativeID=LFB|treo700_verizon_rebate I would guess this might be a bit different with differnt providers. Just so happens we have Verizon so my husband is considering this as a replacement for his current phone.

Diane

Asher Kelman said:

..you're talking bits? ...

Click to expand...

Hi Asher,

Yes, I was talking about bits, which is written with a small letter b such as Mb. If one writes it with a capital letter B, eg MB, then one is referring to bytes (1 byte = 8 bits).

Let’s assume that you have a 512 Kb (64 KB) connection to the Internet, which can be considered as being fast enough for normal surfing purposes ( at the risk of revealing my age, I remember communicating at a speed of 300 baud – 300 b that is- using a modem the size of a breadbin once upon a time, LOL). A typical photo posted in the OPF is about 100 KB in size. So it would take 1.5 seconds to download it. For a thread with 10 such photos, you’d wait 15-20 seconds for the page to completely load which to my mind is still acceptable. It would not be feasible downloading RAW files of many megabytes with such a connection though. However, what would you want do with a RAW file on a device like that to start with anyway? ;-).

Trivia time:
Speaking of broadband, it is interesting to realise that we tend to use the term synonymously to fast internet connections nowadays. Actually, it refers to the fact that a communications channel sends and receives signals divided across a wide range of frequencies (or bands), hence the term “broad” band. See this Wikipedia article for some more details.

Cheers,

Cem

Nice story/anecdote Diane. It is actually quite nice to hear that the (WiFi) technology has become mature and simple enough for most people to use it, without actually having to understand it. The best technology is the least obtrusive one, some say. Mind you, I am a bells and whistles person myself; the more complex the device (with more buttons), the better (LOL).

On a related note, a Dutch attorney general has recently decided to prosecute a WiFi user/scanner who has made use of the nowadays commonly available WiFi Access Points that are unprotected (i.e. unintentionally open to public without the knowledge or consent of the WAP owner). This is an important case that may have some consequences. Is this to be considered illegal or is he innocent since he was just surfing without breaking into the LAN behind the WAP. No one has been inconvenienced when he did that. The jurisdiction is rather unclear on these issues. Will follow up on this story when I read more about it later.

Regards,

Cem

Just came across this thread - I've had my Palm TX since last fall, and absolutely love it (had a Palm M515 prior to that).

When there is Wi-Fi available, I can access the internet.

When there isn't Wi-Fi, I can use Bluetooth to pair with my Moto Razr, and access Alltel's 1x or EVDO wireless internet network, at no cost beside plan minutes.

I have a few SD cards (most recently a 4gb) and have half a dozen or more full-length movies for watching while traveling - the screen quality (3.7", 320x480 pixels) has to be seen to be believed. Takes about 300-500mb/movie, depending on the length and quality I want.

I use it with TomTomNavigator 5 software, and Delorme's Bluetooth GPS Receiver (Bluelogger) for a very versatile and portable GPS system.

I have a bunch of my pictures loaded on SD cards as well - I created a Photoshop action to resize, "warm" the images (the TX display is too "cool" and I pull down the Blue Channel to compensate), add a touch of UnSharpMask. They look great.

Battery life is excellent - I can watch 2 or 3 movies on a single battery charge.

I load up a number of CD's in MP3 form, and it functions as a very competent MP3 player.

I use Epocrates to access the latest prescription drug information.

Oh, and it can also keep track of phone numbers and calendar information!


Congrats on your TX, Diane!