I cannot believe what I have done

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tianli

举人
Firstly ....what the?? I have been looking for s/w just like this since 1995 (manly kisses for mike) ...I am a savvy sort of fella so feel a bit rosy in the cheeks :oops: that I missed this somehow ...and then in the same day (because I was reading this forum) I also found ChinesePod :oops: I would ask you to kick me but maybe you should save it for a bit later in this post.

So I need a PDA, last time I had one was a V ...so had to go shopping.
So I want it for Pleco only and don't want a pda/phone and my choices are Palm or PC. ...OK so I keep it simple and look at Palm 1st. Bugga there is a 2-week old $250 TX on ebay for bidding (only has 1 bid) in 1 hour 10mins ....tick ...tick
....tick ...need to work this out fast ....tick ....tick....it looks like they don't come up on ebay this often and never this new ...tick ...tick ...but wait I can buy one from US for the same money ....Oh but I would not get warranty ...tick ...tick

so now with page after page flashing past me ...
A TX is $499 (US$457) in Aust and all this for a less than a T5 with an OS older than me and a model already 2 years old. I can even see they were $299 at release in the US ...I know this is down-under but this is a genuinely-obscene price. Ok quick what else is there in Palm ...the E's but screens are too small ...NOTHING ELSE!!! ...Whats this??, Palm is in trouble ....sales of PDAs are dead ....the OS is fat with patches ...no new OS coming out ....AM I GOING TO BE THE LAST GUY ON THIS PLANET TO BUY A PALM TX???

...tick ....tick .....Ok so I now own a TX :oops:

The only comfort I have is recalling my first open day at Uni to look at doing Chinese, it began with a lecture for students of all languages on offer. At the end of the intro they asked each language group to leave the hall language by language until there was only the learn-Chinese students left. I was sitting up near the front and got to see some handsome fellas and pretty girls as they left the room. So I looked behind me to see what we looked like as a group and saw grey almost blue people wearing lab coats and 7dollar haircuts. ....and now that I own a Palm TX, I suddenly feel for the 1st time that I really do fit in.
 
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Aunty

举人
Mate, you've done well, you won't regret it.

Last year I blew $500 on my first PDA on ebay (aus) last year, a LifeDrive which is apparently the worst model they've ever made, a useless flakey piece of hyped up junk with the size and weight of a brick. But in a way I don't regret it, because it gave me my entry to PDAs which was priceless. I've since bought several Palms, including a fine TX, and put my first mistake down to the entry cost of finding my feet in a new world. Yes they are quite expensive in Oz, and you paid a good price for yours.

You'll love the TX, and this particular model will take up to a 4GB SDCard. If you're using ChinesePod, you'll want that size, in a good quality, it doesn't have to be lightning speed but don't be stingey on quality. Also get a USB SDCard reader to transfer the podcasts and PDFs, don't even think about hotsync for them. Check the cpod forum for more ideas and lists of essential free software for cpoddies. And of course you'll want to keep a screen protector on it all the time especially if you're using PlecoDict, no doubt about that. I find the $20 ("washable" "restickable") ones are better value than the $4 ones, if you can afford them, but get any type, quick, before you wear out the screen.

Here's the most important piece of advice: get a good case for it, metal if you can, otherwise you can lose the lot in a heartbeat, and will when you least expect it. So your next investment should be a good knock-proof case, and a plastic film screen protector, then SDCard and card reader. Buy CJKOS if you want that as well, then there's nothing else to buy for it, ever.

Congratulations, and welcome to our small efficient world.
 
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tianli

举人
Aunty ...that was just terrific. Everything you said I will do and you gave me a nice surprise as well ...4G SD :shock: :shock: :shock: , I already have a few but was certain that 2G was the limit. 4G is a SDHC format and if it fits then WOW. I have already read the whole pleco forum ....(and see we have a few treasures amongst the members) and have already begun assembling a list of sw. I was going to post this list and get opinions so that the next nubie might find the going a bit easier and get the info up to date. I spend last night on the Palm.au site and was saddened by how poor it is ...they really deserve a kick in the pants in an email :evil: . The link to GPS goes elsewhere, which I suspect was more an act of dishonesty than anything. Oz maps might not be available or the unit is now discontinued but they (Palm) have kept the reference as a marketing point. Other links goto 404 errors and for the first time ever (and I am a super-heavy internet user) a page had frozen and needed Ctrl+alt+del to fix.

Do you know What are the re-usable screen slips are called & where did you get yours???
 
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ipsi

状元
Yeah, the New Zealand site is a bit shit as well. Deal with the US one. Probably your best bet...

I dunno if the TX really does support 4GB (I own a Treo 680), but you can probably find a way to make it so. And maybe even support bigger cards. I understand the 680 supports 8GB, and maybe even 16GB+...
 
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Aunty

举人
ipsi said:
I dunno if the TX really does support 4GB
Click to expand...
Well I do know, because I bought two 4gig cards and have been using them every day for months now with my TX. Here's how to make it work: cut open the new card's blister pack, remove card, insert in TX SDCard slot, use it.

I think most other models won't take 4gig, and I've seen kludges that cause a lot of misery, but the TX absolutely definitely certainly ridgey didge no shadow of a doubt true blue bloody oath does a fish swim takes them in its stride. At least mine does.

tianli, I look for the screen protectors on ebay (search for " TX screen " in PDA accessories) and read the descriptions to try to identify the right ones. Usually they are sold as singles, where as the cheapies are most often in packs of 3 or 4. I think there are sellers in Melbourne and Perth, at least. The first one I ever bought was great because it has a very slightly matte finish which makes writing a lot more comfortable, like paper instead of glass. The last one wasn't like that, the normal smooth surface, and it's OK. They're really hard to put on without getting air bubbles. The cheap ones always bubble all over the place no matter what I do.

Don't try to get extra stuff and do more fancy tricks with this machine just yet, you have enough in the box to do occupy several weekends, and PlecoDict will be your main use anyway. If you're like me it can become your complete Chinese study environment, isn't that enough for starters? If you add too many expensive things you'll miss appreciating what you have. Save your money, and take it easy. Do check the two cpod forum threads though, because you'll definitely want a few freebies right away, such as FileZ, PalmPDF, NVBackup, and optionally TCPMP. The first two or three essentials are on freewarepalm.com, your one stop shop, and you might as well download them right now. If you want to be able to type/read Chinese in every (almost) PDA program, do consider buying CJKOS, which you can try free for 30 days and then it'll turn all your Chinese shopping lists to rubbish if you don't register in time.
 
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ipsi

状元
Fair enough. I wonder if it supports 8+GB as well then? Be interesting to know.

Also, CJKOS won't turn everything to rubbish when the trial runs out, it'll just keep on popping up ever-more frequent screens to register, which is what happened to me before I bought it.
 
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tianli

举人
the 4G SD card works for Aunty & many other TX owners ...but my own Sandisks (top end of SD cards) do not. Like all SDs above 2G it is an SDHC format ...thinking it might be a format incompatability I formatted them in my Nikon and Leica and even the kids Wii but alas still no. Next time I am in town, I will sample a range of brands at a camera shop and give my results here. I will also try an 8 and a 16 if I can find one out of a packet.
For the moment I am only concerned about ripping a DVD to an SD and unsure if 2G is enough ...but this is another topic that I have just posted.

To finish this one off ...the TX has turned out to be a nice buy, the screen was my main criteria and it is as good as everyone describes ...increasing the font of the character zoom in Pleco (font96) was almost unnecessary but improves readability further and is worth the large file size to install. After installing Pleco(Pro), font96, A2DP, NVBackup, adobe reader, Netchaser, PrintIT, and the hifi screen for pocket-tunes, I am still left with 68M out of 115. Deleting all the Palm intro/tour stuff and a demo movie should give a further 5-7Mb.

...the Wifi on the TX is terrific I have WAN access running (internet & email) but I have still to set up LAN access so that I can transfer files back and forth across the 4 wireless PCs at home.

...an RSS feeder direct to the palm (maybe AvantGo) and a util to stop the auto power-off are likely to be all I will need ...so in all I am pretty pleased. My order for Pleco is early next week ...and then off I go.
 
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Aunty

举人
I wonder if the format type is an issue. Like I said, I literally took my SDCards out of their shrinkwrap and put them straight in the Palm, no reformatting at all. If I reformatted them and they didn't work, I wouldn't have been too surprised. I think you can format them on the PDA itself, but I can't guarantee that that little program is up to spec with the 4gig cards or not.

Be cautious if you delete any of the Palm-supplied programs thinking you're freeing up space. Each time the device reboots, those supplied programs are automatically replaced, you can't prevent it.

If you're using the Adobe PDF reader, do give PalmPDF a try. It's vastly superior, and of course free.
 
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andycarlsson

Member
Just for the record, the Palm TX can't run SDHC cards ( this is the new Secure Digital High Capacity format ). Most new cards of 4 gigs and above nowadays are SDHC, so of course they won't work. However, you can still get normal SD cards up to 4 gigs, I got one by Trancend a couple of weeks ago ( it cost me 350 RMB, about $45 US ) and it works great.
 
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ipsi

状元
Has anyone tried copying the SDHC/Fat32 drivers from the Treo 680 to the TX? I know it's doable for the 650, but I've not heard of anyone doing that with a TX. Don't see a huge reason why not.
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
The TX most certainly can run SDHC cards, I have a 4 GB Transcend one in mine and it works fine - system halts for a few seconds right after you insert the card but after that it works as well as any other SD.
 
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ipsi

状元
Interesting - does that mean it supports 8 GB cards? Assuming nothing better comes out over here I'll probably recommend a TX to a friend of mine studying Chinese (when he's payed off some of his mortgage...).
 
mikelove

mikelove

皇帝
Staff member
No firsthand experience with that, but a quick Google search suggests that it does, so it's probably worth a try at least.
 
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tianli

举人
I guess then I must until locating the above mentioned drivers for experimentation ...advise that a Sandisk 4G SDHC card does not work in a TX ....but is very happy in any of my cameras.
 
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