Upgrading Your Palm

Software that will do the job

By Robert J. McGarvey Feb 01, 2000

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

I’ve long grumbled about the necessity of taking a laptopwith me on every excursion away from the home office. Butthere’s always e-mail to check, online phone books to refer to,and faxes to send and receive. That’s why, for me, the criticalmission with my Palm was to transform it into a connected device.What software does the job?

  • Mobile WinFax ($44.99, http://www.symantec.com/mobile/winfax)An exceptionally useful tool, this software lets you send andreceive faxes on your Palm, and the incoming and outgoing can alsobe easily synced to your desktop computer for archiving. Reading 81/2-by-11-inch faxes on a 4.1-inch screen isn’t fun-it takesjuggling-so receiving is something to do only when absolutelynecessary. But sending is a snap-just write and connect, and thedeed is done.
  • AOL Mail (free, AOL Keyword: PDA) For AOL users, e-mailcouldn’t be easier to send or receive with this program. A fewhitches: This app delivers only e-mail connectivity (no Webbrowsing) and, for now, there’s no way to sync mail sent orreceived on the Pilot with your desktop PC.
  • pdQsuite ($44.95, http://www.register.qualcomm.com/pdQsuite)From the makers of Eudora, a classic desktop e-mail program, thisPalm suite provides an easy-to-use e-mail application plus a Webbrowser. You’ll probably want only occasional browsing (thescreen is tiny and monochrome), but at least you know that withthis app, you can do it. And the e-mail app is tops for the Palmplatform, syncing easily with Eudora.
  • Desktop to Go ($49.95, http://www.dataviz.com) Guesswhat-it’s easy to sync data from a personal information managerinto a Palm, but forget toting Word documents or Excelspreadsheets, unless you use this dandy utility that transformsOffice files into data that displays (and can even be edited) on aPalm.
  • ExpenseDirector ($29.95, http://www.iambic.com/edsplash.htm)Need to keep tallies of expenses on business trips, or a morecomplete accounting of your outgo? ExpenseDirector is afull-featured solution that allows you to effortlessly keep on topof your money, and the info readily exports to your desktop.

Add up the outlays and that’s just a notch over $150 . . .but for under $500, including the Palm and a modem, the resultinggadget is truly something you don’t want to leave homewithout.

It’s Quality, NotQuantity

PalmGear

PalmCentral

Tucows

ZDNet

PalmComputing

I’ve long grumbled about the necessity of taking a laptopwith me on every excursion away from the home office. Butthere’s always e-mail to check, online phone books to refer to,and faxes to send and receive. That’s why, for me, the criticalmission with my Palm was to transform it into a connected device.What software does the job?

  • Mobile WinFax ($44.99, http://www.symantec.com/mobile/winfax)An exceptionally useful tool, this software lets you send andreceive faxes on your Palm, and the incoming and outgoing can alsobe easily synced to your desktop computer for archiving. Reading 81/2-by-11-inch faxes on a 4.1-inch screen isn’t fun-it takesjuggling-so receiving is something to do only when absolutelynecessary. But sending is a snap-just write and connect, and thedeed is done.
  • AOL Mail (free, AOL Keyword: PDA) For AOL users, e-mailcouldn’t be easier to send or receive with this program. A fewhitches: This app delivers only e-mail connectivity (no Webbrowsing) and, for now, there’s no way to sync mail sent orreceived on the Pilot with your desktop PC.
  • pdQsuite ($44.95, http://www.register.qualcomm.com/pdQsuite)From the makers of Eudora, a classic desktop e-mail program, thisPalm suite provides an easy-to-use e-mail application plus a Webbrowser. You’ll probably want only occasional browsing (thescreen is tiny and monochrome), but at least you know that withthis app, you can do it. And the e-mail app is tops for the Palmplatform, syncing easily with Eudora.
  • Desktop to Go ($49.95, http://www.dataviz.com) Guesswhat-it’s easy to sync data from a personal information managerinto a Palm, but forget toting Word documents or Excelspreadsheets, unless you use this dandy utility that transformsOffice files into data that displays (and can even be edited) on aPalm.
  • ExpenseDirector ($29.95, http://www.iambic.com/edsplash.htm)Need to keep tallies of expenses on business trips, or a morecomplete accounting of your outgo? ExpenseDirector is afull-featured solution that allows you to effortlessly keep on topof your money, and the info readily exports to your desktop.

Add up the outlays and that’s just a notch over $150 . . .but for under $500, including the Palm and a modem, the resultinggadget is truly something you don’t want to leave homewithout.

It’s Quality, NotQuantity

PalmGear

PalmCentral

Tucows

ZDNet

PalmComputing

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

Subscribe Now

Already have an account? Sign In

Related Content