Any good Palm apps/games?

I have a Palm IIIxe that runs POS 4.0 and was wondering if there are any good apps and games I could install?

I did have a Palm Pilot Pro with POS 2.0 a long time ago and did re-install the games I could remember but I'm forgetting a lot.

Is there a site where you can search for palm apps compatible with the specific POS version I have?

Thanks

I used to have a IIIxe, and I can recall there were many good games and applications for it. Try here for a large selection of good Palm freeware! You'll have to dig around to find which one is compatible with OS 4.0 though.

And here you can browse for compatible software specifically for the IIIxe.

A quick Web search shows that there are still a few sites out there. This one looks like a good place to start:

http://www.palmopensource.com/

There are lots out there to choose from. Some of the ones I use include:

CityTime – great if you need to keep track of multiple times zones.

CheckPlease – app to figure out tips.

SnapperMail – best email program, even works with my SSL-requiring ISP.

WordSmith – best word processor.

TinySheet – best spreadsheet.

ThoughtMgr – Outliner, idea processor.

JFile or HanDBase – either one is a great database.

Obfuscate – Hides built-in programs you don’t want.

FileZ – best file manager.

All the built-in file manager programs on a TRGpro – Backup, CardPro, FlashPro – I don’t know what I would do without them.

CF2DOC – translates DOC < - > TEXT to and from CF/SD cards. I find it vital to get files off my TRGpro to a CF card to be read on any computer.

Rick

Thanks for all those websites, I hope I can find apps I had on my Palm Pilot back in the day, I wish I had kept them all.

Rick, many of those apps would require file transfers or writing, both of which are a nightmare to accomplish with Palm OS. I'm looking more for game type apps or apps that don't require transferring data or entering lots of text after installing. I'm also not really looking for "useful" apps because I don't consider a Palm OS device very useful to begin with, the added complexity of having to convert every single piece of data to and from Palm OS format each time you transfer it in or out of the Palm is probably by far the biggest drawback of Palm OS (until whatever version they finally started to support standard files). Also the extreme ease at which you can lose all your data and complexity of making a backup doesn't make them reliable devices.

I never liked Palms and only got one about 15 years ago because the Windows CE devices weren't yet available in Canada at the time so I settled for a Palm, which in the end I'm glad I did as I was able to see how many lightyears ahead even 1st generation Palm Size PCs of the time were.

I like still having a Palm device to bring back those memories of the apps and games I had and of a device/OS that can probably set a world record for how unstable it is and how often it crashes, I probably averaged 5 crashes a day back then with total data loss every few days or weeks at least (in 14 years of Windows CE I had maybe 3 freezes and perhaps one case of data loss due to hardware failure).

By the way thanks again for giving me this Palm I love to hate lol.

If ever I did get the same Palm Pilot Pro I had back then, can I install apps using the cradle and Windows XP since it has no infrared? I kind of miss the differences the Palm Pilot Pro had, the IIIxe is considerably different, both the shape and especially that strange reversed backlight that even the hacks can't really reverse back to a regular backlight, I really preferred the original backlight.

Thanks


Edited by aab 2012-07-24 5:54 PM

Have to disagree with you on this. And that’s probably because I use a TRGpro and not a Palm III (any variation). I’ve always found the TRGpro to be extremely stable (OS 3.5.3). I’ve never lost any data due to a crash. As for entering text, it’s no worse than any Windows CE, Palm Size PC, Newton, Psion, etc. device. Or, you can take two seconds and put it on a keyboard. As for file transfer, I normally don’t need to do it. I use the TRGpro as a stand-alone device. The only exception is when I convert a DOC file to text and remove the CF card from the TRGpro and put it in a desktop computer. For me, that’s painless and only takes a couple of taps. As for the “complexity of making a backup,” sorry, that doesn’t wash with a TRGpro. A backup to CF card program is built in, again it’s painless.



Not a problem, enjoy hating it

Rick

Edited by Richard Plume 2012-07-24 8:18 PM

That's not a fair comparison as the TRGPro isn't made by Palm and has several MAJOR improvements over a palm. However I'm extremely skeptical about it not crashing since it runs Palm OS after all, perhaps if you limit yourself to the built in apps or are VERY careful about the quality of apps you install, but so many Palm apps crash Palm OS all the time. Mine would crash several times a day back when I actually used one and required a toothpick I kept in the battery compartment to reset it.

The data loss is also not normally from a result of a crash but from the fact you have an absurd 60 seconds to change batteries before total data loss, that was really a completely ridiculous system to have to highly risk all your data every single time the battery dies. If you happen to drop a battery as you're changing it and don't find it immediately, say goodbye to all your data. How hard would it have been to add a backup battery like every CE device?

About entering text, the text recognition (both Jot and Calligrapher) are MILES ahead of Palm's Graffiti where you basically have to relearn how to draw most letters in completely unnatural ways and you must draw it precisely the way they chose that letter to the drawn. Even Jot recognizes several different ways of writing each letter and calligrapher learns your precise writing style rather than making you learn to write like an alien, and even the onscreen keyboard is far better and customizable.

About the backup, again that only applies to a TRGPro, all other Palms must be backed up to a desktop PC and as I remember it took about an hour for just a few megs (my Philips Nino backs up about as much data in minutes, also over serial).

I might actually get a TRGPro, does it have the "proper" backlight or that silly reversed backlight the Palm IIIxe has? It really is a physical change they did to the display as even with the hack to reverse it back it looks absolutely nothing like a normal LCD screen, it has this weird holographic look where items change from black to white depending on the angle/light conditions. Can you install a program on a TRGPro by simply putting a prc file on a CF card and inserting the CF card? Can you "install" the program onto the Palm so you can then use it without the CF card inserted?

Thanks


Edited by aab 2012-07-27 9:46 PM

I always found my Palm OS devices to take only about 20 minutes or so to restore (and they incrementally backed up automatically each sync). But a lot of apps wouldn't work if installed to the memory card, and I hated the closed nature of the OS. If something didn't work, you had no way to find out why.

Are you sure that link is still valid? It just shows a blank page. Can you tell me the steps on that main website to select your POS version? It seems like a good site but I'd like to filter by what works on my device.

Thanks

I disagree. A TRGpro is very much a Palm III, just as a Compaq C-Series 810 is very much a Windows CE device. The 810 has extra built in programs, like a financial calculator, Quick Notes, a system-wide spell checker and a great little backup program. It can even handle 20-megs of built-in RAM. Just because it has extras doesn’t mean it’s not descended from the original.



You know which apps I run, I’ve written about it here as well as in private emails to you. I don’t run as many games as you and that may be the difference. As for being careful of what I install, yes, that’s true. I don’t have anything on my main TRGpro that I don’t actually use or need. Like with my MobilePro 700, I do run a backup machine and software/hardware gets tested there first. As far as losing data on a Palm device that’s only happened once. It was a Palm Professional running OS2.something and yes, it lost everything. Since moving to a TRGpro and OS 3.5.3 I have lost nothing and that’s been about a half dozen years now.



I’ve never lost data from changing batteries. A minute or so is long enough for me. However, did you know you can change the capacitor and beef it up. I did that with a couple of Palm m125’s I ran a few years ago. They lasted about five minutes without batteries and never lost data with low batteries installed even after a week or so, if I remember correctly.



I’ve never had a problem entering text with Graffiti , Jot, Calligrapher or using cursive handwriting on a Newton. It may be just me but I’ve never had a problem adapting to any text entering system and I’ve used a lot of them since the early ‘90s.



That’s simply not true. My Palm m125’s and Tungsten C can be backed up to SD cards in the built in slots (with the addition of a backup program). My Sony SL10 also has a built in backup program and saves to the built in MS card slot. As for generic Palm III’s there is always the MemorySafe (neat little device that hangs off the end of the Palm and its software can be loaded into the flash of early OS 3 devices. Sorry, it won`t work with later OS 3 devices because the operating system updates took too much room in flash. Although, if you use it with the program just loaded into regular RAM it does work but you need to reinstall or beam the program to your Palm III if you crash).



The TRGpro is rare, like its brother the Handera 330. Good luck finding one. There used to be a guy selling surplus units for between $70-100 on eBay but I haven`t seen any available to Canada for a year or so now. I bought a lot of them but most of them are gone now. If you really want a Palm-type device with a card slot and that runs on AAA batteries you might want to think about a Palm m125, Sony SL10 or one of the Handspring devices (the latter could be fitted with a module that took either a SmartMedia or a CF card). And yes, the backlight sucks. I remember the Palm Pro backlight and this isn`t anywhere close. Don`t buy a TRGpro based on its backlight.



I honestly don’t know. I’ve never tried it. However, I do know that you can have enormous databases or text files on the CF cards.

Rick

Sorry for the broken link, I notice now that it is no longer displaying model IIIxe software.

You can filter the page so it shows only IIIxe content by clicking "Browse By Device" on top of the site, then select "Palm" on the list of manufacturers and then click on your Palm model.

It's not the same thing because Palm makes both OS and hardware while MS made only the OS. Palm works like Apple where the same company does everything and you end up with few if any model choices with little differences from one to the other. Also non Palm made hardware was extremely rare, at least in those years I think the TRGPro was the only non Palm made Palm (the IBM WorkPads don't really count as they're really just rebranded and not improved). So the TRGPro is clearly the exception when it's the only Palm device ever made in those years to have all those added features and no Palm branded device had any of them until many years later.



Still, with Palm OS you have to learn a new way to write which will take at least days to get used to, and you may then start writing like that on paper and people will ask you what those strange characters are lol. With Windows CE, you write however you always did and it works even more accurately with no training required either on your or the machine's part.



Those models are a few years more recent than the ones we were talking about, while CE devices had card slots since the very first, Palm only added card slots by the 5th generation if not later.



The reason I said I might get one is that I fell on this auction the other day, look at the title, then the ending price, then pay close attention to the photos

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=251114270726&si=QXVuDIYznE2HcGS8trKXj5o8QCo%253D&viewitem=&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Not only that, it seems to include a serial sync cable and I wanted to buy the original Palm Pilot Pro which I had back then but the ones sold with a cradle are expensive, so this cable will allow me to win a Palm Pilot Pro without a cradle for cheaper.

To be honest I plan on reselling probably most of what's in that kit, I'll keep the sync cable and maybe 1 of the 3 devices (I'll probably resell the TRGPro as it's without a doubt worth more to others than to me). Why did you buy a lot of TRGPros? Did you resell them or keep them?

Thanks

That was a nice deal, aab. But why keep the Palm III and sell the TRGpro? What does the Palm III have that the TRGpro doesn't? I'd keep the extra features; you never know when they might come in handy. (I've always liked my TRGpro. )

I might sell the Palm III too, I really don't know what I'll do with those devices yet but I do know it was a great deal. But even with the added features of a TRGPro, I still wouldn't use it for anything but occasional Palm OS games, which will run just as well on other devices (ok, the sound might not be as loud but I don't mind), so why keep the most expensive one when one worth $1-5 can do all that I need?

Of course I'll play around with it for several days before selling it if I do sell it but I don't think I'd need any of the extra features since I'm not going to be using it "for real" as I do with most of my Palm Size PCs.

Oh, to answer your question "What does the Palm III have that the TRGpro doesn't?", the Palm III still had a proper backlight, most grayscale models after it have this weird reversed backlight that gives a very holographic look to the screen and makes it impossible to view unless the light conditions AND the angle you're holding it against the light source are just right. It really makes the screen almost all but unusable in the dark (it's less bad in complete darkness but as soon as there's a bit of light it's largely unreadable with either the backlight on or off, in fact even in partial darkness you can see better without the backlight).

I have no idea what Palm was smoking when they figured out this reversed backlight was "better", but surely if they were on crack the holographic look the screen causes must have had them so fascinated they kept it like that even thought it makes readability in poorly lit rooms next to impossible.

In fact, I want to buy a Palm Pilot Pro which is the one I had back then and might sell both of them and keep just the Palm Pilot Pro along with the sync cable included in that kit to sync the Palm Pilot Pro without a cradle.

Well, I just won a Palm Pilot Pro without cradle for $10.52 on eBay, with cradle they are as much as $80, so I'm glad the kit I won earlier had the sync cable. Richard had given me a Palm IIIxe last year which is pretty impressive for a Palm (with POS 4.0 and an incredible 8 MB RAM), but it's just too different, both physically and the OS, that it's nothing like the Palm I had (though useful for loading tons of apps with all that RAM), so it'll be good to see my original Palm Pilot again, my very first pda (other than those really cheap electronic organizers with something like a 2x16 char display).

Then I'll have to decide if I sell one or both of the 2 other Palms from the kit I won earlier today as well, and then there's that weird eBook/video player, I'll see what it can do and decide if I want to keep it or not, if it makes a better video player than my Sig 3 I might keep it.


Edited by aab 2012-07-30 4:58 AM