Travelling light: replacing your notebook with a Palm

Documents To Go (Premium Edition): converts Word, Excel and PowerPoint files for use on a Palm.


However, what really makes Documents To Go work well for such lengthy documents (at least on the Tungsten C’s thumb keyboard), is CIC Software’s WordComplete, which costs $24.95 (~£14) and is available in a full demo version. Once you’ve typed a couple of letters, this utility pops up a pick-list of three suggested matching words. If you keep typing, the list changes to suggest more matches. The software vastly improves typing speed both by dramatically improving accuracy and by filling out words.

The functionality in the DataViz software is necessarily limited. The presumption is that you’ll want to do the complex stuff on a PC. The Palm versions allow basic formatting, such as setting paragraph indents and choosing among a few standard fonts (Times, Arial, Courier, Helvetica), line spacing, justification, plus find and replace. About the most complex thing the word processor does is tables. Still, this is certainly enough for finishing letters and simple reports without further work on a desktop or a notebook.

Similarly, the spreadsheet has basic formatting for worksheets and workbooks, and incorporates the most important formulas and functions. The presentation portion allows you to type up slides and move elements around, but you can’t (and probably wouldn’t want to anyway, given the Palm’s small screen) add graphics. The expectation certainly is that you will want to finish the presentation on a fully-fledged computer (even if, ultimately, you will use the Palm to deliver the presentation using Margi's Presenter-to-Go, discussed below).

One of the most useful facilities is the Acrobat Reader for Palm OS, which comes bundled with newer Palms or can be downloaded here. Most downloaded or self-created PDF files are easily converted for reading on the Palm. There are some that don’t translate well -- such as bus schedules -- because their formatting makes it impossible to display the type in a font large enough to be readable. Others, such as those with complex graphics, may overtax your handheld's display capabilities. But most files are eminently readable in the Palm Reader’s default font, to the point where it’s comfortable reading whole novels digitised by the Gutenberg Project or lengthy Word documents and reports converted to PDF.

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