Docs to Go vs Wordsmith

A

Ar A

New member
Any views on the relative merits/demerits of Docs to Go and Wordsmith?

I've been using Wordsmith for some while and found it good for what I want. However, I have been trying out Docs to Go which seems to be a more comprehensive, but neater, program. An inexpensive upgrade has a facility for .pdf files - useful as one program would then perform the tasks of two, Wordsmith and Abode.

Wordsmith has to be in RAM in order to synchronise documents.

I seldom have any need for spreadsheets but have an awful lot of documents that I need to cart about.

I should disclose :eek: that this is for use on my newly-acquired Treo650, not my T3. Incidentally (PTL is bound to read this!) JackSprat is not for use on the 650.

Ryetee
 
To answer directly if you've narrowed it down, WORDSMITH is better than FastWriter, Docs2Go any other MS Word "syncher" IMHO. However, I think what I've got now is better and faster, and if I need something in Word I'll "select all" and paste it into an MS Word doc. More on that in a minute.

I bought WordSmith a long time ago, and upgraded acordingly. It just got too bloated. Docs2Go doesn't have the "slick" finishing and appearance of WordSmith - and it's TWICE AS BLOATED - so between the two I'd pick WordSmith. Grat font manager, smooth scrolling, document reader - it does a lot.

Uninstalling (I seem to be on that kick lately) of WordSmith has so many hidden technicalities PM or email me and I'll send you a file.

If you do not SPECIFICALLY (and think about this for a minute) need Microsoft Word, but would happy with PLAIN TEXT and much smaller file sizes and FASTER SYNCHING, I've got something for you.

It's a little tricky and involves a combination of a SourceForge freeware called "TextSync" (just got done using it moments ago - a real miracle for me) and TealDoc. There are a couple of tricks, and your stuff will stay synched with much less hassle, smaller RAM footprint (docs and prc combined) and it's more stable with none of the "uninstall hassles."
 
Ryetee
I use Doc2Go only because it came bundled with my m515 when I got it a long time ago. I am now working with a t5 and yep there are little bugs with everything in the t5. If I had to chose over, I would go with TealDoc. Not only is it less expensive, it appears to be much more user friendly. I am a creature of habit and until I get completely frustrated I will stick with something until I can't stand it any longer. I do have TeaDoc and I have used it more lately.

Paul
because I am using more TealDoc, can you share your insider secrets with me as well????

Carol
 
I just didn't want to turn a WS vs D2G debate into a Teallecture.

TealDoc is a READER. But it also now EDITS documents. TealDoc PC "conversion tool" will take any text file and put it on your handheld under "unfiled" within TDoc categories.

So, make a file in notepad called Blank 1, Blank 2, Blank 3. Save them as same titles. Synch them in TealDoc. Once on the Palm, they become "templates" (I have a category just for them), which you can edit like in memo pad. Installing TextSync allows you to hotsync and have them appear in the "TextSync" folder. Adding any text either on the PC or the T3 (it works better if you don't do both, to avoid conflicts, but there is conflict resolution otions) will show up on the other.

BEST PART: When you change "Blank" or "Template" #1 to "Carol's letter home," it syncs . . . but the original template is put BACK ON THE PDA. So you always have an inventory of "templates, marked 1 to 3, plus "Carol's Letter." In Ryetee's case, large word docs of 50-60k, converted to plain text in Notepad, come out around 5-7k.

Furthermore, TealDoc recognizes the SAME categories for documents moved to the card. No, you can't sync them unless they're in RAM, but I have loads of "reference" stuff on the card, organized in folders. The stuff I keep in RAM, like "logs" is synced with the PC and a CD is burned of that folder in my regular "desktop burns" along with copies of what was moved to the card.

If you use CrashPro and check the log, you can export that information to MemoPad, then paste them to a continuing "crash log" and have a record of every crash Similar things can be done with exported stuff from Filez or SysTool or anything else. Running logs of PC tips and tricks, and a personal diary are also easy, as are lists of restaurants, hotels, anything you don't want "filling up your address book."

TealDoc works great with FindHack and has its own search function too. You could literally keep copies of most letters you ever wrote and look something up by subject or whatever, and never hit 500k (I don't think!)

TealDoc is around 400k in size vs 1.2MB for Word2Go and 750k for WordSmith. What's important is the small TEXT file sizes, that aggregate to . . . almost nothing. Since Ryetee now has a treo, which I belive ships with 32MB of RAM, this can become important. Since flash isn't an option on a Treo, smaller footprints here and there add up.

I also think TDoc is more reliable, there isn't any messing with fonts taking up 40k each. Although it does accept fontbucket, I find the good old "regular small" is adequate. For those with JackFlash, it works beautifully, and TEXT SYNC takes up 1k as a "stub" on the handheld. No overhead there.

I had a love/hate thing for a very long time with WordSmith, and debated this for some time. I'm glad I did it and have never "missed" WS or D2G/Word to go. I use Sheet2Go but would use an alternative if it presented itself; there is just too much "going on" with DataViz in terms of stubs, required extra "sub-programs," and real estate on both the PDA and the PC. A raw Excel sheet reader would be great and I'd love it if the "TextSync" folks got around to that sometime.
 
I've been using Wordsmith and Docs to Go almost since their first inceptions. For many years I thought Wordsmith was by far the best but over the last few years Docs to Go has added more and more features to its programs whilst Wordsmith hasn't really advanced much.

This may help you in determinine which is the better...

Wordsmith compresses files so they use less space in storage, however they take longer to load than Docs to Go.

For simple viewing Wordsmith does it much better with not only bookmarks but also a view for seeing each paragraph. Much easier to find what you are looking for. Wordsmith, however, doesn't show images or tables like Docs to Go does.

For Word Processing, Docs to Go has the advantage over Wordsmith in that you can create bullets and numbering outlines and fill tables.

Wordsmith saves changes to word files in RTF format and keeps a copy of the original word file with an extension of org. Docs to Go has a seemless link to Word saving changes in Word format. Also you can edit and view Word files in their original format directly on the Palm if you wish.

PDF translation in Docs to Go is not very grand. If you have a PDF document with lots of bullets and numbering the translation is often not satisfactory for viewing on the Palm. I have found it easier to covert PDF on the PC and create a Word version instead.

Wordsmith is smaller (once you take out the Pocket Purchase conduit and files) than Word to Go.

I find that Wordsmith works more easily and intuitively with a keyboard than Docs to Go

The only other issue is with regard to the Desktop components of the two programs. Docs to Go wins hands down. You can easily create categories and transfer docs to the handheld or SD Card from the desktop. Wordsmith, on the other hand, requires you to do the categorizing and SD Card moving on the handheld version itself. Also the category layout in Docs to Go merges both the handheld and SD Card documents into one list whilst Wordsmith requires two category lists - one for the handheld and one for the SD Card.

In summary, I have recently changed back to Wordsmith after years of using Docs to Go. Why? Because I find I use Wordsmith as a viewer mostly and rarely to create documents. If you need to create and do large editing on Word documents I would choose Docs to Go.

Hope this helps your decision.
 
Thanks for your comments, everyone. I hadn't appreciated just what a space hog DTG is until Paul's response. It's gone and I'm back to Wordsmith - which I've used happily for years - which I'll use in tandem with Abode.

Quite like the Treo650 but it has been more fiddly than I anticipated to get up and running.

Ryetee

Paul - Welcome to Firefox - Thunderbird is just as good!
 
Ryetee, I'll PM you regarding Thunderbird.

VERY INTERESTED IN IT, but it's not a "match" for this forum (I guess).

One link might be: They have a PalmSync "patch" for synching (I guess) Palm to Thunderbird Contacts/Calendar . . . . I'll find it if I can and add ashort post here with the link for anyone interested.

Suffice it to say right now I'm contacting email address with hot-buttons and use ePrompter to manage them all on desktop -- but if Mozilla's version of Outlook Express is anything like their browser . . . . and will sync to Palm . . . . . !!
 
Back
Top