Newbie with many questions

I

inraged2002

New member
So I got a TX. Ultimately, I'd like to use it as an mp3 player, scheduler, email, and possibly storing some powerpoint presentations. I had a Visor Edge many years ago, and loved it. Unfortunately, it got left in a cab on one of *those evenings. I'm not very good with computers, most of the stuff on these forums sounds like greek. I don't remember much about how to get things tweaked so the pda is perfect for me. So my questions are:

1. Is there any way to edit programs on my 4 gig memory card? I put a 3rd party program on it, it crashed the device, and in order to get it off, I had to format the card. I don't want to have to do that if I have 3.5 gig worth of mp3's on it.
2. Is there any way to NOT have to use mobile web pages like yahoo!mobile. I HATE mobile web pages, and the screen is such that it would be fine to use normal webpages.
3. Is there any particular program you all prefer to use for mp3's on your pc or palm? I read that I have to have Rhapsody on my pc to get mp3's on my palm, true?
4. Does anyone have experience using Global Star Software "100 Great Games" with a TX? I bought the disc to go with the Visor that I bought 4 years ago, so I don't know if it will work with my current palm, but Its got some great games, and I'd like to get them back.

Thanks so much ! :)
 
Sapphire10904,

I have answers to some of your questions.

It is certainly possible to manage files on an SD card. Firstly, there is a freeware option called Filez. Filez is an excellent application and I use it on my T5. However, If you're willing to part with some money then I thoroughly recommend ZLauncher. ZLauncher sits on top of the Palm OS providing an interface which is almost infinitely user defineable and makes the Palm a joy to use. It incorporates a file manager, gives you the ability to run applications from the SD card and does much else besides. I regard it as a 'must have' application.

I know others will disagree with me but as far as I'm concerned, there's only one mp3 player for the Palm; Pocket Tunes. It's feature rich, and is regularly updated.

Hope this helps.
 
If your memory card is causing problems when you put it into the TX, the best thing is to get a memory card reader for your PC and edit the card on the PC. A 6-in-1 (these days they're sometimes sold as 28-in-1 or 32-in-1 or somesuch, but don't worry about the number as long as it reads SD and MMC) reader that plugs into one of the USB sockets on your PC or Mac should only be a few ? or $.

I think there's a Blazer (the built-in TX web browser) setting to use ordinary web pages, and Pocket Tunes is fine for MP3s. The best way to get the MP3s onto the TX is to use the memory card reader on the PC (as above!) to copy them onto your SD card.
 
bryanb,

You are right in saying that a card reader will do the trick, but it's money you don't need to spend since both the T5 and TX have drive mode. When running in drive mode in the docking cradle, the PC will see the Palm as an additional disk drive, enabling one to copy MP3 (or any other type of files) to and from the Palm with ease.
 
NickGB, as much as I hate to question your info but me not owning a TX and doing some research - I thought the T5 was the only device with Drive Mode? I see no reference to it within the specs for a TX at the Palm Web site and recall someone reviewing a TX on the fact that it did not have a drive mode.

Since the RAM is NVFS and it's not segregated separately as the T5's is - well I'm thinking that the T5 is the only device to come with "drive mode" out of the box. The T5's drive mode can only be engaged to the 128MB of the internal SD and not to RAM.

Regardless - to sapphire - although not necessary an external card reader can be sound advice from a speed standpoint because if you load a 2GB card in one fell swoop via a hot sync it will take over an hour to transfer that much data via HS. However, it would probably take only 15 minutes or so via a card reader.

Also, Pocket Tunes Deluxe is an upgrade from the Standard version installed on the TX - you can check out the deluxe version which will give you some enhancements - the link should be visible in the "help" section of the program on the TX.

Also - you don't have to load mobile versions of web sites if you don't want to however they will take much more time to load then the stripped down versions. You'll need to force the web address to the normal url but it can be done within Blazer simply by requesting that url.

Regarding the games - doubtful. Your Edge used OS 3.5 or perhaps OS4 and those games have probably not been updated to work with OS5. You can try them but my guess is that most of them will crash - especially on a NVFS device that is a little twitchy in it's specs compared to those older Visors.
 
Ok, I don't have a cradle, I just have the USB cable it came with, is that the same thing? How do I get to/find drive mode? Because if I understand what you're saying, it's like plugging in a normal MP3 player via USB in XP where it just shows up as an additional, removable device that's a drive in the My Computer window. Which is what I would REALLY like to be able to do.

MooseMan-what's NVFS

And what are some suggestions of Card Readers? (Preferably free software)
 
Drive Mode - look for a program on the TX called "Drive Mode" - if you don't have it as I suspect you don't, then you cannot use it.

NVFS - Non-Volatile File System or NVMS Memory System which is unique to the T5, then Treo 650 and then the TX. Your Visor would lose all of it's data if the battery went dead. This doesn't happen on the NVFS devices - but the memory is allocated differently as a result which causes the programmers some minor issues but enough to allow for it.

Card Reader - is a USB hardware device - so no shareware capabilities you'd have to fork over some $$$$. You can get a reader from CompUSA or other brick and mortor for about $20 that will read more than just the SD card types. It may or may not be worth it but it does speed up the transfer. A card reader is similar to the an old external floppy drive - and if you don't know what that is then your too young to worry about it.
 
Hey now, I played Sticky Bears on the old Apple IIE. :D

Drive Mode program would just be under the normal Applications? Cuz it's not there, thus, I probably don't have it.

My husband's computer has a slot you can put an SD card in, perhaps I'll just have to edit my mp3's on his computer.

New question-do people prefer to put programs on the internal memory or on their cards? I was planning on putting programs on the internal mem, and only mp3's on the card, but if that's not recommended, I'd like to know.

Thanks so much for all your responses. They've really helped!
 
Drive Mode would be under "all" programs.

Most people put programs into RAM and run MP3's from the card. When you start editing the MP3's and move the to SD card - double check the documentation for the correct path to store them in for Pocket Tunes. I believe it will read from the \palm\audio directory on the card but I don't recall for certain. Worst case scenario you'd just have to move them later.

The only issue with an SD card that might cause any issues in running MP3 from it - if it's an older card which might be "slow" - then your sould quality could suffer. Most of the newer cards have been tweaked enough for today's hardware not to be concerned with it, I should think. But if you find an SD card that was running on that Apple IIe - then I'd toss it out as being too old.
 
Mooseman, I stand corrected. I was under the impression that drive mode was a standard feature of all Palm OS 5.4 devices. Whilst I agree it's slower than a card reader, it's damned useful for moving the odd file to and from the SD card. Why on earth did Palm remove this feature from the TX? Presumably the next Palm device will feature a monochrome 160 x 160 display and no SDslot.

I have all my mp3 files on a series of 2mb SD cards and have not had any problems with performance. Pocket tunes will find mp3 files anywhere on the device (including the SD card).

Apologies for misleading everyone over drive mode. Still, you might want to check out Softick Card Export II which effectively does the same thing as drive mode.
 
NickGB,

The LD does have some sort of file support for native transport of PC based folders....it's not called drive mode but some sort of file mode.

The drive mode wasn't part of the TX because of the T5 having the internal SD allows for the drive mode......NVFS devices would require some sort of partition (ala the LD or T5) for the memory in order to transport non-palm files since you'd have to have a FAT32 system in order transport PC based files. I guess they got rid of it because you can buy a 2GB flash drive for next to nothing or you get a 128MB SD card internal for $100....

Softick Card Export will allow for that on an SD card but you'll still have to stick it in a separate folder (partition so to speak) - you wouldn't mix them with a Palm program......is my guess. And good call on that program - I couldn't remember it.
 
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