Palm Pilots

[cptbarney]

I have a handspring it's cheaper than the palms uses same software and for the lower end models like mine it has a port for add on stuff cards, memory etc. that's why i picked it. I've had it a year and have never had a problem. Good luck, you'll love having one------my 2 cents

 

[dispatchguy]

I have a handspring visor as well. It holds my fone numbers, door codes (marked private), log, work schedule, a few games, and yes, I swear by it.

God forbid if I lose it. I did once, I left it at a SWA gate in STL commuting back to PHX. Thought it was gone - but SWAOKC called my mom (I have her number just marked as mom in the fone list), and OKC called her and she called me. All data intact.

Just dont lose the **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ed thing!

 

[BoDEAN]

I had a palm, recently sold it and bought a pocket pc (Audiovox Mastero) and will never go back to a palm. Pocket PC's are very nice =)

 

[DaveJ]

Try the freeware CoPilot program

I own both a Palm and a Pocket PC device, but prefer the Palm for my flight bag because of its smaller size, better battery life and ruggedness.

I mainly prefer the Palm because of the freeware program CoPilot by Laurie Davis. It allows you to put in the weight and balance information for any number of aircraft and makes computing w&b a snap. Not only that, but you can download a database of airport information and use it for flight planning, performance, and fuel burn as well.

Highly recommended.

 

[JetPilot500]

If you lose the thing, it would suck, but as long as you back up your data on your desktop computer it shouldn't result in any lost data.

I personally went with the Sony PDA. I liked it for a few reasons over the others. First was its size. It was small enough and slim enough to comfortably put it in my shirt pocket. The first one I had was a black and white one, Sony models use in Indiglow backlighting unlike the other PDA's. In low light situations you could hardly read the other PDA screens, but the Sony was very clear and easy to read. I have since upgraded to color. Another thing I preferred was that it had an internal rechargable battery. While others offered that as well, you had to move up to a much more expensive model of the others to get that feature.

Sony PDA's use PALM OS, so they can run any programs that the Palm and Handspring can run. I liked it a lot for running an E6B program (which was required to have in the DC-9), a logbook program, and an Airline Pilot log program which kept track of my pay, duty and flight restrictions. And, lets not forget the games.

The Sony PEG-SJ20 looks like a nice one for around $189 list price. I have the Sony PEG-T615CS. That one has the color display but lists for a little more at $299, but I got mine for $259 by shopping around and getting a price match at a local store.

Good Luck,
JetPilot500

 

[El Cid Av8or]

Side note

Be sure to check out PalmFlying.com to get the most recent version of apps for your Palm-compatible handheld.

 

[Vrefus]

I have the Palm M-105 and have never had any problems with it. Alot of times you can find a good deal on a bundle of stuff, ie. cradles, keyboard, software, etc. Personally I don't need a lot of extras and it suits me just fine. Nothing wrong with the Handspring PDAs either, in fact Handspring was created by the same guys that created Palm. So just research as to what your needs are and then pull the trigger. You'll never regret it. BTW- the thought of losing it scares me half to death. Take care.

 

[Vrefus]

DaveJ

I'm having trouble tracking down that freeware program you mentioned in an earlier post. Where do you find it? Thx.

 

[ACWild]

Thanks El Cid,
That's a great site!

Something you might want to consider concerning Palms and Handsprings... You're supposed to have the ability to update the Palm OS with Palm devices. I don't know if this is true with all Palm equipment, but that's what I hear. You don't have that option with Handspring.
With that said, I personally own a Handspring and think it's great. I really don't see a need for updating the OS.
I bought it for the basic stuff and found out that it could do so much more...
Spreadsheet for weight and balance, E-book reader, logbook, alarm clock, etc. Heck, you can even get porn on the thing if you want. Brings a new meaning to Palm Pilot

 

[ILLINI]

I prefer the Pocket PC type if PDAs, but whichever one you decided to go with make sure you can see the screen in bright light, like outside in sunlight, especially the color screens. Some are almost impossible to see in sunlight.

 

[darien]

palm phone

there are palm pilots that also have are also deticated phones They run the palm os platform I believe that will be my next upgrade I've had a palm III for a few years now and it has run great.
Kyocera makes a great one and Samsung makes a color one These things use to be 500 six months ago now you can pick them up for around 150-200 Just make sure your phone company is compatible with them They have a ton of options even voice activated dialing
If you do use it a lot put it in the cradle and do a hotscync at least every couple of days Once i dropped mine and it whipped everything out Luckily it had only been a couple of weeks since i performed a hotscync

 

[FearlessFreep]

I have been using the Palm units for a number of years now, they are very good. I have considered using the Pocket PC's though there is a disturbingly very small selection of software available in comparison to the Palm.

I have written spreadsheet programs for many of the different tasks that I need while flying, such as weight & balance, performance, fuel tracking, next FL, etc.

There are just so many options available in either case. From my understanding battery life on the Palm units is longer.

If you do opt for a Palm unit do hold off for a bit as there will be some new units out shortly as the Palm OS 5.0 is about to be released. This will bring the Palm up to the Pocket PC as far as the eye candy goes. The palm unit shines over and beyond, just based on it's simplicity - this is probably the reason it still out sells the Pocket PC.

Have Fun!

 

[Britpilot]

I am using a Handspring TREO 90 with the color screen,16MB memory and expansion slot. I run airlinelogbook.com . Very happy with the Handspring, it uses Palm 4.1 and is very reliable and easy to use, even comes with a word processor program that is compatable with Word (Wordsmith). I was going to go with a hand held pc but there is not much software available.
Also very happy with the logbook program, flawless operation and frequent updates and the best support in the business.
I have the timetables for four airlines (Continental, Delta, AA, United) on the PDA that are auto update when you hotsync online, very nice if, like me, you commute
Once you convert there is no going back, I love the thing.

 

[Vrefus]

Found it

I found the freeware program, Co-pilot at www.palmflying.com Seems to have a lot of good stuff in it. I'm in the process of getting it set-up.

 

[Britpilot]

One more thing, airlinelogbook.com will import your trips directly into your handheld device, very nice saves a lot of time, also tracks your 30 in 7, 100 in 30 ect. It will flag you if you are going over FAA flight time limitations. This is the best program I have seen.

 

[T-handle]

http://www.joeybird.com/

This program costs $60 and is worth every penny. You can download the program (for free) to try for 90 days. After that you need to buy it.

I haven't been screwed by crew scheduling since I've used it becase this program is essentially Crew Trac converted for Palm Pilot usage.

 

[dav8or]

I have a Palm V that I'm not using. I had all my phone # on my phone and I could justify carrying it around. I'm willing to sell it for a good price. If your interested drop me a PM

 

[KigAir]

But would anybody use a Palm or Pocket PC to navigate? I've seen ads in some flying magizines that sell a Pocket PC with a GPS and navigation software. I've often wondered how many pilots use these as their sole navigation equipment..

 

[Aviator]

I would definitely recommend a Compaq Ipaq over a Palm PDA. It has more memory, a faster processor, and a very nice color screen. You should be able to find 3670 model with 64mb of RAM on Ebay for around $200. Go to www.handago.com for software downloads.

 

[Britpilot]

I would definitely recommend a Compaq Ipaq over a Palm PDA. It has more memory, a faster processor, and a very nice color screen. You should be able to find 3670 model with 64mb of RAM on Ebay for around $200. Go to www.handago.com for software downloads.

Problem is, lack of software. That's why they go cheap on E-Bay.