Welcome to Palm Discovery’s four part series on why should you get a Palm or PDA device.

(Last edited Sept 15, 2008)

Before I start this posting, I just wanted to disclose that I have previously used the paper Day-Timer organizer to help organize my time, tasks, appointments, etc. I’ve used it for several years going through the various types of Day-Timer formats in hopes of finding something that suits me best before I started wondering whether I may be better off with a Palm device instead, financially as well as in terms of being better organized. I even went through the undated Day Runner planner.

What the Wire-Bound Day-Timer 2 page per day package looks like

What the Loose-Leaf Day-Timer 2 page per day package looks like

I started with the Day-Timer Pocket Wire-Bound (3.5″ x 6.5″) 2 day per day with a 1 year package of books including the extra archive case/box and got a nice monogrammed leather case. Then, tried the 1 page per day before upgrading to the Loose-Leaf (ring binder) Portable (3.75″ x 6.75″) 2 page per day to a Desk (5.5″ x 8.5″) 2 page per day. All this time, I had to get new Day-Timer cases or wallets almost every year because they didn’t last very long. After a year of use, the cheaper cases fall apart, or the zippers are wrecked, or it’s time to get a new one because it looks horrible when I bring it to the office. And their wallets were extremely costly. I got the leather case for the Wire-Bound, then to a wallet type that could hold my change and money, and a nicer new one to replace the old one. Every year I was getting a new wallet/case plus the Day-Timer refills but I still wasn’t happy or satisfied. I certainly was better organized than I was after I got the Day-Timer system but there was something missing, in addition to my money. I can’t even begin to calculate how much money was spent on the Day-Timer and the cases and the pens and accessories. It must have been in the hundreds. I even bought an alarm that fits somewhat like a bookmark over my Day-Timer pages that allowed me to have it ring multiple times during the day in 30 minute increments. It was just a notch that I can set either at the :00 or :30 of each of the 24 hours of the day. It was nice, but my boss hated hearing it ring.

Was I taking full advantage of my time? Or was there a better way? As I started to wonder about it, I started looking at my history and why I was changing from one format to another but still not being satisfied. What was it that was making me still keep changing from one format to another, one case from another?

Then I started seriously looking at the Palm and Pocket PCs and other digital organizers. Of course, originally, I, like many other people had this notion that Palms (or Palm Pilots) are little more than a digital address book and calendar with a monochrome old technology screen. But as I did more research by checking them out at the local Staples or electronics store, looking and trying out the display models, I realized that it was much more than I originally thought. I was quite impressed with the color screen, the features and applications that the Palm device offered that was beyond what I even imagined. I did more research online on all the different models of Palms and Pocket PCs and finally decided on getting the Zire 71, which has a built-in camera. For me, the camera was quite the selling point because I’ve always wanted to be able to capture a quick picture of something for comparison or just as a note. It was very different looking with that blue color and the multimedia capabilities really appealed to me. And the Zire 71 seemed to fit all the things I wanted.

Like many new Palm users, it took me a little bit of getting used to, especially when going from a hard copy paper format to a digital virtual device but once I got used to it, I never looked back. Originally, I still had a pad of paper with me with a pen when I was carrying my Palm. But, over time, as I got used to using the device, and re-learning a new way of inputting data, calendar and appointments, etc, I got rid of the paper and pen. Hopefully, I can convince you too (if you are one of those who doesn’t own a Palm or know what it’s all about). For me, the increasing cost of the paper organizer was really a big factor.

Although the Palm is much more than a Personal Information Manager (PIM) or Personal Digital Assistant (PIM), most people who consider buying Palms is mainly looking for a better solution to organize their lives. With that in mind, I will start to focus on this topic.

Franklin Covey paper planner sheets and planner system kit

Let’s first try to compare the costs of buying a paper organizer (Day-Timer, Day Runner, Franklin Covey, Cambridge, At-A-Glance, Blueline, Brownline, etc) versus the Palm organizer in the long run, taking a few years into account.

COMPARING THE COSTS OF A PAPER ORGANIZER AND PALM

Let’s try to compare the costs of a paper organizer like Daytimer, Day Runner, FranklinCovey, Cambridge, etc and a digital Palm device.

COST OF PAPER ORGANIZER

$40 average cost (and up) for a typical paper Daytimer (per year). Plus, $50 (and up) typical cost of a Daytimer cover/case. In the first year, you’ve spent $90 for a nice bundle of paper and a portable case to hold parts of the bundle. Spend another $20 on a nice pen to go with the case. Now, it’s up to $110 and up, depending on the actual cost since the price may be higher. And, don’t forget to add in the extra “add-in” sheets like the nice looking Post-it notes (add more for personalization) ($20) , other “add-in” sheets that you can insert in between the date pages ($15), a special stand to hold your Day-Timer at your desk, and much more accessories that you can be tempted to buy in addition to your Day-Timer sheets. Just try browsing Daytimer.com or Franklin Covey and see what interesting looking accessories they suggest to add to your shopping cart. Try checking out those online daytimer type stores and see how much your cart will cost (before shipping and taxes) on your potential purchase and you may be surprised.

But the costs doesn’t end there. You continue to pay the $40 (and up) EACH YEAR for the nice bundle of paper plus more if you need to replace the cover/case and on the accessories like additional dividers, sheets, etc.. Over time, the amount of money you spend on the paper Daytimer organizer will be much more than what you can pay for a pretty decent color Palm even at $150 or more, like up to $300 for a mid entry Palm.

So, you should consider how much money you’ve spent on a paper organizer and how much it will continue to cost in the future and add it up. You may start off paying less in the beginning, but over time, the costs can add up. It can cost $50 $110 $200 $400 or more?

COST OF A PALM

With a Palm device, you pay the money up front and provided you take care of it, it should last for quite a number of years. Many Palm owners still use a Palm that they’ve bought years ago. I find that a lot of them own the Palm IIIc or IIIe or the Palm V and or others and still don’t feel the need to get a new one since it offers them what they need.

If you buy the low end Palm, pay $99 and you should have the tools needed to be better organized than a paper organizer. Or spend an extra $30 or so on a Zire 31 ($129) and get a major step up with faster processor, SDIO slot, headphone jack (important for audio playback) and more software. The SD card slot and the headphone jack, in my opinion are WELL WORTH the extra money since they truly add so much more value and power to the Palm device. Not only does the Palm have the capability to play music or audio (sure beats rush hour traffic or commuting without them) and the SD card adds extra storage for applications, music files, backups, etc. Prices of the Palm can get higher to $249, $299, $349, $399, $499 but with the higher prices, its features and capability in terms of functionality, processing speed are much more, justifying for the higher price.

It’s true that with the Palm device, you don’t have a paper or hard copy for all your notes, memos, etc. But, the Palm is really your virtual notepad, memopad, address book, calendar, etc. You don’t need to look for a piece of paper. Simply scribble your “virtual” note in the Notepad application and it’s like your note on a little scrap of paper. You can erase the note as many times as you need to create the note. You can set an ALARM to remind you with an alarm tone and the note popup (something you can’t do with a paper note) at the specified alarm time. No extra pieces of paper. Just the Palm.

You still have the capability to transfer the data to your computer and have it printed out. But it does take getting used to, epecially for someone who’s used to writing on paper. It took me a while to get used to in the beginning too. The Palm saves paper and helps the environment and you has less of the opportunity to lose it, except when you lose your entire Palm device. Ahem.

After saying that, you still can spend more money on third party application software that you discover you “can’t” live without, which really help enhance your life. But, you can work perfectly well without it and stick with what’s in the Palm.

PALMS HAVE MULTIPLE ALARMING CAPABILITY AND PROVIDES A REMINDER DURING THE DAY

Screenshot of the Datebook with multiple alarms in one day

Besides just being an organizer, the Palm is much more capable of doing many other things. Even if you don’t take anything else into account, the paper organizer does NOT HAVE AN ALARM. It’s just paper. You enter your appointments, and have to remember to open it up and look at it. With a palm, if you enter an appointment, even if you have it turned off, at your specified time, the ALARM WILL RING. Even if just for the ability to enter MULTIPLE ALARMS during the day, or many days in advance is really worth it to buy a cheap low end Palm over a paper daytimer organizer. If you miss going to a meeting, that could cost you a major contract, or your job. If you forget to send your wife flowers for her birthday, you will have a lot of explaining to do. Being reminded of important tasks is what we need to do in our daily lives but we can’t possibly function well at work or other tasks if we have to constantly have to keep those appointments or reminders in our head. I have personally been caught forgetting about newly changed appointments many times, only to have the Palm ring to remind me. It would have been embarassing and detrimental had I forgot about the meetings.

PALM TAKES CARE OF THE APPOINTMENTS AND TASKS SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO

Screenshot of the Datebook with To Do list view

That’s what the Palm is there for. To take care of all those mundane things like picking up milk, going to the cleaners, so that you can focus on other things, like working productively at your job. The Palm PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is a like digital secretary that’s with you everywhere, but costs less than a real secretary. Its job is to remember all those other details, reminding you of appointments, tasks, meetings, projects, deadlines, people to contact, etc. So, rather than spending all your day not focusing on your job properly to rememember to call a contact, you delegate it to your Palm who will do the rememembering and reminding.

PRICE IS MAJOR CONSIDERATION FOR 1ST TIME BUYERS AND IT’S A MISTAKE

To most people, when looking at something they may potentially buy or shop for, they keep the price in the back of their heads. If they are only considering spending $100, they aren’t really going to check out the mid-end or high-end models. That is a big mistake. Price isn’t everything, especially if you get a disposable product based on price compared to a much better quality product for a little more money.

THERE IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LOW END PALM AND THE CHEAP SHARP OR CASIO ORGANIZERS

A digital organizer that most first time buyers will be willing to spend is usually $100. That usually limits them to the lowest end Palm model, which is now the newly released model, Z22. In most consumers’ minds, they don’t see the difference between the older Palm models, the Sharp, Casio organizers or other cheap organizers since they usually don’t do much research before going out to buy it. Had they done so, they would have been better consumers and bought the Palm based on their needs.

Palm Z22

Sharp ZQ290HS

If you spend the money on the cheap Sharp or Casio organizers, you will be buying the old technology of mainly having a monochrome screen digital address book with much limited memory or storage capabilities compared to older Palms. With the Palm, even with the low end model, you are getting a memo pad, notepad, expense program, and much more than the Sharp or Casios. Do a bit of comparison and you will find that you get much more from the Palm device.

The Sharp ZQ290HS, for example, has 1.5MB of memory. Uh. Even the lowest end Palm or even the outdated monochrome Palms have more than 1.5MB of memory. The Zire (m150) has 2MB of memory as does the older IIIe, and many other Palms. But, they offer much more features than just a calendar and address book. There are so many third party (and many of them are freeware) that you can install and load onto the Palm including ebooks, dictionary, scientific calculator, TV remote beaming, language translation, etc.

There are some free dictionaries and other reference type books that you can download from Beiks. Here’s a link to these free dictionaries and files. You will need to download and install Beiks’ BDicty program (there’s also a freeware version) to view them. Or, you can purchase the Pro version and other dictionaries, phrase books, etc from Beiks or Lingosoft.com. You can also get many kinds of ebooks including dictionaries from Memoware.com. Here’s a link to the WordNet Max Dictionary offered in TomeRaider format, which isn’t a free viewer, but I’m sure that if you do a search around, that you’ll find some freewares available.

Many phrase books and translation software also offer voice capability in that it can play the words to help you learn by imitation and phonetics. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that the Sharp ZQ290HS has that capability.

As I’ve said, do some research on what the Sharp or the cheaper organizers offer and then check what the Palms offer. And compare the price. You can probably buy the older Palms at the same price as the Sharp organizers but have more capabilities. Many liquidation or discount stores sell the older outdated models at very low prices. In Canada, you can check out FactoryDirect or CheapPalm and find a good priced Palm if price is a major consideration.

Don’t waste your money. Do a bit of research and make your decision. Sure, you may get something cheap now, but how long will it be before you find that you want something more? And with that, you have already “wasted” the money ($50 or whatever) on the cheaper organizer and ended up buying something else. Or, worst yet, you buy it and don’t use it. As with everything, evaluate your needs, find out whether you really want it or need it and stick with it, using it as part of your daily routine. If you do so, you may surprise yourself how much you do rely on an electronic device like the Palm to do a lot of the work and planning for you.

Also, check out my posting on the Zire 31

For me, when I try to recommend a device, I try take the price and options and what the person’s needs are. Most of the time, I would recommend the Zire 31 since it has a color screen, 160×160 resolution, SD slot, (very important when you need storage), headphone jack, and other features making it the best value for the price. EDIT. Unfortunately, the Zire 31 as well as many other Palm models, are now discontinued. And, what most consumers don’t realize is how much they can benefit from the Palm device until they’ve used it for a while. Then, they spend more money to upgrade to another model. So, now, they have two Palm devices and spent much more money than they should have had they bought the right device. That’s why it’s almost better to spend a bit more money now on a semi-decent Palm than save it and buy a low end Palm only to spend it later to upgrade. Price is important but if you look at the whole picture, your perspective may change. Just like the paper organizer and the Palm’s cost over time as I’ve discussed in a previous blog, you can come to a different conclusion if you look at the whole picture.

The cost of time and money and a lost contracts. Can you afford it?

Don’t focus only the price of the Palm device you initially pay for. Focus on the cost of the consequence of forgetting a business appointment, meeting, lost time. You can’t afford to waste time. Remember the saying, “Time is money”. If you’re a professional, each minute you spend working at your profession means more money for you. And each minute you waste it on doing something else, like doing your own taxes, fixing the plumbing, etc (something that you would usually pay someone else for), you are losing money and wasting time.

Most people I encounter who are interested in a Palm fall in the mistakes that I’ve previously discussed, stressing the importance of the price. They tell me that they don’t need the color screen, the faster processor, the expansion card slot, the mp3 capability, the extra software that the higher models have, etc. What they fail to do as I’ve mentioned already, is that they have already narrowed themselves to something within a specific price range and won’t listen to how much more a newer or higher priced device can do. Unfortunately, in most cases, nothing I can say will change their views. They buy the cheap refurbished or outdated models of over a decade ago and then usually dispose of it, without really trying to incorporate it into their lives. That’s unfortunate.

Sure, the Palm may not appeal to everyone, and may seem silly or a waste of money, but if they realize that the Palm can do so much more , and actually do try it out, they may find that they’ll be pleasantly surprised. They may discover that it does enhance their lives. Rather than sitting or waiting at the bus being bored, having the Palm to listen to their mp3 collection during that time, or being able to work on their work spreadsheet while commuting on the bus, or reading up on the news they’ve downloaded from the internet or reading a book, may actually keep them not only entertained, but informed and productive. There’s a lot more to the Palm than just a daytimer organizer device. It can also keep you entertained, informed, better educated, keep better track of time, work more productively, etc. Had these people just spent a week or two trying the Palm out, they may discover all this and more. A Palm does so much more and you wondered how you got along without it.

This is part 2 of the Why get a Palm? series. If you haven’t read part 1 yet, please check that posting out. Continue reading this series at part 3

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