I've been behind the curve with out of date technology for a while. It will be nice to upgrade the geek credentials.
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TarantulasPrime |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot |
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I'm typing this on a Palm TX, one of Palm's newer devices. It has a color screen, a lot of RAM, a speaker, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It also has a web browser that can be used through the Wi-Fi connection or through the Bluetooth connection to a cellular phone. So theoretically (once I upgrade to a Bluetooth phone) I should be able to connect to the Internet anywhere there's a cellular signal. I'll update this in a few weeks after I get a better phone.
I've been behind the curve with out of date technology for a while. It will be nice to upgrade the geek credentials. |
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The Darkhour |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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Bluetooth? Sounds like some serious dental issues.
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TarantulasPrime |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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Bluetooth is the name for a short-range radio system that can be used for wireless control of some devices. They make Bluetooth headsets for phones so you don't have to worry about a wire hanging from your ear to the phone. They have Bluetooth keyboards that can be used to type into the Palm. And I can make a Bluetooth connection between my Palm and a cellular phone and use the phone as a modem for the Palm. It should work pretty well although I don't know how much it will cost per month to access the Net. The one thing that's not too good is that web page access seems really slow on this little thing.
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The Darkhour |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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The small size would limit ram capability.
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TarantulasPrime |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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I bought a 512 megabyte memory card for 20 dollars (after rebate). I can put music on there and make playlists using a couple of different players. My phone is on the way and should arrive tomorrow by 4:30 p.m.
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TarantulasPrime |
Re: Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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The phone did arrive on Friday the 24th at about 2 p.m. The initial information that came in by email said that I needed to charge it for 8 hours before turning it on and getting it activated. It was driving me crazy not to be able to turn it on and check out some of the settings, but I did wait for 8 hours. When I turned it on, apparently none of the technicians were available to activate it, so I had to search around for some phone numbers on Saturday morning, and finally I got in touch with a nice lady who set it up for me.
I got the "silver" model instead of the black, and it looks great. It's really very small, less than half an inch thick. It has a small display screen on the outer case that shows the incoming phone number. It's a flip-phone, and when you open it you can see this nice display screen. On the bottom part is the stainless steel keypad, and on the sides there are three buttons that allow you do do different things like increase/decrease the volume and take pictures with the built-in digital camera. It took some searching around to find the information, but luckily there are already millions of these phones being used, so the instructions on how to set them up are everywhere. I bought a little Bluetooth wireless headset, and was able to get it up and running with the phone. And after a few false starts and mistakes, I was able to get the Palm TX to connect to the phone and get them to "handshake" and recognize each other. The first test came this morning, when we were headed out to a family get-together. Out on the freeway, miles from any wireless gateways, I put the phone on top of the chocolate cake carrier and connected to it with the Palm TX. I had set it up to dial a local phone number for my Internet Service Provider, so after connecting to it I clicked on a website and watched it go through its connection routine. Basically the Palm TX uses the Razr as a modem and connects to The Internet through it. The speed isn't as fast as what you're used to when you have DSL, but it's not all that bad. Finding a text-only page from Google News speeds up the whole thing. The phone has a little blue LED that blinks every few seconds when a Bluetooth connection is made, so that's a nice way of checking to see whether you're online. The Palm TX doesn't have chat programs set up, but the phone can connect to AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Instant Messenger. It's a Javascript setup that allows the phone to connect, and it's stored in "Games," but I promise I will be online more often. If only I could figure a way to type messages into the Palm TX and have them transmitted to the phone. The Palm TX has an email setup where you can get your email if you have an Internet connection. So now with the phone modem I can check my email whenever I like. That is, assuming that I have some better coverage out at work. |
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The Darkhour |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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Sounds like a nice phone. All I've got is a Motorola Startac 3000.
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TarantulasPrime |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
The Darkhour |
Surfing the Web on a Palm Pilot | ||
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The Startac looks almost ancient compared to the stuff out there these days.
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