DataViz Releases Documents To Go 5.0

As soon as I read this, I knew someone would pull out that tired old argument, "Upgrades should be free". No, they shouldn't. Upgrades are usually as much work as writing the original program. All that work cost the company money, why should you get it free? You expect to be paid for your work. Developers aren't any different.

I'm not talking about updates. An update is usually put out to correct a bug or something done poorly in a full version. As such, the company can't justify charging for it. But a full upgrade, including important new features, deserves some payment.

I blame the Internet. For years, companies gave great products away for free, hoping to build up a customer base. People came to expect that anything they wanted they could get for free. Turns out that whole business plan is a failure and almost all those companies that used to give things away for free are gone, the rest are barely alive. There was no such thing as "The New Economy". There is only "The Old Economy", where companies sell products and make money. Charging for upgrades is part of that.

I'm not sure I agree. Perhaps I think that the cost should be lower for an upgrade, but maybe it is because I don't use the program all that often. For someone who uses this program daily, I guess the upgrade price is easier to swallow. To add hi-res+ support for $30 isn't a deal for me (the only new upgrade I would find worthwhile, as it is already a good program), and the only reason I bring it up is because the software price was included in the price of my nr70v, and I wonder why Sony packaged software that didn't work with hi-res+. Maybe that's a beef I should have with Sony though!

Is it HiRes only or does it support HiRes+ screen of the Sony NR series?

Supports Hi-res+ I think this version update makes it better than any other word processor for the Palm out there. Any feature another one has, this one has, and more!

I've been using this product since '98. I paid $30 then. Another $30 to upgrade to professional 4.0 last year. Now they want another $30 for another upgrade??

That means I, an obviously loyal customer, end up paying $20 MORE than a new customer.

Let's face it the upgrades just aren't nearly substantial enough to justify the cost.

MSFT gives free upgrades to the free IE.

I bought a 1992 BMW at paid $1X. I bought a 1995 BMW and paid $1.5X. I bought a 1998 BMW and paid $2X. I am a "Loyal Customer" and now BMW wants to charge me $2.5X for the 2002 Model! OUTRAGEOUS!!!

It seems to me that the ultimate solution to the problem being discussed in this thread is simple. If you as the customer believe that the benefits offered by the upgrade do not justify the costs of the upgrade, then do not upgrade.

In response to Leech's post, the distinction that you are making applies to no other software under the sun (unless you are arguing for free upgrades) that has any charge for an upgrade. Of course, you are paying more than a new user but you have also gotten 4 years of use out of the software. If the upgrade was only $5 and you purchased the program for $50 four years ago, the complete package of upgraded software, if purchased today, is $50. You have paid more cash than a new customer for the upgraded version in total. But this logic assumes that your 4 years of use had no value. And, of course, it does.

In the Spirit of Umoja,
Ronin

Dear Leech,

You said:
"I've been using this product since '98. I paid $30 then. Another $30 to upgrade to professional 4.0 last year. Now they want another $30 for another upgrade??

That means I, an obviously loyal customer, end up paying $20 MORE than a new customer."

Ok, so I, when I buy the premium edition, i'll pay 70$
You payed 90$, BUT YOU HAVE ENJOYED USING THE PRODUCT FOR 4 YEARS ALREADY. I think these 4 years deserve the 20$ more. Don't you?

It doesn't matter $90 IS a bit pricey. It depends what you need it for. Doc to go has the most features therefore it should cost the most. if you don't need all of them go with quick doc or wordsmith.

If you cant afford the upgrade.. dont get it. No one is forcing you to upgrade. this is the 21st century. free things from the internet are well behind us now. Everyone needs to make a living.... that includes developer/programmers. personally i am not going to be upgrading. I dont need it. i dont need to. the version i have right now is good enough for me.

I for one agree with Leech. As one of the older customers, he has shown loyalty to this company. I think that he deserves to pay less than a new customer.

Peace Out
Alan

I agree that not all upgrades should be free. That said, DataViz charges a substantial sum for every upgrade. I've own Conversions Plus, Desktop To Go, and Documents to Go, as well other DataViz products. I've never gotten a free upgrade from the company for anything. Instead, the company sends out notices on a yearly basis letting customers know that the product they purchased last year is now out of date. The new software costs $59.00, but for you, the "valued customer," they only want to stick it to you for $39.00.

My complaint is not with all programmers or all companies trying to make a profit. My complaint is with DataViz. I just don't like the company's business model, which is why I stated my position the way that I did. If you want to pay a fairly substantial upgrade fee every year, be my guest. Personally, I'll gladly pay for the upgrade of WordSmith when the time comes, but DataViz no longer gets my money. Period.

JBH

Valid Point

: Instead, the company sends out notices on a yearly
: basis letting customers know that the product they
: purchased last year is now out of date.

The "new added support/features" don't appeal to me, so I also don't agree that the upgrade price is worth it. (If I had a CLIÉ instead of my m505, MAYBE it would be worth it for the high res support. But since ARM-based PDA's are right around the corner, I'll wait. Who knows? Maybe DTG v6 will be out by then. ;) However, that doesn't mean I still cannot use version 4. I'm perfectly happy with it and will still be able to use it. So, I think "out of date" is a bit of an exaggeration. I'm glad that they're at least continuing to improve on their products, but that doesn't mean everyone needs to upgrade.

: Personally, I'll gladly pay for the upgrade of
: WordSmith when the time comes, but DataViz no longer
: gets my money. Period.

Then again, Blue Nomad doesn't include Excel and PowerPoint conversion. So, if you only use Word, maybe this is the best bang for your buck. Again, it's always about preference and needs of each user.


Jim

I agree. Besides, no one pays for software any more; they just download pirated copies from the Internet! If prices and/or products were more reasonably priced and less buggy, I suspect the piracy would decrease. Of course it will never go away.

Me too: Lame support and an unstable database.

If everyone pirated software, there wouldn't be any. Period!! Plus, don't forget that great software is pirated more that buggy software. Who wants to waste there time pirating buggy software. Your need for good software, and your willingness to pay for it is the only thing that allows good software. That being said, I personally think that v.5 is a great product. The new features in the Word translator alone is enough to get my business.

Jim,
I think I read in the feature set that DTG5 is already OS5 compatible now. That means it will work on the new Palms without waiting for DTG6.

You said:
>But since ARM-based PDA's are right around the corner, I'll wait. Who knows? Maybe DTG v6 will be out by then. ;)
>I'm glad that they're at least continuing to improve on their products, but that doesn't mean everyone needs to upgrade.

Amen to that last sentence. The addition of RTF support alone makes it worthwhile.

Panagiotis

Japanese is traditionally written vertically, right to left. Japanese support may open possibilities up for other right-to-left languages.

Chinese/Japanese/Korean don't have to be written vertically. In fact, it's more common to see them written horizontally, in case there are western characters mixed in.

Send them an email with what you want i bet they'll add it in a future version!

and charge $50 just for that specific feature :)

"3) What about an option to beam your documents to a PPC (did i just say that??!?!) or CE PDAs?"

Good idea, and one I'd be able to use on a regular basis. This would be complicated though because PPC makers did not follow the IRDA communication standards when designing their devices.

>> 3) What about an option to beam your documents to a PPC (did i just say that??!?!) or CE PDAs?

I use a sharp zaurus... it handles beaming text files, addresses, and appointments between all kinds of systems admirably, but I can't send rich text to documents-to-go (or any other word procesor) palms even though I can make rtf and doc files because all the palm programs require a custom format. it sure would be nice to be able to do this, and to receive the docs from palms.

-wg <><

What's DATAVIZ's e-mail for sending commnts and suggestions so i can e-mail my "but"s?

People who want right to left support can build there own damn hi-tech economy and make their own PDA's and PDA software. :-P

Hey - that's not too nice.... some ppl may b offended.

That would be great. Im interested in know too.

Presenters to Go is a killer device.

Worth the cost of the handheld AND the device in my opinion...anything to avoid lugging the laptop around !

Here we go:

DTG Premium PRC file sizes

Documents 142k
Word To Go 584k
Sheet To Go 484k
Slideshow To Go 286k
DataViz Mail 122k
Pics To Go 94k
Smart Chart 174k
Word To Go Font Package 266k

Total 2152k

Note also that most of these components can be run from an expansion card. As per DataViz' site:

"Documents To Go supports the movement of all Documents To Go components with the exception of the following:

-Documents To Go application
-DataViz Mail Application (WIndows Only)
-SmartChart Technology
-PicsToGo

All other associated viewing applications (ie; Word To Go and Sheet To Go) may be moved to the memory card."

I hope this helps.

I have a question, I hope someone can answer. Document files themselves can be stored on card in DocsToGo v4.x but they are not categorized, does v5 allow files stored on a card to be categorized like files in internal memory?

In the Spirit of Umoja,
Ronin

Thanks for the reminder about moving some of the modules out of RAM. I checked the VFS support for categories, and it is the same as 4.0. You cannot have categories on the card, so WordSmith still has a few advantages.

DTG also did not include font smoothing, auto scroll, full screen, or custom fonts. However, the tables and image support in Word documents is very welcome, as is the auto bullet and paragraph numbering.

The charting for spreadsheets is OK and allows for 3d chart types, but in my opinon the charts are not as good as MiniCalc. The MiniCalc charts fill the handheld screen and use bright colors. The DTG charts waste a lot of screen area and the chart itself is only about 2/3 the size of the same MiniCalc chart. In addition, the colors are dull and harder to distinguish, and the chart setup is slower and more complicated. To create the same chart took 22 seconds in DTG, 3 seconds in MiniCalc. The results in Excel on the desktop are identical though... you cannot tell if a sheet was created in DTG or MiniCalc.

A similar situation exists for Pics To Go. It works well, but not as well as other image viewers.

The PowerPoint module is the only choice, so there is nothing to compare it with yet for editing. The presentation I loaded had a mix of images, graphical text, and standard text. It works well except when your presentation is in the portrait orientation. You can edit the text, but in most cases, that is all you need.

I see this as a really great package for those looking for an integrated application that does most of what is needed, even if there are still standalone apps that handle their specialty better. Unfortunately, I already have most of those standalone apps, and I made the mistake of buying this before trying :(

RE:
I have a question, I hope someone can answer. Document files themselves can be stored on card in DocsToGo v4.x but they are not categorized, does v5 allow files stored on a card to be categorized like files in internal memory?

No, you can't categorize files on the card, but you can synchronize them with the desktop unlike some of the other office products.

I tried "Initializing" the memory card in documents to go, but I keep getting fatal exceptions.

As per the directions, I went to the "Documents" program, and tried accessing the memory card from the Category drop down. It wasn't listed, so I re-inserted the memory card and tried again. As soon as I clicked on the Category drop down, I get a fatal exception.

I tried it again from the individual apps (Wordtogo, Sheettogo) and I got a memorymgr error and a fatal exception.

I then tried manually moving the individual apps, but this resulted in them being re-installed on my next hotsync.

I'm using a Clie n610c, 64mb Memory Stick, and disabled all hacks and memory managers. This is the trial version of Docs to go 5.0 Premium.

I can't afford to have this program take up 2mb+ of my precious RAM. Anybody successfully using a memory card with this suite?

---
For all the people that have suffered through my "What's Wrong With This Picture" Signature:
http://www.americanheart.org

"Anybody successfully using a memory card with this suite?"

Yes and no. I was able to move the modules to the card, but every time I run one it stays in RAM when I exit. Yes, I closed the document and returned to the sheet listing before exiting. I smell a bug.

PS: The link you had before was a riot and did not give me a heart attack. I laughed like crazy once I recovered from the stroke... :)