Comments on: Palm Releases Sidelight Utility for m505
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RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
So far I think this is an improvement over GlowHack. I hope it doesn't have GlowHack's small bug, which caused the sidelight to not come on when some alarms went off.
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News Editor
Palm Infocenter
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
My 505 is set to "Stay on in cradle". When I turn on the sidelight, it turns itself off after a couple of minutes, even though the unit itself is still on. This means I have to turn the light back on. It's inconvenient. What 505LightOn does, (and what Palm's solution doesn't do) is leave the light on whenver the unit is on. That means when the unit is in the cradle the light is always on. Once again, not a show stopper, but a big conveneince.
Hope that makes sense.
scouter075@mindspring.com
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
I also agree that 505LightOn is the "best of show" so far of these utilities for two reasons. First, it addresses the above-mentioned issue. Second, it turns the sidelight back on after a soft reset which, to my knowledge, none of the other utilities do. I should note that 505LightOn v1.32 at 18k does seem incredibly large for what it does and its size is something to keep in mind if you don't need the two additional features.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
RE: how do you turn OFF sidelight?
RE: how do you turn OFF sidelight?
Hold the power switch down for 2 seconds.
---
News Editor
Palm Infocenter
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
How the hell is this a bug in OS4?! It's a completely separate utility, just like any other app. It actually seems like a pretty neat feature, but if you don't like it, get one of the other backlight hacks that work the way you want.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
I'm serious, this actually works. After you do it, a little message will appear afterwards to prove it (if you messed up, nothing happens) It is part of the OS so you can try it on any Palm (I don't know if some of the licencees omited it). Infact, there is a feature for every number (1-9), although I don't recomend doing them if you don't know what they do.
To undo it, simply soft-reset.
I hope this helps,
-Pepper
I love my Palm . . . do you?
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
Just wanted to clear that up,
-Pepper
I love my Palm . . . do you?
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
What do the other ones do? Not sure if I want to try them.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
You can write it anywhere that has a text field. Memo Pad, even the text line requesting a password in the System Lockout dialog box. As far as I know, you can do it anywhere you can write.
You write a [shortcut] .3
Except don't really write [shortcut], but write the shortcut character.If you go into Graffiti Help and hit page down once it will show you how to write the shortcut character.
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
-Pepper
RE: Doesn't stay on in cradle.
Roberto, New York.
Too little, Too Late.
What is Palm thinking?
What we need is a utility to adjust the BRIGHTNESS of the sidelight, not this JASH (Just Another Sidelight Hack).
There are already at least 2 utilities that do the same as what Palm's offering does and more.
Palm's Chief Competitive Officer is known to read this board. Sir, please explain to us why a brightness adjusting hack has not been released.
RE: Too little, Too Late.
RE: Too little, Too Late.
For those of you who are happy with the current screen, I wish I felt the same as you but I just can't plunk down the cash for this dim screen. I love the form factor of the 505, and I'm dying to purchase an improved version of the 505. The Clie keeps calling me, but I've decided to give Palm until August to let us know they have a clue. After that, I don't think I'll be able to hold out much longer.
Can anyone say such a hack is possible?
RE: Too little, Too Late.
RE: Too little, Too Late.
Most of these LEDs have some variable voltage so that if:
1. Software increases power from battery to LED.
2. LED gets brighter.
Not weird at all if you ask me. (and I'm an embedded realtime software designer).
Now..to the person who said it is "NOT POSSIBLE": you must either you work for Palm or you have taken an m505 apart, removed an LED and done some bench testing with it to determine that. My guess is neither.
RE: Too little, Too Late.
There is no way, NONE, to make the light brighter unless:
1) it is already modulated to be dimmer as described above; or
2) it is connected to an output that isn't strictly digital and that voltage can be software controlled.
Neither of these are likely. To preserve battery life (a definite design goal), the engineer would avoid modulating the light through software. In any case, if Palm could address the criticism of its screen and make it brighter, why would it not do so?
Software isn't magic. If the hardware can't support the function, no amount of clever programming is going to change it.
RE: Too little, Too Late.
Rather than hoping for a software fix from Palm, I was just hoping they could slide this feature into the next batch coming out of the factory (little board design change) similar to upgrading software from 2.0 to 2.1, just a little improvement.
Can you tell I haven't bought mine yet?
RE: Too little, Too Late.
I'd like to believe this is the case (thought it may not be) for the following reason:
I know this is anecdotal evidence at best, but I talked to someone who was told by a Palm rep in NY that the brightness of the m505 is "all in the software". This rep's personal m505 was also noticeably brighter than any other he'd ever seen.
Regardless, Palm should come out and address this issue truthfully saying 1 of 3 things:
- "the current m505 is hardware limited to the current brightness, nothing can be done, period."
- "we optimized the m505 for maximum battery life, not visibility, it was our own business decision and that's that, like it or lump it. (or have a 3rd party hack it)."
- "we realize we made a mistake in not giving our intelligent customers the option of reducing battery life to gain a brighter screen, so we will be releasing a brightness utility shortly"
I'd be satisfied if they'd simply address it truthfully, with all the buzz about the screen being dim, etc, and comparisons with the N710C brightness, it's not like they don't know what's going on.
RE: Too little, Too Late.
All I can do is speculate, since I don't work for either Sony or Palm and don't have the schematics for either device. I also haven't written any software that bypasses the Palm OS and writes directly to hardware.
The first and most significant thing Sony would have done differently is planned for the variable brightness feature. That decision leads to several implementation options:
1) Provide a light of some maximum brightness, then modulate it to dim it down. To save battery life, they probably wouldn't want the CPU to do this, so they'd put in a small oscillator circuit that could be adjusted with one or more output bits.
2) Use several digital output bits wired through a couple resistors for a poor-man's digital-to-analog converter, which would give you several brightness levels. The more digital lines/resistors used, the more brightness levels available (n lines gives you 2^n brightness levels).
3) Use an analog output of a digital-to-analog converter built into the chip (some microcontrollers like the 68HC11 build such a thing in, I honestly don't know if the CPU used in the Sony PEG has such a thing or not).
All of these schemes are slightly more expensive to implement than hardware that supports a simple on/off backlight. The only "free" dimmer you can get is one done in software --- I've done this with LEDs. But again, that requires frequent interrupt service, and with something like a handheld you want to let the CPU sleep as much as possible to preserve battery life.
I'm sure there are other ways this could be done as well. Embedded designers can be very clever in finding ways to minimize hardware.
Aside from the bright/dim control, Sony also needed to either use a brighter light (with whatever support electronics) or give the appearance of it by using a higher contrast LCD. I haven't seen a PEG in person yet, but if it looks much better than the m505 with both backlights turned off, then the LCD itself is helping the situation by giving whiter whites.
So both the Sony and the Palm run the Palm OS, both run on Motorola's Dragonball, but internally both may be wired very differently, with output ports tied to different hardware.
Sidelight Burnout
Remember that the IIIc backlight is on all the time, and many people are installing hacks for the 505 to do the same thing. I abuse my Palm more than most, using it for a flashlight, night light, etc, sometimes even falling asleep with it on in the cradle. No problems, it can take it.
RE: Sidelight Burnout
RE: Sidelight Burnout
RE: Sidelight Burnout
RE: Sidelight Burnout
RE: Sidelight Burnout
As for my Palm - the m500 makes a horrible flashlight! that new technology is too faint to be usefull for anything other than a backlight!
And dude in the rain - didn't your V get wet? My friend's V just suffered an ill fate involving cappacuino!
Isn't this pathetic?
RE: Isn't this pathetic?
RE: Isn't this pathetic?
Innovating on the OS? You got to be kidding?
The PalmOS has seen little innovation in years. It's companies like TRG and Sony and Handspring that should be writing the OS--not the clowns at Palm.
OS 5.0 will be the real innovation and methinks the next generation Palms will look alot like a PocketPC.
RE: Isn't this pathetic?
No"Palm"in MY palm
RE: No
RE: No
Wow, that another Wow factor for m505!!!
RE: Works for m100
RE: Too little, Too Late
RE: RE: Too little, Too Late
the Clie uses a reflective screen like the m505.
RE: RE: Too little, Too Late
You must be one (or some) of the following
1). Misinformed
2). Jealous m505 victim
3). Lier
Clie uses reflective screen!!!!
RE: Redundant
p.s. Punctuation in moderation
Flames are Fun (TM)
1) WRONG WRONG WRONG
2) Bzzzzzt. Thanks for playing.
the Clie uses a reflective screen like the m505.
3) "Clie uses active matrix TFT" ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
You must be one (or some) of the following
1). Misinformed
2). Jealous m505 victim
3). Lier
Clie uses reflective screen!!!!
RE: RE: Too Little Too Late
Thanks everyone for bringing this brain-flatulence to my attention, and to the individual who thought envy might be involved, the Sony would actually be my device of choice, and I seriously considered trading in my current device. The ONLY thing that stopped me was that the battery would not make it through more than one of my work days unless I never used the audio. I would not look forward to waking up one morning and discovering that I forgot to charge it...
Palm responded to customers
Palm made a design decision to have the sidelight on at one setting. Maybe that was an error, maybe not.
Customers didn't like the readability of the screen so they asked for a utility to default the sidelight to on. Several 3rd parties developed utilities that did exactly that.
Palm responded with a good utility of their own in response to the complaints. They listened to their customers and responded. They did not give customers the ability to change brightness because THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE.
I would expect Palm to rethink the contrast control issue in future models, but for the 505, it was too late.
Yes, Palm made a wrong design decision, but yes they listened to customers feedback and responded in a substantive way.
So what is wrong with that?
RE: Palm responded to customers
Because m505 owners need the BRIGHTNESS control software desperately, not the backlight last state "memory" utility which has been around on the internet already.
What's wrong with it? Just "Too little, too late"
ps. It is really funny and ridiculous that fix brightness is a good thing!!
RE: Palm responded to customers
John2001
Let's all have a group hug
Greed and stupidity are coming back to haunt Palm and now there isn't anything Yankowski, you or I can do about it. Don't worry - someone will buy the Palm OS before they go under this year.
;-)
Palm 505 the best PDA
Standalone MP3-players are superior to any IPAQ:s, and if you wanna watch video-How about a portable DVD? No, Palm 505 is the best! Unlimited storage, SD-expansion cards will ultimately hold 256 Mb!!! Portability vastly superior to IPAQ:s !! And with color!!
Ive had a Palm IIIc so I can tell you
this: SIZE IS IMPORTANT!!
(and I'm not a woman ! :-)
RE: Palm 505 the best PDA
PDAs are starting to become devices that combine several functions. It would be a lot more convenient to carry a single device that had your address book, schedule, productivity programs/games, MP3, videos, voice messages, web browser, and cellphone capabilities. That way you would never have to decide what to carry. In the next year, we're going to start seeing many more cellphones that have PDA functionality, as well as PDAs with wireless web access, paging and cellphone connectivity. My money is on the cellphone makers to eventually win this war. Take a look at Japanese multifunction phones if you want a preview of what is to come.
RE: Palm 505 the best PDA
Need video? -- Bring a DVD player with you!
Need eBook? -- Bring an eBook readerm with you!
Need Games? -- Bring a GameBoy with you!
Need Wireless email? -- Bring an RIM blackberry!
Need voice recording? -- Bring a tape (or digital) recorder
............ (what else do you need?)
Well sounds like a good idea!
m505
Great Price M500,M505
& talk to John Rossi. He is selling the M505 for $ 375 & even better for 3 or more. Any ?? e-mail me @taylorsdrivein@aol.com
i
Palm 505 Sucks
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Doesn't stay on in cradle.
scouter075@mindspring.com