Comments on: Chapura KeySuite Review

I also really love the suite, but one thing that I wish Key Contacts would have is a shortcut ICON that will allow you do dial a number. I like the T3's new OS5 that has that icon right there on the top. So simple. Find the the person you want, hit the icon and boom it's dialing.

Personally selecting a forward slash and then frustrating "i" on the new OS makes it really had to dial the number. Chapura if you are listening please change this.

That's my 2 cents worth.

Ahhhh thank you Simon! So much better!!!!!!! Now I don't have to use QLaunch to bring up the OS5 contacts just to dial someone. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

So what? It is a review for the software and he did say that it should be faster on a ARM PDA.

I still see alot of users running old OS3/4 PDAs and there is a market there.

Psion 5/Motorola StarTac -> Palm Vx -> Palm m505 -> Sony N770C -> Sony T625C -> Sony NR70V/Ericsson T39m -> Toshiba e310 -> Palm Tungsten T/Ericsson T68m -> HP h2210 -> Palm Tungsten T3/Ericsson T610

One of Palm's strengths is that people CAN use 'ancient' PDAs. I am one of those loonies who has to have the latest and greatest model, but that doesn't to most (arguably saner) people. It is perfectly reasonable to review a product on older models - so long as that the reviewer is up front about it and acknowledges the inherent limitations. Richard did exactly that - to call him a "dork" is pretty ignorant.

I'd also point out that people who stick with 'obsolete' models often only want a decent PIM suite rather than pictures/music/graphs etc. In that light, it seems reasonable that such a user would be very interested in reading a review of KeySuite working on an older device.

And of course you can always download a copy of KeySuite, install it on your more modern PDA, and submit a review for us to read.

Vx->m500->m505->m515->TT->T2->T3/TC

You guys don't get it.

{Several scathing-but-valid points.}

That's my review of this review.

Ouch. Remember, this isn't a professional website with paid reviewers. People have complained asking for software reviews (to stem the tide of pathetic press releases) so the site's editor tried to oblige. It appears that only one person is running Palminfocenter (in their spare time?), so don't expect them to singlehandedly post news, review hardware, review software, monitor trolling, etc.

Most PDA sites do fluff stories and fluff reviews, so this was par for the course. I doubt you're going to find many intelligent, experienced Palm owners that have several devices and are able + willing to write thorough, unbiased reviews for free.

Bottom line: use forums and Usenet for feedback on apps and then try out for yourself the ones that sound like they may be useful.

If you want to give back to the Palm community, submit your own reviews so that others may learn from your experience. Or at least post your personal observations as a counterpoint to the story.

Some of your comments were on target to a point, such as No. 1. Others, such as No. 4, were way off target. Few were written as constructive criticism but merely seems to be rantings and ravings, as clearly demonstrated by the numerous responses you received to your nasty comments. Nevertheless, as the author of the review, I'll respond...

1. He couldn't see it in color to determine how it would look on a color machine.

RESPONSE: Valid, to a degree. But the features of this and the synchronization with Outlook are key factors. The screen shots above give a good sense of how it looks on color machines.

2. He commented on the speed of the app which he is unable to separate from the slug-like performance of his $30 P.O.S. ancient Palm found in a tomb near the Great Pyramids of Giza.

RESPONSE: You sound very angry at something. I'm sure it's not my use of a Palm III xe. Nevertheless, I'll reply: Many people are still using the Palm III series. It performs quite well.

3. He doesn't have one of the newer high-res machines so he can't comment on how it performs there.

RESPONSE: Valid point that was fully disclosed to readers.

4. He doesn't seem to know how to use a PIM. 250 categories? Uh, at some point you have to realize that you can over-organize to the point that you can't find your stuff. I am working professional in IT buried in meetings, notes, todos, and all sorts of stuff. I have two categories: personal and business. If you have more than five, you stink at using your palm and are probably equally unorganized using paper or anything else.

RESPONSE: See first sentence of the response to No. 2. I can see why you would need just two categories: one for each brain cell. (Excuse the sarcasm, but you deserve a bit of your own medicine.)
In any event, as I said, my categories go from "Amazon" to "Wireless." I use many categories because I have a lot of contacts, and I need to look them up by category.

5. No comparison with other products? What about the much-vaunted Outlook mimic from DataViz? Is this similar? Better? Worse? Don't write a review for a product if you haven't tried the competition.

RESPONSE: That's valid. And I'm glad to see it was constructive criticism up until the last sentence, in which you seem to serve as THE source for writing reviews. In any event, this site has many reviews, and so do other sites. Feel free to browse for competing products.

6. I think the app looks ugly. I notice there are no comments on its appearance - or the lack of compatibility with the T3's new screen.

RESPONSE: "I think the app looks ugly." You're on your way to doing top-notch software reviews. But try to limit those multisyllabic words, alright.

7. Here we have yet another PIM for the Palm that doesn't record completed todo's into an untimed event in the calendar or Daily Journal. Arrgghhh!!!

RESPONSE: Glad to see you write "Arrgghhh!!!" You really do need to vent your anger a little more in constructive ways.