Quickies: 256MB SD Cards, T615C, FatFinger, Poll, Detroit

LOL my CLIE 610 works fine too. Really has all the functionalilty I need.

The Sandisk 128 Mb SD-card had a bug.

Does anyone know if the currently shipping Sandisk 128 SD cards still have the bug? Is there any way to see which cards are affected? Also, will Sandisk offer replacement cards in the event you get a buggy one?

I would normally just buy another brand of card, but I've been offered a great price on a Sandisk 128 meg (he's getting a Sony) card by a colleague and I was wondering if it was worth the risk.

I too am suffering the frozen format problem of a Sandisk 128 Mb SD card using Palm OS 4.0. Is there any way to tell the defective batches of cards? I have installed Copyupdate and FATFS with no luck. Palm's answer is a Hard Reset. Based on posts to this messageboard I sense a hard reset will not help. Of course we multilanguage m505 users with XP are out of luck flashing to OS 4.1 ! P.S. An IPAQ can format the card in 2 seconds which is my only option.

"Does anyone know if the currently shipping Sandisk 128 SD cards still have the bug?"

I just bought a 128 sandisk. I had upgraded my m505 to 4.1 previously. The first one I tried in the shop and it locked up trying to auto format. The next one I tried was fine?? Obvious to say I bought the second one.

Guess what? Sandisk were selling the first one cheaper, $200 as to $239aust. ?? Makes you wonder if they knew of the problem. I got the second one for $200 anyway.

BB

Yes, Sandisk knows about the problem. However I don't know how to see which are the good ones.

For those having trouble reformatting their SanDisk 128MB SD Card using Palm's built in CardInfo program, SanDisk will replace your card for free since they warranty their cards for FIVE years (http://www.sandisk.com/tech/rw_sd.asp).

SanDisk fixed a Palm compatibility problem with their first batch of 128MB SD cards around March or April 2002. The main way to tell if you have the updated SD card is to try to reformat it using Palm's CardInfo program. If it works, you have the updated card.

I have one of their updated 128MB SD cards, after getting my incompatible one replaced, and it has worked very well ever since I got it replaced.

By the way, this is the picture you're comparing:

http://www.avaion.com/images/fatfinger.GIF

Who cares about either one of them. Touching your screen with your fingers is a bad idea. Your screen gets all greasy and you'll eventually scratch it all up.

Let's see.....
--PPC looks pretty, FatFinger looks plain
--PPC only costs $10, FatFinger costs $15
--PPC d/l is 1.8MB, FatFinger d/l is 55KB
--PPC needs a $600+ HHPC, FatFinger runs on a $100 Palm
--both make you touch the screen (use the stylus!!!)
--neither lets you see your document
Guess I'll stick with grafiti or the pop-up keyboard

I have been hunting for CHEAP and A GOOD TEXT entry solution.

Fat Finger
Not much thought into the layout of the keys. Inability to alter the order, Believe it or not the keys are too big.

The best solution for anybody looking for a really decent and FREE keybpard is by far and away is the QuickType Hack. If the squares on this could be made fractionally larger by using the width of the graffiti screen this would be unbeatable.

I think this review of fatfinger is pretty good
http://www.useless.ca/pullmyfinger.html

Geez! What a waste. If you want keyboard entry without cell phone then just get a Treo 90.

If you want keyboard plus cell phone then get one of the other Treo's.

If you want keyboard plus access to on-screen Graffiti then get a Treo and download the freeware Newpen from PalmGear.

Why would any one waste their money on a software keyboard?

I've read a number of the comments, and appreciate much of the feedback. Some of the ideas mentioned also came up during our beta test, and are already under consideration for Version 2 (configurable keyboards, an option to set key size). I thought I'd take a minute to also comment on some of the other points that were made.

As one reply pointed out, the FatFinger download is 57K, which includes X-Master (for user convenience). The FatFinger programs are 29k. One of our top priorities was to keep FatFinger as small and fast as possible, while providing functioning buttons that
invert and click when pressed, so we opted for a simple, if not particularly glamorous, user interface.

There are two keyboard layouts for the Alpha Keyboard: Qwerty and Block. To keep the keys big enough for fingers, it was necessary to alter the Qwerty layout to six keys across vs. ten - hence, the 'bent' design. We considered including an option for the user to create layouts in Version 1.0, but decided to see whether this would be of value to users before adding to the size and complexity of the program. We are now gathering feedback on this and other feature requests on our website.

Also, we recognize there are other options on the market for text input, including add-on hardware and new devices with built-in keyboards. While FatFinger will not be for everyone (if you are entering a great deal of text at a single location, a full-sized add-on keyboard is the superior choice), we hope it will be an easy-to-use, cost-effective alternative for those who would like to enter text while on the go, without carrying additional hardware or paying hundreds of dollars to upgrade their device.

Lastly, we want to reassure readers that while it is true that your fingers sometimes leave smudges on the screen, and you will want to clean it periodically with a soft cloth, your fingers are softer than the stylus, and will not damage the surface. The best re-assurance we can offer? Palm wouldn't have put the full-screen calculator on every device if they didn't want the screen to be touched.

Thanks again - we appreciate the feedback.

I hope you are joking. That's only 6% sales tax. I wish I had 6%, instead I live with 7.2%.

Jason

Try living in canada... in manitoba we havea total of 14% tax... tell me how much fun that is!

and our government has no money!

I think in manitoba they made 300 Million alone on gambling!

geez.. i hate tax!

Remember folks, paying tax is a priviledge.

Remember folks, paying taxes is a RESPONSIBILITY. You don't want to pay taxes? Get off the freakin boat! I hear they could use able young men in Iraq right now...