OT: PDA's

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George Stolz

George Stolz

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Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
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Hospital Master Electrician
I was wondering who on the forum uses a PDA, and what their experiences are and what they recommend.

What I want to do is get a inexpensive PDA for reading the ROP's on the couch, on the job, etc. I was thinking that I would like to someday own the entire IBC library in PDF form, in addition to the NEC, all on the same PDA. The NEC is 780 pages, at around 4.5 MB. I figure the IBC is probably twice that size?

I wonder if a 16MB memory would be big enough?

Anybody already done this, or been considering doing so and done some research? Recommend any products?

 
I have and use a Palm Tungsten E2 every day. I have my appointment book, panel schedules, electrical formulas, NEC tables, materials lists and wire inventory as well as todo lists on it and I don't know how I ever got along without it. It has a 64MB expansion card as well. I wish I could buy the NEC on a sandisk for it. My GCs also use Palms and are always "beaming" me job specs, permit numbers, contact info and change orders. I use Documents to Go so I can beam proposals and submittals. It's really made my life easier.
 
I've just about worn out my second PDA. A 2002 PocketPC operating system in a Compaq iPAQ. Even for its age, it is not dated.

In addition to the usual contacts, calendar, email inbox, tasks, notes and sketchpad, I have the last three NECs, photos, some videos, a number of recordings of conversations and the 2008 ROP.

I also use the PDA to play podcasts from time to time.

I've been looking at a combo Windows Mobile PDA / phone / camera for my next.

As much as I look forward to the new one, my PDA is kind of like my work truck. I haven't quite worn it out yet. . .so I'll keep using it a bit longer.
 
peter d said:
Sure, I have a PDA, a Sharpie and piece of cardboard.
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Amen. And I keep a notepad in the van also, just in case the cardboard gets needed for something else. :)

I considered getting an electronic PDA but decided that I already have enough electronic gear owning me. When I'm on the couch or in the "library", I'll take a New Yorker or National Geographic with me instead. Lets me feel like I'm off duty for a few minutes. ;)
 
I also use a Tungsten E2. I have a 1Gig expansion card in mine so I can put all my MP3's on it and use it like an I-pod. I also have the NEC and others on it, as well as books, pictures, calandar, e-mail, presentations (8 hour) and other stuff. I really like mine. With the 1Gig expansion and hard case it was about $300.
 
I use a palm Zire72 everyday of my life. It organizes very well and allows me to take photos of small jobs when I go out to do an estimate. This is invaluable when explaining the job to my techs when they return to do the work
 
Pda

Pda

Sure, I have a PDA (PERSON to DICTATE AUTHORITY) My wife does a good job, too!...George, I see by your profile you are a residential electrician....It is your anniversary....4 years this month....congradulations on the 5,260 posts (9.23 per day)...all this in only 1 1/2 years...my PDA will not let me spend too much time with Mike Holt.....got to do the electrical work first!...
how do you find the time to work and help us on this forum?...Well, My PDA ...ETA is only a few minutes away....congradulations, again....May I add you to my "Buddy" list?....wildman
 
I picked up a Palm Treo 650 a couple of months ago. I've been pretty happy with it. I use it as a phone, calendar, camera, and contact list. It has other features like Web surfing and e-mail, but I don't use them. I haven't really used the MP3 player much, either.

Memory is getting cheaper all the time. I have a 1.0 GB SD card for the thing that cost me all of $30.
 
I use a notebook. I can't take notes fast enough on the phone for the PDA. I also use a Garmin M5. This PDA includes a GPS. It lives in a holder on my windshield. It tells me appts. then shows me the way. When I write the bill, all the customer info (including time and date) are on the screen. It has also been useful when I forget to note the time that I arrived at a job. It has a track feature that shows your recent travels including time-stamp. Can't live without it.

Mark
 
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I'm kinda leaning with Ryan and Amptech's choice. I can get the Tungsten E2 pretty cheap, and like Jeff said, the memory is cheap.

My co-worker's girlfriend works for a local company that makes Otter Boxes, so he gets minor factory defects or old display units for next to nothing. They're durable, and snazzy, even if the gaskets are missing.
baldguy.gif


My question is, are pdf's easily readable on PDA's? I'd hate to go through with it and find myself squinting through the ROP's. :D

Of course, I could save for a long time and get a tablet. ;)
 
georgestolz said:
My question is, are pdf's easily readable on PDA's? I'd
Click to expand...

I am wondering the same thing. I may get the one Busman suggested the Garmin M5

It is a PDA, GPS, MP3 player and has the ability to store suppliers catalogs and the NEC
 
I saw in Consumer Reports they groused about the battery life a little bit. I wonder if Mark's had any complaints about that? Given it's home, it's probably on the charger all the time anyway, I imagine. :)
 
I had been using the Dell PDA for years, and recently went to a PDA included with the phone. MUCH better than using two devices. I have unlimited email and web access.
The downside is the small screen. I am thinking of getting a new phone service with a simple phone and carrying my laptop. I do a lot online work when out of the office, and I do not work in the field, so this would work.

I will say that when you get use to your PDA, you will wonder how the pen and paper ever really worked. Especially because of the syncing ability, you can enter weeks if not months of info on your computer and sync your PDA. Contact numbers, email addresses, notes, drawings, reminders, tasks, alarms, it is great.
 
I have no complaints about battery life with my Palm Tungsten. My old Zire71 had a cradle for charging/sync operations. The Tungsten has (2) separate cables. It made charging easier when I was on the road all winter. Even if I didn't charge it one night the battery lasted 2 days easily. Reading pdf files is not too much of an eye strain.
 
georgestolz said:
My question is, are pdf's easily readable on PDA's?
Click to expand...
Pro:The Acrobat Reader that I have installed on my PocketPC has a feature called "Reflow" that allows me to zoom in to make the text larger, and at the same time, the text is adjusted to fit the width of the screen.

An additional Acrobat Reader feature allows me to rotate the view 90? to a landscape mode, making for a comfortable view of the document.

The landscape view and adjustable size makes for very readable text, IMO.

Con: The processor and RAM demands for the PDA are significant. I've been reading the 2008 ROP on my PDA. The conversion of the 12 MB PDF file on my desktop to the "reflowable" PDA file version took over an hour. When I change to a new page, the screen takes about half a minute to refresh.

The Tungsten you mention above will require a SD memory card for you to be able to work with something like the 2008 ROP.
 
Well, I got the E2. I got the hard case ($12), the 1 GB SD card ($22), and the PDA (factory refurbished, $145). All in all, it's pretty darned cool.

I attempted to load the 2008 ROP onto it, and the Adobe Palm Reader conversion/sync program about had a stroke with it. Something about 998 pages of fine print sent it into "Windows is huffing and puffing to keep enough memory going" mode. On the third or fourth try, I had success.

I also bought a Bluetooth transmitter for the desktop computer to communicate with the bluetooth-enabled PDA, but haven't gotten it to work right yet. For a brief moment I was able to sync wirelessly, but it's not working now. I never was able to get to the net on it.

I have written myself a pole-base concrete calculator and a voltage drop calculator with the included spreadsheet software, though. Pretty cool. And of course, I got the tunes. :)

From what you're describing, Al, it sounds like maybe the pocket PC has an edge on Palm on some of these issues. The Adobe program on the E2 is pretty basic, I would actually prefer to go smaller with the print than it allows. My griping downplays the utter joy (and my wife's dispair) at the purchase, though. :D
 
:D

:D

georgestolz said:
My griping downplays the utter joy (and my wife's dispair) at the purchase, though. :D
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LOL :D

Having the amount of data and applications as mobile as a PDA is, completely alters one's relationship to the use of data. I know it's trite and hyperbolic, BUT, settling into regular use of my PDA changed my life.

Have fun!
 
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