Pocket PC Torture!

[Bob Russell]

I think my Toshiba PPC is a torture device invented by some PalmOne secret agent whose mission is to make me switch back to PalmOS!

After one bad Toshiba, the kind customer support people there sent me a replacement. I hate to complain because they were very nice to me. But now, not much later, my next one has problems. Maybe I'm the problem?? Something was going haywire with activesync all of a sudden, and I lost some data.

No problem, right? I have Sprite Pro backup. So I restore and then can't resove some files. That should be easy also... just look at which files and take care of it. What? Activesync can't/won't tell you which of the thousands of files were the culprits? What nincompupe on the Microsoft activesync team decided that it was good to not tell you what file is the problem? (Please excuse my ramblings - I'm very frustrated again! I'm sure there's a logical explanation which is just beyond my grasp right now.)

So I figure it might be a locked resource problem. I reboot my computer and my PPC. No change. I try another restore from an older backup. Now I have hundreds of files to resolve. I try to resolve them in activesync and now I get an error for hundreds. The only way to get past the error screens is to hold down the enter key and let the keyboard repeat satisfy all the popup error messages from activesync. (I suppose I could have killed the task, but heaven knows what kind of problems THAT might have caused!)

Okay, our trusty MobileRead news tells me that there is a new version of ActiveSync available. The notes don't give me much hope that it will help me, but at least I can uninstall and install the new version to get a clean install. I also reinitialized my PPC. Certainly I can get it to work with fresh PPC and fresh ActiveSync. That's just like bringing it home out of the box.

Now, it won't even connect for more than a second or so before it drops out and can't find the device. I've had increasing problems along those lines already for a couple weeks, but it was resolved by unplugging the sync cord and then replacing. Not any more... it just won't work.

So I'm concluding it's another bad unit. Bad luck? I just don't know. But it leaves me with a quandry. Either way I am need to see what Toshiba can do for me, of course. But after that, I need to decide once again... PPC or PalmOS, and what model?

I really like PPC believe it or not and now I have the software I want. I know exactly how I want to set it up. And minimalist this time. I have my 12 trusty and can't-live-without-it apps and that will be it. Simple and hopefully safe.

Here they are if you're interested, in no particular order....
eSword with MKJV only, Solitaire City, Gamebox Asia, Pocket Informant, eWallet, Handy Shopper, Tombo, Sprite Backup Pro, SmallMenu Plus (which I intend to use to replace SPB Pocket Plus and vBar and ProgramMenu), eReader, iSilo, and Fitaly. To me this is absolute minimum functionality, but enough to keep me very happy.

If I go with PalmOS I'll surely have a whole new set of issues to overcome and some more software to buy. Plus I still consider them in transition, with an unknown future. I'm hoping it's a spectacular future, but for now it's unknown. I want stable. Other people don't have these kinds of problems with PPC, so I gotta figure it's bad luck with Toshiba. Or me. Or another unrecognized problem like a bad SD card, bad card reader, bad PC USB port, unexpected software incompatibilities, etc. If that's it, I'm probably still going to have problems with a new PPC unless the basic 12 programs eliminate an incompatibility.

Oh my oh my what am I going to choose now? Another replacement Toshiba? A PalmOS T5 with it's own set of challenges? Maybe a new PPC like a Dell or HP VGA model? Or, since I'm a cheapskate, maybe an economy model of some sort? I guess I'd better sleep on it. But I hate being PDA-less for long so it won't be long before I feel like I have to decide. Hmmm... a T5 is really sounding nice right about now because I never had all these problems with my Palms (well, except for some memory stick issues with my Sony, that is).

If anyone has any ideas or thoughts, they would surely be appreciated!

[Bob Russell]

Discovered a couple of things...

1) ShadowPlan (one of my favorite programs on Palm) is apparently T5 compatible except for an occassional performance issue and some problems with linking to the PIM databases. These are both due to Palm bugs, not Shadow bugs. I think I can deal with that.

2) DateBk5 has a new release to solve problems (T5 bugs) with the T5.

This means I can do my killer dozen apps on the PalmOS pretty easy:
eSword with MKJV only -> MyBible with NIV
Solitaire City -> Solitaire City or Patience
Gamebox Asia -> Might do without this one. We'll see.
Pocket Informant -> DateBk5
eWallet -> eWallet
Handy Shopper -> Handy Shopper
Tombo -> ShadowPlan
Sprite Backup Pro -> ?? Backup Program
SmallMenu Plus -> Zlauncher
eReader -> eReader
iSilo -> iSilo
Fitaly -> Fitaly

To convert, I can just sync once from Outlook and then stick with Palm Desktop. I'll miss the snazzy and colorful Pocket Informant screens, but I can live with that. And I'll have to manually copy all my data from Tombo to Shadow. But the format is simpler now than it used to be, so it's not a big deal to do once. Everything else pretty much just converts over easily. Add a backup program and I'm done (I think there's one of those that's compatible with T5 now also).

Like I said, need to sleep on it and find out what Toshiba has to say, but Palm T5 looks like my next PDA. I love the Palm simplicity. And I just don't feel like the newer PPCs are ready yet for me. They're nice, but not every program integrates VGA well and they're too big for my pocket. No decisions yet, but hmmm, the more I think about the T5 the more I get excited. It's really growing on me. Wonder if they have any deals? Nothing else on the PPC side gets me excited right now. I sure would miss those pretty PI screens though...

[Bob Russell]

Looks like iSilo 4.2 has also solved the T5/Treo problems. Might be time to take the plunge. It's not exactly cheap though.

[Laurens]

What about a T|E to tide you over for another year? It's pretty low-risk investment. Personally, I wouldn't bother with the T|5 unless you absolutely need Hires+. (Even then I'd choose a T|3.)

[Colin Dunstan]

Man that sucks. I am sorry to hear that you have this bad luck with Pocket PCs, Bob.

Just as a side-note: I found SmallMenu Plus to be quite buggy, that is it crashed my device twice within five minutes after install. I have never been a great fan of today plugins and extensions, because of the havoc they could do to your system.

Maybe it is also the Toshiba port of the PPC. I haven't heard any rumors that Toshiba was worse than Dell or HP, but perhaps they have their issues. So maybe Laurens is right: if you can live with buying just another PDA, don't pay too much for a Palm with perhaps out-dated technology right now; instead, try to get the TE or the T3 for a discount somewhere (Sunshine, didn't you find a good deal for your T3 somewhere)?

[Bob Russell]

@Laurens, A T|E does make sense. I'll have to think about that. But the T5 is so pretty!

@Morpheus, Thanks for mentioning the Small Menu problems. As far as my next PDA, I need battery life big time, so T3 is not best for me. I hate to conclude Toshiba is altogether bad just because of my experiences. But it's certainly bad for me!

[Team7]

Man sorry to hear about that bob. I have a 705e and I got a reconditioned one. It has performed flawlessly so far. I also have a toshiba lap top and it is probably the best computer I have ever owned. You sure your problem isnt the activesync hardware? If you leave I might be the only one holding it down for toshiba now. I think you just want an excuse to get a new toy lol. But whatever you do good luck!

[Laurens]

Team7, I agree on what you said about Toshiba laptops. Mine is more than three years old now and still works great. Best computer I ever bought. Very stable, too.

[Bob Russell]

Well, I tried syncing to my work laptop and it functions fine. I doubt it's the activesync software because I completely removed everything and reinstalled, and it's not the cable (I've used more than one). Suspicious now that my PCs USB drives may be giving out on me or have bad drivers. That would explain some of the problems I've had with other USB peripherals such as the card reader and even my Palm USB sync cord in the past when transferring a lot of data from my Clie's memory stick. Tonight I'll try removing some of the load by disconnecting other peripherals to see if that helps.

So Toshiba is off the hook this time. It's got to be something to do with my desktop setup. Guess I've gotta do some debugging one way or the other. New philosophy for me going forward. Just the basics, keep it simple, and minimize the gadget and program addons. Reduce the headaches and enjoy life instead of having to fix this and that because of my lastest program or gadget. Sigh.

[Bob Russell]

After a little more effort to recover, I've decided to stick with my Toshiba. Despite my earlier doubts, I'm now convinced these problems are software. Microsoft problems, specifically. Plus something evil I tried to do with it, probably.

ActiveSync is a nightmare in my opinion. The least they could do is give you info about how it decides to resolve things, and explain the choices you make in technical terms. They try to make it simple and make it impossible instead. And to not produce an error log when ActiveSync gives up and can't resolve files is a nightmare. Sometimes I wonder how the average person off the street can survive something like this. I guess they give up or lose data or get a friend to help them out.

But, nonetheless, I love the Toshiba e405 hardware, and hey, it's already paid for. I just couldn't see ploping down $400 + accessories and software costs to get a T5, no matter how nice it seems, when I've already got a perfectly good PDA in my hands.

For those that are interested, the recovery was not fun either. I finally decided to rebuild the PPC from scratch and stick to basic apps only...

Pocket Informant
eWallet
Handy Shopper
Tombo
Sprite Backup
eReader and eBooks plus my bold Tahoma font
eSword with mkjv & mhcc
iSilo and documents
Fitaly

When done, I set some prefs, plugged in registrations, did a soft reset and then did a full sprite backup to the desktop PC, plus flash ROM and SD card files.

I still need a decent launcher and task manager. I'm going to stick very mainstream this time. I'll do a little looking, but WisBar Advance seems as mainstream as you can get. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Other possible additions are Solitaire City and Gamebox Asia, but I want to keep the SD card completely free for true storage, backup files, and mp3s.

So my new PDA philosophy is simple, simple, simple. Stay mainstream with everything and don't stretch the envelope. Maybe that will keep the problems down. I've been spending as much time fixing things as using the PDA. I want to nearly eliminate that "fixing" time, even if it means I only do the basics with my PDA from now on!

So here's to simple and trouble-free!!!! (I hope!)

Oh, one more thing.... somehow after this recovery process I forgot to use my favorite device name for the partnership. So the pda mydocuments folder is called PocketPC my documents. Anyone know if I can change that? Thks.

[Bob Russell]

FYI, I've installed WisBar Advance 2, and it's spectacular. I'm sticking to the simple parts of it also. I'm keeping my today theme, not using skins on any apps, and about the only customization I've done is with the cascading start menu, making Pocket Informant a task exception (so it minimizes when X is tapped rather than closing), and turning off the sounds. This is a wonderful app. I do miss the tabbed today launcher in SPB Pocket Plus (which is one of the apps I did buy), but simplicity is the order of the day so I'll just do without.

I should also mention to anyone still following this thread (there's around 100 views so far, so at least one person must be interested) that my PPC is performing wonderfully fast and consistent also! Almost everything is in RAM.

Only the iSilo docs, mp3s, and eSword document files are in internal ROM. The external SD card only has mp3s, general file storage like a jump drive, and my sprite backups. Another advantage is that it's easy to swap out SD cards if I like because there is nothing tied to an installed app on the card. It's sort of like I get all the advantages of a dual card slot device! If you make a Win Media Player or another video player one of your base apps, you can put all kinds of video content on your SD cards also! In fact, I might just look into whether you can use Win Media Player to watch the output from the popular DVD->PPC programs. But not right now... I'm still trying to learn to keep it simple and easy!

If you can manage to resist the temptation of loading all kinds of software you don't really need, this appears so far to be a great way to go. I'm sold!

Gee... does this mean that my age has gotten the best of me and I've crossed into the land of the non-techie??? I shudder at the thought!!!!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Saves me $400+ that I might have spent on a T5. (Maybe I'll spend that money on a future Palm instead!) Got me looking at WisBar Advance 2 instead of SmallMenu Plus. And encouraged me to believe in my cute little Toshiba e405! I'm in PDA hog heaven again!

Now if I could just learn to love ActiveSync...

[Team7]

It did start to sound like you were talking to yourself bob lol. Anyway Im happy that your not leaving the toshiba circle. Also what exactly does activesync do? I always wondered why a windows enabled pda has to first download the program on a PC then convert it to the PDA. Also why doesnt it just us a USB. Im not a big fan of activesync either but then again I dont quite know what it does

[Team7]

oh also whats is that gamebox asia?

[Bob Russell]

Originally Posted by Team7

oh also whats is that gamebox asia?

Gamebox Asia is a Mahjong game from www.pdamills.com. Very nice!

The biggest problem I have with activesync is that when there's an issue involving a resolution between PC and PDA it doesn't handle it too well. You don't have a lot of information about what it is going to do or control over it. For example, sometimes if it can't resolve files, it doesn't seem to be able to even tell you which files were the problem. And I'm not very confident of which version (desktop or PDA) will dominate when it's synching. Especially if I've recovered from a backup, or if files are changed on both sides. Maybe I just missed something in the documentation that I need to read. I don't know.

When I do file copies with large sets of big files from the activesync explore window, it often just starts and then quits on me. No explanations.

And with Outlook everything is worse. You can end up with multiple copies of things. It doesn't resolve changes on both sides very well. And often it just quits and says it can't resolve. Again, it would be okay if it would just tell me what entries I need to fix.

A simple log file here would cure a million ills!