IP: Just a brief update on Farber Gadgets -- winner, loosers and maybe

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Periodically I like to update IP on my gadgets I have found useful, painful etc. I will make this brief and elaborate 
latter next month.

First I just got the Pilot V. Much much better than the previous models in that it is slim enough and small enough to 
actually carry.  I will report after my trip on how it works out

Some downers to date are:

1. the default cover that come with it hits keys if you put it in your pocket with power on. Beeps and chips. No harm 
but a pain.

The way you have to charge the rechargeable battery is to use the cradle and the large AC adapter which by the way is 
NOT 110-220!! I assume that there will be in short order a travel charge and a travel synch cord. Neither seems to be 
available where I bought the unit. I am off for a 2 week trip and hope the battery lasts.

I have given up on the CPDP unit I had been using attached to the Pilot III . CPDP is much too slow and unreliable to 
be at all useful for network connections even for just batch email (at least in the NYC/Washington area. I may go back 
and try the RAM pcmcia card  and see if I can handle the battery management. Sorry GoAmerica. CPDT is just too poor a 
performer.

My ATT Digital One Rate problems have vanished. It was, if fact, a defective Nokia phone and once I managed to get 
through to the broken North East ATT Wireless people to the Hdq ATT Wireless it was all fixed promptly and well. I now 
have a new Nokia and it works like a charm. I gather that the rest of ATT Wireless outside the NE would have cured my 
problem rapidly and happily. 

Finally my Sony PCG-C1 full PC is working like a charm . The only downer is that the main connection path is the USB 
and even though I have a USB Bay hub with a parallel and serial  port (not made by Sony) neither the Xerox printer or 
the Rio Diamond nor the Pilot V software will recognize under WIN98 those ports.  They want to see LPT 1-4 and Com 1-4 
not the names ports that USB support gives. Hopefully that is either their software and/or a windows problem and will 
get fixed someday Seems to me USB is the natural connection for small computers till Bluetooth arrives and should work 
correctly.

More latter,]

Dave