Amazon.co.uk Review
In
Palm for Dummies, Bill Dyszel shows you how to use the operating system and the suite of applications that ship with it on 3Com and Handspring platforms. The Palm OS, the functional core of the Palm series of handheld computers from 3Com and the Visor series from Handspring, is easy to learn and fun to use. With its simple elegance and range of available software, it's great for people who need to keep track of details and don't want to use a big laptop computer all the time. Mostly, this book is straight documentation of the Palm OS environment, with explanations of what it can do and procedures that detail processes for you.
It's an approach that's better suited to a ponderous productivity application or business-orientated operating system. The author should do more in this book to introduce the reader to the fun of Palm OS computing. He should share more opinions on favourite aftermarket software, too. Also, the forced casual tone of the Dummies series--this book includes a chapter called "Ten (Or So) Troubleshooting Tips"--is beginning to show its age. The tone that seemed friendly when it was a novelty now, more frequently than not, seems sloppy. Readers don't want to be bored, and dry presentations of unadorned facts certainly are no fun. But a book about a computing environment as vibrant as the Palm OS, with its colourful communities of users and developers, shouldn't have to rely on dumb jokes and cutesy lines to engage the reader. This isn't Dyszel's fault, as he wrote to the Dummies series' standard style. But David Pogue's PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide is a better book, despite being somewhat dated. --David Wall
Topics covered: The Palm OS operating system for handheld computers, including Palms and Visors. Specifically, coverage touches on the Graffiti handwriting-recognition system, applications (those that come with the operating system) for managing appointments and contacts, and connectivity via the HotSync cradle and modem hardware. Wireless operations with the Palm VII get attention, and there's a directory of aftermarket software that's organised by profession. --Willam Steinmetz
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
∗ Covers the capabilities of the latest Palm operating system, OS 5.0, including the ability to make phone calls and access "always–on" corporate e–mail.
∗ Author is a nationally–known expert on personal information and sales automation technology.
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