more than a diary (Palm Z22)

Member Name: hecateh

Product:	Palm Z22
Date:	08/06/06 (1237 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: neat, light and easy to use

Disadvantages: not so easy to personalise in the way I would like

Having used a filofax for years, I wanted something smaller, lighter and more modern that would save all the bits of notes I wanted as well as remind me of dates, meetings and anniversaries.

There seemd to be some very cheap basic organisers around and then a BIG jump to all singing all dancing palm size computer PDAs with a corresponding price - and then there was the Z22 - so I decided to give it a go.

I love it - I did have a panic when I had had it for about a week, it was fully charged and it just went blank and nothing I could do would get it working but I found the trouble shooting guide and it has a reset button in the back - one press of this with the stylus and everything reloaded - it had lost nothing Phew!!!

Being relatively cheap, it does have its limitations but it does everything I want it to.

Synchronising with outlook on my desktop is easy, so when at my desk I can type what I need on a full size keyboard. Having said that, entering information direct is not difficult, you have the option of handwriting straight to the palm or can bring up an on-screen keyboard on which you can tap in your information.

I can store all my dates as needed and repeat them as needed. No more concerns about something being every 2nd or 4 week just programme it in as a repeat, as necessary. Along with that I can store not just the time and date of a meeting but any notes that I need to go with it.

I can also store as many details as I want about seemingly any number of contacts, not restricted to just one number. I was also able to synchronise from my mobile phone to my computer and then to the Z22 which saved a great deal of time.

These are the two main things I use it for. There is other software but frankly it is very Americanised and though I loaded some on I have not really found a use for it. I am thinking of catalogueing my favourite wines and my 'books wanted' lists but haven't got round to that - maybe one day.

One niggle I have with it is that you cannot edit the quick links to make a list of the applications you use regularly, you have to use the 'all' list which is self explanatory or one of their other catergories and can't have a list with just my own favourites on - or if you can I haven't found out how.

All in all not for you if you really need a pocket sized computer but it is certainly more than a diary and I feel I have made the right choice for me.

edited to give more information about features

I cannot comment fairly on all the features as I don't use all of them but the main things I use it for are calender and contacts.

Using it as a calender/diary is easy. You can view one day, one week or one month at a time, with varying amounts of detail. All appointments cn be catergorised into an editable list so yu can immediately see from the colour coding if it is personal or business - or you could set up different colours for different people if you needed to track other peoples appointments etc. Calender dates can be stored for one off or repeatable appointments or tasks. For example daily weekly, every fourth week etc.
It is much better for birthdays and annivarsaries than an ordinary diary as once a date is recorded it is there every year and you can set it to remind you a day, a week or whatever notice you need in advance.
Appointments can be noted including length of time they are going to last, venue etc.

The second thing I use frequently is the task list. any task you need to do can be added, given a priority rating from one to five, a date it should be done by or on and again a catergory such as private or business. Every item can be set to have an alarm or not and an alarm time set.

There is also an option to save memos but the task list seems to meet my needs better. And a note pad which will save handwriting - or I guess a basic diagram should you need to save such a thing.

The third thing I use frequently is the contacts list where along with name, number address etc you can add notes or any details you may need to remember such as birthdays etc.
I have also played the free 'Crazy Daisy' game that came with it but the new ones sudoku instead.

There is an 'E'reader, which has a few short stories on and for which you can, for a price, download whole books. I don't like the thought of trying to read a huge amount from the small screen but can see circumstances where it would be a boon as real books are heavy to carry around.

There is a calculator, which I have used occasionally - I don't have much need for one in my normal life but if I did it sure beats carrying a separate one.

There is an expenses section but this doesn't seem so easy to use and I haven't bothered with it.

There is also a mobile database, which I think may be useful but have not used as yet. This is where I will, one day, store lists of books I have or want to read, my favourite wines, restaurants things like that but, at the moment I can't find how to transfer these from my pc and this is too small a screen to easily set things up on. Though it is a good size screen for its overall size.

Finally - I said it can be synchronised with Outlook on the PC. Everything that is stored on the Palm can be backed up to the PC, though I am unable to find all of it on my PC in a format that I can edit on the PC which would be useful. The exeption being Outlook. This is a PC application that is linked to emails and can not only store your own diary but others in a network.

The palm connects to the PCT with a USB cradle and any changes that have been made, either on the PC or the palm are automatically transferred to the other. So if your office makes appointments for you or you need to let your office know what appointments you have made or you just want to be able to acess your appointments from your PC as well as your Palm - this is invaluable.

I bought the product for £59.00 from Amazon and though they have increased their price (£73.79)it is available from around £51.00 elsewhere.

Summary: More than just a diary this has been the, very nearly, ideal replacement for my filofax.

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