New Message
Peter J. Claus (pclaus@haywire.csuhayward.edu)
Sun, 27 Oct 1996 20:00:39 -0800 (PST)
Date: October 27, 1996
OmniGo List
ogo@lifelike.com
Dear Members,
On the hopes that at least SOMEBODY from Hewlett-
Packard is on this list (remember that sheet of
questions they sent asking what we liked and didn't
like about the OmniGo? Wouldn't it be wise of them to
be on this list and listen how people have to cope with
it after 6 months of use?) I thought I would start MY
OWN list of what I 1) did, and 2) didn't like. And 3)
don't care about either way.
Appreciate:
The PRICE. Where else can you get so much for so
little?
The fact that it runs on 2 AA batteries (I use
renewable alkaline, or rechargeable NiCad) for up to 8
hours of use.
The GEOS set of applications are Ok, but some are
better than others:
The appointment book scheduler is great in itself,
but it is not compatible with what I use on my PC. I
might have used it on my PC, but the alarms don't work
there. I wonder why not?
The notepad is OK, but has definite size limits.
Presumably HP didn't anticipate one would use this for
any serious writing. But if you DO, or if you want to
download a file from the PC, then what?
The phone book is nice, but why not allow one to
dial with it if you DO have a modem attached?
The database is great, but not even supported by
their own Connectivity software. Very strange that
THEY couldn't figure out how to do this. Fortunately,
John Blue came up with GDBIO which provides a certain
amount of transferability with PC databases.
The book reader is probably OK, but I haven't
really figured out a good use for it yet. Given the
miserable screen (see below under DON'T APPRECIATE), I
prefer a real book. I bought Bindery with the thought
that I might transfer PC files to there for some
purposes, but never did.
World time is handy, but only of transient
interest.
Jotter is handy, but not often used.
The financial tools are occasionally handy, to
look up metric conversions, but otherwise useless to
me, not being financially responsible.
Same with the spreadsheet and calculator, which
I'm sure are good, but unnecessary for me.
Stop watch? Why? The alarm written by Blue Marsh
Software is more to the point.
Graffiti is fun (I'm fairly proficient at it), but
too slow for practical use. Even on the miserably
small keyboard, I type much faster than I print by
hand.
The way the screen flips over and you can, when
necessary, hold it and write, is a fine idea.
The ability to take a SRAM card MORE THAN compensates
for a floppy drive.
Don't appreciate:
First on my list here is the lack of a back-lit screen.
In MANY lighting conditions I find it almost unusable
(the store at which I bought it had excellent
lighting!) It seems to me that if Timex can have a
nice blue light on a wristwatch when needed, HP could
have put one in here, too. I realize it would cut into
battery life, but it wouldn't ALWAYS be necessary, and
it would be nice to have the choice to use it or not.
It could be on a toggle switch.
Second: KEYBOARD IS TOO SMALL. Would it be SO hard to
make it about an inch and a half longer and have a key
board that I can actually use? I am a man; I know some
women can use it fairly accurately as it is. Perhaps a
male (ManliGO) and a female (FemiGo) model instead of
an OmniGo? The SCREEN could even stay the same size,
but the KEY BOARD is a real handicap.
The Printer functions I have never had much of any
success with. I have an HP Laserjet printer and have
used Omniprn with success (once was enough), but I'll
be damned if I'll buy a separate printer cable at the
price HP charges for it. If that's the best HP can
come up with, they can leave it off the next version as
far as I'm concerned.
I DON'T CARE about size THAT much. I don't carry it in
my pocket often.
I DON'T CARE about battery life at the expense of
readability. I can change batteries more often when I
use the back-light.
I DON'T CARE about a wealth of programs: the basic set
of notebook, scheduler, calculator, spreadsheet,
phonebook, and communications is all I need away from
home and office.
I DON'T CARE being able to run DOS programs as long as
transfer and conversion programs are available.
I'd pay an extra $50-100 for it with a bigger keyboard
and a switchable back-lit screen.
Feel free to add your comments, list of likes and don't
likes.
Peter J. Claus
pclaus@csuhayward.edu