Documents to Go
So Simple it's Fun
When I'm in the field, I need to take copies of reports with me. Documents to Go by Dataviz makes it easy. My normal procedure has been to open the document I need, copy it to the clipboard, then paste it into the memopad. Of course this caused all formatting to be lost and if I was lucky, the document was not so big that it got truncated. If I needed to take a spreadsheet with me, I first had to convert it to a format that one of the many Palm based spreadsheet programs could recognize. If you've ever done this, you know what a hassle it is.
With Documents to Go, you simply select the document you need, and it is automatically synced to the Palm at your next hotsync. Any changes in the original document are automatically updated at subsequent hotsyncs. It's as easy as that!
When you install Documents to Go, a conduit is installed on your desktop PC. (or Mac). To add a document to your Palm, simply click on 'add item' and select the document from the standard windows drop down menu. It show up in the box below, showing the size of the file, it's status and what type of .pdb it will be converted to. When you sync your Palm, the conduit installs or updates any documents you have selected. Additionally, you can select the user and category that you want the document to get sync'ed to and you can edit these categories as well.
Use only what YOU need
In order to view the documents on the Palm, you need to install four separate .prc files, including DocsToGo(the main application, 52K), WordView(35K), WordView+(89K) and SheetView(75K). Combined, the program and viewers take up about 250K of space on your Palm and that is something to keep in mind. The good part however is that if you don't need any of the particular viewers you can delete them. (for instance, I have no need for spreadsheets in the field, so after the evaluation, I removed SheetView, likewise, you could remove WordView if you already have a favorite DOC viewer) Optionally, you can remove your DOC viewer because WordView reads DOC files!
One of the neat things about Documents to Go is the ability to beam not only the document file, but the viewer as well. You won't have to worry about your friend or coworker not having the right viewer on their Palm, you can simply beam it to them!
Documents to Go was voted “Best Handheld Software Product of 1999” by Mobile Computing & Communications magazine and is Palm Computing Certified "Platinum Compatible". It is a great program and worked flawlessly for me every time. At just about $40 it is a little bit on the expensive side as far as Palm software goes, but it comes professionally packaged with complete instructions, and is a snap to use. This would be THE ultimate program if you could edit the documents as well!
Show me the File Types!
Windows: Word 7 (95), 8 (97), 9 (2000) WordPerfect 6, 7, 8 Word Pro 96, 97, 98 Text Excel 5 (95), 8 (97), 9 (2000) Quattro Pro 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 Lotus 1-2-3 WK3, WK4, 97, 98
Macintosh: Word 6, 8 (98) ClarisWorks 4.0, 5.0, AppleWorks 4.0, 5.0 (word processor) Text Excel 5, 8 (98) ClarisWorks 4.0, 5.0, AppleWorks 4.0, 5.0 (spreadsheet)
Documents to Go is available at PalmGear and Handango for $39.95
What I like:
Supports DOC files
Documents are updated on the Palm when you hotsync
Easy to use
Retains original formatting
What I don't like:
Can't edit documents on the Palm
Requires 4 separate (and large) programs to be loaded on the Palm.
Large footprint on the Palm
4 out of 5 rating
So Simple it's Fun
When I'm in the field, I need to take copies of reports with me. Documents to Go by Dataviz makes it easy. My normal procedure has been to open the document I need, copy it to the clipboard, then paste it into the memopad. Of course this caused all formatting to be lost and if I was lucky, the document was not so big that it got truncated. If I needed to take a spreadsheet with me, I first had to convert it to a format that one of the many Palm based spreadsheet programs could recognize. If you've ever done this, you know what a hassle it is.
With Documents to Go, you simply select the document you need, and it is automatically synced to the Palm at your next hotsync. Any changes in the original document are automatically updated at subsequent hotsyncs. It's as easy as that!
When you install Documents to Go, a conduit is installed on your desktop PC. (or Mac). To add a document to your Palm, simply click on 'add item' and select the document from the standard windows drop down menu. It show up in the box below, showing the size of the file, it's status and what type of .pdb it will be converted to. When you sync your Palm, the conduit installs or updates any documents you have selected. Additionally, you can select the user and category that you want the document to get sync'ed to and you can edit these categories as well.
Screen shot of Documents to Go desktop application
Use only what YOU need
In order to view the documents on the Palm, you need to install four separate .prc files, including DocsToGo(the main application, 52K), WordView(35K), WordView+(89K) and SheetView(75K). Combined, the program and viewers take up about 250K of space on your Palm and that is something to keep in mind. The good part however is that if you don't need any of the particular viewers you can delete them. (for instance, I have no need for spreadsheets in the field, so after the evaluation, I removed SheetView, likewise, you could remove WordView if you already have a favorite DOC viewer) Optionally, you can remove your DOC viewer because WordView reads DOC files!
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This screen shot of WordView+ shows what a Word document looks like on the Palm. All a documents original formatting remains intact when you view it on the Palm, so the document you see looks just like the original. Of course, you can't edit the document, you can only view it. This seems to be the Palm's (and viewer's) biggest bugaboo. Why no one has come up with a decent (or even bare bones) word processor just confounds me. |
| SheetView allows you to view your spreadsheets on the Palm with an easy and intuitive interface. Although you can't alter the data, you can easily add bookmarks that allow you to come back to certain locations within the document. The full data of each cell is show at the bottom of the screen in 'current:' and you can use the arrows to navigate around the spreadsheet. You can also use the 'go' button to go to a specific cell in the spreadsheet. |  |
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Since spreadsheets can be unwieldy on the Palm's small screen, there are several options available in SheetView that make reading them simpler. Again, I'm not a big spreadsheet user, so this may be common knowledge for those of you that are Excel Guru's, but I really found the 'Freeze' option quite handy. You can freeze a column so that it remains on the screen while you compare it or reference it to other columns(this is illustrated to the left, where column A is right next to column F). You can also fit, minimize, widen and shrink individual columns. There is a find option where you can search your current document for a specific phrase. |
One of the neat things about Documents to Go is the ability to beam not only the document file, but the viewer as well. You won't have to worry about your friend or coworker not having the right viewer on their Palm, you can simply beam it to them!
Documents to Go was voted “Best Handheld Software Product of 1999” by Mobile Computing & Communications magazine and is Palm Computing Certified "Platinum Compatible". It is a great program and worked flawlessly for me every time. At just about $40 it is a little bit on the expensive side as far as Palm software goes, but it comes professionally packaged with complete instructions, and is a snap to use. This would be THE ultimate program if you could edit the documents as well!
Show me the File Types!
Windows: Word 7 (95), 8 (97), 9 (2000) WordPerfect 6, 7, 8 Word Pro 96, 97, 98 Text Excel 5 (95), 8 (97), 9 (2000) Quattro Pro 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 Lotus 1-2-3 WK3, WK4, 97, 98
Macintosh: Word 6, 8 (98) ClarisWorks 4.0, 5.0, AppleWorks 4.0, 5.0 (word processor) Text Excel 5, 8 (98) ClarisWorks 4.0, 5.0, AppleWorks 4.0, 5.0 (spreadsheet)
Documents to Go is available at PalmGear and Handango for $39.95
What I like:
Supports DOC files
Documents are updated on the Palm when you hotsync
Easy to use
Retains original formatting
What I don't like:
Can't edit documents on the Palm
Requires 4 separate (and large) programs to be loaded on the Palm.
Large footprint on the Palm
4 out of 5 rating