Getting Organise
by Andrew Batchelor hat are your needs? Do you have more than one diary? Have you forgotten a birthday, an anniversary or an appointment? Would your clients be impressed if you always remembered their children's names? Do you make 'to do' lists? Would it be handy to keep a central record of bank, credit card account and insurance policy details? Have you memorized your passport and ID card numbers? On holiday have you realized you don't have your address book after buying some postcards? Can you remember the name and phone number of that restaurant you enjoyed last month? What is your sister's shoe size? What time is it now in San Diego? If any of this sounds familiar then perhaps you should consider a personal digital assistant or hand-held computer. Personally, my notebook computer takes care of most of these problems but there are times when I don't want to be lugging it around. So I've reviewed the latest offering from Sharp, the Zaurus ZR-5000 and from Psion, the Series 3A. The Analysis Computer companies are becoming more adept at describing their product features in a way that differentiates them from their competitors. Often the same features are described in different terms or some features are emphasized whilst others are confined to the small print. This often leaves us, the consumer, baffled and bemused. Therefore, my first recommendation when evaluating several products is to create fact boxes to cut through the advertorial puffery. I've created a comparison of the two products with the hardware and specifications in one box and the applications or software in another. In this way you can make better comparisons and see at a glance where the two products are equivalent and where one is better than the other. List the product features in order of importance based on
your needs. You can then separate your core requirements from the bells and whistles. Set a budget. What are you prepared to spend? Eliminate those products that are priced outside your range. My next recommendation is to try and speak to friends or colleagues who already own the product. Its only after several weeks or even months that a user will discover the quirks and limitations not mentioned in the brochure. Bear in mind that they will have different needs to you. Check whether they use those features high on your priority list and, if so, do they like them. Why? Why not? It's a reality in Hong Kong that often the person selling you the product doesn't use it themselves and may even have difficulty demonstrating its features to you. Make assumptions at your peril. At least review the top priority features yourself. Zaurus Highlights The Zaurus ZR-5000 has a stylus pen with which you can make notes or draw sketches directly onto the touch sensitive screen. You can save these notes or drawings but the Zaurus wisely steers clear of handwriting recognition which sounded the death knell for the Apple Newton (as it didn't work very well). The pen also doubles as a pointer to click icons or drag-and-drop text. For me, the pen seemed a gimmick and it's something to misplace. Wireless printing and file transfer also seemed a good feature at first glance. But you still need to buy an infrared port for the printer and PC. You can transmit direct to another Zaurus. The e-mail access feature might be useful but it wasn't demonstrated to me. The PCMCIA slot (credit-card-sized connection or storage) should allow you to interface with a mobile phone but try before you buy. For the digital networks I don't think this is possible yet in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Lawyer June 1995

Technotalk

Application Time management
Anniversaries To Do Alarms
ZAURUS ZR 5000 Integrated Personal Information Management (PIM) can link client, scheduling & data files Yes Yes Up to 7 daily alarms
Day, Week, Month, Year views, Specialist contact software also available
Phone Dialling World Times

No Yes

Calculator Database Word Processor Spreadsheet Additional Software Available
Yes PIM (see above) Yes; automatic letter format, spell corrector No

Communications

Yes; can also calculate age Yes; sort by priority, date, or custom Up to 6 alarms with optional daily, workday, weekly repeats and 'snooze' function. Recordable alarm sounds Yes; using speaker Yes + IDD codes, sunrise/sunset times, world map location display, distance from home & cities can be added Scientific (12 digit accuracy) Yes; freeform data structure Yes; good editing tools, print preview, MS Word compatible Yes; functions, database, graphs (eg pie & 3D bar), Lotus compatible Numerous including time cost and expense recording, games, wine guide, golfer's database and scorecard, or program your own applications

Psion Highlights

If a little more expensive than the Zaurus, the Psion Series 3A offers much more bang for your buck. The Psion has more than twice the memory capacity, is smaller, lighter and offers more in terms of software than the Zaurus. The Psion is a step down from a notebook computer. The Zaurus is a step up from a digital diary. The Psion word processor has a print preview mode and is compatible with Microsoft Word. I was also impressed with the spreadsheet facility, perfect for snapping together a project budget on the go. The scientific calculator will also be useful to some people. Psion has it's gimmicks too like being able to record your child's voice to use as an alarm sound.
In terms of styling the Psion is robust and workmanlike, whilst the Zaurus is flashier in appearance.

Conclusion

Use the fact box above to check out what Casio and Hewlett Packard are offering too! In the end it's a personal choice but if you do buy a digital assistant you must do two things. Use it to replace those other diaries and address books and back up your data! Andrew Batchelor is CEO of Expert Legal Systems Limited the exclusive distributor of WorkForm and supplier of Precedents on Disk and Commercial WorkForms. *>

ACTiSYS Corporation -- The wireless connectivity experts!

Page 1 of 7

Device Category PDA Cellphone Notebooks Printers Industrial data terminal OS Digital Camera Educational computer Scanner IrDA Tester Zaurus/WiZard PDA

ACTiSYS IrDA Products

PDA RS232 Adapter IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L RS232 Intelligent Adapter IR100S IR100SL USB-FIR Adapter IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US Printer Adapter IR100M
All Windows CE Pocket PC Casio, HP, Compaq, NEC, Symbol, Toshiba, Audiovox, Fujitsu and others Palm O.S. Palm, Handspring, HandERA, Sony, IBM, Symbol, Samsung and others
IR100M * With following one of the 3rd party * With 3rd printer drive party * With 3rd SW: application party 1.Stevens software: application Creek * Palm desktop software: software's 4.0 software * Palm desktop PalmPrint 4.0 software * Palm desktop 2.Bachmann 4.0 software Print Driver: Bachmann Print Manager 3.0
IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L

IR100S IR100SL

IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US
http://www.actisys.com/compatibility.html

8/1/2003

Page 2 of 7
Psion: Series 5xx, Revo (Sometimes there seem to be some difficultiy interfacing with Psion models)
IR220L+ IR220L IR210L IR220LRB0 * With 3rd party application software: Psion Message Suite RS232 Adapter IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L * Nokia Data Suite 3.0
IR100S IR100SL * With 3rd party application software: Psion Message Suite
IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US * With 3rd party application software: Psion Message Suite USB-FIR Adapter IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US

IR100M

Cellphone :
RS232 Intelligent Adapter IR100S

Printer Adapter IR100M

Nokia: 9110, 900il, 900i, 9000, 9250, 9290 Nokia: 8810, 8210, 8850, 7110, 8890, 6210, 6310, 6510, 7210, 8310, 7190, 6250, 6360 Nokia: 6110, 6150, 8250, 8290,8855, 8910

IR100S

IR220L+ IR220L IR210L * With 3rd party application software: Nokia.zip IR220L+ IR220L IIR210L IR220L+ IR220L IR210L IR220L+ IR220L IR210L IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L RS232 Adapter
Ericsson: SH888, SF888 Motorola: 2000 Series Siemems: S25, me45 All IrDAenabled Notebook PC'S
IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US IR2000U IR100M

Printers

RS232 Intelligent Adapter

USB-FIR Adapter

Printer Adapter

Page 3 of 7

We'd appreciate it if you'll e-mail us at irda-info@actisys.com of printer models working with IR100M but not listed in the Compatibility table.
HP-LaserJet IR220L+ 5P,5MP,6P,6MP, IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L HP-LaserJet 4L, 5L, Officejet K80 HP-DeskJet 5xx Series HP DeskJet: 648C, 842C, 932C, 935C, 952C, 960Cse, 970Cse CANON 4300, 4400 CANON S400, S600 (Work well with Windows CE devices, but not with PALM OS) EPSON Stylus Color Series: 440, 670, 760, 777, 777I, 780, 880, 880I, 980 EPSON Stylus Photo 2000P Brother MFC4350 Okidata Seiko Precision SP2400 Xerox Work Center Series: 450CP DOS and Special Handheld Device IrDA-enabled data terminals from: Symbol, RS232 Adapter RS232 Intelligent Adapter IR100S IR220LN USB-FIR Adapter IR100S IR2000U IR4000US IR100M

IR100M IR100M IR100M

IR100M IR100M
IR100M IR100M IR100M IR100M IR100M
IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR220LRB0

Page 4 of 7

Intermec, Husky, Fujitsu, Psion, etc. OS
* Contact us for the programming guide RS232 Adapter IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L RS232 Intelligent Adapter IR100S IR220LN USB-FIR Adapter Printer Adapter IR100M

Windows95

Windows98

IR100S IR220LN

IR2000U IR2000UL(98SE) IR4000US(98SE) Get IR2000U Driver IR2000U98/ME/2000/XP.exe (1.00M)
Windows2000 Professional (Windows 2000 Server not sure)
IR2000U IR2000UL IR4000US Get IR2000U Driver IR2000U98/ME/2000/XP.exe (1.00M) IrComm

Windows ME

IR220L+ IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L

Windows XP

Windows NT

IR220L+

IR2000U

Page 5 of 7

4.0 For all Windows ACT-IR220L+ users using Windows NT 4.0, a special third party software is required for an additional US$39.00 Linux * Linux IrDA driver software is available for download and the source code Digital Camera:
IR220L IR220LRB0 * Need to purchased 3rd party application software: Quickbeam Suit
IR220L+ IR220L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L

RS232 Adapter

Casio: IR220L+ QV3000 Ex/IR IR220L IR210L Sony: DSC-FI IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L IR220L+ IR220L IR200L IR210L IR220LRB0 IR2000B/L IR100S

Sharp: VE-LS5

Educational IR220L+ IR220L computer
AlphaSmart Scanner: RS232 Adapter
IR220LRB0 RS232 Intelligent Adapter USB-FIR Adapter Printer Adapter

Page 6 of 7

IR220L+ IR220L IR220LRB0 IR2000U
ABERA Information Collector
* We are not responsible for the above third-party software to work properly in your system. We are not responsible for the integrity or time spent and any damage it may cause on your system. ACTiSYS has yet to independently verify the third-party software in our environment. ACTiSYS can not guarantee that it will always work well in your system set-up and environment. ACTiSYS IrDA Production and Engineer Design Test Tools BER Test Engineering Test Design Engineering Test Proposal A Production Test Proposal B Hardware Recommended IR2000B/L IR3000M +IR3000SW Software Recommended IR9100TX/RX IR9003Dut User Guide Line Engineering First Step Test Mobile Device IrDA Test Notebook Production Line IrDA Test
IR3000V+IR3000SW IR9003SW
See ACT-IR210L Motherboard Compatibility List for IR210L adapter compatibility.
ACTiSYS Sharp Zaurus/Wizard Accessories Sharp Organizers: Sharp: ZR-5000 PC Link cable and Wireless Adapter 101 Cable IR200L IR3S+ Required PC Link Software 1. Rupplynx Ver 6.1 2. Sharp Zaurus Application Software IR Printer Adapter IR3S+ Supported Applications: ACT! 3.0,4.0,2000 Goldmine 4.0 Lotus Organizer 97,97 GS, 5.0, 6.0 Outlook 97, 98, 2000 ACT! 3.0,4.0,2000 Goldmine 4.0 Lotus Organizer 97,97 GS, 5.0, 6.0 Outlook 97, 98, 2000 ACT! 3.0,4.0,2000
Sharp: 101 Cable OZ-5xxx, 6500, IR200L 8xxx, 9xxx IR3S+

Rupplynx Ver 6.1

Sharp: YO-6xx

101 cable

Page 7 of 7
Goldmine 4.0 Lotus Organizer 97,97 GS, 5.0, 6.0 Outlook 97, 98, 2000 Sharp: YO-3xx, 4xx, 5xx 105 YO Cable Rupplynx Ver 6.1 ACT! 3.0,4.0,2000 Goldmine 4.0 Lotus Organizer 97,97 GS, 5.0, 6.0 Outlook 97, 98, 2000
[ Home Page | About Actisys | Contact us | IrDA Products | Tutorials | Test Center | IrDA Compatibility | How to order | Price List | Technical Support | Free Downloads | Upcoming Events | Track a Package | Jobs | Feedback | Privacy | Terms ]

ACTiSYS CORP.

| 48511 Warm Springs Blvd, Suite # 206 | Fremont, CA 94539 | Tel: (510) 490-8024 |
Fax: (510) 623-7268 | irda-info@actisys.com
1996-2000 ACTiSYS Corporation, All Rights Reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Member of Infrared Data Association (IrDA) Since Its Founding Day!