PDA/Pocket PC

B767Driver

B767Driver

New Member
Does anyone have a pocket PC/PDA? What aviation applications do you use it for? What other applications do you use it for? What model/brands do you use and do you have any suggestions? Does it have wireless internet connectivity?

Thanks.
 
B767Driver said:
Does anyone have a pocket PC/PDA? What aviation applications do you use it for? What other applications do you use it for? What model/brands do you use and do you have any suggestions? Does it have wireless internet connectivity?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

My father gave me a Palm TX for Xmas. I wasn't expecting it but it's pretty useful. It's got wireless and bluetooth integrated in it, as well as an email program that syncs with Outlook so you don't have to re-input all your email contacts if you use that program. It can also interface with other POP3 email accounts such as Gmail or AOL. Pretty nifty. It's got native support for MS office products (Excel, Word, Powerpoint) and Adobe PDF. You can access the web (heck even jetcareers on it) believe it or not, although things tend to get jumbled on it because of the screen size.

I've wondered about doing the logbook on it, but can't bring myself to break away from pen/paper. I've got a free program called PalmDB that can export CSV files and then import them into my MS Access logbook, and might go that route, I really don't want to pay $100 for the palm logbook plus $150 for the Logbook Pro right now, but if I had the $$ I might do it.

What are you looking to do?

~wheelsup
 
I have a Compaq Pocket PC I got off ebay for $80. I already had Logbook Pro, so I bought the APDL (airline pilots daily log) for my Pcket PC and it syncs right up with Logbook Pro. I can even cut and paste crew cards right into it or I can do it manually for those reserve trips. It keeps track of everything. It practically replaces the "little red book" although I still use one of those as a back up, and I of course still have my main paper logbook.

$99 for Logbook Pro
$60 for APDL

http://www.logbookpro.com/
 
Slightly used Palm M500 that I purchased off of Ebay ("buy it now") for about $17 if I remember right.

I rarely use it nowadays, actually. Other than the stock software, I have Copilot, Ultranav (for the Lear), a universal unit converter (i.e. distance, time, temperature, etc.), and a bartender drink-mixing recipe program. When I flew GA planes I used Copilot for flight-planning and fuel planning all the time. Now, I mostly use the calculator feature.

If I had a Palm with wireless capability, I'd probably use it all the time but I haven't really looked seriously into getting one yet.
 
I have a Palm Treo 650. Excellent device. It's a cell phone, fully-functioning Palm pilot and more. It has a (relatively low-quality) camera, MP3 player, email support (to include my POP3 account), real internet access, Bluetooth, and the option to install sooooo much more. Throw an SD card in it, and you can go for days!!

treo650.JPG
 
I've got an iPaq rx3715 and it works great! It's got built in 802.11b wireless so I can do limited surfing in the hotels and airports with free wireless internet (I say limited because while most webpages can be pulled up, the browser tries to display everything on the 3 x 5 screen and some webpages don't look quite right. Can't get on the company website at all). It's kinda slow- not sure if it's a processor limitation or if the network "card" is slow.

I also use Logbook Pro and the Airline Pilot's Daily Logbook that syncs right in. Someone put a weight and balance form on pocket excel. I use it all the time to fill out our forms as well and get quick weight restrictions for the ops agents.

I've also got a couple games, tetris-type, Mahjong, Sudoku. Helps keep my mind active on those long flights....
 
Thanks for the info. I've picked up a consumer reports type magazine to learn a little bit more.

One more question. For internet access, are there limited ISPs, who provides the service, who has the better service and what does it cost?

I'd like to be able to check sports scores, check and send email.
 
The ISPs vary on the hotspot. Some airports like COS offer free wireless internet, no service provider needed, just turn on the wireless on the PDA, select the access point (your PDA will pick up any signals in the area) and open your browser. Easy. Other airports as well as places like Starbucks have T-Mobile or Verizon hotspots that require either a daily fee ($9.99) or monthly- something like $60 a month. I don't subscribe to any of those so I don't know one over the other.
 
Thanks Chris,

How prevalent is the free wireless hotspots? In airports, hotels, cities, etc. How about on a scale from 1 (not very prevalent) to 10 (all over the place).

Thanks.
 
B767,
I do most of my research on electronic items on www.cnet.com. I feel they have really accurate reviews by professionals and lay people. I am also looking for a PDA, but I am leaning towards the Garmin Ique 3600a. Dual functions, GPS and PDA.

Hope this helps!
 
A corporate pilot that is based at my FBO was showing me his ipaq and he uses it for damn near everything. He used "anywhere map", downloads the weather and enters his flight plan into it (destination, etc). He puts his bluetooth gps on the dash and it functions as a full color gps with weather, winds, EVERYTHING. Once it links with the GPS on dash it shows the plane and moves like a handheld, but better. Now I want one.

This is his setup:
http://www.anywheremap.com/detail.aspx?ID=165#
 
SkyJeff said:
A corporate pilot that is based at my FBO was showing me his ipaq and he uses it for damn near everything. He used "anywhere map", downloads the weather and enters his flight plan into it (destination, etc). He puts his bluetooth gps on the dash and it functions as a full color gps with weather, winds, EVERYTHING. Once it links with the GPS on dash it shows the plane and moves like a handheld, but better. Now I want one.

This is his setup:
http://www.anywheremap.com/detail.aspx?ID=165#
Click to expand...

What kind of plane is he flying?
 
Great choice with the Dell. I have had the two previous models of the Axim. I currently have an X30 with wifi and bluetooth. I use the bluetooth for navigation in my car when needed and the wifi is good for surfing the net at hotels. A great website for Axim support/info is www.aximsite.com.
 
hey guys. i too have an IPAQ and would like to get some sort of software for it. Ive seen some free log book software online but im unsure how good they are. Which ones do you guys recommend?
 
For aviation navigation software I use AnywhereMap. It's pretty neat. For logbook I use an excel spreadsheet. I created a template just like it is in my actual logbook and candy coated it on the computer to make it fancy looking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top