PDA

General frequently asked questions about PDA

1. Extend your PDA's battery life
2. Five signs that your PDA battery might be dying
3. How to Reset Your Palm Handheld?
4. What is PDA?

1. Q : Extend your PDA's battery life

A : There are several steps you can take to insure that you get maximum battery life from your PDA:

* Use the AC adapter!
Make sure you connect your PDA to the AC adapter (or put it in the cradle) whenever you are close to a power outlet. This will not only recharge the battery, but also help extend its life.
* If you don't use it, power it down!
You have the option of setting your device to turn off automatically after a specific period of time, if you do not use it. This specific period of time can vary from 1 to 5 minutes, or more, depending on your brand. On most PDA's, you can adjust this setting.
* Adjuest the PDA screen brightness.
Most of the PDA power is consumed by the screen. A very bright screen consumes a lot of power and it is probably more than you need. In most cases, you won't even notice the difference if you adjust the brightness down a little bit. This will work wonders on your battery though, it won't have to work so hard, therefore it will last longer!
* Do you really need that backlight on all the time?
When daytime, if it is possible to turn the PDA screen backlighting off, please. This is another way to save your PDA power.
* How about those PC and memory cards? Get rid of them when you don't use them!
If you are not using PC and memory cards, remove them from your system. This includes file storage cards and I/O cards like modems and wireless LAN cards.

Set your PDA on the lowest settings (or the lowest that is comfortable for you). Remove any unused devices, as they consume power that could be used otherwise. (Return to Top)

2. Q : Five signs that your PDA battery might be dying

A : # The PDA using time on a full charge decreased alot. (for example from 4-5 hours, now you get 1-2 hours).
# After a full night charge, your PDA will not come up at all.
# When you press the power, you just get some vertical lines.
# Your picture dims.
# You had your PDA for over a year. (Return to Top)

3. Q : How to Reset Your Palm Handheld?

A : All handhelds can be reset in several different ways:

Soft Reset

A soft reset tells your handheld to stop what it's doing and start over again. All records and entries stored in your handheld are retained with a soft reset. After a soft reset, the Welcome screen appears, followed by the General Preferences screen.

Use the reset tip tool, or the tip of an unfolded paper clip (or similar object without a sharp tip), to gently press the reset button inside the hole on the back panel of your handheld.

Reset Tip Tool: On most PalmOS handhelds, the stylus that comes with your handheld has a reset tip inside. To use it, unscrew the barrel from the stylus quill.

Hard Reset

Never perform a hard reset unless a soft or warm reset does not solve your problem.

With a hard reset, all records and entries stored in your handheld are erased, except for the default or specimen databases predefined by the manufacturer. Formats Preferences and other settings are restored to their factory default settings. You can restore any data previously synchronized with your computer during the next HotSync operation. If you're running OS 3.1 or earlier, and you're not using a third-party backup utility like BackupBuddy, you may need to reinstall your third-party applications.

To perform a hard reset:

1. Hold down the power button on the front panel of the handheld.
2. While holding down the power button, use the reset tip tool (or similar object without a sharp tip), to gently press the reset button inside the hole on the back panel of your handheld.
3. Release the reset button.
4. When the logo screen appears on the screen, release the power button.
5. When the message appears on the handheld screen warning that you are about to erase all the data stored on your handheld, press the upper half of the scroll button on the front panel of the handheld to complete the hard reset and display the Digitizer screen.

Pressing any other button instead of the upper half of the scroll button will perform a soft reset.

Please refer to your PDA manual before any reset.. (Return to Top)

4. Q : What is PDA?

A : PDA stands for Personal Digital Assistant -- a small hand-held computer that allows you to store names and addresses, prepare to-do lists, schedule appointments, keep track of projects, track expenditures, take notes, and do calculations. Depending on the model, you also may be able to send or receive e-mail; do word processing; play MP3 music files; get news, entertainment and stock quotes from the Internet; play video games; and have an integrated digital camera or GPS receiver.

PDAs are typically built to synchronize with email programs like Microsoft Outlook so you can enter, change, or delete information in either place, and the two will synchronize the data so that you're up-to-date in both locations (on your computer and the PDA).

There are many different types of PDAs, all with varying degrees of size, functionality, cost, etc . (Return to Top)