Comments on: PDAs and fieldwork http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/ Bardi on the Web Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:37:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: jangari http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16118 jangari Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:51:17 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16118 Or a back-pack with a solar panel <i>and</i> a wind turbine. The motorcycle battery is a good idea, what's the ouput on one of those? There are also specialised batteries available for storage of photovoltaic generated power, but I think they're still at the household-level stage. Or a back-pack with a solar panel and a wind turbine.

The motorcycle battery is a good idea, what’s the ouput on one of those? There are also specialised batteries available for storage of photovoltaic generated power, but I think they’re still at the household-level stage.

]]> By: Claire http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16110 Claire Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:22:00 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16110 Tom, that Eee PC says 3.5 hours battery life - I get 6 per battery on my PDA of solid typing (I have two batteries). I also looked at Palms and Trios at the time, but the Axim was a bit cheaper and seemed a better machine. I also take a laptop (Vaio SZ series) but I have decent power. Lev, people recommend motorcycle batteries as being a bit lighter and sometimes more easily available. Tom might have suggestions. I guess with most PDAs you'd still need a solar panel or charger and external hard drive. Tom, that Eee PC says 3.5 hours battery life - I get 6 per battery on my PDA of solid typing (I have two batteries). I also looked at Palms and Trios at the time, but the Axim was a bit cheaper and seemed a better machine. I also take a laptop (Vaio SZ series) but I have decent power. Lev, people recommend motorcycle batteries as being a bit lighter and sometimes more easily available. Tom might have suggestions. I guess with most PDAs you’d still need a solar panel or charger and external hard drive.

]]> By: Lev Michael http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16109 Lev Michael Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:09:40 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16109 Thanks for sharing your experiences with your PDA. Back in the ancient days of 2000-2001 I used a Handspring Visor with a collapsable external keyboard in the field. All I could really do was type ASCII text files, but its portability and low power consumptions were definite plusses. But my need to run real software has since pushed me to use a laptop in the field. But that means also having to drag along a solar panel, car battery, external hard drive, waterproof cases and so on. I had virtually forgotten about PDAs as fieldwork tools, but your post has made me wonder if, with the advances since my original experiments, its time to reconsider them as an option in the documentation toolbox. Thanks for sharing your experiences with your PDA.

Back in the ancient days of 2000-2001 I used a Handspring Visor with a collapsable external keyboard in the field. All I could really do was type ASCII text files, but its portability and low power consumptions were definite plusses. But my need to run real software has since pushed me to use a laptop in the field. But that means also having to drag along a solar panel, car battery, external hard drive, waterproof cases and so on.

I had virtually forgotten about PDAs as fieldwork tools, but your post has made me wonder if, with the advances since my original experiments, its time to reconsider them as an option in the documentation toolbox.

]]> By: Tom Honeyman http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16098 Tom Honeyman Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:06:15 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16098 yes, I think if you needed more space for applications you'd probably be better off taking a full-sized laptop. But for text notes, maybe toolbox, for and playing back a collection of stimulus videos / slideshows I think it'd be perfect. The lack of a moving-parts hard drive is great. Its a major power consumer! I have an external hard disk with a card reader built in, and so I only power it up to copy data on or off it. yes, I think if you needed more space for applications you’d probably be better off taking a full-sized laptop. But for text notes, maybe toolbox, for and playing back a collection of stimulus videos / slideshows I think it’d be perfect.

The lack of a moving-parts hard drive is great. Its a major power consumer! I have an external hard disk with a card reader built in, and so I only power it up to copy data on or off it.

]]> By: jangari http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16097 jangari Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:26:28 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16097 But with only 4GB solid-state hard drive, you would a) have to keep an external hard drive with you at all times (not such a bad thing) and b) have to restrict yourself to only necessary programs. Certainly no Adobe programs, nowadays they take too much ram to run in any case. But with only 4GB solid-state hard drive, you would a) have to keep an external hard drive with you at all times (not such a bad thing) and b) have to restrict yourself to only necessary programs. Certainly no Adobe programs, nowadays they take too much ram to run in any case.

]]> By: Tom Honeyman http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16095 Tom Honeyman Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:18:24 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16095 I'm quite curious about trying one of these in the field next year: http://www.asus.com.au/products.aspx?l1=24 Low power consumption, just barely a computer, light, and probably just big enough to play back movies for one viewer. I wonder if wine-toolbox would run on it... silly name though: Eee PC. I’m quite curious about trying one of these in the field next year:

http://www.asus.com.au/products.aspx?l1=24

Low power consumption, just barely a computer, light, and probably just big enough to play back movies for one viewer. I wonder if wine-toolbox would run on it… silly name though: Eee PC.

]]> By: Claire http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16089 Claire Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:17:01 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16089 It's an Axim X5 from early 2003 with PocketPC and an external keyboard. It’s an Axim X5 from early 2003 with PocketPC and an external keyboard.

]]> By: James Crippen http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16087 James Crippen Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:13:10 +0000 http://anggarrgoon.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/pdas-and-fieldwork/#comment-16087 What flavor of PDA are you using? PalmOS-based, Windows CE-based, or something else? What flavor of PDA are you using? PalmOS-based, Windows CE-based, or something else?

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