Handmark MobileTools (by Dave Ruske)
Review By Dave Ruske | April 09, 2002
Category: not categorized
Handmark, best known for their popular MobileDB product, has pulled together some very useful tools in a $50 collection called MobileTools. That may sound expensive for a Palm OS product, but purchased individually these products would cost more than $170. It's well worth looking at this bundle piece-by-piece to see which components you'd like to add to your Palm... it may just save you a few bucks.
Ten individual applications make up MobileTools. There's no use in thinking of them as a suite, as there is no added integration. Four of these have been previously covered on PocketAnywhere, so I'll refer you to full reviews of those products and fill you in on the rest. Let's start with what we've already seen.
First off, we have the old Palm staple of BackupBuddy. This product by Blue Nomad gives you the ability to do full and selective backups of your PDA each time you HotSync.
MobileTools also includes BackupBuddyVFS. Like its older sibling BackupBuddy, BackupBuddyVFS can save your bacon in the event something terrible happens to your Palm. The difference is that BackupBuddyVFS backs up to an SD or MMC storage card, and can even back up automatically on a daily schedule. I love this product, and still have it backing up my m505 at 3 a.m. each morning.
Next we have Bachmann Software's FilePoint. I reviewed this product a few months ago and found it to be a very promising file manager for power users. Unfortunately, the version I tested had some quality issues. Make sure if you use this product you get the latest build from PalmGear or another supplier.
The final product we've taken a peek at before is PrintBoy, also by Bachmann Software. The Deluxe version was reviewed by John Ohnstad, and if you pick out the bits that refer to the PrintBoy software you'll find that he generally liked the product.
Given the more than 13,000 applications currently available for the Palm OS, I'm extremely happy to note that PocketAnywhere has already reviewed 40% of the apps in the MobileTools bundle.
That leaves six products which might be new to our readers: AutoSync, Checklist, MobileSafe, SuperClock, SuperUtility, and TimeSync.
AutoSync is a simple little app that triggers a HotSync at a specified time each day. Naturally, to work this requires your PDA to be in the cradle and connected to the host computer. If your handheld winds up cradled on a regular basis, this gives you a good way to keep it up-to-date and backed up, particularly when you throw in BackupBuddy. You can disable AutoSync with a tap.
At first blush, the Checklist application sounds a lot like the Palm To Do List. You can think of the To Do List as up to 15 separate lists if you use categories, with the "All" category giving you a view of every task. Each task also gets a priority of 1-5, a due date, and an optional note. Checklist works off a different database than To Do, so the apps don't overlap. With Checklist you have an overview of your lists showing the number of tasks to be completed in each. Drill down into a list by tapping it, and you can add, remove, and prioritize list items --- there's no due date, though. Lists and individual items can have notes attached. In Checklist, privacy and category settings apply to entire lists. Simple, yes, but useful.
MobileSafe addresses the need for secure data storage, giving you a place to store passwords, bank accounts, and credit card numbers. MobileSafe uses the SAFER algorithm to encrypt data, which seems to be well respected in cryptography circles. Beyond the encryption, MobileSafe gives you a simple multi-field database that can be filtered using categories. Frankly, I wouldn't use a PDA without a secure database like this; I simply have too many passwords to remember. MobileSafe also features a companion desktop app for Windows machines; sorry, Mac and Linux users.
Handmark's SuperClock doesn't really offer much more than most alarm clock apps. For the MobileTools bundle it's not a deal breaker, but if you're looking for a travel alarm type app you may want to spend a little time browsing PalmGear. SuperClock offers a single alarm with a variable length snooze and a feature to repeat on selected days of the week. Supposedly you can have it turn on or flash the backlight when the alarm goes off, but version 3.01 didn't show any such options in the preferences dialog.
What's a SuperUtility? Could be anything super, I guess. In this case, SuperUtility is an at-a-glance view of the current state of your handheld. Bar graphs show memory in use and battery life, and text tells you the battery type, the power on time since the last reset, and the Palm OS version. A popup lets you choose the sleep timeout, and buttons are provided to view memory details, trigger a HotSync, reset the device, or activate the debugger. The most useful button brings up a database browser. From there you can set the backup bit and view or edit just about anything in a very raw form. You can also destroy something if you're not careful. The first time you try to edit a database you get a warning that says "Danger, Will Robinson." Proceed with caution and you'll find this to be a very capable little tool.
Finally, there's TimeSync, a quiet little app that synchronizes your Palm's clock with your host computer. This overlaps with one of BackupBuddy's capabilities, but may be something you'd find useful on its own.
Final Word
Well, there you have it: a collection of ten Palm OS applications, ranging from the essential to the mundane. I'd advise you to determine which of these apps you want, check PalmGear or Handango for alternatives, then add up and compare prices and features against the MobileTools bundle. If most of these apps appeal to you, you should find the value appealing as well.
Pros
- Includes some very useful apps.
- Excellent value compared to individual prices.
- Single code registers all apps.
Cons
- For some apps, better options exist.
- With a bundle you pay for apps you might not need.
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