My name is Henry Wei, I'm a medical student, and I use a Palm Pilot
Last updated: 2/11/00
Which Palm Pilot I bought, and Why
I got the Palm III back in Summer, 1999, for about $150. At the time I bought my Palm, I just wanted to make sure I had a good scheduler, phone/address book, to do list, and memo pad; lo and behold, that's exactly what the Palm was designed for, and it does a reasonable job of it.
What I used before I got the Palm
Prior to buying the Palm, I had already experimented with using their desktop PC scheduling program, which you don't actually have to use, but makes synchronizing your data a lot easier. My own method, though, was to print out monthly calendars for the upcoming two months, and then print my phone list on the back of one of them, fold them up, and put them in my pocket with a small pen. The result was a ridiculously cheap way of keeping organized and up-to-date, but the downside was that I had to keep entering stuff onto the computer (i.e. lack of synchronization capabilities). Needless to say, though, the fold-up-paper schedule, or "Palm Zero" as I preferred, was indestructible, and even when it was destroyed, I'd just print out a new one. Compare that to shelling out $75 or so for a new Palm screen if you crack it by accident.
What new stuff there is now
Since the time I bought my Palm Pilot, then market has changed dramatically, most notably with the introduction of the Visor, a Palm-OS-based handheld with a special expansion port, made by Handspring, a company run by Palm's original co-founders. It breaks down essentially like this: the basic model is $149, and the deluxe model is $249. Suffice to say that you should, if you're a med student thinking of getting a Palm Pilot, get the Visor Deluxe and not the regular Visor. More memory is the primary difference (2MB vs. 8MB in the Deluxe), and you will not regret the decision.
The TRG Pro just came out, and it's a pretty interesting toy. Like the Visor, it has an expansion port, but the zinger is that it's a CompactFlash slot, which is an industry-standard slot for small, portable computing devices. As of 2/11/00, it was available for $329.99, online.
Good links:
Healthy PalmPilot.
Don't mess around. This site has all the files you need, and good advice to boot. BOOKMARK THIS SITE.
HandHeldMed.com. News and reviews on all the latest in handheld gadgets and software in medicine.
Palm Pilot Organizer Usage in Medicine. Written by Leah Berkery, M.D. This project was done as part of a fourth year elective in medical informatics at Cornell University Medical College with the assistance of Dr. Suzanne Stensaas. It's a little bit outdated, since Palm has since put out some new devices, and Handspring has introduced their new version of the Palm Pilot, the Visor, which is way cool. But it contains some good, basic information, and is definitely worth the read for both beginners and experts.
