Search Your Treo for Text

As you continue to use your Treo for a while and amass a fair amount of data, you'll undoubtedly run into a situation where you need to search your device for information. Fortunately, the Treo includes a built-in text search feature called Find used to search the entire device for a string of text. Follow these steps to use the Find feature to find text on your device:

1. Press the Option key followed by the Shift/Find key to open the Find screen (see Figure 2.26).

Figure 2.26: In the Find screen, you can enter a string
of text to search for on your device.

2. Enter the exact text for which you'd like to search, and tap the OK button to carry out the search. The search results appear in a larger Find screen (see Figure 2.27). In this example, the memo named "2x4's" is a match because it contains the search term "nails."

Figure 2.27: The Find screen expands to show the
search results, which you can interact with by tapping
a specific result.

3. If you don't see an interesting match, tap the Find More button to continue searching your device. When you see an interesting match in the Find screen, tap it in the list to open it.

The Find feature searches the database of each application on your device for an exact match of the text you specify. Although the match must be exact, the text does not have to appear as individual words. So if you search for the text sam, possible matches could include Samantha, sample, and flotsam.

Reset Your Treo

It's a sad truth that Treo devices are like every computer, in that they can get unstable from time to time and require a reboot. The likelihood of your device getting unstable has to do with how many applications you install and how much of a strain you put on its memory, among other things. Even the most conscientious user who is careful not to overload his or her device is still capable of running into a shaky system at some point, which makes a reset a good idea.

You can perform three different kinds of resets on your Treo. Here I've listed them in increasing order of severity:

• Soft reset
• System reset
• Hard reset

The next few sections examine these types of resets in more detail. If you find yourself contemplating a reset, make sure you try them in the same order that I explain them here. Or let me put it more bluntly—resort to a hard reset only when you're desperate and out of options because it blitzes your device's memory!

Perform a Soft Reset

A soft reset is the Treo equivalent of rebooting your desktop or notebook computer, and it's a good idea to do one from time to time if you notice your device behaving strangely. There aren't any risks to performing a soft reset, as it preserves data as long as you aren't in the middle of editing a new piece of data (contact, memo, and so forth). Just make sure you don't have a specific piece of data open in an application when you perform a soft reset. Following are the steps for a soft reset:

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Note - A soft reset is supposed to safely close applications so that you don't lose any data, but it's safer not to leave anything open.

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1. Press the battery door release button on the back of your device, and slide the battery door downward to remove the door. Be careful not to remove the battery, just the battery door.
2. To the left of the battery, you'll see a small recessed hole that contains the device's Reset button. Press the Reset button by gently pushing the stylus down into the recessed hole until you feel a tiny click.
3. Replace the battery door as your device restarts.

After you perform a soft reset, your device restarts and returns you to the main Phone screen.

Perform a System Reset

A system reset is a step more serious than a soft reset because it immediately restarts your device without necessarily closing applications safely. A system reset is also different from a soft reset in that it restarts your device without loading any system extras, which means you get a bare-bones restart that allows you to potentially uninstall malicious applications. In this way, you can think of a system reset as being similar to rebooting in safe mode on a Windows PC. If you need to perform a system reset, keep in mind that you always want to perform a soft reset following the system reset so that you finish with a normal (full) restart. To perform a system reset, follow these steps:

1. Press the battery door release button on the back of your device, and slide the battery door downward to remove it.
2. Press and hold the Up button on the five-way navigator. While holding down the Up button, gently press the Reset button on the back of the device with the stylus.
3. Continue to hold the Up button until the circular Palm Powered logo appears onscreen, and then release the button.
4. Replace the battery door as your device restarts.
5. Solve the problem that required the system reset, and then perform a soft reset.

Understand that the purpose of performing a system reset is to solve a problem that can't be fixed with a soft reset, such as an application that has somehow entered an infinite loop and locked up your device. Whether or not you need to uninstall the offending application, it's important that you perform a soft reset at some point following a system reset. You won't be able to turn on the mobile radio until you do so, not to mention that a host of other important device features are disabled after a system reset.

Perform a Hard Reset

Read on with caution. Seriously, a hard reset is recommended only in the direst of circumstances or when you're getting rid of your device and want to erase all third-party applications and all data from your device, effectively restoring it to its factory state. Even though a hard reset is aggressive, if you've synchronized your device recently, you can restore data by synchronizing after performing a hard reset. A hard reset can be useful if you encounter a problem that can't be solved with a soft or system reset. And as I mentioned already, a hard reset is extremely valuable for wiping your device should you sell it or turn it in to your company at some point. To perform a hard reset, follow these steps:

1. Press the battery door release button on the back of your device, and slide the battery door downward to remove it.
2. Press and hold the Power/End button on the five-way navigator. While holding down the Power/End button, gently press the Reset button on the back of the device with the stylus.
3. Continue to hold the Power/End button until the circular Palm Powered logo appears onscreen, and then release the button.
4. A prompt appears asking whether you want to erase all the data on the device. Press the Up button to confirm that you want to continue with the hard reset.
5. A language screen might be displayed next, in which case you must select your language; this language should match the language you selected during the Palm Desktop software installation.
6. Replace the battery door as your device restarts.

After the hard reset, your device is completely clean, as though you just bought it and took it out of the box. Use the Palm Desktop software to reinstall applications and synchronize any data.

Preserve the Treo Battery

An important aspect of using any mobile device is learning how to manage battery power carefully. Treo devices are efficient, but their battery life depends a great deal on how you use them. In other words, the amount of device usage you get out of each battery charge has as much, if not more, to do with you as it does the device itself. So it's worth examining some strategies to help maximize battery life on your Treo.

First, the Treo battery is designed to provide about 6 hours of talk time when using the device as a mobile phone or about 300 hours of standby time if the phone is doing nothing more than waiting for calls. Using the device for other things can add to or take away from this usage range. For example, Bluetooth puts a significant drain on the battery, so it's worth considering whether you want to leave features such as Bluetooth turned on all the time.

The first step you can take toward maximizing the Treo battery is to charge it regularly. Unlike some older battery technologies, the lithium ion battery in your Treo performs better when topped off regularly, as opposed to letting it run down entirely before each charge. So charging your device every night is generally a good idea. You can also get into the habit of connecting it and allowing it to charge when you're at your desk. Because the Multi-connector used to synchronize your device includes a plug for the AC charger, you can combine charging the device and synchronizing it into a single step.

Although charging the battery regularly ensures that your battery has a good charge, it doesn't address the issue of making the charge last as long as possible. Following are some suggestions for squeezing the most out of each battery charge:

• Use wireless features only when necessary. All the device features that require turning on the wireless radio put a significant drain on the battery. This includes the Phone, Messaging, Blazer Web browser, and VersaMail applications. Keep in mind that you can work in some of these applications offline to preserve the battery.

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Note - Obviously, I'm not suggesting that "angyou don't use the phone feature on your Treo. It's just important to understand that the wireless radio puts a big hit on the battery charge, so if you're in a situation where you can live without the phone, by all means turn the wireless radio off and save the battery. Remember, to turn the wireless radio on and off, just hold down the red Power/End button.

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• Bluetooth is another wireless feature that takes a toll on the battery. If you use Bluetooth, consider turning it on and off as needed, as opposed to leaving it turned on all the time. As an example, if you use Bluetooth with a headset, you could leave Bluetooth on during business hours and then turn it off after work when you receive fewer calls. Chapter 11, "Communicating Wirelessly with Bluetooth," explores the Bluetooth feature of your Treo in detail.
• The screen is another fairly big power hog, and its capability to drain the battery depends largely on how bright it is. So you can save some battery consumption by adjusting the screen brightness down to a dimmer level. This is particularly useful if you're using your Treo in a dimly lit area that doesn't require as much backlighting to see the screen. Chapter 3, "Customizing and Personalizing Your Treo," shows you how to adjust the screen brightness in the "Adjust the Brightness and Screen Settings" section.
• Another screen-related power-saving feature is the Auto-off setting, which controls how long your device must sit dormant before turning off the screen. You can decrease this setting down to as low as 30 seconds, although I tend to find it annoying if my device turns off after such a short time. On the other hand, if you're trying to squeeze every bit of power out of your battery, it's not a bad idea. You learn how to alter this setting in Chapter 3 in the "Tweak the Power Preferences" section.
• Although not on par with the wireless radio or Bluetooth radio in terms of battery consumption, the infrared port on your device requires power to be constantly available for receiving beamed data. If you don't receive beamed data via the infrared port often, you might consider turning it off. This topic is also covered in the "Tweak the Power Preferences" section of Chapter 3.
• You might not think about it, but the sound volume on the Treo has an impact on the battery, albeit somewhat small because most sounds play only briefly. However, music played in the RealPlayer application can certainly put a drain on the battery, especially if you listen to it with the device's speaker, as opposed to headphones. Consider turning the speaker volume down lower in general, and use headphones when listening to music to help conserve the battery. The RealPlayer application is covered in Chapter 13, "Listening to Digital Music."

Even if you follow all these tips to help prolong each charge of your battery, you might be in a situation, such as traveling, where you have absolutely no access to an AC charger to recharge your Treo. Don't despair because some interesting options that don't involve a fixed power source are available. I'm referring to Treo chargers that use traditional batteries to charge your Treo battery. For example, a company called Seido makes an Emergency Charger for the Treo 650 that allows you to use a 9-volt battery to charge your device. A single 9-volt battery can charge your Treo battery to 40% to 50% of its full capacity, which isn't bad. This affordable charger is available from the TreoCentral Store at http://store.treocentral.com/—just search for "seido emergency charger."

If you prefer using AA batteries instead of 9-volt batteries to charge your Treo, you might want to look into BoxWave's Battery Adapter, which uses four AA batteries to charge your device. This adaptor also requires BoxWave's miniSync cable, which is a dual charger/synchronization cable. BoxWave also makes an interesting product called VersaCharger that serves as both an AC charger and a car charger in one compact unit. To learn more about BoxWave's charging products for the Treo 650, visit the Treo 650 section of its website at http://www.boxwave.com/products/easyfinder/products-for-palmone-treo-650_442.htm.

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Note - Palm also makes a car charger for charging your Treo device using the cigarette lighter plug found in most automobiles. This charger is available online at Palm's Palm Store at http://store.palmone.com/.

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Summary

I hope you're now feeling a bit more at home with your Treo. This chapter has covered a great deal of territory in introducing you to most of the Treo's key applications and features. In reality, however, you only scratched the surface. The remainder of the book dials in much more closely on each aspect of Treo devices and guides you through getting the most out of them. The next chapter is particularly interesting because it focuses on customizing and personalizing your device to suit your own style and mobile workflow.

Go back to Part I

About the Author
Michael Morrison is a writer, developer, toy inventor, and author of a variety of computer technology books and interactive Web-based courses. He has been using wireless handheld devices for over a decade, dating back to early HP handheld calculators. His previous books include Special Edition Using Pocket PC 2002, The Unauthorized Guide to Pocket PC, Beginning Mobile Phone Game Programming, and Sams Teach Yourself Wireless Java in 21 Days.



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