Expansion Cards

[tuffguy]

I am interested in getting an expansion card for my 130. What is the difference between the different sd cards. I thought I knew what I wanted and then I began to shop. Backup cards, flash cards, memory sticks, too many to keep track of. What I want is more memory. To put pictures, ebooks, documents, games, that sort of thing. What kind of card do I need, what size do you recommend, and where is the best place to get one?

I have read the sd cards are great and others have recommended the bigger the better, price does matter though, and a memory expansion that costs as much as my handheld is a little insane.

[Telyx]

Well, the backup card does only that, and the Memory Stick is just for Sony products. Your choice is actually between SD and MMC flash cards. I use the Palm 16MB SD card, and it works great, but I'm sure there are other brands which cost less. (Mine came free with my m125.)

[dcinrhode]

I bought a Simple Tech 64MB Card for my new M130 and I can't seem to find any documentation on how to load files into it...basically how the thing works!!

After owning a Palm for many years and being pretty good with computers I never thought it would be a problem. That's why I'm here...any help or direction on where help can be found would be great.

Thanks everyone in advance.

[Telyx]

Palm is pretty bad when it comes to instructions about SD cards.

You can put programs on the card in a few different ways:

When you run the Install Tool in your computer, you should see two "panes" and a "Change Destination" button between them. Send your programs to the Install Tool, then click on the names of the ones you want to put on the card (so they're highlighted) and click Change Destination. Select SD Card. Now, when you HotSync, the programs will be put in the card's root directory.

If you have a program in RAM and want to copy it to the card, you can tap the launcher ("home") button on the Palm, then tap the Menu button, and under App (at top of screen) tap Copy. You will get a list of programs. Select the one you want to copy to the card, then tap Copy. (You can't MOVE programs this way, and that list doesn't "see" program databases. It's pretty weak, actually.)

You can install Filez (versions 4.0 and up support expansion cards) and run it. Filez "sees" all programs and databases in your device and lets you copy and/or move them between card and RAM or even between directories on the card. Filez lets you create and delete new directories on the card, too, which is useful with some programs. For example, FireViewer will "see" images stored on an expansion card, but only if the images are in the directory /Palm/Programs/FireViewer or a subdirectory of that directory. You can use Filez to create the directory, HotSync your images to the card's root directory, then use Filez again to move the pictures into /Palm/Programs/FireViewer. (Subdirectories of that directory are treated like categories by FV. I have /Palm/Programs/FireViewer/Maps, /Pictures, and /More pictures, so when I look to the card for images I can choose between Maps, Pictures, and More pictures folders.)

There is another program, this one for your computer, called Pilot Install (or PInstall). This is just an installer, but it lets you install programs to RAM or to ANY directory or subdirectory on your expansion card. If you want to put a database on the card in a subdirectory that doesn't exist yet, PInstall will create the subdirectory and then install the database into it. This really saves Palm battery life compared to moving individual files using Filez on the device. It's quick, too.

Another way Palm is a little weak when it comes to expansion cards... any program you put on the card appears in the "Card" category in the Palm launcher. The more programs you put on the card, the longer it takes for you to be able to see the icons when you select that category, as the Palm has to read the whole root directory of the card each time. There are other launchers available that get around this, and the one I use is Launcher III. It has a tabbed interface--you can rename, create, and delete tabs as you wish and drag program icons into each tab to organize them. The best part is that Launcher III sees programs in the card's root directory and creates icons for them--and you can move these icons around just like the ones for apps in RAM. Tap the icon, and Launcher III copies the app into RAM and runs it. Launcher III also lets you copy or move programs to the card or to RAM by dragging the icon(s) onto a little card symbol. You can also select whether the launcher will "refresh" each time you switch tabs or only when you tell it to, so when you select a different tab, although there are programs "on the card" in that tab, the launcher doesn't have to read the card unless you've just installed a program. It's much quicker than the Palm launcher in that regard. (I think other launchers like SilverScreen also do this kind of stuff, but I've used Launcher III since my Pilot 1000 days. It's familiar. It isn't freeware anymore, but it's worth the $9.00.)

I hope that helps, and it's too bad Palm can't include stuff like this in their documentation... I know they wouldn't advertise programs they don't own but at least they could explain the basics.