An Absolute Necessity
Written: Jul 18 '00 (Updated Aug 01 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: News, Weather, and more on your handheld
Cons: Takes up quite a bit of space and some time
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| kgray00's Full Review: Avantgo |
If you've got the space for it (about 440k), you have to have this. It's almost the same as having internet access on your Palm. Here's what you get...
THE INTERFACE
It's very similar to using a browser. It contains hyperlinks, back, forward, and home and reload buttons. You can submit info as well that will be sent when you HotSync. The first page you get lists all of the pages that you have chosen to keep on your palm. From this screen you can add and remove web pages for download. When you tap a web page with the stylus (let's say Fox News) it brings up the page. Pages like the news or sports have a list of hyperlinks to stories that you can read. At the top of the screen are the Back, Forward, Reload, and Home icons that help you to navigate. Most pages are all text.
USAGE
What AvantGo does is store offline web pages in simple form on your handheld device. Every time you HotSync, it checks for updated web pages and stores them. You can get virtually anything on the web downloaded, but certain websites have special versions to store on your device. Some examples are Fox News and Sports, The Weather Channel, and eHow. eHow is a site that lists instructions for doing just about anything with helpful tips from members. You can store these pages on your device. I have found that this program is especially useful for lunch breaks at work, sitting in waiting rooms, or just about any time I'm bored. And to answer the question on many of the guys minds...yes, it is just as good as taking the newspaper with you to the bathroom. Actually, it's quite a bit better.
COMPLAINTS
My main complaint is the increase in HotSync time. As I said before, it updates everything every time you HotSync. I wish there was a way to turn that feature off. Sometimes I just want to sync my mail or install a new program, and I have to wait for AvantGo to do its thing. It usually takes about 10 - 15 seconds for it to check and download the web pages. You can change the settings for individual pages from the AvantGo website. I think that this program will be a lot better in the future when more web sites jump on the band wagon and make easy downloadable versions for AvantGo.
OVERALL
This is an incredibly handy program that everyone can use. I don't know of too many other programs that can do what AvantGo does. I've heard about a program called Vindigo, but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Apparently there are some problems when using the two on the same device. If you can spare about 500k on your handheld, then this is a must have. You can register for free and download from http://avantgo.com/frontdoor/index.html
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kgray00
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Member: Kyle Gray
Location: Dallas, TX
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 6 members
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