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Subject: Re: Best Palms for chess etc. Noe or soon?

Author: Mark R. Anderson

Date: 20:08:50 02/15/06

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On February 15, 2006 at 18:33:14, stuart taylor wrote:

>Talking of palm computers,
>
>I wish to know the following
>
>Is there anything new which came out either during the past 10 months, OR is due
>out within the next 6 months, which is excellent for chess AND other uses.
>
>I mean, that the speed is either the fastest available, OR not much slower, but,
>that there is everything else good with it, e.g. battery life, memory,
>camera/recording facilities, internet, video or whatever, and all other useful
>functions found in handhelds.
>
>I think that the Zire 72 was a good multi-function Palm which was great for
>chess, even though it wasn't the fastest, but was still fast enough to get
>benefit from the best programs.
>What's better than that now, all round, or soon will be?
>S.Taylor

The Palm Tungsten T5 is a great machine.  The Palm OS is easy to use, rarely
crashes, is fast and convenient.  It has many good applications.  Hiarcs on this
machine is a beast and will kick your butt, unless you're a GM or near-GM.  Be
sure to download the engine for the ARM processor if you get such a machine, and
not the 68k engine.  The ARM engine is *much* faster.  The current version of
Hiarcs for Palm is 9.6, but I hear that Hiarcs 10 will be ported to this
platform sometime soon.  Also, if you can get a (now-discontinued) Power-To-Go
for your T5 (or T3, or Zire71, or M130, etc) it will serve as a recharger
on-the-fly cordlessly while you play, and will extend your battery life to
double or even triple.  Also, you can hot-sync without removing it, if you have
the correct cradle.  Leave it in the cradle and the PTG (and the Palm) will
recharge.

The T5 is rather pricey, so you also might want to consider other ARM-based
models, such as the Tungsten TX (312 mhz ARM processor).  The T5's ARM is 416
mhz.  There are newer, faster processors, I have heard, but I'm not sure if they
will be used for Palms, or will only be used in Pocket PCs.

Anyway, you can't go wrong with Hiarcs for the Palm.  A great program!  I play
mine on the subway going to work and going home again.  Enjoy!

Mark Anderson



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