Customer Reviews

PalmOne PalmPak Travel Card: US Cities (m125, m130, i705 & m500 series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this as a "Special Holiday Package" from Palm.com, with my Palm 505 and a travel charger. I was very disappointed when I started to explore the software. I plan to go to Amsterdam next spring, and have been looking at guidebooks for Amsterdam. I thought it would be nice to have a map and guidebook on the Palm, and not have to carry a guidebook.

The main map screen shows "sections" of the city, labeled by neighborhood names. The neighborhood names seem to be made up by CitySync. There appear to be more neighborhoods off to the left of the screen that I can see part of, but I can't get to them (no scroll that I could find). Clicking on each "section" brings up a map of a small section of the city (Amsterdam, for example). Maybe it just shows major streets, or maybe it shows a really small part of the "section", but it doesn't look like the map "section" covers as much area as it should. It looks like there are large gaps in the maps.

There is no way you could use this "map" in place of a good paper map.

The information about each hotel, restaurant, etc. is very short, and it looks like the prices are a few years old (that may be updatable on the CitySync site). I finally found the link to the mapping of each hotel, restaurant, etc. (it's in the "Info" button, and you can't get back from the map to where you were in the listings), but the map segments are so small it is impossible to tell which area of the city the attraction is in.

I did like the currency converter, although you have to enter your own currencies and conversion rates. Once you've entered these (through the maintenance screen) all you have to do is enter the amount you want to convert from, select the currency you want to convert from and to, and click "convert" (or "execute"?).

The time programs looked like they would be kind of nice - you can enter an event using your time zone, and it can keep track of what the time is in a second time zone. I just stuck my plane's departure and arrival times in it.

While putting a travel guide onto a PDA is a nice idea, this one won't replace a paper travel guide.

However, if they improved the maps, letting you scroll around them, the guide just might serve in place of the paper travel guide if you've read the guide and just need your memory jogged about a particular site, hotel, restaurant, etc. The way the maps are set up now, you couldn't find your way from one location to the other because there's no connection from one map to the other.

Personally, until they do that, I wouldn't spend the money on it.

Oh, and buying the color Palm for this was a waste - there's no color in the program - except for the icon to get into it!

Having just returned from Europe from London & Paris, I found the Palm Pak useful when combined with another paper guide (but it was still cooler :).

The Apps
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- CitySync was a useful subset of the Lonely Planet guides, but it was far from exhaustive. The basics (practical information) were very useful and well written, but the other recommendations as far and food and entertainment were concerned was limited. The search feature was useful, though.

- CityTime was very nice looking and useful (I'm sure others have reviewed this software)

- SmallTalk, the local phrases software was neat too. SmallTalk used icons that allowed you to use pictures to communicate the information you wanted to in the language of your choice.

- CurCalc was not nearly as intuitive (to me) as the freeware Currency program.

- Time Book, Time Place, and Time Travel were confusing, and I did not use them at all.

The Good
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- You can use your Palm and not look like a tourist with a big book.
- Information is useful and to the point (with stores' hours, phone numbers, and other useful advice). - It's cool

The Bad
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- A little annoying that most apps always load from the card when you start the software (except for CitySync).
- The maps of the cities were totally useless (even on an m505)... If you've never been to the city before, you'd be totally confused and have to rely on paper maps.
- Interestingly, there was no manual included (just a bunch of warranty information), so some software was not easy to use, which was frustrating.

Conclusion
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Basically, CitySync, CityTime, and SmallTalk are quite useful apps (CitySync especially when combined with another book), and I'd recommend the PalmPak.

My wife and I just returned from a trip of London, Paris & Amsterdam, and this card (which was released just a week before we left) was a huge help. It saved us from carrying around several bulky books. It gave metro stops for each attraction, and this info, together with the freeware program MetrO, enabled us to get from place to place effortlessly.

The info about the history and customs of each city were very helpfull, as were the restaurant listings. We found a great little greek place in Amsterdam by entering the area we were in and getting a listing of nearby places. It was just a few blocks away and the food was great. Ditto with a fish and chips place in London.

I do agree with the previous poster that the maps are pretty much useless. The Palm screen is just to small.

I did not pay for my US Travel Card -- it was a free promotion from Office Depot when I purchased my Palm m505. And this is fortunate, since I would have been very upset if I would have paid for it. The information this card contains is very limited and is only for a very small number of cities -- and as far as I can tell, there is no way of adding/updating the information.

If you need information about cities, I'd recommend going with the free Vindigo service instead.

Palm's US travel card bottoms the pile of plain and simple useless software products- how can a company that caters to the professional dare to publish this type of useless 16MB travel info- there is nothing good to be said about this product and Palm even charges a hefty price: Instead use the internet and the many excllent trip helpers and city guides that are availabe on line for free.

I was impressed by the information but the map does not work at all on zire 71 if you just need info its ok. direction are lacking but info still good.

I bought this and returned it. There is simply not enough on this that we cant already find on the net for free to justify paying for this. It worked fine technically and there are no worrys associated with downloads. But the information just doesnt warrent purchase. If however you are not online or for some reason cant find the online sources with this same information AND you are travelling to one of these 8 cities then this would be worth it to buy.

I am not one to get new "gagets" uy wife insisted that I try this since we were going to the pacific rim. I have spent nearly 15 years traveling in the Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney route and thought I new it all.
Well, With this card I was able to find shops, eating establishments that I never new about. Thank you Palm for getting me On track.