Scoobypup

Sorry if the title is a bit confusing. Heres the problem:

I currently have a roughly 1mb excel file with multiple sheets. Each sheet is basically a table of info (sorta like a parts list) with other misc info (that I put in a little note on the cell or at the bottom of the table)and a few very small scanned b&w images. I am currently working on a main sheet with search fields and buttons to select which table I want to search.

The problem is that currently with just the mass amount of info in this spreadsheet (no button or search code in place), it takes forever to load as well as search through the info. My x50v memory drops to about zero and it literally locks up for several seconds while the spreadsheet is loading.

Is there some alternative that would be better/faster for what I am using excel for? (I'm using Planmaker and not pocket excel also)

I am currently looking into possibly a database type software but still need sort of a frontend to customize the search options and display format and whatnot.

I appreciate the help.