A few questions from a new axim user

[danl]

Hello,
Brand new PPC user. Just got my Axim x50 last week and loving it. I've posted this on ppcthoughts, but I'm hoping it'll get more responses here. :) I have a few questions:

1.) I read some articles about how ppc applications should be installed on the ROM/Built-in storage since it comes with 128MB instead of the 64MB RAM. Sounds logical to me. But I'm an organization freak, and I like to keep my directory structure nice and neat. So when I tried installing apps onto the Built-in storage, Activesync doesnt allow me to specify a target directory; something like "/Built-in Storage/My Programs/". It just installs into the root "/Built-in Storage/" and that drives me nuts. Any way to do this?

2.) I use Outlook at home and Lotus Notes (bleh its aweful I know) at work. Is there a way to sync with both? Just for the main pim functions: email, tasks, calendar, contacts. If so, is it also possible to keep the two categorized seperately? Ie whenever I sync at home, everything will automatically go under a "home" category, and when I sync at work, everything will be categorized under "work". I know this is alot to ask of any software, but I can't imagine myself being the only one asking for something of this sort. Basically does activesync allow me to sync from two different sources, and does it even with with Lotus Notes?

3.) Is there a software that allows me to "permanently" map network drives? I've tried Resco File Explorer, and while it does do that, my other apps do not seem to be able to access the mapped drives. Only Resco's photo viewer can access the mapped drives. How would I open a word doc or excel spreadsheet on a shared drive on my desktop PC?

4.) Wifi-related. It seems as if every time I turn on my axim, it takes 10-20s connecting to the Wifi network. But whenever I bring my laptop back from suspend mode, its pretty much on the network instantly. It seems like the axim takes time to connect to the access point, then sends a dhcp request every time, which seems excessive since I turn the pda on and off every few mins. I disabled powersaving on the wireless access network settings, even set a static ip on it, but neither seems to help much. Is there anything I can do to improve/speed up the connection process?

5.) I installed the full version Resco Photo Viewer 5.00 that came with my Axim. But I noticed that Resco has a new version 5.10 on their site dated Dec 05. So being the moron that I am, I installed it, and overwrote my previous version 5.00. Now its asking for a registration code, and will expire in 32 days. I dont think I have reg code from my Dell Axim; I can't fine it in the cdrom or the documentation. I tried contacting Resco, but no response so far. I believe 5.10 adds support for WM2003SE as well as VGA displays, both of which I need for the x50v. Anyone else come accross this?

Thanks in advance.

4) i never turn my PDA off i just turn the backlight off. I turn powersave on cuase i unsually just chat and view this site.(text only) when you use these options and only use dim backlight when you needed you can get about 4 hours out of your battety with wifi.

[JakeRich]

Commontime has a product called mNotes that syncs with Lotus notes. I use it and it works pretty well. You end up replicating between the Axim and the Notes server. Then you can use Activesync to sync to Outlook. I do that as well. The only glitch is that Outlook won't sync a meeting if it can't find the attendees in the Contacts database, so if you get a replicated meeting with attendees from work who are NOT on the Contacts list the meeting won't sync to Outlook. I've looked but not found any workaround for this. Presently I'm carrying 5 unresolved meetings on the Notes and Axim that are not in Outlook. Bummer.

There are other packages that will sync with both, but Commontime seems to have the best solution out there right now. www.commontime.com is the website. Warning, it ain't cheap...

WiFi is what it is. No good solution to the connect time.

Did you try re-installing Rescoe 5.00?

[danl]

jdh1415 - I'm not sure I follow you. Do you remap the powerbutton to turn off the backlight? What about when the device auto shuts off after 1 mins? The device is really on all the time?

JakeRich - Thanks for the heads up on commontime. Company can pay for it if its expensive. :) Question about that: I dont necessarily want my lotus notes data to propagate onto Outlook on my home desktop pc nor vice versa. Basically I want to keep both sets of data seperate, and the Axim is the only place where all the data is consolidated (but hopefully categorized seperately). Basically sorta like have "desktop overwrites handheld" at both work and home. But I think if I set astivesync setting to "desktop overwrites handheld" it might wipe out the data synced from work.

Reinstalling the Photo viewer might work, but I'd be missing out on the VGA and the WM2003SE support that the 5.10 adds. I mean 5.00 to 5.10, I cant imagine that being too much to ask for to be eligible for that update. Would I be wrong to be assuming that I paid for a full version of the sofware when I bought my Axim? I suppose if I dont get a response from resco, I can try contacting Dell and asking them if I can get a reg code. I can't be the only one asking.