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Palm Pilot
Keywords: Software
HansWiezorke: This page deals with everything Go players might want to do with a Palm. When I say Palm, I am referring to a handheld computer running Palm OS. Several makers offer Palm OS devices. I used a Palm IIIxe and a Sony Clie PEG-SJ22 for my reviews. What can you do with it
A word about hardwareDisplaysThe original Palms had black and white LCD displays with a resolution of 160x160 pixels. This is just enough to display a full 19x19 Go board plus a little info on the side. Recently a new generation of Palms has appeared with colour displays having 320x320 pixels. While the latter are much easier on the eyes when reading for several hours, the former are a very handy and cheap way to record SGF at tournaments. Beware of the Palm IIIc, which was a low resolution color Version of the Palm III. This display is imho not suitable for viewing Go diagrams, because the different colors of the subpixels stand out too much. CPUEven with handhelds, there is a lot of talk about CPU speed. From my own experience I can say, that I have never had any speed problems with the software described on this page. MemoryEarly Palms came with only one megabyte of RAM. This is more than enough for SGF reading and a Joseki dictionary. If you want to carry around Senseis Library you should have a device with a memory card slot and a Memory card of >= 64 MB. Memory cards have another great advantage. You can back up your Palm onto one. If your battery goes flat and you lose the contents of your RAM, you can restore from the card. Otherwise the only backup option is a desktop computer, which you might not have with you. PowerNewer Palms all have a built in battery, which can be recharged using a litte power adaptor. Older units feed on standard AAA batteries. The Palm keeps its RAM content intact for a few seconds while you change the batteries. MiscellaneousIn addition to a Palm, you need a desktop computer from which you can load Programs and files into the handheld. One nice feature that was introduced with the Palm III, is an IR communications port. Using this, you can beam documents and programs from one Palm to another. This is a very cool feature fo sharing game records. One player (or a spectator) can record the game and later beam it to the handhelds of all interested players. No cables needed. What software is thereThis section describes the various software packages you might want to install on your Palm. Nico: Doesn't the following software descriptions duplicate the already existing software pages? I'd prefer to have those information merged in the relevant pages (created if appropriate), and a link to handheldsoftware. HansWiezorke: It is indeed a little redundant. My intention in creating this page was to give a thorough overview of the Palm as a Go players companion. Since I will have some time available in the coming days, I might give the entire handheld complex a master edit.
PilotGOneBeing the only reason I bought a Palm in the first place, PilotGOne is a very good little SGF recorder and viewer. It is easy to use, needs little memory, and is free. For details see the PilotGOne page. Memory requirements: 53k + roughly 2k per game Display: Works fine with 160x160 b/w displays. No native support for 320x320, looks fine on it though (especially if you enable the "hi-res assist" mode, that comes with hi-res Palms.) Current version (July 21, 2003): 0.8.1 PilotGone can be used with a little work to view the entire Goproblems.com database. It provides a very good platform to attempt problems. All variations are available. See the comments section of goproblems.com database for more info.
MFoG Joseki DictionaryThis is a port of the Many Faces of Go joseki library for the Palm. It shows the entire board and marks moves that are joseki. Since there is no comment given on the various moves, this is imho not so great for learning joseki. Makes a fine reference though. Maybe someone with more experience in Joseki can shed some light on the completeness of the database.
This is commercial software. More Info and a free demo can be found at Memory requirements: 83k Display: Works fine with 160x160 b/w displays. No native support for 320x320, looks fine on it though. Hi-res assist does not seem to have any effect. Current version (July 13th, 2003): 1.21
Palm GOThis database of roughly 17000 uncommented pro games comes in two different versions, a colour hi-res version and a b/w lo-res edition. I got the colour version this morning and will post a more detailed review soon. First impression: The best looking Goban on a Palm display so far.
This is commercial software. More Info and a free demo can be found at Memory requirements: 9276k (so you need either a 16M Palm or a memory card) Display: Two versions, 160x160 b/w looks fine, 320x320 colour looks simply absolutely wonderful. :-) Current version (July 13th, 2003): 1.10a
PilotGOI have not used PilotGO for quite some time. It is a program that plays go against a human opponent and is based on an early version of GnuGo. Memory requirements: 20k Display: 160x160 b/w. I have not tested this in colour hi-res. Current version (July 13th, 2003): 0.31 (has not changed for years)
AIGOAIGO is a weak Go playing program for Palm OS but is stronger than PilotGo. Memory requrements: 166k Display: 320x320 color and b/w. Works fine on 160x160 b/w. Current version (July 29, 2003): 1.6.1
AtariGo
AtariGo is a reasonable program for playing Atari Go (the capture game) on Palm OS. It is available from
Senseis LibraryThis is the real treat. :-) The entire Senseis library in your shirt pocket. Browse offline everywhere you go. My first attempt was to crunch the SLSnapshot. This is a bit unwieldy and not recommended, because the formatting is not taylored to a small screen. A more elegant approach is Senseis Library on Tour for the Palm or PocketSL for Pocket PC. This is how I did it with the SLSnapshot:
These Parameters worked for me:
This creates a file of roughly 34 MB, which you can upload to your memory card. Upload via HotSync is slow (it took me roughly 90 minutes to upload). The discussion, here was moved to SenseisLibraryOnTour. This is a copy of the living page "Palm Pilot" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |