Uses and Software for a Modern PocketPC PDA?

Deviant asks: "I just bought a new Dell Axim X30 with 802.11b and Bluetooth. It was a bit of an impulse buy and now I find myself trying to find out what I can do with it and what software is 'must have' for the platform. I work in IT for a bank where I have wireless available in the office and I am also a part-time education student. I got it primarily for basic PDA things like a calendar, a To-do list, e-mail/IM, taking notes, and am looking forward to getting a few good games for it. I guess my question is to Slashdot readers with MS Windows Mobile based PDAs: What software do you use daily that makes your PDA worth while for you? What uses are there for this that I may not have thought of?"

Get a copy of Skype

[3waygeek]

They have a PocketPC client; then you can use the Axim as a VOIP phone.

RemoteAmp

[kunwon1]

RemoteAmp is a PocketPC program that allows you to control, remotely, WinAMP and iTunes for Windows, running on a desktop (or a laptop I suppose).

This would be more of an 'at home' thing, but it's pretty nice if you, like me, have a PC as your primary music source. You can change playlists, volume, EQ settings, etc. All remotely.

The downside is that it only works for Windows. There might be something similar available for Linux/Mac/others, but I haven't checked.


To find out more or to download: http://www.smashcasi.com/remoteamp/ [smashcasi.com]

Pocket Putty

[bmeehan]

Being able to ssh and kill a process that's died on your system at home, all from the comfort of a local tavern... that's priceless.

Aximsite

[sigmoid_balance]

First of all read what www.aximsite.com has to say about software, hardware and accessories. Also from my personal experience (software):

• RealCalculator - greatest calculator ever
• TomeRider - great reader for indexed data, wikipedia and wordnet for example
• PocketInformant - two words: THE PIM
• PIToday - you might want this if you got PocketInformant
• PocketMusic - WinAMP like, do not use WinAMPaq it is buggy
• TotalCommander - File manager, free
• PocketRAR - I belive it is self explanatory, also free
• Ministumbler - The wardriving and connectivity test you need for 802.11, free
• iSilo - Best ebook reader
• Wis Bar - if you don't like the microsoft interface
• KeyStrokeCE - another input method, pretty cool but hard to learn
• PHM Reg - registry editor, if you don't know what that is you definitedly don't need it.
• Metro - public transportation auto route for all major cities on the planet
• List Pro - Hierarchycal notes
• easySMS - sending SMS with your PocketPC
• ScummVM - for LucasArts old games, it's a must; free, but the games are not

Re:Works for me as an MP3 player...

[doofusclam]

Odds are it has a headphone jack. Should play mp3 files without issue. Older versions of pocketpc had to hack back in media player to support mp3 format, but I doubt that is an issue anymore.

It's generally accepted that http://betaplayer.corecodec.org/ [corecodec.org] is the best audio and video player for pocketpc. I use it on my windows smartphone, and can watch pretty much any avi I can find on it. Music support is superb too, it'll play back my favourite musepack codec, as well as the usual aac/mp3/wma files.

It's free too, and in my mind is a killer app for the platform.

Great thing if you use public transport a lot

[marat]

That's what I have on my Palm (should I say sorry for not having MS Windows?):
1. MP3 player!
2. Readers for various formats. I've got applications for PDF, MS Office formats, e-books. Acrobat is especially useful since you can make PDF of anything.
3. Language dictionaries when you're abroad (I permanently am).
4. References like periodic table and physical constants, if you're in it.

map lookups, sms messages for server monitor

[DarkClown]

With 802.11 there is a pretty cool application called express that handmark software has out called express [handmark.com] - if you've tried web browsing on a pda you know it's pretty painful. this app makes it a more friendly experience in the form factor, and provides news feeds, stocks, address lookups tied to a mapping feature, weather updates, etc.. cool thing is it caches client side so you don't have to maintain the connection - you can set it to auto update or whatever.
i also have sms messages sent for service monitoring and have an ssh client that has saved my butt numerous times when away from my regular box.

Passwords

[gilgongo]

70% of the time I use my PDA it's to get passwords. I have ALL my passwords stored in DataViz Passwords Plus. There are currently over 50 of the buggers. I have an "uber password" I use to unlock them, which is a password I only use for that purpose.

Gave up trying to remember passwords years ago - now I can have huge long cryptic ones as well and have no feare of forgetting them, and I've never had a single problem since. Well, until I forgot the uber password, that is...

Some have been mentioned but

[Mycroft_514]

1. Games
2. Acrobat reader (many books from www.gutenberg.org and then acrobat them) FREE Plus some manuals for work in IT, error code manuals and the like
3. Dive log program
4. Tide tool
5. planetarium program
6. Blood meter software (medical insurance paid for my PDA) / Blood meter module
7. GPS / GPS module

That sould get you started.

A couple of additions

[ebbe11]

Great list, a few of which are on my "A Pocket PC is useless without them"-list (Pocket Informant and WisBar Advance to be specific). I do have a couple of additions:

• TimeTTracker [rfcons.com] - keeps track of how much time I use on my clients. This program pays not only for itself but also for the PDA, the GPS'es and all other software and hardware I've bought for use with my PDA.
• nPOPw [yetanotherhomepage.com] - freeware email-client that can delete mail from the POP3 server without going through ActiveSync. Essential for reading mail on the road.
• TomTom Navigator 3 [tomtom.com] - GPS navigation with voice prompts and automatic re-routing if you take a wrong turn.
• ev41 [hp41.org] - HP 41-CX calculator clone. Greatest calculator ever :-)
• Pocket Plan [twiddlebit.com] - Microsoft Project compatible planning if you don't use the fancy stuff

Re:Try out LogMeIn

[bhtooefr]

Or, you could use LogMeIn for free, and not have to worry about getting through firewalls and fighting dynamic IPs (and dynamic DNS services), because it does all the hard work for you.

Now, if you DON'T mind doing this (I was already working with that, because I was running a web server), Ultr@VNC is the way to go on Windows. TightVNC on everything else.

emulators

[Anonymouse Cownerd]

PocketSNES, PocketNES, and PocketGnuboy. I do use them everyday on the subway. Good way to play all the games I missed as a kid.