Audible was mentioned a couple times above. I'd like to point out that Audible works great on an N8xx using Orb. Of course, you have to get the Audible output relayed from a Windows machine. I have a huge number of Audible files, so it's of some concern to me. Audible has never been very cooperative with the Linux community.

So, to quote something from way back in the thread:
Hmmm.... maybe GVM is the wrong emulator. DOSbox + HP100 PIM?
Probably better for N810s, as the HP100LX (for those who don't know) was a DOS-running clamshell with no pointing device at all. That keyboard will be very important.

Now regarding GVM, the one complaint everyone has is its display size. I think that fixing that detail is well within reach; run GVM in a second X server (possibly Xvnc, or rfb), and have a front-end that screen-grabs the relevant portions and displays them 2x or 3x in the main X server.

Disadvantage: Increased latency, decreased framerate; so the interface will feel just a bit laggy.
Advantages: Full screen, shorter start-up time (assuming you leave GVM running all the time, and just launch the front-end when you need it).

It should just work with VNC, except our vncviewer doesn't have pixel scaling support like TightVNC (I think).

You can't build an immediate response device on a multitasking general purpose computer.
You can get all of the functions in there, with some degree of reliability,
but it can never be any where near as efficient to use as a dedicated device.
Would anyone propose replacing their cellphone with a WiMax laptop running VOIP software?
Somebody's calling, let me get this out and boot it up.

My Palm has long been an extension of my brain.
I can retrieve the information I need from it with one hand, in seconds,
and doing so doesn't interrupt the flow of my current thought.
The Treo is small enough that it's always in my pocket.
Battery life is good enough that I don't even think about it.
Add to that it's function as an ultra-reliable alarm for when things need to happen,
and I would find it very difficult to function without it.

People complain that Palm OS hasn't been updated in forever.
When was the last time pencil and paper were updated?
It's a mature technology. It does what it does, extremely well.
I actually wish they would un-update some parts.
Grafitti 2 worked really well for me on the Tungsten C.
It's broken on the Treo 650 and, I believe, all Treos since.

My N810 makes a superb companion to my Treo 650,
but, if I'm only bringing one, there's no competition.

Daytimer -> Palm IIIx -> Tungsten T -> Tungsten C -> Nokia N810 -> Treo 650 + N810

Orb only works when you have a WiFi connection. I do most of my listening away from WiFi connections (walking/driving). It would be nice if I could use the N8xx at these times.

I guess I'd dispute that; You can't get as good theoretically, but I think you can get to a practical equivalent. I think "it can never be anywhere near as efficient to use" is decidedly an overstatement.

There's no boot-up or equivalent expense incurred here; laptops need that to attain reasonable battery life, but the N800 can be left on and provide instant access to non-networked services. To really accomplish the goal, there has be a server running all the time, so when you need it, the lightweight interface layer is the only thing that needs to come up.

You'll only have trouble (slow starts and response) if some other apps are hogging the CPU; this can be an issue, but only rarely, and only if you were in fact doing something else when you needed to get to the instant-access capabilities.

For the cell-phone question, yes, I'd replace my cell-phone with a WiMAX N800 if I could have found one for, say, $300. ($70 over what I paid for a plain N800.) I'm aware you mentioned a laptop, and I responded with a fictitious device, but I think discussing laptops forces an unfair dichotomy. There are (anti-laptop) reasons I switched from phone+laptop to phone+N800 in the first place, so of course I wouldn't go from phone+N800 to laptop+N800.

@GeraldKo:
When you use 'install' in the GVM control panel it copies the file from its [SD card or elsewhere] original location into the .gvm/* image file.

It's unfortunate that GVM can't read or write (in particular the latter, as at least the GVM control can read) from/to SD cards. This is IMO the real big issue with GVM - you get data _in_, but not _out_.. it's strange that Access didn't include support for that.

As a palmOS user of 8 years who just received my n810 this week, I admit to being disappointed in the PIM aspects. I did prior research and noticed that there were several PIM apps out there, like gpe, winzig, and dates. Dates is even made by Pimlico, creators of the amazing DateBk on the palms. With several choices available I mistakenly assumed that at least one would fit the bill, especially since I only use maybe 1/4 of the features of DateBk5. GPE may be the closest for me, and is likely what I will use.

I'm having to adjust my expectations for what the device is: "it's an internet tablet, not a PIM!". It does many things my palm could never do, and indeed I think it will replace my laptop on short trips. I'm also looking forward to being able to develop some software for it in python, which was only a dream under palmOS. But the PIM functions from the palm are looking to be more difficult to replace than I expected.

Here are the features I consistently used from my Palm software:

1. calendaring:
+ repeating events
+ notes possible for each event
+ alarm possible for each event
+ advance warning of some events many days in advance
+ nice-to-have: floating events. These perhaps are not strictly calendarding,
but are like todo items that aren't cluttering up the view until a certain
date arrives. Very similar to a tickler file (and I used it as such).
+ overlapping events handled gracefully
+ fast access

2. todo:
+ categories
+ priorities
+ due dates
+ notes possible for each item
+ customizable sorting
+ repeating items a nice-to-have
+ fast access

3. notes:
+ categories
+ fast addition

4. Search:
+ full-text search of all calendar, todo, and notes data

I think GPE is pretty close to meeting these basic requirements. The biggest hole right now seems to be alarms. They don't seem to fire from GPE, and even if they do, it seems there are bugs reported against the reliability of alarms in general. What's disappointing is that I don't think my PIM requirements were that high, and they aren't met yet.

I personally think I will push forward with the n810 and "lump it" with a step backwards in PIM functionality because I like the more open nature of it and am willing to tinker with it. For someone who is hoping to spend a few days migrating over and have something that bests palmOS in every way, I think they should carefully consider what they are willing to give up.

I'm a Palm user (Tapwave Zodiac) considering an IT. I don't use calendar or contacts much on my Palm, and only use To Do a bit, but I do use Memos an awful lot - I have hundreds of them. I particularly like the very quick way of being able to browse the memos, including pressing left-right to skip from one to the next in the current category, being able to create a new one without having to think (the first line being used as the memo title), and not having to explicitly save. It's very much like flipping through and writing in an organised notebook, rather than dealing with individual files on disk.

Is there anything like this for the ITs? I know there is a text editor, but this is very much like a traditional desktop one, where you start with a blank file and have to File / Open, File / Save As etc all the time, which is completely different to the Palm Memos app.

rbrewer, the creator of Palm's excellent DateBk PIM app is Pimlico Software (www.pimlicosoftware.com). Meanwhile the Dates app you mentioned is part of a PIM suite called 'Pimlico', an open sourced project by Opened Hand (www.o-hand.com) that afaik has no direct relation to Pimlico Software of Palm PIM fame.

Thanks for explaining why the two are so different.