Axim& Lifedrive for Pleco

Does anyone use the Dell Axim to run Pleco? How is the speed on it for test mode when using ranks?


I'm running Lifedrive and when I run it in self-test mode with or without ranks it runs very slow. After almost every terms it has to write to the hard drive and it takes 8-12 seconds for the harddrive to complete saving. Only when it completes saving can I move on to the next card.

I was thinking of getting a new Axim and upgrading to the PocketPC version. This 8-12 second interval thing is KILLING me.

Our Axim X51v test system is quite speedy for flashcard sessions - there's almost no delay at all between cards. But I wasn't aware that the problem on the Lifedrive was as bad as you describe - are any other Lifedrive owners experiencing delays of this magnitude? It would actually be very easy for us to add an (unsupported) option to disable writing to the hard drive until the end of a flashcard session - you'd lose your progress if you reset your Palm but I imagine most people would consider that a small price to pay - so if this is a widespread problem for Lifedrive owners we could look into making that change in the next update. Or at the very least I could e-mail you a (completely unsupported) version of the software that disabled all unnecessary hard drive access until you exited PlecoDict.

It's an interesting issue. If I have it as 'don't record answers' it helps. What I have to do is go into review mode and scroll through all the terms as fast as possible. When I do this, the harddrive will go on after every few terms for a split second. Then when the words are cached then it does not need to use the hard drive again to grab the words.

However, if I go over the words slowly one by one (as opposed to scrolling very fast the first time through) the hard drive goes on for several seconds before the next card appears. (Review mode)

After the words are cached via scrolling fast in review mode, I can go into self-test mode without any problems as long as I do not have pleco record answer results. If I record answer results or if I do not first go through caching the flashcards via review mode first, that's when it becomes very slow again (even if I have the 'don't record answers' option enabled).

Because of this problem, I can never use the repetition spacing feature!

It would definitely be great to have an option to have it disabled all unnecessary hard drive access until exiting pleco test mode. But will that solve the problem of having to load the flashcards first (even in review mode)?


Oh regarding the Axim X51v, are you using the PXA270 Processor at 624MHz , 520mhz or 416mhz?

Reading Chinese texts using the Plecodict DA just became more of a chore when I upgraded to a Lifedrive. It's not a terrible machine, but for using Plecodict, even my crusty old Tungsten E whips it hands down. Why couldn't Palm put in some hard drive usage software to determine HOW an application is using the drive and perform differently as per this? Needless to say, my LD's on eBay and the TX is in the post.

what does it mean 'tx is in the post'?

The Palm Tungsten TX

adrian - the fix I'm referring to wouldn't help with having to load dictionary entries every few cards, it would only help with the time required to save each card. But the dictionary end could be handled pretty easily if you purchased a cheap SD card (128 MB would be plenty) and put the dictionary files on there - SD cards start up pretty much instantly so that would take care of the delay. (ironic to buy an SD card when you've got a perfectly good hard drive, but hard drives really are somewhat less-than-ideal for PDA usage)

Our X51v is the 624 MHz version, but the processor speed shouldn't make much of a difference for this since it's mainly about the speed of the storage media.

caesartg - I agree with you completely, but given that the Lifedrive will probably be the only hard drive model Palm releases (unless and until they get into the tablet / small laptop market, which seems doubtful) I don't imagine they'll invest the effort in such a thing.

mike,

I have a 1 gig sd card and i put all my flashcard.txt files in there. How do I moved my dictionaries to my sd card so that pleco will know where to retrieve it? (i.e. which folder do i need to put under, then do something in the settings?)

re: axim, do you recommend the axim or would you recommend a different pocket pc? I don't know much about pocket pc's but i was looking at review sites and it didn't seem like the axim got very good reviews. Recommendations?

Thank you for your help...

caesartg said:

Needless to say, my LD's on eBay and the TX is in the post.

Click to expand...

caesartg,

you will surely like your new TX. I just got myself an TX, upgrading from my several years old Tungsten T. While the new plastic shell of the TX is not of the same quality the TT's metal shell was (it shows the scratches it got on my trip to China with pride), the TX's 480x320 px display is just great. It is said to be improved even when compared to the LooseDrive.

I would be interested to hear whether you are facing the same problems with the ABC dictionary I had if you are installing all PlecoDict files to internal memory. I could not make PlecoDict recognise the ABC dictionary at all. Only after I moved it to the SD card, everything started to work like a charm.

Now, if only PlecoDict 2.0 would be released soon and I could use it as a Chinese text reader without the need for a Chinese OS that clobbers my German umlauts...

With best regards,
Harald

adrian - PlecoDict automatically looks for files in the /Applications, /Palm/Launcher, and /Palm/Programs/PlecoDict folders on a memory card, so as long as you put the files in one of those three places it should have no trouble locating them. There's no settings change required, just put the files in one of those folders and the software will locate them when it starts up.

The Axim is as good as any Pocket PC really, at this point the differences between models are (mostly) aesthetics and price as they're pretty much all based on the same processor (or same couple of processors) and the same OS. Dells are usually a pretty good deal, though, and while their tech support isn't great it's better than several of their competitors'.

caesartg said:

Reading Chinese texts using the Plecodict DA just became more of a chore when I upgraded to a Lifedrive. It's not a terrible machine, but for using Plecodict, even my crusty old Tungsten E whips it hands down. Why couldn't Palm put in some hard drive usage software to determine HOW an application is using the drive and perform differently as per this? Needless to say, my LD's on eBay and the TX is in the post.

Click to expand...

I believe that there is a software that another company makes that speeds up performance on the LifeDrive. I don't know how well it works because I don't have a LifeDrive and have absolutely no interest in getting such a device based on all the negative stories that I've been hearing about it.

If you're interested in the name of the program, I can try to recall it and send you a private message since I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the name here.

I believe it's called SharkCache. It's OK to post the names of other PDA programs, as long as they're relevant to the discussion and do not compete with our own products.

I've tried sharkcache before. It will not work with programs over 4mb in size and unfortunately does not work with Pleco

Hello haral and lmc

Yes, I've got my TX and Pleco works like a charm.

Something was rather odd when I first installed the files, but I poodled around until it all worked. Yes, I think I installed PD to the memory card.

The LD wasn't such a bad machine. But for running PD, it was a real dog. The girl I sold the LD to has no interest in Chinese, so I don't feel too guilty about passing it on! lol

By the way, off topic but is it just me or whenever I get a new Palm, I want to fly it around like it's a spaceship making 'neeeowww' sounds? I was watching a comedy sketch show on the BBC making fun of just this and I thought I was the only one.