[NTLK] Purchasing a newton

[Don Zahniser]

On Aug 19, 2010, at 3:14 AM, Blake Hanes wrote:

>
> I just graduated from High School and am entering my freshman year in
> college so I've decided to purchase another newton, I currently  
> have an
> MP120 running 2.0 but find it to be extremely slower than what i  
> need. At
> the moment I'm bidding on an MP2000 on eBay and I'll be able to  
> bootstrap it
> with my 120, but what I'd like to know is:

> How do you daily users out there customize your device?

As far as the interface goes, very little, although I have tried most  
all of the freeware and registerable shareware stuff out there.  I  
alternate between using Avi's Backdrop and Extras as the backdrop.  I  
also have 'SmallExtras' installed as a quick way to launch a package,  
and 'Tasks' to switch between currently running packages.  Also give  
either BBEditor or PunctPad a try as an editing tool.

> What applications are helpful in getting your work done?

I have settled on DateMan as my PIM application, although I really  
prefer the graphical layout of TimeTrax.  The one killer feature for  
me in DateMan is also one of its most annoying:  The ability to set a  
preference to automatically open DateMan either upon each power up or  
on power up after a time interval.  Annoying, because it pops up when  
I want to get into something else; killer feature because it helps me  
to focus back on what I am _supposed_ to be doing!

I also have tried DateSum and DateView as backdrops, as they will  
show schedules and todos each time you power on your Newton.

I also like HyperNewt - It is a package that allows you to add a  
hierarchical folder structure to Notes, _and_ hyperlink items from  
Dates, Names, and Works (among others) into Notes.  For a student, I  
can envision a scenario in which you would have a folder for each  
class, with perhaps a subfolder in each for class notes, another  
subfolder for each major assignment (containing notes and links to  
things in Works such as spreadsheets, drawings, and Works text  
files).  When you have such a link in Notes, you can add text to the  
hyperlink document, giving a bit more flexibility in how things are  
referenced.

Don't forget that if you have sufficiently descriptive text in Notes  
(e.g. - "Descriptive theme for English Composition"), you can  
highlight it and create a ToDo in Dates using Assist.  So, for  
example, you could put a syllabus into Notes for the overview of a  
class, then use Assist to create ToDos for things that are due on  
certain dates for a lot less effort than entering them by hand  
(again).  If your brain works that way, you could even link a ToDo  
back into a folder for the assignment using HyperNewt, which will  
then show the date due, and allow you to access the ToDo item within  
the folder used to collect your notes, data, etc.  Maybe clumsy, but  
maybe useful, too.


-- 
Don Zahniser