Just got a PDA!..No more referrence books to carry!

jschut, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2002

Well Peeps~

I think you made a grand deal! I have a 125Palm. Not a fancy job, but I like it. ANd all of my programs were free. Had to look a little, but I found what I wanted! Maybe someday, I can afford to pay for some things! If I ever get out of this nursing school debt!

Enjoy yourself and you new Clie....sounds like a nice one!

Peeps Mcarthur · Sep 30, 2002

Ok,

I use my Taber's to look up definitions all the time,so I wondered if I could purchase it for a PDA................YUP, downloaded the whole thing for another $49 and my little clie is stuffed full!! My pda has only got about a mB left. I'm going to see if I can get an expansion card for it (next payday for sure now) and stuff some program for care plans or something.

Anybody using any other programs??

Mkue · Oct 9, 2002

Originally posted by Peeps Mcarthur
Pharmacy,care plans, nursing diagnosis.......etc. It has a searchable index for meds,terminology.

I'm becoming more interested in these palm pilots.. What does "clie" stand for? What are the best models? Any difference in manufactorers?

Thanks !:)

Robin61970 · Oct 9, 2002

Mkue do a search also...there wa one thread on here about a week ago that had LOTS of info on PDA's......might want to read it...it had lots of free download sites if nothing else.....might try to find it for you in the AM when I am not falling asleep at the keyboard....:)

CountrifiedRN · Oct 9, 2002

I've been thinking about getting one of those, Peeps. Please post back after you've had a chance to use it in clinicals and tell us how you like it.

The only thing is I can't really afford to buy one right now and all the downloads. And I can't get over the feeling that I am missing something if I don't have at least 50 lbs of books to tote around, lol.

Julie, what types of programs were you able to get for free? Are they good references?

globalRN · Oct 9, 2002

mkue: CNET has a lot of reviews of all types of electronic goods including a search engine that will help locate the lowest price online for what u want. Basically, if u want to buy: first have to decide which platform: Palm OS and Pocket PC are the 2 most popular. (sort of like Microsoft or Mac). There are a lot more free programs for Palm than PPC, especially in the health/medical area.

I recommend reading up on PDAs: 'Computer Shopper' or 'What Laptop and Handheld' are excellent mags which compare different brands and models.

CLIE is the Sony model: Sony Clie

There are new models coming out for Xmas, so the older models will be discounted. Conversely, u may want the new models.

My advice: buy expandable PDAs, for Palm 16MB of RAM, for PPC

as much as you can get.

I have a Palm m505 and use it for everything. When I was a student NP, it was a godsend!!!

http://www.pedsonhand.com/PDA%20links.htm

http://www.epocrates.com/

http://www.usbmis-test.com/beta/beta_test.php

Mkue · Oct 9, 2002

Originally posted by globalRN
mkue: CNET has a lot of reviews of all types of electronic goods including a search engine that will help locate the lowest price online for what u want. Basically, if u want to buy: first have to decide which platform: Palm OS and Pocket PC are the 2 most popular. (sort of like Microsoft or Mac). There are a lot more free programs for Palm than PPC, especially in the health/medical area.

I recommend reading up on PDAs: 'Computer Shopper' or 'What Laptop and Handheld' are excellent mags which compare different brands and models.

CLIE is the Sony model: Sony Clie

There are new models coming out for Xmas, so the older models will be discounted. Conversely, u may want the new models.
My advice: buy expandable PDAs, for Palm 16MB of RAM, for PPC
as much as you can get.
I have a Palm m505 and use it for everything. When I was a student NP, it was a godsend!!!

http://www.pedsonhand.com/PDA%20links.htm
http://www.epocrates.com/
http://www.usbmis-test.com/beta/beta_test.php

THANKS ! Global ! I appreciate the info, I'm going to check into the new models. :)

Mkue · Oct 9, 2002

Originally posted by Robin61970
Mkue do a search also...there wa one thread on here about a week ago that had LOTS of info on PDA's......might want to read it...it had lots of free download sites if nothing else.....might try to find it for you in the AM when I am not falling asleep at the keyboard....:)

Thanks Robin, I'll do a search, Peeps also posted after you did. Thank you. :)

Peeps Mcarthur · Oct 9, 2002

hey,

Alot of commotion over the PDA stuff.

RN2BNC made a comment about carrying a bunch of books around all the time so you don't miss something. That is the #1 reason that I got one. The other students have thier refferences minimized and laminated,but they are woefuly inadequate.

One of the features I don't think I mentioned is that the PEPIDRN program also has herbal information and all but replaces a third book I used to carry around for work at the nutrition store that I work at. Sometimes you need to know the contraindicated perscription meds(I still can't believe people ask a clerk with a plastic badge that) and it instantly gives me that.

About the model.................Mine is a 615c model. That model has been discontinued,but it has the same features as the new model,so it is much cheaper.

a PDA is cheaper than a pocket PC,about a third less in my case,and it has plenty of space on the memory.

It is a 16mB so the Taber's and PEPIDRN fit with room for a dictionary. It is expandable with the use of what's called a "memory stick" which is like a little card that is external(think floppy disk) and will probably be useful for foreign language translation packages or something like that.

I have been using it for conversions,looking up meds,herbs,and definitions of words as well as those annoying latin acronyms that medicine seems to be very fond of.

I learned about PDAs from an electronic store clerk. I was going into it with a working knowledge of computers though,and so I knew what to ask about capability of the memory ,program and so forth.

Anyhoo,tell me what you get!!

jdomep · Oct 9, 2002

Do they offer PEPID for those of us with laptops Just as regular software - sounds great

jdomep · Oct 9, 2002

Just found the info on PEPID.com :imbar