FIGURE B

The main of QuickTip's two alternate displays.

There is an easy way to split the bill between a number of diners. However, there's no easy way to round the total up or down, so I found it harder to split the bill effectively. I found myself missing TipMaster's little arrows.

QuickTip arrives as a .ZIP archive, with well-written documentation and clear, concise help screens. Both documentation and application are available in English only.

Big Tipper
Big Tipper 1.0 is a $5 shareware application by River Rock Sight & Sound. It's the simple, unassuming member of the bunch. As you can see from it's display in Figure C, it's quite simple. Big Tipper leaves out confirming the sales tax amount, and as a result you end up paying tip on the sales tax amount. It will indeed nudge you into being a bigger tipper! Big Tipper is the only entry to do away with a "calculation" button; it updates totals as you enter them. This worked very well for me.

FIGURE C

Big Tipper is simple, and very straightforward, software.

Big Tipper provides one unique service: it has a screen which lets you rate the food quality, atmosphere, and service, and it will calculate a tip amount in the 0% to 24% range. I can imagine this helping encourage stingy tippers to pry their wallets a little wider. There doesn't seem to be a way to set your own tip rates for each rating level, though.

Big Tipper makes no attempt to help you split the bill among diners. It comes with a modest on-line help menu, and the only documentation is a brief description on River Rock's Web site. This simple program has the virtue of being easy, and truly self-explanatory. Both program and web site are in English only. The program is distributed in both .ZIP and Stuffit archive form.

The version of Big Tipper I evaluated was a shareware limited edition, which expired on 1. December 1997. Until they update the expiration date, you'll need to set back your PalmPilot's calendar or register the software in order to use Big Tipper.

GoDutch
GoDutch! 0.5 is freeware evaluation software from Shuji Fukumoto. This software reveals its Japanese origins right in its opening screen -- as you can see in Figure D, there is no provision for calculating a tip (as I mentioned earlier, tipping is not common practice in Japan). Nor can you enter decimal points in the amounts.

There are two innovations, however, from which the other programs could learn a lesson. First, GoDutch! gives you more flexibility in splitting the bill. You can divide your party into groups, each of which pays at a different rate. In Figure D, five people are paying at 100% and three at 60%. The program does all the arithmetic and comes up with a total. This is a start at helping diners pay according to what they ordered.

FIGURE D

GoDutch! has a couple of innovations to help split the bill.

Second, there is a column of check marks, I assume to keep track of who has paid and who hasn't. This is helpful when everyone is laying down money, and it's gets confusing who still needs to chip in.