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PRODUCT REVIEW
How to get an extra 824K using FlashPro
By Claire Pieterek
Now that the Palm IIIx and Palm V are comfortably ensconced in the PDA pantheon, some of the third-party hardware and software products I've considered indispensable to my life with Palm devices have quirks or incompatibilities with the new machines that need to be worked out.
"FlashPro runs on your Palm device, rather than on the PC. FlashBuilder III ran only on Windows-based PCs, which left Mac, Unix/Linux, and OS/2 users out in the cold."
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So it is with TRG's FlashBuilder III. This utility, which I reviewed in the June 1998 issue of PalmPower, doesn't work with the Palm IIIx or Palm V. TRG has since released FlashPro, a new Palm-based utility that's a vast improvement on its worthy predecessor.
FlashPro costs $29.95--$20 less than FlashBuilder III. It's a completely new product, so there is no real upgrade path for previous FlashBuilder III customers. But it's quite a good buy--the Palm IIIx and Palm V have 824K of free flash, (unless you're using a localized Spanish, French, or German version, which only has 760K of free flash available). Japanese users can't really benefit from FlashPro unless they own the TRG "xtra xtra Pro" board--the localized Japanese Workpads don't have any available flash.
FlashPro is compatible with the Palm III, IIIx, and Palm V. FlashBuilder III worked only with the Palm III. Note that neither FlashPro nor FlashBuilder III can be used with a Synapse pager card, because that card uses an Intel flash chip. Although TRG's Web site claims compatibility with the Symbol SPT 1500, I would advise against using it. I managed to wipe one of those out so badly that Recovery Mode wouldn't even work. This is the only problem I've had with either FlashPro or FlashBuilder III.
FlashPro runs on your Palm device, rather than on the PC. FlashBuilder III ran only on Windows-based PCs, which left Mac, Unix/Linux, and OS/2 users out in the cold. If you can sync your Palm device, you'll be able to install and use FlashPro.
FlashPro is much easier to use than FlashBuilder III. You move or copy programs from RAM to flash, and vice versa. You don't have to manually maintain them on your Palm device, as you did with FlashBuilder III.
FlashPro can be used to back up volatile data, like your Address Book or Date Book, in case your Palm device needs a hard reset. You can even put a backup copy of FlashPro into flash, so you'll be prepared for just about any catastrophe.
I need to repeat this again because it's so important: although the TRG Web site claims compatibility, I advise against running FlashPro on a Symbol SPT 1500, since I wiped one out to the point where it would not boot at all.
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