Product Reviews

I know what you're thinking. If you already own a Palm or CLI with Documents To Go, why pay full whack for the Premium Edition? After all, the other upgraded goodies like AvantGo are still free downloads. What makes Documents To Go so special?

Let's start with the supported file formats, which now include JPG, PPS and RTF, as well as the standard XLS and DOC formats. Then there's PDF support. With so many downloadable PDF manuals, brochures and presentations, the ability to read them on the journey home is invaluable. But don't get your hopes up, as this isn't a full Palm version of Acrobat Reader - the PDFs are loaded into Word To Go as text-only. There aren't any graphics or photos, but you don't consume your memory with massive files either.

You do, however, have embedded graphic support in DOC files, although Word To Go won't scale them in the same way as Word. Small graphics can be huge, and large graphics can look indecipherably compressed, although you can use the Zoom tool to view them properly.

The Zoom tool is also useful in the Slideshow To Go application, as presentations with small text soon look blocky. Slideshow To Go handily lets you view and edit PowerPoint presentations, with modes for viewing the whole presentation or just the text and headings.

While previous versions of Documents To Go

ADVERTISEMENT

were optimised for viewing documents, version 5 offers a feature set more geared towards creating and editing. Word To Go now features tools for Find and Replace, multiple Undo and Redo, inserting page breaks, formatting line spacing and creating numbered lists and bullet points. There isn't a spell check, though, but it will hopefully be added in future.

The only other issue with Word To Go is that larger fonts take up too much space to make reading practical without regular scrolling. You now get more font support, but if you use 12pt Arial you'll end up turning Enable Font Viewing off in the Preferences to get more on-screen. This is fine, until you next HotSync to find your document's fonts have all been switched off.

Otherwise, Documents To Go keeps the formatting immaculate, retaining the original's settings so you don't have to re-arrange everything after HotSyncing. The large font problem could also be less of an issue depending on which Palm device you own.

Yes, Documents To Go now supports the 320 x 320 resolution found on Sony's current CLI range. I tried it on the PEG-NR70V, where it made viewing XLS files a lot easier. And SheetToGo is also useful, allowing you to create charts and save them, add rows and columns and recalculate after editing.

There's even a pleasant surprise in the form of PicsToGo for viewing standard graphic formats, including JPG, GIF and BMP. And getting files on to your Palm device couldn't be simpler - just click Add Item, browse to the file and it appears in the Documents list after your next HotSync.

It's great to see that Palm OS is getting the treatment it deserves, and Documents To Go - minor faults aside - is an indispensable tool for any Palm user. Even the price is reasonable, and you can probably get this cheaper if you already own Documents To Go. Depending on your handheld, you can get a discounted upgrade, so check the DataViz website.