Friday, May 09, 2003



BatteryGraph Screenshot


Now I have been using BatteryGraph for a few days, I thought I would post a screenshot:

BatteryGraph



The red line shows voltage levels (you can see I keep my TT almost fully charged all the time), teh green area indicates usage by day, and the left most column is shaded because it is the weekend. So the Holmes fans amongst you will deduce that I have used my TT most during the last five days on Tuesday.






Case Design


Fellow Foxpopper and TT blogger Craig has sent me a Covertec (good website, btw) case to look at. The Covertec is well made and feels good. The leather is top quality and the finish very smart, so it would look equally good in the board room or the stable block. The one Craig sent me is the original, which has a problem with the hard buttons on the TT being accidentally pressed, but there is a 'second edition' now available which is meant to solve that problem, so I will say no more about it.

My main negative reaction is not specific to the Covertec (the Covertec just helped focus my attention on the problem), but also applies to the Piel Frama, the Digital Express and some Vaja cases: it is the 'tab' closure. In the Covertec's case it is magnetic, which I prefer to poppers, but my concerns are to do with much more fundamental design decisions:

1. Because the tab is attached to the front and closes at the back, the case does not sit flat on a desk. Think how every Filofax you have ever seen with a tab closure has the tab attached at the back and closing on the front. That allows it to look good on a desk. I find myself putting the Covertec (et al) face down on the desk, requiring me to turn it over before using the Palm.

2. Having a tab closure means that there is a protrusion on the case. Apart from adding an ugliness which would be unacceptable in the PDA itself, this protruding flap stops the case slipping easily in and out of your pocket. In fact, I find myself at a loss over which pocket to put the TT in when it is in a case like this.

Sometimes I think I must be very picky about cases, but then I realize that I am only setting the following standard: is it at least as functional as the plastic cover which came with the TT?