snoopy@ixos.UUCP (Snoopy Schmitz) (12/08/89)
Dear Net, I am about to go out and buy a CASIO SF7500 electronic diary. (For Yuppies bored with their Filofaxes ;-) ) I have some questions regarding this product, perhaps someone out there has one and can help me. 0) How is the product ? Are you "happy" with it ? Is it useful ? would you recommend it ? 1) Is the CASIO SF7500 (on sale in Europe) the same as the CASIO BOSS product ? What exactly is the CASIO BOSS ? 2) I realise that one can buy a(n expensive) cable to connect the SF 7500 to an IBM PC for backup of the data etc. I wonder if someone has the make-up of the cable, I am sure that I can make one myself. I refuse to fork out about 90$ for parts worth about $10. 3) The above $90 does include some SW to run on the PC for the backup. I doubt that there is a UNIX version. Maybe there is one, perhaps someone out there knows. Has anyone written some software for UNIX themselves ? 4) In order to do 3) above myself, I would need to know the dataformat of the data out of and into the SF 7500, so that I can write a proggie myself. MAXINT Thanks to all of you, Love, Snoopy -- uunet!unido!ixos!snoopy -or- snoopy@ixos.uucp "Every passing hour brings the solar system 43,000 miles closer to globular cluster M13 in Hercules - and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
dlow@hpspcoi.HP.COM (Danny Low) (12/12/89)
>0) How is the product ? Are you "happy" with it ? Is it useful ? >would you recommend it ? The only real gripe I have about my SF 8000 is the commands are menu driven with no short cut command for frequently used options. Also error recovery consists of going all the way back to the top of the menu and starting all over again. In the English language version, the keys are badly labelled. For example the CLEAR key clears nothing. It is actually a CREATE NEW ENTRY or SEARCH FOR OLD ENTRY key based on the state of the DATA IN/OUT key which is actually another shift key like SHIFT and CODE and really has nothing to do with data input or output except in the vaguest sense. >1) Is the CASIO SF7500 (on sale in Europe) the same as the CASIO BOSS >product ? What exactly is the CASIO BOSS ? In the USA, BOSS is the generic name for SF 7000, SF 7500 and SF 8000. The SF 8000 is preferred as it has a real keyboard, not a membrane keyboard. This can make a big difference if you are trying to type a memo quickly. Danny Low "Question Authority and the Authorities will question You" Valley of Hearts Delight, Silicon Valley HP SPCD dlow%hpspcoi@hplabs.hp.com ...!hplabs!hpspcoi!dlow
rochlin@arktos.pa.dec.com (Max Rochlin) (12/13/89)
snoopy@ixos.UUCP (Snoopy Schmitz) writes: > I am about to go out and buy a CASIO SF7500 electronic diary. Great choice, I bought one about seven months ago and love it. > What exactly is the CASIO BOSS ? The new Marketing name for the SF-X where X > 6900. > (complaints about the cable and cost) There's a lot of electronics in the DB25 side of the cable. I haven't taken the time to decode it all. The cable and PC software work well, I haven't gotten a hold of the Mac version. There is no plan yet for a native UNIX version of the SW. > need to know the dataformat of the data out of and into the SF > 7500, so that I can write a proggie myself. The data format is simple ASCII, but the handshaking that goes on is rather significant during uploading and downloading. (good luck). DATA FORMAT: ( Scheduler meets Accounting 101) PhoneBook entries start :0000LAST FIRST BusiCard Entries start :0100COMPANY PNAME Memos :0200StartOfMemo Schedule: :0300YYYY-MM-DD STIME ETIME ATIME SchedText Setting the low order bit on indicates a marked record eg: PhoneBook entries start :0001LAST FIRST is marked The "next line" button in text fields places a \0D in the record. Basically each record is stored in prompt order and prefixed with an 'area identifier.' Very easy to edit on a worstation or PC, move to your favorite DB or whatever. |---------------------------------------------------------------\ | Revenons a nos moutons... | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | rochlin@decwrl.dec.com {sun,uunet}saxony!madmax!max | | rochlin@arktos.pa.dec.com apple!madmax!max | +---------------------------------------------------------------+
news@udenva.cair.du.edu (netnews) (12/13/89)
I looked at the Casio, but for a little more money I went with the Atari Portfolio. Check it out.
dlow@hpspcoi.HP.COM (Danny Low) (12/14/89)
I looked at the Casio, but for a little more money I went with the Atari
Portfolio. Check it out.
----------
The Portfolio does not fit in a shirt pocket. The Casio does. If you
normally carry a Daytimer around all the time, the Portfolio is
no more inconvenient. Convenience is very important. If it's too
inconvenient to always be there when you need it, then the additional
power is useless. Of course if it does not have the power you need
then it doesn't do any good to always have it there.
Raw power is not the only important point about these highly portable
systems. Convenience is just as important. Personally I have found
that if I cannot fit it in my shirt pocket I eventually stop using
it.
Danny Low
"Question Authority and the Authorities will question You"
Valley of Hearts Delight, Silicon Valley
HP SPCD dlow%hpspcoi@hplabs.hp.com ...!hplabs!hpspcoi!dlow