Filed under: Accessories, Portables, Wireless
palmOne LifeDrive
I may have to push back getting that high-end SLR digital camera.I'm looking at the new LifeDrive from palmOne, and I have to say, I am pretty impressed with all the features. The LifeDrive features a 4GB hard drive, Bluetooth, 802.11, email, web browser, Microsoft Office compatibility, and video and photo display options and it runs just under $500.
Best of all, it works with a Mac running Mac OS 10.2.6 or 10.3, so I would hope Tiger support is soon to follow, along with iSync-ability.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
_victor said 4:18PM on 6-16-2005
Questions!
Wonder if El Gato will support it, as they recently did with the PSP.
But coolest of all: folder sync & file transfer. I absolutely hate the fact that I cannot sync my Palm device with more than one computer because I use iSync.
What would be *nice* (as in revolutionary) would be this:
The LifeDrive is Bonjour-compatible.
Imagine being able to power it on, and automagically share files wirelessly-- on any platform. This would be a lifesaver for me at work. I use a Mac, they use PC's (Dellbarfs). I practically live out of my USB flash-based drive because we're not allowed to plug in our personal machines to the network...
But the LifeDrive isn't a PC! heehee... Martian drives used to have a product like this. But adding on the handheld functions, wow.
Now if only Palm could figure out how to put Flash player on their devices. Oh wait, Sony figured it out! Guess Palm is unwilling to pay licensing fees or something. That's been a deal-breaker on a new palm for me for a while, and I've used Palms since they came out years ago. Still, it's nice to see SOME innovation finally coming out of there...
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Brett said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
This is a very cool device, but for me to buy it would have to include a cell phone! Would that be so hard?! Then you would truly have an all in one device.
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Joel said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
LifeDrive Manager is only for Windows. Without this, the LifeDrive cannot be used at its full potential.
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Joakim said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
You too?! I'm so thinking of buying it! Thought about a PSP for a while, but found out I don't play games that mutch, so a LifeDrive seem like a much wiser choice! Always liked Palm better than Pocket PCs. Although LifeDrive Manager is Win only we could hope that Mark/Space releases a Missing LifeDrive Manager...
Only thing is I probably have to wait an eternity before they realease it in Norway, but I'm used to it! It only took Apple two years to get the iTMS over here! :)
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anthony said 4:19PM on 6-16-2005
Yeah - I could use some help with this. What exactly can you not do on a Mac that you can with your PC? From the website it states that you can put the device into Drive Mode to drag and drop files back and forth and even work on them off of the drive when using a Mac. Apparently, LifeDrive Manager does not work on Mac as it is a Windows application. This gives you a live view of files, folders and apps on your LifeDrive. I had sent an email last night to Palm about the lack of Mac support and this was the response I received "Please be informed that LifeDrives supported desktop systems include Mac OS X v10.2.6 or 10.3. You can synchronize LifeDrive with your computer that runs one of the Mac OS versions previously mentioned." Can someone please decipher what all this means?
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peter said 8:27AM on 6-21-2005
Hold Off Apple people.
The biggest down fall of this LifeDrive is that it is not yet compatible with Apple iSynch. At this point the only functionality is to use Palms Desktop. If, like me, you have all off your stuff in Apple Addressbook and iCal then you will have to somehow import into Palm Desktop then use. I would rather not do this. There are complete waste of time instrcutions included with this palmeone about conduit settings. Then the PalmOne website says iSynch won't work yet (this palm comes with desktop 4.2 which send you in circles for conduit settings) Another discussion I saw a user was able to completely remove Desktop 4.2 and go back to 4.1 and then change conduits. However then, supposedly, you are losing some functionality with the new LifeDrive. So hopefully Palm or Apple will come out with proper conduit settings to make this thing work with iSynch, (Apple Address Book and Apple iCal) othwise the "compatibility" is with Palm Desktop.
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Dafydd said 11:37AM on 6-22-2005
I have just had my Life Drive this morning. I have everything working fine except for iSynch. how annoying. Anybody have any ideas when iSynch will be updated for LifeDrive?
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ShaSha said 5:25PM on 6-28-2005
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for the heads up due to the iSync problem.
I'm also a Mac user who is considering the LifeDrive. I've been trying to get some answers/resources so that I can use all the LD features. I'm including what I've discovered thus far.
On the LifeDrive page, under the FAQ, there is the question: How do I drag and drop files on my Mac to my LifeDrive device? It directs you to the following webpage:
http://www.palmone.com/us/owners/lifedrive/howdoi/howdoi_ld_047.html
On that pop-up, there is a sidebar that says:
Synchronization utilities such as ChronoSync (see www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/) and others can automate the synchronization of folders between your Mac and LifeDrive device.
You can download ChronoSync here:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/chronosync.html
Lemme know what y'all come up with for the iSync problem.
Many thanks.
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ShaSha said 2:09PM on 6-24-2005
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for the heads up due to the iSync problem.
I'm also a Mac user who is considering the LifeDrive. I've been trying to get some answers/resources so that I can use all the LD features. I'm including what I've discovered thus far.
On the LifeDrive page, under the FAQ, there is the question: How do I drag and drop files on my Mac to my LifeDrive device? It directs you to the following webpage:
http://www.palmone.com/us/owners/lifedrive/howdoi/howdoi_ld_047.html
On that pop-up, there is a sidebar that says:
Synchronization utilities such as ChronoSync (see www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/) and others can automate the synchronization of folders between your Mac and LifeDrive device.
You can download ChronoSync here:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/chronosync.html
Lemme know what y'all come up with for the iSync problem.
Many thanks.
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steve Alley said 8:56AM on 6-28-2005
Also a new LifeDrive owner with sync problems. My stuff is in address and ical. Unable to get it synched. Dragged pictures, and all other features work great. But this is such an important problem, that it negates any nice thing about the lifedrive. Also the life drive has bluetooth, but you cannot use bluetooth to synch with your mac yet..yikes.. not quite ready for primetime yet with mac in my opinion
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Christopher Phin said 12:07PM on 6-28-2005
Palm OS-based devices have for years been able to sync with iSync (and by extension Address Book and iCal), and the LifeDrive is no exception. I recently reviewed it for a UK-based Mac magazine and liked it so much I bought one. True, the file sync doesn't work, but the iSync bit works fine. And yes, it does synchronise over Bluetooth. This is all verified by me actually doing it.
There is plenty of information on getting iSync to work on Palm's support site, and on Apple's
Also, the LifeDrive conmes with a utility called WiFile which allows you to browse files on networked Macs and PCs.
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ShaSha said 5:36PM on 6-28-2005
Missing Sync is working on software to close the Mac gap, and it should be released at the end of this summer. See:
http://www.markspace.com/support/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&root=51&id=2441
http://www.pdabuzz.com/Home/tabid/54/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/536/ItsaHardLifeDriveLifeDriveReviewDayTwo.aspx
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Robert Sharl said 5:41AM on 7-06-2005
Sync with iSync works fine. There are /other/ issues with the LifeDrive, as with every Palm I've ever owned. I can't get it to connect to any of my Airport Base Stations unless /all/ the security features are turned off (despite it supporting WPA). I can get into open WiFi. My K700i crashes when it disconnects (though this could easily be the stupid phone). This morning my LD won't turn on at all. Hmm..
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Surendra Gade said 9:34AM on 7-19-2005
I was able to connect my LD to the Airport Base Station using 104-bit ASCII (it's a 13 character WEP Key).
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Maxipeg said 2:12AM on 7-28-2005
I can confirm the last statements
1. the LifeDrive is can be synchronized with iSync / iCal / Address-Book via Bluetooth (I haven't tried synchronization via WiFi but this should also work)
2. The LifeDrive can connect to a AirPort network, but it is important to enter the WEP-Key. How to get the key? Step-for-step...First, open the AirPort Admin Utility on your Mac. Then, select the Base Station and click on "configure". You will see a new window with a new toolbar. Locate the item "Password" in the toolbar and click on it. You will get a dialog window with a "Hex equivalent password" (26 characters, letters and numbers). Start up the LifeDrive. Select "WiFi" from the applications or in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Turn WiFi on. The LifeDrive will automatically locate the wireless network. Select "Edit Networks" from the "network" menu, select your network and tap on the "edit" button. From the "Security" menu select "WEP" and enter the 26-character key (I haven't found out how to get the ASCII code without translating the HEX code)
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Rob said 4:45PM on 7-29-2005
++
Thanks Maxipeg! Just the information I was looking for; took me long enough to find it. For some reason it took me a few tries to write that down into my LD.
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Ihsahn said 1:15AM on 9-10-2005
Okay, so I just purchased the LifeDrive today w00t w00t! Everything is going pretty fine with it. I have succesfully synced it with my Apple power book running Jaguar. I got Bluetooth to sync in 20 minutes of having the thing. Now, I have a couple questions that would make my life easier. One, I want to to sync with the mac using bluetooth in order to share an internet connection. I can get the devices to recognise each other but when I try to connect to the mac, it tries to sign on for awhile and then i get this horrible Error saying "Error: PPP Timeout (0x 1231) Any ideas? Secondly, I didn't charge the thing for very while when I first got it. Now, it doesn't hold much charge. It will say like 85% battery when connected to the charger but then when disconnected it will drop to like 67% then 62% and will chill there. Did I screw the battery by not charging it fully the fisrt time? Otherwise, I think it is a fine machine. Also, you guys know cool osx skins or mods for this things? I want a dock! I am new to PDA's pretty much.
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