I'm a casual chess player wanting a thin light weight unit but am not sure
which of the two technologies would meet my requirements best. I'm not
interested in Internet ability, multi-tasking, or a bunch of programs I'll
never use. I mainly want this just to play chess on. Here's what I'm looking
for:

At least 32 MB ROM
Palm OS v5.x
65,536 Colors, 16-bit
320x320 color display
rechargeable battery and charger

I'm also trying to decide which program is best for me. I'm just an average
player so a 2000+ rating isn't a high priority for me. A few things I'd like
it to have:

A rating system
Several different boards and piece sets
Board/piece color changing

Any help is appreciated.

I really like Palm Hiarcs, but that's just me. Quite strong, lots of
features, looks good, has an optional large opening book. As to your
requirements it does have a rating system, and two piece sets.

On Mar 6, 12:50 pm, " wrote:
I really like Palm Hiarcs, but that's just me. Quite strong, lots of
features, looks good, has an optional large opening book. As to your
requirements it does have a rating system, and two piece sets.

I'll second that. I bought a Palm Z22 just for HIARCS, and I'm very
happy with it. Btw, I'm also a casual player (and a perpetual novice,
I guess). After 29 quick games, HIARCS estimates my rating at 1100.
That's just to let you know that although it's a strong program, it's
also friendly to less skilled or more casual players.

--Patrick

"Patrick" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Mar 6, 12:50 pm, " wrote:
I really like Palm Hiarcs, but that's just me. Quite strong, lots of
features, looks good, has an optional large opening book. As to your
requirements it does have a rating system, and two piece sets.

I'll second that. I bought a Palm Z22 just for HIARCS, and I'm very
happy with it. Btw, I'm also a casual player (and a perpetual novice,
I guess). After 29 quick games, HIARCS estimates my rating at 1100.
That's just to let you know that although it's a strong program, it's
also friendly to less skilled or more casual players.

--Patrick


Thanks guys! I've settled on a Tungsten T3 Palm and will try out the HIARCS
demo.

"Frippertronics" wrote in message
nk.net...
I'm a casual chess player wanting a thin light weight unit but am not sure
which of the two technologies would meet my requirements best. I'm not
interested in Internet ability, multi-tasking, or a bunch of programs I'll
never use. I mainly want this just to play chess on. Here's what I'm
looking for:

At least 32 MB ROM
Palm OS v5.x
65,536 Colors, 16-bit
320x320 color display
rechargeable battery and charger

I'm also trying to decide which program is best for me. I'm just an
average player so a 2000+ rating isn't a high priority for me. A few
things I'd like it to have:

A rating system
Several different boards and piece sets
Board/piece color changing

Any help is appreciated.

I strongly urge you to get a Palm. Windows handhelds lose power if you just
look at them. If playing strength and PDA functions are unimportant, go for
the Palm with the best battery life.

"Ange1o DePa1ma" wrote in message
...
"Frippertronics" wrote in message
nk.net...
I'm a casual chess player wanting a thin light weight unit but am not
sure which of the two technologies would meet my requirements best. I'm
not interested in Internet ability, multi-tasking, or a bunch of programs
I'll never use. I mainly want this just to play chess on. Here's what I'm
looking for:

At least 32 MB ROM
Palm OS v5.x
65,536 Colors, 16-bit
320x320 color display
rechargeable battery and charger

I'm also trying to decide which program is best for me. I'm just an
average player so a 2000+ rating isn't a high priority for me. A few
things I'd like it to have:

A rating system
Several different boards and piece sets
Board/piece color changing

Any help is appreciated.

I strongly urge you to get a Palm. Windows handhelds lose power if you
just look at them. If playing strength and PDA functions are unimportant,
go for the Palm with the best battery life.

Well it seems that the Palms I'm looking at don't hold much of a charge
according to what I've been reading. The mid-range models that I can afford,
Tungsten T3, Zire 72, etc. generally run about 4-5 hours before needing to
be recharged...(I need a model with voice recording). That sure isn't much
time considering the long recharge times involved too. Can these things be
run off electricity with an AC adapter, bypassing using the batteries?

"Frippertronics" wrote in message
news

"Ange1o DePa1ma" wrote in message
...
"Frippertronics" wrote in message
nk.net...
I'm a casual chess player wanting a thin light weight unit but am not
sure which of the two technologies would meet my requirements best. I'm
not interested in Internet ability, multi-tasking, or a bunch of
programs I'll never use. I mainly want this just to play chess on.
Here's what I'm looking for:

At least 32 MB ROM
Palm OS v5.x
65,536 Colors, 16-bit
320x320 color display
rechargeable battery and charger

I'm also trying to decide which program is best for me. I'm just an
average player so a 2000+ rating isn't a high priority for me. A few
things I'd like it to have:

A rating system
Several different boards and piece sets
Board/piece color changing

Any help is appreciated.

I strongly urge you to get a Palm. Windows handhelds lose power if you
just look at them. If playing strength and PDA functions are unimportant,
go for the Palm with the best battery life.

Well it seems that the Palms I'm looking at don't hold much of a charge
according to what I've been reading. The mid-range models that I can
afford, Tungsten T3, Zire 72, etc. generally run about 4-5 hours before
needing to be recharged...(I need a model with voice recording). That sure
isn't much time considering the long recharge times involved too. Can
these things be run off electricity with an AC adapter, bypassing using
the batteries?

I seem to recall a Zire model that ran for tens of hours on one charge. It
may not have had back lighting, however, which for me is a deal-breaker.

If battery life is similar, just get the cheapest PDA that supports the
cheapest chess software.

adp

In article news "Frippertronics" wrote:
I strongly urge you to get a Palm. Windows handhelds lose power if
you
just look at them. If playing strength and PDA functions are
unimportant,
go for the Palm with the best battery life.

Well it seems that the Palms I'm looking at don't hold much of a
charge
according to what I've been reading. The mid-range models that I can
afford,
Tungsten T3, Zire 72, etc. generally run about 4-5 hours before
needing to
be recharged...(I need a model with voice recording). That sure
isn't much
time considering the long recharge times involved too. Can these
things be
run off electricity with an AC adapter, bypassing using the
batteries?

Yes, they all can run off of ac or a usb port power while playing.
You can even pick up a cheap external adapter that runs off of
disposable AAA batteries.

Extra cradles or external power supplies can be bought as accessory.
However I wonder why you want to carry that around. The use of such a
device is away from a wall socket, not constantly attached to it. If power
is the problem, I would go for a desktop version, always stronger and more
versatile than the ones offered for handhelds.

I'll be playing a chess program on a Palm mostly at home (in bed, TV
grazing, lounging around) so I'd like to use AC for that since the batteries
in these things only last so long and for so many charges, so AC capability
is important to me. But in the break room at work or outside I'll be using
battery power.

I have several high-powered desktop chess programs, but sometimes I get sick
and tired of sitting in front of this thing.

Thanks again for all replies, I settled on a Tungsten T3 with an extra large
screen. Now I guess I'll spend another couple of days exploring Palm chess
programs. Gotta have a rating system and choice of colors and pieces, if
possible. HIARCS is wayyy above my strength and the price is pretty steep,
but I can't find another Palm program that rates playing strength.

Frippertronics wrote:

Thanks again for all replies, I settled on a Tungsten T3 with an extra large
screen. Now I guess I'll spend another couple of days exploring Palm chess
programs. Gotta have a rating system and choice of colors and pieces, if
possible. HIARCS is wayyy above my strength and the price is pretty steep,
but I can't find another Palm program that rates playing strength.



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--
Dave (from the UK)

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