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Electronic research pal
Having traveled halfway across the country in pursuit of your Smith ancestors, you’re eager to start your research. You compile a list of tasks you hope to complete. Using a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) link, you verify your location and find your way to the local courthouse. You pore through records and papers, cross-reference with information in your databases, then type notes of your findings. Finally, you e-mail your discoveries to your sister, Louise, back home. And you do it all with one hand-held computer—not a back-breaking laptop, but a gizmo that fits in the palm of your hand and barely dents your briefcase.
Sound far-fetched? It’s not. Miniature computing devices such as Handspring’s new Visor are making the future of family history research look increasingly compact. The Visor is only 4.8 inches tall, 3 inches wide and 0.7 inches deep (slightly larger than a cassette tape case) and weighs a mere 5.4 ounces.
Handspring’s expandable, attractively priced version of the popular Palm Pilot hand-held computers uses the same Palm OS operating system. It includes an address book, date book, to-do list, memo pad, calculator and world clock. The Visor also features Springboard, an external expansion slot where you can snap in modules for a modem, GPS receiver, memory card, universal remote, pager, MP3 music player and game pack. And the Visor is an equal-opportunity organizer—it’s compatible with both PCs and Macs. When you get home, just pop it into its “dock” and it automatically synchronizes data with your desktop machine.
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Software has already been developed to make files from your home computer compatible with your hand-held computer. GedPalm gives you access to all your GEDCOM files, so you can easily take your research with you. A free trial of GedPalm is available at www.ghcssoftware.com/gedpalm.htm; it costs $9.95 to register.
The Visor’s price tag won’t scare away genealogists on a budget, either. The Visor costs $179 (or $149 without a docking cradle); the Visor Deluxe runs $249 and comes with four times the memory plus a leather slipcase.
For more information on the Handspring Visor, call (888) 565-9393 or see www.handspring.com/products/vindex.asp.
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