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In the Forums... |
Posted: September 13, 2001 Written by: Dan "Tweak Monkey" Kennedy Tweaking Your Palm The easiest way to see a large performance increase in your Palm's performance is by running a tweak program, like QuickBits Palm Accelerator. The clock speed will not be changed, so you can be sure your CPU is safe. By optimizing different aspects of the PalmOS, you'll notice a significant increase in performance of any slow applications. If you don't like the program, try CruiseControl. It is very simple with a "Fast" or "Slow" button being the only choices to make your Palm run quicker. That, and it's only a 5K download. Keep in mind that this too will drain the batteries slightly faster than normal. It is also not recommend that you use a tweak program while overclocking. Other tweaks to your Palm can be as simple as deleting programs you don't use, deleting data files, clearing calendars, etc. The more memory your Palm has available, the zippier it will likely be when loading menus and programs. Battery Recommendations, Changing, and Conservation Battery Conservation One easy way to save battery juice is to not overclock or tweak your Palm, or to only overclock/tweak when necessary (i.e. when playing a Gameboy emulator). Another obvious step is to only use the backlight when absolutely necessary. I've noticed a major drop in battery longevity if the backlight is on too often. Another way to save batteries is to UNDERCLOCK your Palm. Yes, that's right, drop the clock speed below default in order to save batteries. This is also handy if you're in a situation where you can't buy new batteries any time soon. The overclocking program Afterburner allows for this. Changing Batteries It's an incredibly easy task to change batteries, but you should make sure you follow three basic steps when doing it to ensure you won't lose any data: 1) Back up all your databases with HotSync 2) Remove one battery at a time 3) Quickly replace the batteries If you don't change the batteries fast enough, you may lose all your data. This is somewhat like a TI graphing calculator. Battery Recommendations Included with most Palms is a set of Duracell Ultra batteries. These are very good batteries, and last much longer than most other brands. However, they are quite costly. If you want to save money, buy cheaper batteries! Yes, you will save money in the long run. The batteries may only last 1/3 as long, but they often cost 1/5 as much or even less for a generic brand. Another option is to buy a set of rechargeable batteries. If you go through batteries very often, this is by far the best plan. Make sure to charge the batteries when you're not using your Palm though, or you may be stuck without your Palm when you need it. Conclusion Well that's all for my Palm guide. I know it wasn't detailed, but these devices are quite simple. Make sure to give me feedback on the guide and let me know of your overclocking/tweaking experiences by e-mailing me. Thanks for reading! |
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