Remote Computing

Installation of TinySheet from Iambic’s CD is a two-step process, involving the creation of a synchronization program on your PC and the TinySheet components for your Palm. I thought the setup process could have been smoother; both portions of the program should have installed automatically from the setup screen.

I was fortunate to test TinySheet on my Palm IIIc, which meant my spreadsheets had color formatting available to them, making them look just like they did on my PC. You can use TinySheet on existing spreadsheets created on your PC and synchronized to your Palm, or you can create new workbooks directly on your Palm. Workbooks created on the Palm will be copied automatically by the TinySheet conduit and added to the list of spreadsheets in TinySheet Manager after synchronization. The workbook, when synchronized, will be in Excel format on your desktop PC.

I was pleased with the full functionality of TinySheet. Once I was able to master some of the preferences, scrolling through a worksheet, selecting cells and manipulating data, the program operated as I expected. You can freeze columns and rows, making it significantly easier to view data.

Inserting calculations, formatting and formulas were all fully functional. The program can handle some pretty big spreadsheets as well. According to the manual, each sheet in a workbook can have more than 65,000 rows and up to 256 columns.

There are also plenty of bells and whistles in the program. For example, you can set spreadsheet recalculation for automatic or manual. Automatic recalculation re-evaluates every formula in a sheet after each cell update to make sure each cell contains the correct value. This is a terrific function, but as you can imagine, it can tax the ability of a handheld device. You can, therefore, turn off recalculation on larger spreadsheets to speed up the program’s operations. Another neat option is the ability to protect workbooks with passwords, just as you can in Excel. In addition, you can utilize the Palm security system by marking a workbook private.

Another helpful option is the ability to beam a sheet to another handheld device. You can beam not only your Workbook, but the entire TinySheet application to the recipient. The program will operate for three days without a license.

There are plenty of other neat tricks, too. For example, according to the manual, TinySheet can accept scanned bar code data. It also can import and export tab- or comma-delimited files.

I had a few formatting glitches on my first few synchronizations. For example, I learned, after studying the manual, that any cell in a TinySheet spreadsheet that contains a date or time value will synchronize to the PC as a string value, which Excel will attempt to convert to a date or time value. This became an absolute mess on my spreadsheet and for this reason alone, I recommend that you carefully review and understand the various synchronization options involving overwriting existing data before you conduct your first synchronization. Further, the TinySheet Manager, the synchronization function, includes extra debugging messages as an additional option. Perhaps the default would be to have these messages on for the initial synchronizations.

Overall, I liked this program because it permitted me to take my spreadsheets on the road, so to speak, and also to manipulate live data within those sheets and sync that data back to my PC. There are some details in the synchronization and preferences processes that need further tuning, but the interface is sound and brings the full familiarity of the Excel program to my Palm.

Price: $29.95

Palm OS 3.0 and higher
Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP

Reviewed by Denise P. Ward, Esq., Grean & Ward, Port Chester, N.Y.

Apr/May '02 Issue

PROS
Brings Excel right to your Palm.

CONS
Some glitches with synchronization; needs a more detailed installation process.

VERDICT
This is a great product for the Excel user who needs to manipulate data on the road with a Palm handheld device.

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Updated 03/26/02
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