Whether you have a WinCe device or a TRG-Pro there comes a time when you (or at least I) begin to wonder how much more memory I can cram into this little space regardless of my need. I try and justify it to myself, pointing out that third-party applications are growing in size by the day. In truth, I hardly use the 50% of the 8MB I have on my TRG. None of that matters because I have this innate insatiable desire for more memory, more speed, more...well you get the idea.

	Kingston CF Card

Thus, the need for a CF card in my TRG-Pro. Looking on the Internet you will find a variety of manufacturers of CF cards of varying sizes. This is a problem because this is a memory device akin to a Hard Drive or an EDO or DIMM memory module in your PC. From that perspective, cheap is nice but quality and reliability are preferred. So, I was glad to be able to try a CF card from the people I associate with memory, Kingston Technologies. Giddy with excitement, I unwrapped the package and without hesitation dropped the 24-MB card in my TRG-Pro and awed at the 32MB of memory in the Palm of my hand. (Kinda funny if you think about it)

• 24 Megabyte
• Size: 1.43" x 1.68" x .13"
• Media Transfer Rate: 3.5MB/sec
• Avg. Seek Time 10.8ms
• Power Consumption: 0.5mA (typical) 2.0mA (max) at sleep.
• Read/write: 45mA (typical) 75 mA (max.)
• Price: $82.00
• 3.3V/5V dual voltage support

Now completely sure that I possessed the largest amount of memory in a single Palm device on the block, I thought long and hard about how to properly test a piece of hardware that is essentially inert.

Trying to emulate extreme user conditions I designed the following test:

• Copy my existing TRG Pro to the CF Card. (the entire unit, approximately 4.5 MB), thus testing the data transfer rates in one direction.
• Make modifications to some of the files, while they are stored on the card (tested the read/write function).
• Then I removed the card. Put the card into a new, completely unused unit and transferred the data to the new unit and then warm-booted. (Tested not only transfer rates in the other direction but also tested the reliability of the card.)

	Tested on a TRGpro

So, with this rather unscientific but easy to perform test I set out to abuse the card as best I could. I was rather surprised but after over twenty cycles of the above scenario I had not one episode of bad data transfer or even a slow transfer. The data transfer rates were incredibly fast. The entire unit was copied to a new unit in less than 3 minutes. This was impressive to me only after I realized that not only had my test included such small files as memos and addresses but it had also copied Epocrates in its entirety and had also copied the companion version of Harrison's Textbook of Internal Medicine (>900K), as well as Avantgo with several channels already loaded. These items themselves can take several minutes to hotsync onto a device the first time.

** As a note: Just for comparison, I loaded the same files (~4.5 MB) onto my PC and created a new user, with a fresh unused TRG and loaded the same files. >40 minutes and 6+ hotsyncs required getting the unit to the same level of completeness as the above test for the CF card.

• data transfer rates were impressive. Limited more by the Palm OS than the card itself.
• read/write abilities were fast and reliable.
• ease of use was obviously not an issue
• Size and utility: 24MB was bigger than I could find things other than music files to put on it
• Reliability: In the time I used it, it was flawless. I hope to continue to put it through the wringer so to say.
• Price: Kingston site has the card for ~$87 with shipping. I found it at other sites for around $65-70 w/shipping included. Quite reasonable for the size of the card and the reputation its manufacturer carries.

An exceptional card that is very reliable and fast. Not to mention portable and versatile being able to be used in PDAs, cameras and MP3 players. Knowing my test was flawed by not having a second or third CF card to test against, I would say that the Kingston name is worth any additional price you might pay over "value" cards. This is an exceptional.

Recently, there have been quite a few postings on the discussion boards regarding the TRG Pro and its ability to handle data with the CF card. When first reviewed by me, the TRG Pro, as now, had the ability to use a compact flash card to store data in the form of databases but it could not run applications from the CF card. This, in some users minds, was a detriment to the TRG Pro. Since that time TRG has been in beta test with a new version of CF Pro and the new OS 3.5. The new CF Pro allows for applications to be placed on the CF card and run "directly" from the CF card.

With the CF Card I was able to again review the capabilities of the TRG Pro. My unit is unmodified except for the beta versions of OS 3.5 and CF Pro (to be released soon)

With only the above modifications I was able to place any read-only files (including apps) onto the CF card. This allowed me to free almost the entire 8MB of space off my TRG Pro and run everything from the CF Card.

Set-up in this way, I was able to run all apps from the CF Card with only slightly perceptible delays (noticeable only on the bigger problems). I showed this to several Palm users and all but one were unaware of the difference in speed (and that individual admitted to advanced knowledge of the CF Card and was watching for delays.)

Keep in mind that certain apps and DBs are frequently written to and therefore cannot, at this point, be on the CF card. This will hopefully soon change but, at this point, only read-only data may be placed on the CF card. This sounds like a horrible limitation but I had absolutely no problems with any programs running from the CF Card.

The new version of the CF Pro operates with the new OS ver 3.5 in such a way that apps or DBs are switched into dynamic RAM when accessed and run from that area. Again, this was almost imperceptible. The transfer was seamless and rather unnoticeable. This makes the addition of a CF card an invaluable addition to the TRG Pro.

Some programs will function without the new OS and the new version of CF Pro. The @Hand Reader is already written to be "CF Aware" so you can place any of their books on the CF card and not take up RAM on the main unit. As time passes more program writers will hopefully begin to write programs that are "CF Aware." But regardless of that fact TRG plans to release the new CF Pro with the "seamless" transfer capabilities as soon as 3Com releases OS 3.5.

I have to stand by my previous review and say this product is outstanding.

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