Review: PhatNotes — Pens, Paper and A Whole Lot More

Posted by: dgoldring on Apr 23 2007 - 5,477 views

 

Sometimes you just need to jot down a quick note to help you remember an important fact.  For example, you are at the library researching and the copy machine is broken.  You can’t possibly memorize all of that information.  So, what do you do? In olden times (circa 1995) you might have grabbed for a Post-It Note or a paper and pen.  That was then…this is now.  Today, you live in a paperless office.  Your Pocket PC is your desktop.  Of course, critical note taking software must come included with your Pocket PC Operating System.  Right?  I mean, it is right there…no…there…well, isn’t that interesting?  One of the most important uses for a Pocket PC is jotting quick notes which can easily be reviewed, organized, and shared; and there is no native software which can handle it.  Surely this must be a mistake.  Surely, someone must have noticed this and corrected it.  Fortunately for you, someone has noticed it…PhatWare.  I have already reviewed (quite favorably I might add) PhatWare’s other offerings: PhatPad and Calligrapher.  Today, I am going to take a closer look at PhatNotes and determine how well it fills this critical note taking gap in the Pocket PC.

Installation and Registration: PhatNotes follows a standard installation.  Simply download the file to your computer and run it while your device is connected via ActiveSync.  Note that if you are using Windows Vista OS, you will want to make sure to run the desktop installer as an Administrator.  Otherwise, parts of the program will not install correctly. 

When you install it, you will have a fully functional 30 day trial.  To keep using the program beyond 30 days, purchase it at the JAMM store and register the full version.  Once you register, you will also be eligible for unlimited technical support, free updates, and a free or discounted upgrade to future versions. 

Overview: As its name would imply, PhatNotes is a powerful note-taking tool.  It offers many features which the traditional note-taking tools (ie: pens and paper) do not incorporate, such as: filters, import/export, the ever important spell check, categories, and the ability to share your notes with others.  Traditional tools offered little more than the ability to lose your notes on your desk, only to find them again six months after the project was completed.  With PhatNotes, creating a note is as easy as pushing a single button.  So, whether it is a reminder to buy a loaf of bread at the store, or notes for your doctoral thesis, the powerful tools available in PhatNotes will ensure that this note will be in the right place for you to use it at the right time…rather than hidden under a pile of papers. 

Three Versions: There are three versions of PhatNotes, depending upon your syncing needs: Pro, Standard and Lite:

PhatNotes Pro is the most robust package.  It includes a desktop version which allows you to sync all of your notes between the desktop and your device.  According to the PhatWare website, you should consider this edition if you need to create and synchronize multiple notes databases, and use formatted and password-protected notes. PhatNotes Professional Edition also includes the English dictionary of PhatSpell spell checker.

PhatNotes Standard does not include the desktop version, however, it will sync with Microsoft Outlook sticky notes.  Additionally, the standard edition now includes the English library of PhatSpell spell checker.

PhatNotes Lite is the smallest PhatNotes package.  Although it includes the complete PhatNotes Mobile program, there is no desktop option and no ability to sync via Outlook.  It also does not include PhatSpell spell checker.  PhatNotes Lite, however, is also included free as part of the WebIS Pocket Informant package.

Additionally, there is also a separate version for all of you Smartphone users.  The Smartphone Edition is comparable to the Pocket PC Standard Edition.

Creating a Note: As they said in the Sound of Music, "Let’s start at the very beginning.  That’s a very good place to start."  In this case, the very beginning in creating a new note is as easy as simply pushing the "New" button, which will open a blank note, ripe for your latest musings.

If you want to have a little control over the note, just click on the new notes options where you can assign a category to the note, change the priority or set the icon color.  These options will all help you organize and filter the notes later on when you are attempting to use them.

Saving and Retrieving Notes: Once you have completed a note, just click save and your note will be stored (notes are stored in your "My Documents" folder which can take up some space in your device’s memory.) 

To retrieve your saved notes, just return to the main screen.  By default, notes on the main screen will be listed in the order they were created.  Use the "View" menu, however, to sort this list by: creation date, modification date, category, color, or priority.  You can also use this menu to filter the displayed notes, so that only notes assigned to a specific color, assigned to a specific category, containing certain words, or created on a particular date will be displayed.  This is extremely useful if you create a lot of notes and need to quickly locate a particular piece of information which was stored in one of your notes.

Subject and Category: Most of the options available in PhatNotes are designed to make it easier to identify and locate your notes at a later time.  Frankly, if you jot notes but can’t find them later, what good are they?  Again, this goes back to the concept which PhatNotes aims to replace: jotting notes on scraps of paper which slip into your desk, never to be seen again.  One of the easiest ways to mark your notes for subsequent identification is the subjects and categories.

Adding a subject to your tool seems so basic it almost goes without mention.  However, anyone who uses email regularly (which is to say, everyone) knows the importance of the subject.  When you are scanning your notes for the one you need, all you will be given is an icon and the subject.  The more specific information you add to the subject line, the easier your notes will be to identify without scrolling through every one.

Additionally, the categories are an extremely important tool for future retrieval of your notes.  Later, when your main screen is filled with notes, you can sort or filter by category to quickly and easily reduce the number of notes you will need to search.  There are 15 predefined note categories, which cover the gamut from comments to task requests, and everything in between.

Sharing Notes: The more prevalent Pocket PC’s become, the more important it is to be able to share information between devices.  Often, situations arise in which someone else will need the information I stored in a note on my device.  Maybe this was related to research I did and need to share with another member of my team.  With PhatNotes sharing is as easy as they made it seem on Sesame Street. 

Simply tap Send Mail and you can turn any note into an email or an attachment to an email in seconds.  PhatNotes relies on its own internal system for creating and sending emails.  Although this system works fine, it would be nice if PhatNotes would incorporate your default messaging program (such as Outlook or FlexMail) to send a full email message. 

In addition to sending a note via email, you can also send or receive notes via the infra red beam on your device.  Finally, you can import and export information as Tab Separated Values or Comma Separated Values spreadsheets.  This ability to easily share information between devices and even across platforms helps make PhatNotes an invaluable tool for your Pocket PC. 

Today Screen Plugin: Frequent readers of my reviews know that I am not generally a fan of today screen plugins.  They are extremely overused, and rarely justify the resources they utilize. 

The PhatNotes plugin displays a header with the number of recently modified notes, and a list of those notes.  Tap the header to open the PhatNotes main screen, or tap any of the notes on the list to open PhatNotes directly to that note.  I found this took up a lot of space on my today screen, especially if you have been working with a number of different notes.  Additionally, it did not save me a significant amount of time because the same list of notes is displayed when you open PhatNotes.

On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed PhatNotes’ integration with other programs.  Spb Diary, for example, will include all of your PhatNotes notes in its notes tab.  This integration displayed better information than the native PhatNotes today screen plugin, and used fewer resources since it was only one of several Diary tabs. (I did not test it with SBSH PocketBreeze) As such, if you use a program which can incorporate PhatNotes into another plugin, then the native Today Screen Plugin is unnecessary and redundant.  Unfortunately, this is yet another example of a program including a Today Screen Plugin just for the sake of adding it to its feature list.  I was disappointed by this, and felt the plugin tarnished an otherwise fantastic program. 

Customizable Toolbar: One of my favorite features (pheatures??) of PhatWare’s programs is the customizable toolbar.  Like PhatPad and Calligrapher, PhatNotes includes a ten button toolbar which is fully customizable by swapping in any of the 36 buttons available.  As such, it allows you to put the options you will want to access directly in the toolbar where they will be on top, and at your fingertips, at all times. 

Note Reminder Alarm: One of the more common questions I am asked about programs like PhatNotes is what if you need specific information at a certain time or a reminder that information contained in a note requires further action?  With many programs, you would have to make a duplicate entry by adding the information in your note into your calendar.  This would be the only way to create a calendar alarm.  Not so with PhatNotes.

In PhatNotes, you can attach a reminder alarm to any note, meaning there is no need to create a double entry.  Simply activate the reminder alarm, set the date and time, and the text to display.  At the appointed time, the alarm will chime and the reminder text will appear on the screen.

Although this is an incredibly convenient feature, I was disappointed that there was no option to display the full note, or open the note when the alarm chimes.  Hopefully, this will be added in future versions.   Instead, when the reminder is displayed, only your reminder text will be shown, and you will have the option of either dismissing or snoozing it.   

Attachments: PhatNotes is so feature rich that I am starting to feel like I am selling it on an infomercial.  But that’s not all, Chuck, because if you purchase right now…well, never mind.  Back to the review.  Sometimes, a note is just not enough space to hold all of the relevant information.  So, you might want to attach a file or link two notes together.  With PhatNotes, doing both is easy and convenient. 

Once attached or linked, an icon will be displayed in the preview pane on the main page, allowing you to view any attachments or linked notes associated with the note you are viewing.  You can also select View Attachments to make the attachments panel appear in your note, displaying any attachments or linked notes associated with your note.

Desktop Version: Included in the PhatNotes Pro package is a desktop version of the program.  This allows you to take notes and sync then between your computer and your device.  This is an extremely handy tool for anyone who needs to use a desktop computer as a "home base" for all of their documents.  It allows you to take notes on your PDA and transfer then to your desktop in no time.

Because the desktop version is included in the package, you cannot sync notes via Outlook.  You can only sync via the desktop version.  I had significant problems with the desktop version, however, because it is not yet compatible with Windows Vista.  As such, I was unable to sync my notes with my desktop at all.  If you are using the Vista OS, you may want to consider the standard edition, which is able to sync via Outlook. 

 

 

PhatSpell: A good spell checker is an indispensable tool for anyone who creates documents on the Pocket PC.  Unfortunately, most programs include a minimal — at best — spell checking utility.  PhatNotes Pro (and Standard) solves this problem by including PhatSpell, a "multilingual spell checker for Microsoft Windows powered Pocket PCs. It allows users to check spelling in practically any standard Pocket PC application that permits text editing." PhatSpell contains an amazing 13 dictionaries for 10 languages, including:

• Danish
• Dutch
• English (US, UK and Medical)
• French
• German
• Italian
• Norwegian
• Portuguese (BR and EU)
• Spanish
• Swedish

(Note that only the English dictionary is included with PhatNotes).  PhatSpell is a fantastic addition to this package.  It is considerably more powerful than most built-in spell checkers; and is easy to use with a single tap, or push of a button (it can be assigned to any hardware button).  To be honest, when I was testing PhatNotes Pro, I frequently felt that it may not have measured up to PhatWare’s robust PhatPad package, which is much better geared toward the way I use my device.  PhatSpell, however, was well worth PhatNotes’ price of admission.

Conclusion: With PhatNotes, PhatWare has hit another homerun.  This is an essential program for anyone who needs to jot down small pieces of information in a hurry, or frequently works away from the office, but wants a fast means of sending their research and findings back to their supervisor or assistant.  The powerful search tools and filters also help make PhatNotes a considerable improvement over its primary competitor…a pencil and paper.   But be careful with PhatNotes, once your boss sees how much more efficiently you will be able to work, you might start finding more work than ever before crossing your desk.  Don’t worry, PhatNotes can handle it.  Can you? 

Vital Statistics:

Name: PhatNotes Pro

Version: 4.7.2

Platform: WM 2003 SE

Also Available: WM5. 

Developer: PhatWare

Price:           $39.95 

Available From: PhatWare

                           JAMM Store

 PhatNotes is also a JAMM Essential Application.  Purchase it at the JAMM store and receive a 15% discount.

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