Why you should use a launcher program
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There are several launcher programs that are commercially available to improve your organization of your PDA as well as simplify performance of common tasks.
1. Seamless integration of RAM with the expansion disk
| Think about how you access
a program that is stored on your expansion memory disk.
You would need to tap on drop down menu from the top right hand corner, select expansion card, find the program on your expansion card, then tap on the program to launch it. |
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| With a launcher program, all you have to do is tap on the program and you are done! For example, with LauncherX (shown in the example here), the only way you know its on your expansion disk is by the "blue expansion disk symbol" in the top left corner of the program title. |
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2. Improved organization of your programs
| It's easy to keep your programs organized
with folders for similar type of programs. For example, all medical type
of calculators and drug databases would be kept in the
"clinical" folder since those are the tools I would use at the
hospital or clinic.
The top bar represents the time, date, free RAM memory, and battery life, respectively. Which items are displayed and how they are displayed is also often flexible with many launcher programs. |
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3. Quick access to commonly used functions via gadgets
| Finally, most of the
launcher-type programs have a "gadget bar" which is located at
the bottom of the screen in this example. You can choose from a host of
functions to put on the main screen (e.g., gadget settings). This
example illustrates a trash can icon for "delete", folder for
a listing of all files in the RAM, a "beam" icon to activate
infrared beaming, memopad, an expansion card icon to manage RAM and
expansion card programs, etc.
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| To use the gadget, all you have to do either tap on it or drag the icon to the gadget function you want to perform. This figure illustrates how to delete a program. Once you drag the program icon to the "trash can" and then release it by lifting your stylus off the screen, the program is deleted (you will get a prompt screen before you can delete it so don't panic if you grab the wrong program)! |
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NEXT: screenshots and web links for some commonly used launcher programs
