Drop, charge, and lose the cords
Entered CNET Catalog: 05/06/2003
SKU: 1575955873
Manufacturer: SplashData
Manufacturer description
A wallet holds your most valuable possessions - identification, cash, checks, credit cards, even photos of friends and family. And now you can hold it all in your Palm handheld with SplashWallet - a collection of three indispensable virtual wallet applications bundled together for one low price. SplashID safely and securely stores all of your personal identification information, including user names, passwords, credit card numbers, calling card numbers, bank account numbers, PINs, frequent flyer numbers and more. Automatic synchronization provides instant access to your data on both your handheld and desktop computer. SplashMoney is a personal finance manager for Palm OS handhelds that allows you to record your checking, credit card and cash transactions; track your account balances; and manage your finances while on the go. Helpful data entry tools like auto-fill and memorized transactions make entering transactions a breeze. And you can upload your transactions to Quicken and Microsoft Money on the desktop. SplashPhoto turns your Palm handheld into a mobile digital picture frame. Simply load your favorite images with the included desktop software and you're ready to view images while on the go. Images can be viewed by thumbnail, individually or in a slide show. And you can even beam images to your friends! SplashWallet is compatible with Palm III, IIIe, IIIx, IIIxe, IIIc, V, Vx, VII, VIIx, m100, m105, m125, m500 and m505; Handspring Visor, Deluxe, Edge, Neo, Platinum, Prism and Pro; Sony Clie and TRG/HandEra.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 08/02/2005
Installation was a breeze as we simply downloaded the software and followed the prompts. During this initial setup, you also have the option of choosing which programs you want for creating desktop shortcuts; if you prefer to keep your desktop clutter-free, we suggest you pay attention during this process. After installing the driver on to our PC, we hooked up our PDA (for our tests, we used the Palm Tungsten E2) and simply performed a HotSync operation. The final step is to enter your registration code--you'll have to do this for each of the four applications--then you're ready to go.
The first program we tried was SplashID. Here, you can store all your personal identification information, such as credit card numbers, e-mail usernames and passwords, frequent-flyer numbers, vehicle info, and more. In addition, SplashID provides a convenient drop-down list of such categories and appropriate icons for easy filing and viewing. The interface is clean and easy to use, and we had no problem entering new information, as well as editing and deleting previous entries. If you've used other third-party software, such as eWallet and CryptInfo, to store your data, you can import that data into SplashID--however, be aware that all entries will be under the Unfiled category, so you'll have to go back and manually categorize each entry.
With all your sensitive information in one place, you're probably wondering about security. By default, SplashID masks certain information such as passwords and credit card numbers, which appear only as four dots. You can unmask the information by hitting the two-dot icon, and you can customize the mask settings under Edit Type on the desktop application or under Custom Field Labels on the handheld application. For a more secure option, you can set and require passwords to gain access to the program. You'll have to manually set the same password for the desktop and the handheld app in order to synchronize between the two. As a final precaution, you can select a preset timeout so that the program automatically locks after a period of nonuse.
Next up is SplashPhoto. With this application, you can organize, edit, and view your digital photos--that is, as long as they're JPEG images. Despite this limitation, SplashPhoto is a handy program. Again, there is a desktop component, and it is here where you'll do the bulk of your work. You can resize and crop images, adjust the contrast and brightness, and rotate the orientation. In addition, you can rename photos, add notes, and file them by user-defined categories. Once you have all your JPEG images to your liking, just sync them with your PDA. SplashPhoto's handheld app acts more like an image viewer more than anything else, but we like the fact that you can create and view slide shows. If you have a Palm Treo 650, Tungsten T5, Zire 72, or any device running Palm OS 5.0 or later, as well as Pocket Tunes 3.0 or AeroPlayer 5.0, you can even set background music to play during your slide show.
SplashMoney is a bit different from the other software in the suite in that there is no desktop application. Instead, it meshes with personal-finance programs such as Microsoft Money. There are also templates for the various accounts you might have, such as checking, savings, and those for your credit cards, and you can schedule reminders for upcoming transactions and reconcile account statements. In addition, SplashMoney can generate reports and budgets.
Last but not least, there's SplashShopper. This isn't some rudimentary app for creating grocery lists. Aside from groceries, you can create shopping lists for books, gifts, music, wine, and even Chinese takeout. Even better, both the desktop and handheld components have sophisticated functions through which you can categorize each entry, specify quantities, include prices and coupons, note store locations, and so forth. Admittedly, all this can be a bit overwhelming, especially when a simple handwritten list will do, but we found that once we used the program for a couple of days, it was useful not only as a shopping reminder but also for tracking expenses.
SplashData offers a number of support options that are useful and informative. During setup, the program installs comprehensive user guides (as PDFs) for each application, and the company's Web site is also a wealth of information, with a FAQ section and a group forum. If these resources still don't answer your questions, you can submit an e-mail query form with a promised turnaround of one business day.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3
User Rating: 
10/10
Great value
Pros: Apps are very efficient
Cons: nothing special
I do not think it is priceym you can get it for half the price of the applications bought separately on www.splashdata.com
I was just reading the review, and the author said there is no desktop client for SplashMoney... which is not accurate!
I do have one desktop client, for Windows.
Exept for that, I agree with the review, my best application is clearly SplashID. Once you have it, it becomes absolutly indispensable.
User Rating: 10/10
Great products, great price
Pros: All the things Palm doesn't do (and should) & great support and WITH a desktop companion included in price!
Cons: Can't think of anything,
With the recent addition of their SplashMoney desktop, it completes the Palm / desktop set so that whatever you do on the Palm can be seen and modified on the desktop and visa versa.
Their Splash ID has made password security top notch, portable and secure, for everything from web sites passwords to credit card and banking information.
SplashPhoto has made my wallet lighter and slimmer since I can carry many more than my wallet ever could.
SplashShopper means that regular shopping items aren't forgotten and special special items can be included as and when needed. Then of course you can't forget the special lists you can have for just about anything you want. I of course have my list of tech toys I see on CNET!
And the cost is reasonable. Hey we'd all like it for free, but everyone's got to eat!
Regards,
Larry
2005AG16 06:15
User Rating: 
9/10
OUTSTANDING Palm apps; frequently discounted price
Pros: SplashShopper & SplashID: two of my most useful Palm apps. Shopping lists & ID records are beam-able to others, highly customizable and new lists/IDs easily conform to your needs.
Cons: SplashPhoto: greatly lengthens HotSync duration, so set HotSync Custom to DoNothing for this if no new photos.
SplashShopper: Aside from provided shopping lists, which can be readily modified in both format and content, new "shopping lists" can be easily created from scratch. Think of these almost as To-Do Lists with units and quantities, as well as standard shopping lists. The real beauty of SplashShopper is that shopping lists can be beamed to other family members' Palms. Also, BIG PLUS, SplashShopper allows price-tracking BY STORE so you can remember where the best buys are. The "shopping lists" make great gift trackers to remember to whom you gave what for the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc.
SplashID: Aside from the "canned" formats that come with this app, you can easily create custom templates for other things you need to track. Great for keeping track of health insurances, frequent flyer/buyer program member numbers. BTW, you can beam individual records to family members' Palms. I STRONGLY agree with the reviewer about set passwords to not only hide sensitive fields (user-selectable as to which ones), but to password protect entry to this app. Personal data needs to be protected. With the entry password set, even if I close my clamshell-style Palm smartphone, the password screen comes up. Good job SplashData programmers!
SplashPhoto: Much more capability than the standard app that comes with Palms. The one negative is that this app really lengthens HotSyncs UNLESS you set your Custom setting in HotSync to Do Nothing for SplashPhoto when you know you've added no photos.
SplashMoney: I don't use MS Money or Quicken, so I can't tell you pros or cons.
