As I mentioned, with bFIND, you can also create shortcuts to rerun a previous search that you configured. This is useful in that if you commonly search your handheld PC for all of your Pocket Word Documents, you may want to create a shortcut for that search rather than having to manually reconfigure a search each time; a definite time saver. If you miss this part of Windows 9x but want more features as well, this is another must-have application.

Developer One's AccessPanel Platinum Edition
I signed up to beta test Developer One's AccessPanel Platinum Edition for the HPC a while back and I must say that this program is extremely useful in a wide variety of situations. AccessPanel, shown in Figure E, is an application that runs in the background and gives you the option of pulling different pieces of your contact information from the built-in Windows CE contact database and pasting it into a text field of another application.

FIGURE E


Here is the main dialog box for AccessPanel. Roll over picture for a larger image.

One of the most common tasks that I use it for is creating email signatures without the need to retype each time I email someone. Figure F gives you a look at the alphabet bar along the edge, used for easy access to your information.

FIGURE F


This is some sample text that I copied. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The program resides in the taskbar as a small lightning bolt that can be recalled with a single tap. You'll find many different ways to place the current date or time into an application and built-in timers are available to provide you with the option of logging calls if you choose. It also lets you create an unlimited number of formats to supplement the already abundant amount of preloaded choices. Developer One even included a built-in phone dialer that uses the speaker of your handheld to dial a pay phone or hotel phone in just seconds. AccessPanel helps to resolve one of the most common problems that almost all handheld computers have; cramped and uncomfortable keyboards that make data processing slow. You no longer need to retype the same information about a contact.

PhatWare's HPC Notes
If you eat, sleep, and breathe Outlook on the PC, you may be disappointed to find that there is no Notes component in the Pocket Outlook suite of applications on your Windows CE device. However, PhatWare has solved that problem with a full-featured add-on component called HPC Notes, shown in Figure G.

FIGURE G


This is HPC Notes' main interface with numerous toolbar buttons. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The program will even provide you with an "Outlook-like" interface for the PC component of the program, in the event that you don't have Outlook on the PC or want to keep the HPC Notes database separate from your Outlook data. Figure H shows a good preview of what HPC Notes is capable of recording and displaying in each note that is created.

FIGURE H


Here is a small note that I made to myself. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The Windows CE component even displays the Notes you create or sync to your handheld as little sticky note icons. HPC Notes supports color-coding, categorization, built-in alarms, password-protection, multiple databases, spell-checking if you optionally purchase HPC Spell (recommended as a very good alternative to Pocket Word), and support for Paragraph's Calligrapher handwriting recognition software, if you have it as well.