Targus PA260U USB Charge and Sync Cable for PALM V

Rating:
Summary: very hard to get to work
Review: Although this is a usb connection it has to be installed as a serial connection. I am still not able to sync but i keep trying. Do not buy this if you want an easy solution! It is good for charging ONLY.

Rating:
Summary: aftermarket direct-usb sync cable for palm V
Review: i have a similar product that's not made by targus, mine is a generic brand that has a stick-on label in the back that says: palm usb 1041323.

i originally paid $30 for it, and this was before the targus version was available.

when this type of cable (with the hotsync button featured on the cable itself) was first made, there was no official support from palm for usb sync. it therefore required custom hotsync software provided by the manufacturer. this software is very hard to get hold of, but i managed to find an archived copy here;

http://www.targus.com/us/drivers_manuals_archive.asp?SKU=PA260U

it works great under win98, win2k, and winXP.

Rating:
Summary: Great idea not well executed
Review: This really should be a must-have for a Palm V. By using the power in the USB line, you do away with having to plug in an external power source. With USB it *should* be much faster to sync and be instantly recognized. But actually the way they have it set up is the USB connection becomes a virtual serial port. This was done, I think, so they wouldn't have to change Palm's hotsync software and it still thinks it is synchronizing via a serial port (COM 3 or 4). But Handspring works directly with USB and Palm Desktop 4 works with USB. The most irritating part: a serial port manager icon is added to your system tray and always opens in a window at startup so you have to close the window every time you start the machine (by renaming the serial port program I was able to avoid the pop-up window).

I'm hoping Targus will see fit to release drivers that will work directly with Palm Desktop 4 and work around all the serial port funny business so that this will be a true USB device.

Also, by following the instructions I didn't have a problem, but I didn't seat the cable all the way in to the Palm and couldn't figure why the HotSync would start on the PC (making me think the connection was okay), but the user couldn't be identified (causing the HotSync to stop responding). Once I clicked the cable all the way in, it worked fine, but it was very frustrating in the meantime and the manual didn't really help with that particular problem.