Manufacturer: Sharp Model#: OZ-29 Weight: 3lbs Height: 8"     Width: 6" Length: 10" Average Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars	Retail Price: $39.99 Online Sale Price: $79.99
Features: Sychronize with Mircosoft Outlook Diet and Pedometer Functions 14 x 5 Display with Backlight Enchanced English/Spanish Transulator and spell checker

User Submitted Sharp OZ-290HII Pen Touch Wizard Organizer with Outlook Sync Reviews (cont...)

With a 2 X 2.5 inch screen containing 5 lines of user data and 5 lines reserved for data input and function selection, the user needs good eyes and a steady hand to make data input; especially the ten fixed symbol options at screen bottom. I suppose data input is going to be tedious on any personal organizer that doesn't have an extensive keypad.

The OZ-290 allows backlight adjustment and has a real button to illuminate the LCD. You can set the time allowed for this lighting from 10 to 30 seconds to conserve the life of the twin nitride batteries supplied with the unit. Contrast ranges from 1-8. I only found the highest setting to be useful and still struggled to see clearly at times in directional lighting from windows.

Things like the date format and memory testing / usage are also part of the Menu configuration as well as the PC/LINK and key tone on/off toggles.

Getting back to screen and symbol sizes, even with my magnifier enabling me to see the symbols adequately, I still poked the wrong onscreen selection frequently or failed to hit anything at all. Of particular difficulty was the bottom line with ten narrow selections. That's when the thought of a real paper pad rather than this virtual device might be a more logical solution to memory aid. The omission of the anemic (2) games option and the redundant enter button would give a wider and easier to see and useful area for the remaining functions.

The left 15% of the data screen is wasted in my opinion with a blank space and then a solid block to show the user that s/he is viewing entered data. This adds to word wrap that for some reason seems to put one or two characters on a line all bit itself making for a messy display. I think this is probably characteristic with these devices though. Still, I wish I had that 15% available for real data.

There is some provision to edit the field data names but for the most part you are obligated to at least pass over some n/a fields of data input. It is a little reminiscent of a US government 1040 tax form wasting the preparer's time with generic lines of questions which do not relate.

The software that comes on a CD and RS-232 9 pin serial port connector cable are both outdated accessories. The OZ-290/ZQ-290II Desktop Utilities software assumes the user has MS Outlook (not Outlook Express) and is all but useless without it. What you are left with is the ability to back up and restore the six individual data features, one-at-a-time! Owners may be left with the question of why not have the ability to backup / restore all of the stored data at once.

What's worse is after the PC software is installed and self-starts when you boot your PC's operating system, you are presented with the communication port selection query again. Something that should be remembered and tested without prompting. The really annoying thing though is the box that reminds me that Outlook could not be found -- each and every time.

At about $30 the OZ-290 isn't a big waste of money and some may even find it a reasonable investment but cheaper less known brands have similar features and interface with your PC. My advice is to either go real cheap or search for a better unit with up-to-date software and perhaps a USB connection.

Date: 2003-12-28
This isn't even deserving of one star!
If you are looking for an organizer do NOT buy this. It takes for ever to enter information into it and there are no helpful features that help you repeat calander entries. The calander only holds one scheduled event a day. As for birthdays you can also hold only one per day.

If you only want a spanish/engilsh translator, buy this. If you want a "personal organizer" I highly suggest you do some more research and get something that will be useful to you.

Date: 2003-12-28
Very looking unit for the money
I purchased this unit as Xmas gift for my baby sister. She was
really impressed about the features this unit has and she thought
that I spent a ton ;)

Date: 2003-12-27
more than i paid for!
This is a great not expensive little handheld organizer. It is perfect for taking it places. It has a english/spanish translator, two basic games, an address book, notes, place to store memos, a to-do list, a expense mode (you can enter how much money you spend), clock, and a calculator. This is a very nice little gadget to organize every day.