Good tiny device for storing/summing up a few lists of numbers throughout the day?

[Dave Britten]

For medical reasons, I have to track fluid intake and output in various forms and categories throughout the day. Then I enter the daily totals into a spreadsheet with some other health info. That's probably enough detail to set the scene without offending anybody.

I've been tracking the numbers in Lotus 1-2-3 on my 200LX with the aid of a couple simple macros, but it seems like a bit of overkill, and I'm exposing a relatively expensive and delicate device to a lot of wear and tear (both from use, and being carted around in my medical supplies bag). A 95LX might be a less valuable option - I have two I could use - but would be just as bulky. The 17BII is also a good candidate with its sum lists, but it can be a bit keystroke-heavy getting numbers into several different lists, and then getting the total for each list at the end of the day. I do like the alarm feature though, as I can set it to remind me to rotate the data at the end of each 24-hour reporting period.

I'd whip up some 48GX/SX programs to do the entry and analysis, but it would still be fairly bulky, especially since I'd need the soft case to protect it inside the medical bag. And the GX would be just as expensive to replace as the 200LX, if not more so. Printing records on my 82240 would be neat, though.

Anybody have any thoughts on something durable, not super pricey, and perhaps pocketable? Essentially, I need to be able to maintain multiple lists of numbers over a 24 hour period, and quickly see the total for each of those lists. Then wipe them (or store an archive copy) and start over after I've recorded the totals elsewhere.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I need to record the amounts in mL, so having a means of converting from fl oz without too much trouble would be a big plus. Even if it's just the ability to multiply an entry by some stored conversion constant, which is what I can do with the 17BII.

[Paul Dale]

WP 34S to the rescue?

Again, overkill for the task but not too expensive and still replaceable.


- Pauli

[Dave Britten]

(08-17-2014 05:09 AM)Paul Dale Wrote:  WP 34S to the rescue?

Again, overkill for the task but not too expensive and still replaceable.


- Pauli

That crossed my mind, but I'd have to do a fair amount of coding to implement list handling. I could forego storing individual values and just keep running totals in different registers, but I'd probably opt for my 32S if I go with that approach, since the alpha registers would at least give me some kind of mnemonic for which is which.

I'd like to make the entry and analysis process as simple as possible, otherwise I'll probably subconsciously not drink enough if the record keeping process is a pain in the ass (or just forget to log the data points).

I wish my Casio Databank watch had multiple storage registers.

[David Hayden]

If you have a smart phone, how about a 48/49/50 emulator?

Or good old pen and paper for the daily numbers and transcribe them into a spreadsheet at the end of the day?

Dave

[walter b]

(08-17-2014 05:32 AM)David Hayden Wrote:  Or good old pen and paper for the daily numbers and transcribe them into a spreadsheet at the end of the day?

Pen and paper?!? Heaven beware!

To the OP: How many numbers do you have to record per day?

d:-)

[Dave Britten]

(08-17-2014 05:32 AM)David Hayden Wrote:  If you have a smart phone, how about a 48/49/50 emulator?

Or good old pen and paper for the daily numbers and transcribe them into a spreadsheet at the end of the day?

Dave

I do have an iPhone 4, but the screen is pretty tiny for using a 48 emulator comfortably in my experience.

(08-17-2014 06:19 AM)walter b Wrote:  

(08-17-2014 05:32 AM)David Hayden Wrote:  Or good old pen and paper for the daily numbers and transcribe them into a spreadsheet at the end of the day?

Pen and paper?!? Heaven beware!

To the OP: How many numbers do you have to record per day?

d:-)

Probably up to 20-30 individual figures per day, I'd say.

[walter b]

(08-17-2014 11:21 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  

(08-17-2014 06:19 AM)walter b Wrote:  How many numbers do you have to record per day?

Probably up to 20-30 individual figures per day, I'd say.

Thanks. And these shall fall into how many lists?

d:-?

[Dave Britten]

(08-17-2014 12:13 PM)walter b Wrote:  

(08-17-2014 11:21 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Probably up to 20-30 individual figures per day, I'd say.

Thanks. And these shall fall into how many lists?

d:-?

On a typical day, two lists, but I could potentially get up to six under certain circumstances. Just depends on a lot of gross bodily things that I won't describe in detail.

[Mark Hardman]

(08-17-2014 11:21 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  I do have an iPhone 4, but the screen is pretty tiny for using a 48 emulator comfortably in my experience.

...

Probably up to 20-30 individual figures per day, I'd say.

Use Free42 on the iPhone--very usable on an iPhone. Define a matrix variable for each of the six categories. Editing is easy and the cost is free.

[Dave Britten]

(08-17-2014 02:58 PM)Mark Hardman Wrote:  

(08-17-2014 11:21 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  I do have an iPhone 4, but the screen is pretty tiny for using a 48 emulator comfortably in my experience.

...

Probably up to 20-30 individual figures per day, I'd say.

Use Free42 on the iPhone--very usable on an iPhone. Define a matrix variable for each of the six categories. Editing is easy and the cost is free.

Maybe I'll give that a look. I've already got both Free42 and the enhanced 42S on there.

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

(08-17-2014 11:21 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  I do have an iPhone 4, but the screen is pretty tiny for using a 48 emulator comfortably in my experience.

Dave,

I was going to suggest Quickoffice on the iPhone. It would give you most of what the Lotus 123 did for you on the HP-200LX.

But I see Google is planning on pulling Quickoffice. But I'm sure there are other spreadsheet apps that would work for your use.

Being an Android user, I'm not sure if Quickoffice is still available for iPhone or not.

Bill

[Joe Horn]

At the danger of involving HP calculators in this "Not remotely HP Calculators" forum, I'm sure that the attached PDF file will bring a smile to Dave Britten. It's the homework assignment for April 3, 1998, from the HP 48 Programming Class that was held at EduCALC every Friday for many years by Richard Nelson and Yours Truly. Here's the synopsis of this particular assignment:

"Write a [HP 48] program that adds the current date and time (to nearest second) to a list called ‘HIST’. This program may used to record the occurrence of an event such as, having a meal, taking medicine, doing a specific exercise, completing a task, etc."

Sound familiar? There is nothing new under the sun. This assignment's invisible background was the fact that Richard Nelson used his HP 48 for many years to log and track everything pertaining to diabetes. His doctor was always amazed at his thermal printouts; everything he needed was there! Later, the 50g of course became the better choice for medical data due to its SD slot.

[walter b]

Good find! But didn't Dave ask for a tiny device explicitly?

d:-?

[Joe Horn]

(08-18-2014 12:05 PM)walter b Wrote:  Good find! But didn't Dave ask for a tiny device explicitly?

d:-?

Quite right. As stated, this was only intended to bring a smile, as a fun flashback.

IMHO, the best answer to Dave's search is a smart phone (or iPod Touch, even smaller) running any one of the free programmable HP calculator emulators or simulators. Very tiny, and very customizable.

[Les Bell]

(08-17-2014 04:50 AM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Anybody have any thoughts on something durable, not super pricey, and perhaps pocketable? Essentially, I need to be able to maintain multiple lists of numbers over a 24 hour period, and quickly see the total for each of those lists. Then wipe them (or store an archive copy) and start over after I've recorded the totals elsewhere.

If you have an Android phone, then Google Sheets can do the arithmetic, and Google Forms can capture the data. Other than that, I'd probably write a few routines for the 11C or 15C.

[Dave Britten]

(08-18-2014 01:57 AM)Joe Horn Wrote:  At the danger of involving HP calculators in this "Not remotely HP Calculators" forum, I'm sure that the attached PDF file will bring a smile to Dave Britten. It's the homework assignment for April 3, 1998, from the HP 48 Programming Class that was held at EduCALC every Friday for many years by Richard Nelson and Yours Truly. Here's the synopsis of this particular assignment:

"Write a [HP 48] program that adds the current date and time (to nearest second) to a list called ‘HIST’. This program may used to record the occurrence of an event such as, having a meal, taking medicine, doing a specific exercise, completing a task, etc."

Sound familiar? There is nothing new under the sun. This assignment's invisible background was the fact that Richard Nelson used his HP 48 for many years to log and track everything pertaining to diabetes. His doctor was always amazed at his thermal printouts; everything he needed was there! Later, the 50g of course became the better choice for medical data due to its SD slot.

Pretty cool, thanks Joe. I'll give that a read today. I've actually done similar things with my 48, such as to record driving times for different routes to/from work to see which was most efficient on average. The 48 is about the upper limit of what I would call 'tiny' - it's about the same as the 200LX - but I'd have to omit the soft case to keep it slim enough, and there's no way I'd want to carry around my GX like that. I've got a spare G and SX I could use, though, and they wouldn't be too dear to replace if calamity struck.

(08-19-2014 03:15 AM)Les Bell Wrote:  If you have an Android phone, then Google Sheets can do the arithmetic, and Google Forms can capture the data. Other than that, I'd probably write a few routines for the 11C or 15C.

I'm shying away from a smartphone spreadsheet, mostly because there's usually some launch time involved to open the program and load the correct sheet. Then without macro support, data entry usually involves a lot more interaction than should be necessary, particularly for entering dates and times. If I use something too complicated, I seriously risk subconsciously dehydrating myself simply because the data entry tedium overpowers getting something to drink.

It's kind of funny that Lotus 1-2-3 2.4 still totally embarrasses every other mobile spreadsheet in terms of data entry efficiency.

[Jim Horn]

If you'd like something for this specific task, rather than incorporating it in a cell phone, you might consider a Palm Tungsten or similar. They've fallen out of favor so can be found very inexpensively (I have nearly 100 that were thrown out at a previous employer - anybody want some?). They have an easy to read screen, a variety of input options (I found Graffiti to be very easy to use) and are roughly half the size of a 48/49/50. There is a huge variety of free software available as well. I used mine heavily (including Free42) until my non-smart phone died and was replaced by an Android one four years ago. It still has software I've not found for any other device.

[Dave Britten]

(08-19-2014 04:14 PM)Jim Horn Wrote:  If you'd like something for this specific task, rather than incorporating it in a cell phone, you might consider a Palm Tungsten or similar. They've fallen out of favor so can be found very inexpensively (I have nearly 100 that were thrown out at a previous employer - anybody want some?). They have an easy to read screen, a variety of input options (I found Graffiti to be very easy to use) and are roughly half the size of a 48/49/50. There is a huge variety of free software available as well. I used mine heavily (including Free42) until my non-smart phone died and was replaced by an Android one four years ago. It still has software I've not found for any other device.

I do have a nice Palm m500 I could use. If you know any software that would be well suited for this task (probably not a general-purpose spreadsheet), I'd be interested in knowing about it. It would fit nicely in my pocket alongside my iPhone, which would be a big plus.

[Jim Horn]

While the data you want to track isn't financial, any money tracking program would included categories, easy entry, summation, and probably a way to export the data to your PC for record keeping. Currency conversion can be used to convert fluid ounces to milliliters as well. The Palms came with such a program and better ones are available free on the Web. Would that do the job?

[Dave Britten]

(08-19-2014 11:41 PM)Jim Horn Wrote:  While the data you want to track isn't financial, any money tracking program would included categories, easy entry, summation, and probably a way to export the data to your PC for record keeping. Currency conversion can be used to convert fluid ounces to milliliters as well. The Palms came with such a program and better ones are available free on the Web. Would that do the job?

That crossed my mind. I couldn't figure out how to make the built-in Palm Expense program provide a report of totals, though. I have Pocket Quicken on there. I wonder if that would do it without being too much of a hassle. My 24-hour reporting periods go from 7:00 PM the previous day to 7:00 PM of the day I report the total, so that might make the Pocket Quicken reports useless for that purpose. I'll have to play with it a bit. Is there a good 17BII simulation for Palm OS?