Palm Pilot Stat Programs

Brian - I can't really answer your specific question.

But a few years ago, another parent on my son's HS team would keep score on his Palm Pilot and would always struggle to keep up. I had my book, and he'd often be asking me about a batter or two ago in an effort to catch up.

Maybe they've improved?

Nothing beats the "book" !!! it is all there

Hi Brian -
JMO - I tried Digital Scout and a program called ScorePad. Both were fine with their own special features. I settled on ScorePad and tried to practice using TV spring training games, etc. I never really got the "hang" of it...and keeping up was definitely an issue (probably because I am so slow). I finally gave up and when back to a book and pencil. Then transcribe the game info from the book into my computer after the game.

For me, the book is 1)just is easier; 2) allows me to write notes so that I can re-create the situation; 3)always works - no batteries necessary. One BIG issue for me was also sun glare on the Palm screen. Worked fine in the den, doing tv games for practice. On the field, VERY different issue.

Just one person's opinion. Some of the programs are very cool....I wanted them to work. Just couldn't....and finally went back to old 'trusty' book.

Correction to your pricing info. The TurboStats/ScorePad combination is $159 on their website (www.turbostats.com).

My wife has been using the TurboStats/Scorepad combination for over 3 years. She also keeps a paper scoresheet at the same time. Keeping score on the Palm (ScorePad) allows lightning fast download of data to the PC and instant calculation of dozens of stats from Turbostats, plus nice printed reports. Of course, nothing beats the old manual paper method for seeing everything at once, plus it makes a better souvenir of important games. So there are advantages to both in my mind.

As far as a comparison of Digital Scout to the TurboStats products, they are probably relatively close. TurboStats has been in business much longer and might have the more stable product, plus I doubt their list of available stats is exceeded by Digital Scout. The real differences are probably more in actual user interface, i.e., it's more of a subjective opinion about which style of graphics and menus works better for you.

You might consider getting both (I think both offer 30-day free trials) and comparing them head-to-head. I know TurboStats also has a money-back guarantee, so you're never locked in.

These programs are great until you make a mistake or get behind - Pencil and Paper work best.

I did like the stats it gave - 1st pitch strike and things like that.

I have turbostats and it works well. Tech support is great if you have any issues. As already mentioned it is very hard to see the screen of the palm pilot on a sunny day. I found I was spending more time trying not to mess is up than I was spending wathcing the game. If you make a mistake you get behind very quickly and one mistake leads to another. I no longer use turbostats and have gone back to a score book. Old school. Good luck.

all i know is my college team tries to use one in addition to a book, and we players screw it up everytime, making it an almost worthless investment for our team, lol.

We used the dual method (paper/digital scout) for a number of years.
Paper definitely the most reliable.
In many situations, we just transferred to the Palm after the game. The ability to generate so many different reports/stats from Digital Scout is a big plus from our coaches perspective.