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MagicShopper
February 13, 2003
MagicShopper is a lot more powerful than you would first imagine—after all, there are plenty of shopping applications out there, and the enterprising soul can create their own database or even just use the built in Memo Pad or To Do programs. MagicShopper is more than just a shopping program, but it seems best to start with the basics. Almost anything you need to interact with this application is somewhere on the main screen. It may seem overwhelming at first, but it actually makes a lot more sense here than it did in Spiral (perhaps because of the liberal use of text instead of crypic icons). Starting at the top, you have the opportunity to view items by category, or to add a category. Just to the right you can pick the date, so that you can see what your upcoming shopping needs will be. The next line lets you pick a location, which again is very handy— you can choose to see your entire shopping list, or just those items you can get at the store you’re actually in at the time. Next is the “Items to Buy” checkbox, which lets you specify whether you want to see your entire shopping list, or only the things you actually need to buy. The large box in the middle of course lists the items themselves.
The icons at the bottom of the screen require a little bit more explanation. The plus and minus buttons on the top row of icons allow you to add or delete items from your database, and the edit button of course lets you edit each item. This is important, because each item can have a lot of options. As you can see from the screenshot above, tapping on the Mushroom Soup item brings up the edit screen. You can change the name of the item, along with the category, the unit of measure (can, each, ounces, etc.), the locations you can purchase it at, and more. It’s very handy to be able to specify two different locations for each item— that means that you can list cleaning products at both the grocery store and Target for example, or drugs at either the grocery store or the pharmacy. Next you can choose whether the item should always appear on your list, by date (with automatic relisting after a certain number of days, weeks, or months), or by stock (so you never have to worry about running out of toothpaste or Kleenex again!). You can also calculate the usage rate on this screen, which is very important to the automatic listing process. You can also specify the minimum and maximum stock on hand, if you want to make sure that you always have at least one can but never more than four cans of soup.
If you’ve set an item to appear in your list “by stock” you will also see two additional buttons on this row. Count is where you enter the quantity of the item you already have on hand, and Reset allows you to change the usuage rate and your preferred stock quantities. The next row of icons has four buttons. The dollar sign on the bottom left allows you to compare or edit prices for the various items. The exclamation point allows you to mark “priority” items— the things that you just can’t do without. You can also mark items to “ignore”— things that aren’t that important, or would require a trip all the way across town. The last button is rather self-explanatory— tap “Purchase” and let the program know where you bought it and how much you paid.
I am really impressed with MagicShopper. I found it to be both comprehensive and very easy to use. It may take you a while to get everything set up (there are options for importing from the Memo Pad, so the enterprising soul could work out a way to do all of the initial data entry on the desktop). But once you do get everything entered, managing your household will get much easier. You’ll never have to worry about running out of critical items, and your shopping list can be managed by dates or location. A simple Memo Pad list may do for lots of folks, but if you have a large family or do a lot of home cooking, you can really get organized with MagicShopper. The application requires 200K of space on your Palm OS device, and is available at the Fresh Perspective web site for $15.95. You can also get a free 30 day demo at the site. Even better, if you use the coupon code POCKETGODDESS when you place your order at the FPS web site, you’ll save 20% on any FPS product priced at $20 or more.
PocketGoddess rating for MagicShopper: 
