AutoBase
Overview
AutoBase is a freeware vehicle
maintenance expenses application written by Herb Otto. Although old, the application is dated 1999
to 2000, AutoBase’s charm is that it is relatively compact (at 49 Kb)
but is feature rich. At the start of
2007 my AutoBase database reached 55 Kb in size.
Requirements
• Any hardware – I’ve used it from
the Palm III to the Tungsten T3.
• PalmOS 2·x upwards.
• At least 50 Kb free memory for
the application, and more for the database.
Features
AutoBase is a vehicle cost database manager. You can store a large number of types of data
on several vehicles, encompassing fuel, tyres, service, oil changes, individual
trips and the catch-all “Miscellaneous” subcategory. The application can display fuel consumption
data in four formats - miles per
The software can track when a
service, oil change or tyre rotation is due, and give you a handy reminder –
something I’d used for Kermit, Hoshi-Lui and Chef. You can also set up custom locations to help
you track your expenses, for example if you usually purchase fuel from a
handful of filling stations, it’s relatively easy to set these up. Unfortunately, it is not possible to filter
and sort the database by these locations, although to be fair I don’t find this
a handicap myself.
AutoBase has two summary screens,
one showing the total vehicle expenses encompassing all data and the other
showing just the fuel consumption information (showing the overall fuel
consumption and the last recorded run).
Naturally, if you wish to check the fuel consumption of a particular
tank of fuel, you can select the relevant entry and the application shows the
necessary results.
One key strength of AutoBase is that is can be used to
track your vehicle expenses for any given applicable time period. If you wanted to track your mileage, service
costs or fuel costs for a certain week, month or even year, AutoBase can do it
quickly and easily. You can also export
the data to a Memo if you wish, although doing this too often can be quite
scary as you realise just how much you’re spending on your vehicle!
Performance
Performance wise, I’ve absolutely
no qualms. On my original Palm IIIxe, it’s quick enough such
that you don’t have to wait long. On my
newer (and quicker) Palm m515,
it’s lightning fast.
Occasionally, one does have a momentary delay - when calculating the
total cost of the vehicle it can take a very brief moment - but AutoBase is
always quicker than the individual using the device.
Stability
Excellent - it’s never crashed on
me despite using it on a number of different PalmOS devices. AutoBase is as stable as you could ever want.