<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
I received several responses about the Clan Thompson list. It seems it
doesn't suit everybody, due to several reasons, which I will list below.
This company is out of Maine, and I assume it would be most difficult
to list every single food line that is carried in the U.S., particularly
when there are brands sold only in certain areas of the country. You
can make your own assumptions. I will just cut and paste the responses
I recieved. Thanks to all who responded.
1. i have clan thompson database on my pc and i don't find it very
useful. There are very few items in every category and very few brands.
The search process is long , too many questions (may be they changed it
for the palm). I've bought 'pocket pc' recently and didn't event
consider palm instead cause i knew i wouldn't use their database often.
2. wasn't that thrilled with them and haven't gone back to them
3. I have downloaded sample for Palm and it is great. We all have
Palms in our family so I will be ordering the full list.
4. I have it on my Palm M505. So far, I like it.
5. I have a Palm Vx. I have downloaded the Clan Thompson lists to my
PC. Trying to go through the different ways to search is more work than
I want to have to do. Personally, I copied the various food group
lists from the Celiac Disease Online Support Group
http://forums.delphi.com/celiac/start> into the memo part of the Palm.
While the lists may be long, they are alphabetical and can be broken up
into, for example, Candy1, Candy2 etc. I know other folks have actually
gone to greater lengths and deleted foods they don't use. Nonetheless,
it comes in VERY handy. I take with me whenever I shop. Went with us
on vacation and used it several times.
6. Bought the desktop version - downloaded as an "Ebook". 2 problems:
One - I don't think the list is very comprehensive - too many
items/brands are NOT in it that I know are GF from other sources.
Two - you can't print the ebook (or at least I can't) to take with you,
so you can only use it as a home resource (unless you go the Palm
version). So, for the $10, not bad, but not good enough.
7. I also am considering the Clan Thompson data bases. I downloaded
their demo but was disappointed because none of the products I looked
into were listed in the demo. I'm afraid to spend the money to find
they're still not listed. But the products that were found, baby food,
gave a lot of info.
8. I have the Palm application and find it very helpful as a complement
to the full database that I have on my laptop.
9. I have not downloaded the list to a palm, so cannot comment. The
list is helpful, but sometimes I find the indexing system awkward and
hard to get me to the product.
10. I don't have the Clan Thompson list, but I do use my Palm
equivalent (I have a Visor Handspring) for my GF list. What I did was I
went to the Delphi GF shopping list (www.delphi.com/celiac) and
individually cut and copied the lists into the Memo feature. It took a
long time, however, the advantage is that what I have can be edited. To
save space, I deleted anything I'm not likely to buy or products
unavailable in my area. I can add new products or delete them as I call
on them.
11. I don't have the palm, but I have both lists downloaded to my
computer. I rarely use them. I personally find them difficult and time
consuming to find anything. I wish they just had a list so you could do
a quick search for the product. However, I do find their book to be useful.
And I think they have a pocket version of the book so you can easily
carry it in your pocket or your purse. Personally I like to carry mine
in my purse :) (for those of you who need a chuckle...this one is
from Vance!!)
12. I found it to be a big waste of money. THe foods change constantly
and even the lists that are free and on the net aren't accurate. Don't
waste your time, just read the labels or call the company(s). Also check
the archives for recent additions/deletions.
13. I have only downloaded the Clan Thompson list once so I am not an
expert here. I have only been working with the GF diet for 10 months
but I find the database very useful for a few reasons:
- It gives me a clue about what product might be GF when I need one for
a recipe. The query wizard makes searching very easy.
- I use it as a verification for GF information that I get from other
sources. I still call the manufacturer but I like the Clan Thompson
verification in case I didn't ask the right question.
Since I never go grocery shopping without a detailed list of what to
buy, I have not considered buying the Palm version. If the database was
more complete, I might find it useful for travelling but right now I
find that many products I look for in the database are not listed.
14. I recently purchased the Clan Thompson list for my Palm. I have
used it alot when making trips to the grocery store. I have received
one update since my purchase. I'm sure they will add more items as they
receive their status. It has been helpful, but not all items are
listed.
15. I have downloaded the trial version and have honestly not looked at
it since. I still look at the packaging for everything that I purchase.
I have been meaning to give it a try and perhaps I will this weekend.
My only concern is how up-to-date it will be kept (e.g., monthly
updates). Otherwise, I love my Palm and keep my shopping list in it for
each store that I frequent. That way whenever I am out I do not have
drive myself crazy trying to remember what it was that I needed in
Walmart, grocery store, etc.
16. I downloaded their lists for my regular computer. The one's that
are 14.95. Well, now they came out with updates and said to e-mail them
for instructions. I found out they wanted 35.00 more for the ability to
be able to get updates. You don't get much for the 14.95. I live in
the south and a lot of the products we have down here aren't even in
there. This is my personal opinion only. I bought their pocket guides
last year and they were helpful for telephone numbers.
17. I have a palm Vx, but I have not downloaded the Clan Thompson
database. We do have a hard copy medicine booklet, and that has been
useful. I use the palm to keep track of other lists that have been
turned into notes, so for instance, I carry a complete list of all the
Dreyers icecreams that are safe to eat. Since I travel a lot, I keep a
note for each city that I visit. I add restaurants that I have tried
and their ability to comply with the diet. If you use Outlook, is is
very easy to drag and drop an email into a note. I have added one of
each type of note. Get at least 8 meg RAM, I would also get color.
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