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Handhelds Hardware

Handspring Releases New Visors 181

Posted by CmdrTaco from the and-it-fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand dept.
ByteHog writes: "Handspring now has 2 more Visors for us to play with. The Visor Neo, which comes in 3 different colors and the Visor Pro" The battery thing especially is a big deal.
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Handspring Releases New Visors More

Handspring Releases New Visors

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  • Another toy I'm not going to buy
    • I'm not buying this either.

      The only reason I preferred the Handspring to the Palm was that it took AAA batteries. I have yet to encounter a recharger while camping (and no, I can't plug it into a "current" bush.)

      So now there's another useless chunk o silicon out there. Big deal.

      John

      • OK, so I bit. Quite a long way to "JOHN", isn't it?

        How's this for my sig?!

        char joe[] = "JOE";
        int i = 0;

        while(joe[i]) putchar(joe[i++]);

        BRARR! {g}
      • I agree, but I would like my PDA to use 2 AA and not AAA batteries. The extra power can drive a GPS and all my other devices (headlamps, walkman, cdplayer) use AAs. I then only have to carry one kind of spare battery with me.

        AA may not be thin enough for shirt pocket uses, but I don't want to put my PDA there anyway. Too bad they don't make rechargeable Li Ion AA batteries. It would be nice if the charging electronics can be made light enough to charge regular NiCad or NiMH batteries in a PDA, because I'm sick of proprietary batteries.
      • The only reason I preferred the Handspring to the Palm was that it took AAA batteries. I have yet to encounter a recharger while camping (and no, I can't plug it into a "current" bush.)

        How long do you camp for? I don't know about the newer Handsprings, but the Edge's rechargable lasts me about a month if I'm careful not to charge it up! (careful being not plugging in the charger)

  • They rate right up there with watching grass grow.
    gnf

  • Disappointing (Score:3, Funny)

    by wishus ( 174405 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:10PM (#2311488) Journal
    The first PalmOS device with 16MB RAM. No wireless. No color. No bluetooth. Not even PalmOS 4. I guess we'll make a big deal about the battery.
    • I looked all over, but couldn't find what the processor was.
      • I looked all over, but couldn't find what the processor was.

        PDABuzz [pdabuzz.com] reports they each have a 33MHz Dragonball VZ.

      • It will be a DragonBall processor, not a StrongARM, if that's what you're looking for. But really, does it matter what kind of processor is in your handheld? As long as it has good battery life and runs all the important PalmOS software, who cares?

        - j
      • 33MHz Dragonball VZ.
    • Hrm.... The only "battery thing" I saw was that it's rechargable. Big whoop. Palms have had that in units for quite some time. Come to think of it, even the Visor Prism has it. I guess that Cmdr Taco's really stretching for something to say about this new Visor...
      • The only "battery thing" I saw was that it's rechargable. Big whoop. Palms have had that in units for quite some time. Come to think of it, even the Visor Prism has it.

        The "problem" with the Prism and Palm V and others is the battery takes a while to charge. Long enough that you are recommended to leave it one the charger overnight.

        With the Edge (and I assume the newer Neo, and whatever the other one is called) it tops off in a few minutes, so a normal hotsync should keep it charged. I think about half an hour will do a full charge.

        The downside is they don't suck the power off the USB, they have a power dongle that plugs into the USB. So it is a pain to deal with if you want to sync to a laptop or something and also charge it. It also doesn't come with a travel charger or anything, so the only way to top it off is to drag along the whole sync cradle and power wart and all. Of corse I think the point is you don't need to travel charger unless you take trips longer then a month...

        I don't see much reason to get one of these vs. the Edge, unless I guess you are always going to have a module in it (the Edge isn't very thin if you have to slap on the springboard slot), so I guess if you are going to make full time use of the GPS module, or the 802.11 it makes more sense to get one of the newer ones.

    • Wireless (Score:2, Interesting)

      by hendridm ( 302246 )
      The Handspring supports 802.11 with Intel Xircom's Springboard module. It's pricey (costs as much or more as the PDA), but nice for geeks I guess...
      • I meant wireless like the Palm VII or Blackberry.

        802.11 would be pretty cool for an iPAQ, or even a color Palm, but I can't see a use for it on a greyscale PalmOS device.
      • Actually a Bluetooth gateway to the internet/ethernet would be better in most respects: A palm device really dosen't need such high speed connection to a network like 802.11 provides, and Bluetooth is much better suited for battery consumption. Of course if you needed to make a Beowulf cluster of Palm units - go for the 802.11 ;)

    • Re:Disappointing (Score:2, Insightful)

      by PlazMatiC ( 11127 )
      I'm still on my old Palm III. I don't really care about the colour, or the PalmOS version. Bluetooth, afaik, is pointless in .nz, as is wireless. The only issue I have with my Palm III is the amount of ram.

      However, were I looking at buying a new PDA, I'd go with an Ipaq or a Journada. For roughly the same price, the storage is far bigger, the applications are far, far better (Hmm.. Useless notes program, or pocket word?), and the processor is much faster (I don't see any palm devices playing mpeg video any time soon)

      That's my tree fitty, anyway.

      • Pocket Word Stink (Score:2, Informative)

        by sacherjj ( 7595 )
        Hmm.. Useless notes program, or pocket word?

        Hmm.. Useless Pocket Word or Wordsmith [bluenomad.com] for the Palm? I've used Pocket Word. It stunk. You have a great PDA for word processing, just pick up Wordsmith and a folding keyboard.

        I don't see any palm devices playing mpeg video any time soon

        You need this why?

      • Actually, my girlfriend just got a Sony CLIE' PEG-320 (33mhz Dragonball) and it came with software to allow Quicktime video clips to be played on it.

      • For roughly the same price, the storage is far bigger, the applications are far, far better (Hmm.. Useless notes program, or pocket word?), and the processor is much faster (I don't see any palm devices playing mpeg video any time soon)


        As an iPaq owner, I'm typically happy with my device. However, I think it's important to point out a few things when comparing it to a Palm device.

        First, Pocket Word is so scaled down that about the only thing it's got better than notepad is bold, italics and underline. You can do some basic formatting on the handheld, but things like tables are missing. Essentials like spell checking are missing as well. It's nice to view Word documents on the handheld, but in all honesty, I got more real work done with my Palm and Memopad than I have with Pocket Word.

        Second, the speed issue is important to consider. Yes, my iPaq can play mpeg movies. But the screen just isn't that good, so the movies are typically blurry. Aside from that, the iPaq really needs that kind of power because the operating system has so much overhead, and the applications are not optimized. I can start any application on my Palm as fast as I can on my iPaq. The issue is optimization and overhead, I think, rather than what a person (or device) can actually get done.

        Now, don't misunderstand. I don't dislike my iPaq, but when I carry both around, I have to stop and wonder which one really is the more useful device. If I need Word and Excel, I typically need full versions of them, so a notebook is more appropriate... My iPaq is fun, but my next handheld purchase will be a PalmOS device.
      • He's right. I also use Word Smith with a palm portable keyboard and a Palm IIIc. Not only is it a good doc program, it is also a good memo program that can do formatting (bold, itallic, underline), and it syncs perfectly with jpilot.

  • Coloured cases (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rupert ( 28001 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:12PM (#2311504) Homepage Journal
    Not that there's anything wrong with making cases in a variety of colours, but when that's a major selling point of your product, I think you have problems.
    • read iMAC. :)

      But seriously, 299$ for a monochrome unit that will basically do what I can already do with my palm III (ok ok plus some plus and minus), I mean, might as well spend the extra $ to get an iPAQ which is loaded with features plus COLOR, if the argument is "I don't need all that extra junk" well you can buy a used palm III for a fraction of the price too... so I don't see where a 300$Us unit like this can fit...

      • Er, I think the colored ones (neo) are only $199, same price as the Platinum (which apparently just dropped from $200-something).
    • But they're Red, White, and Blue! How appropriate!

      (Actually, Red, Smoke, and Blue, perhaps even more appropriate...)
    • Perhaps they are not targeting you? Some people care a little bit more about personality over a bunch of PDA techno buzz words.
    • I can just see the meeting:
      "Let's make the Platinum available in three new colors."
      "But people might get confused because they think Platinum means the color. Also, there's only so much marketing spin we can put on 'three new colors'.."
      "Ok, let's give it a new name.. something vaguely techy, and new-ish sounding... Neo!"
      "I love it! Start on the press release."
    • When the colours are the ONLY major selling point of your prodict, that's an issue.

      Otherwise, choice is king. Have you ever changed the plate on your cell phone? How about getting a couch to match your other parts of your house?

      Consumers are colour concious, in addition to being aware of the computational features.

  • I'll Wait (Score:2, Interesting)

    by XBL ( 305578 )
    until a new Palm OS comes out based on BeOS. Color, multimedia, usefulness...

    • PalmOS supports color and some arguably great multimedia features. Usefullness, I guess, is in the eye of the beholder. I think the CE/Pocket PC devices are starting to finally pick up steam.

      Intermec's pen tablet is pretty bad ass:
      6651 Pen Tablet Computer [home.intermec.com]

      ...and it supports 802.11b wireless too!

    • Re:I'll Wait (Score:2, Insightful)

      by briareus ( 195464 )
      What exactly is everyone doing with their handhelds that makes "color" and "multimedia" top priorities (other than using them as expensive toys that is)?

      • Re:I'll Wait (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Chris Tucker ( 302549 )
        So briareus sez:

        "What exactly is everyone doing with their handhelds that makes "color" and "multimedia" top priorities?"

        Color does make for a more readable display in some instances, and as more and more websites start offering "content" (ugh. I hate that word!) for PDAs, maps, graphics, etc, color is very helpful.

        Particularly with maps. The Boston subway system uses colors to designate subway lines. The subway map on a greyscale Palm display is usable, but it's not the easiest thing to decipher.

        Of course, all that being said, I'm still not ready to ditch my faithful Palm IIIx for a color Palm or the Visor Prism just yet.

      • Good question. I have had an Epoc based device (Osaris, as it happens) with built in WP, SpreadSheet, DB, etc etc. Changed it for a Visor Deluxe (smaller, more convenient) and I'll never look back.
        I have a good WP, spreadsheet, project planner, time management, and other useful tools. It does everything I need of it, and I can play Elite! (Thanks to Void)
        My point? If you want all the flash stuff get an iPaq. You can install Linux on it, emulate a SNES on it, and other stuff that is nice, but not worth the cash. If you want to just have a useful piece of kit, get a visor Deluxe. Weighs in at only $169 now anyway!
      • 2 words. Portable. Pr0n.
      • What exactly is everyone doing with their handhelds that makes "color" and "multimedia" top priorities (other than using them as expensive toys that is)?

        I bought my Sony Clié 710 [sonystyle.com] specifically for the screen. I love reading books on my Palm, but my old Palm III's screen was just way too low contrast. The Clié's screen is bright and very high-contrast. The front light makes it extremely easy to see in any lighting condition. And the hi-res display gives me great text. (It's even better now that iSilo [isilo.com] supports the hi-res screen directly!)

        The other "multimedia" features can go jump in a lake as far as I'm concerned. I would have gladly bought the 610 (same specs, minus the MP3 hardware) if it had been available at the time. I watched the demo movies that came with it, then deleted them. I do like to keep photos in there; it's a good way to carry around the output of my digital camera. Actually, right now I have a large chunk of the Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet [peterzale.com] comics installed.

        I also considered the HandEra 330, but I didn't like the 240x320 display. (Although the virtual silkscreen area rocks!) That makes a scaling factor of 1.5x to fit apps on the screen, which makes a lot of bitmaps look just plain wrong. The Clié's 320x320 display is double the Palm's 160x160, so anything that doesn't play nice with the hi-res display can just be viewed in 2x mode.

        BTW, I'll do my karma-whoring for the day and give a plug to Baen Webscriptions [webscription.net]. Baen books is making all their new paperback releases available electronically concurrent with the dead-tree release. (Actually earlier, if you want to read incomplete galleys.) The releases are done in HTML. No "digital rights management", no bizarro proprietary format, just the book in bog-standard HTML. (Available in other formats too, but I think the HTML is the most portable and most useful.) They also have a free library [baen.com] of complete books so you can try before you buy. Kudos to Baen for being a major dead-tree publisher that actually seems to grok electronic publishing as well!

    • Wow, thanks for the link.. Now I can actually see the things, lol. I have to admit they don't appear to be incredibly impressive though.

      Maybe that's the point? They do come in at under 2 C-bills.

  • Sad to say (Score:4, Interesting)

    by sting3r ( 519844 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:15PM (#2311528) Homepage
    Although it is very cool to have these new models available, the PDA industry is facing an uphill struggle right now as the economy sours and the industry's usual customers don't have quite as much discretionary income which can be spent on expensive toys like these. Although Visor does have a definite cost advantage over Palm, it is not clear whether or not the market will sustain either as users move to cheaper CE-based devices [yahoo.com].

    I really hate to say it, but I am not optimistic about Visor's chances of turning a profit anytime soon. Cheaper knockoffs are starting to chip away at their customer base, and much [compaq.com] wealthier [hp.com] companies are taking over the high end with their CE devices.

    -sting3r

    • I really hate to say it, but I am not optimistic about Visor's chances of turning a profit anytime soon

      Oops. s/Visor/Handspring/

      -sting3r

  • And.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NetJunkie ( 56134 ) <jason.nashNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:18PM (#2311551)
    I just picked up a new Ipaq 3670. I've had several Palms in the past and I won't go back until they really change something. While the Ipaq's battery life sucks, the screen is so much better as is the response time.

    I just got a cradle and AC adapter for home and work. I just drop it in the cradle whenever I'm not using it and the battery life isn't that big of a deal. Palm/Visor need to make up about 3 or 4 years of features FAST.
  • I'm afraid there hasn't been much innovation in PalmOS handhelds in quite some time. The only one that has impressed me recently is the one from HandEra (formerly TRGPro) which in addition to having a CF slot also increased the screen size in a backward-comptible way.

    All PalmOS clones are stuck with the slow Dragonball line of processors, however.

    -Karl
    • When is Palm going to adopt Handera's screen innovations? The virtual graffiti area and higher resolution is so much better than a Palm that it's hard to believe they never implemented it.

      It's also nice having a 256M compact flash card for instant backups and a growing library of books ;)

  • No Real New Features... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by akiy ( 56302 )
    So, is it basically:

    Visor Deluxe + 3 new colors = Neo
    Visor Platinum + Rechargeable = Pro

    ... or am I not seeing much else?

    I went and sold my Platinum when the Prism came out in hopes that _real_ new features (increased resolution, more on-screen colors (not just the case!!!)) were around the corner. It seems like there's really nothing new under the sun from Handspring this time around...
  • Among PDAs, it is The One.

  • Visor Neo: The question on everyone's mind (Score:3, Funny)

    by DoctaWatson ( 38667 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:26PM (#2311609)
    Do I pick the Red Visor or the Blue Visor?
  • Ok let's see what we get:

    Colored Cases - So 1997
    Rechargeable Battery - Palm V has been out for like what, 3 years?
    16mb ram - Whoopty fucking do. How much RAM do you need on a Palm handheld anyway? (640kb ought to be enough for anybody. Heh.)

    Not worth it. Not worth it at all. You can get a used Palm V on ebay for less than $150 these days. Now that's worth it.

    Pete
  • Shame, they should have named them "Neo" and "Geo", then built in some cool multi-player games.

    % unlink /bin/laden
  • Memory stick. Easy, cheap upgrades. Clie wins.

    Color case as well as color screen! Clie wins.

    Palm + portable mp3 player = sexy. Clie wins.

    Personal opinions are my speciality :>

    -bk
    • Stupid thing. That should be Clie (greater than) visor. :(

    • Re:Clie Visor (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Drel ( 1281 )
      1. Memory stick -- proprietary overpriced Sony technology with Sony's idea of copyright protection incorporated. Woo-hoo.

      2. High res color screen -- You don't get something for nothing. Much lower battery life, much higher price ($499, compared to $299, it appears).

      3. Palm + mp3 player -- Neat. But not as neat as the Handspring 'Springboard' expansion slot, which supports modules for (yes, you guessed it) an mp3 player, several GPS modules, industry standard memory expansion (SmartMedia adapters, etc) and many others.

      Handspring still definitely leads in terms of Geek Factor [tm] on the basis of the Springboard modules alone.
      • uh..memory sticks aren't just sony. And you don't need the copyrighted ones, those are only for aibo's.

        I have a clie, it gets about 20 hours of battery life when it's on. I don't know about you, but that's more than enough for me. And besides, I can turn it off if I want to.

        And what is the point of having something portable if you need a billion gadgets? That's like getting a small car for the gas milage, and then getting a trailer for behind it for the space.

        -bk
      • 1. Memory Stick -- The white MagicGate DRM sticks are only used for playing back ATRAC3 format audio. Unless you're a big MiniDisc fan, the purple non-MG sticks work fine with MP3s.

        2. High-res color screen -- The battery life isn't nearly as bad as you think. The MP3 player sucks far more power. (You can watch the meter go down if you leave the screen on while playing.) And there are now $399 models [sonystyle.com] that trade the MP3 player for PalmOS 4 and 65K colors. In silver or purple. Take that, Neo! :-)

        3. Springboard -- Point conceded. Sony has hinted that stick-based devices are in development, but so far, it's just marketing vapor. I'd settle for better throughput.
  • reading through these shows slashdot as a bitter group of people...

    that said, I've still not filled up my 8 megs in mine and I have no idea what you would need to do to fill the 16. know more people than me I suppose.

    I still much prefer a monitor and keyboard. the palms aren't too useful to me right now. but I like shiny!
  • The new Visor models appear to basically just be updates to the line for the sake of updating it. Owners of current Handspring PDAs have no big reason to upgrade, but for people without a PDA I guess I could see looking into these.

    Handspring's (and Palm's, for that matter) wireless PDAs look a lot more interesting though. The idea of merging a cell phone with a PDA definitely seems like a good one to me (who wants to load their pockets with extra gadgets when you can get 2 for the size of 1. There was a story [theregister.co.uk] on The Register a few weeks ago when information about these models leaked out through the FCC's web site.

    FWIW, if you want more details about these officially announced models, The Reg also has a story [theregister.co.uk] on them. It's interesting that Handspring continues to advertise their Springboard expansion slot, when the wireless models supposedly will not include one. Their marketing department will have a hard time explaining to all their loyal customers why they abandoned the biggest selling point of all their original models (or, more likely, they will just try to ignore the change).

  • Where's the innovation? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Chairboy ( 88841 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:46PM (#2311728) Homepage
    When Handspring Visors first entered the marked, they came with innovations like USB and more built in memory. Heck, even the Springboard module is interesting.

    For the last year, their efforts seem to be awfully stagnant. I have a Visor Prism which is neat, but every visor to come out since then has been mainly cosmetic. These two new ones use the old greyscale screen and appear to be Visor Platinum variants.

    Taking a product like the Platinum and just offering it in new colored cases is not innovation, it's marketing. Even the Pro (with 16 megs) appears to merely be a Platinum with an incremental improvement, but it is priced awfully high for the difference between the two products.

    An innovation path they should be investigating is:

    1. Standardize on color for all new Visors. Event he passive color of the Sony Clie (or Gameboy advance, for that matter) is better then the pure greyscale. It is difficult to rationalize STILL having B&W after these years. Color DOES have a purpose beyond multimedia, so "B&W is fine for Visors" doesn't fly, especially in light of how nice it looks on the Prism and Sony Clie.

    2. Add onboard wireless networking of some sort. Either bluetooth or 802.11 should be in the hardware (or at least almost ready for prime time).

    3. GPS on a chip. There are now GPS circuits available on single IC chips and the cost of this component is dropping rapidly. If Handspring wants to stay relevant, they should figure out a way to fit this into the product line of the future.

    With the three above features, the Handspring Visor can move forward and take back (or pre-emptively prevent) market dominance from the prettier (but less efficient) Ipaq's of the world. The CE manufacturers will be doing this, so complacency at this juncture is ill advised.
    • I couldn't agree more about the need to get GPS integrated into small form factor PDA. I'm shopping for this right now in fact, and the solutions are not that appealing (Magellan's add on for Palm V, or the Geode for handspring are both bulky and more money than I'd like to pay). I'll probably end up getting a Garmin etrex with no PDA functions which seems ridiculous as the bulk, battery power, storage, and even processing power seems like it would be sufficient to do some of the basic PDA functions.

      Ditto on the color. Color maps are just way more easy to read than gray scale and when the higher resolution displays become available, photo display becomes usable ("Hey did I show you my pictures of Mt. Blanc!")
      • FYI, you should probably check out this page [zdnet.co.jp] on ZDNet Japan, which has just-released pictures of the prototype GPS and Camera modules for the Clie (which use the MemStick slot). I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for, but it looks like the GPS folds up into a nice form factor. I haven't seen anything on the price.

        As for the screen, I just recently upgraded from a IIIxe to a Clie N610C, and the differece is remarkable. And while color is often not necessary, I find myself echoing the comments I heard when the IIIc came out -- with a color screen, "black and white" is "black and WHITE", not "black and pea-green." It does improve the readability, and with the rechargable battery I can even run with full backlight full time without getting even close to draining it.

        However, the real kicker is the high resolution. Now that I have it, I can't stand to look at other Palm devices. It used to be that I couldn't really read the Palm for an hour without getting a slight headache (I should point out that I'm about 18 and have 20/20 vision -- it's not bad eyes, it's a bad screen). Now, the high-res fonts are just so easy to read that I can sit with it for hours, reading ebooks or the New York Times (which I sync to it daily). Worth every penny I paid for it.

    • Color vs. Battery Life (Score:4, Insightful)

      by r2ravens ( 22773 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @07:27PM (#2312227)
      I will trade away color for battery life any day. My PDA (TRGPro) is supposed to be a PD*A*, not an entertainment device.

      I know that color can help the GUI a bit in quicker human recognition and differentiation, but it sucks a lot of power. I don't need color until a Palm with a color screen runs 4 weeks on a pair of AAA batteries.

      I do agree that wireless networking is an essential feature for the near future and GPS could be very valuable.

      I think it was a poor choice for Handspring to use a proprietary expansion slot. One of the reasons I selected my TRG was that it had a standard Compact Flash slot. I can use almost any CF peripheral, including additional memory, modem, barcode wand, whatever.
      • I have a palm IIIc -- the color model with rechargeable battery. It has lasted for more than 3+ weeks with normal use (probably more, but my "normal use" may be higher than most -- I play a lot of games). When I'm playing full-motion games like SimCity and others, batter life will still last for a week+.

        I even used it for a week, then left the screen on accidentally (application failure) for 14 hours. I still had a few hours left for games in the airport.

        I turn my contrast all the way down, and I would like to see an even lower contrast mode for using in dark rooms or at night.

        The point: battery life for color is extremely long if you're somewhat conservative and have a rechargeable battery.

  • no more 2MB version? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cetan ( 61150 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @05:48PM (#2311741) Journal
    I can't afford $200+ for a PDA, but $80 might be nice...why don't they even offer the basic 2MB model on the handspring site? That's sad. Give them a cheapone and they'll get hooked for more.

    Sorry, but $200 is just too big of a step for a PDA for me. Yes, not everyone on /. is made of money :)
    • Ok, a correction to my post. The new "basic" version is the Delux that starts at $169.
    • Fry's Electronics has refurbed Visor Deluxe for $120, and they seem to go on sale for $100 fairly frequently. That's getting pretty close to $80. I would guess other retailers have the same.
    • Yes, I am afraid this is one arena where PDA manufacturers seem to think they just can't make money - the ultra low-end. Quite frankly, they are right. The profit margins are too low and the service costs too high.

      For example, I was having some syncronization problems with my Visor (it turned out to be Windows...I am now happily syncing with J-Pilot [jpilot.org] under Linux). Anyway, they shipped me a replacement unit (I figured I'd make sure it wasn't hardware) and I received it 18 hours later! (it was shipped airborne express). It also included a free Airborne Express slip to ship the unit back - no cost and very little hassle to me.

      Now, they can handle that sort of service if they make a decent amount from each unit - enough to cover the costs of replacement shippings, etc. When you get sub-$100, the profits are just so small that it isn't really affordable.

      Handspring, up until this week, was selling its 2 mb Visor Solo for $129, and refurbished Visor Deluxe's for somewhere around that same price. Granted, it's $50 more than the $80 you are looking for, but that's what they were getting for the 2 meg model (it was recently reduced in price). If you're still interested in buying a 2 meg model I suggest you try e-mailing them or calling them to see if they have any left. Free shipping, pretty nice.

      Of course, retail outlets like Office Max seem to be selling cheap(er) PDAs, and you can always find a wide selection of them on Ebay. Sometimes Palm sells refurbished units of its own, but last I checked (about a month ago) they were all out.

      If you are a geek who loves lots of fun software I think you'll quickly fill up your 2 megs and wish you had saved up some more. I recommend stashing away some cash and going for an 8 meg model. I actually took the 30 day money-back guarantee from Handspring for my Visor Deluxe and got the Platinum 'cause I liked the new Palm OS 3.5.2 and the faster processor. You'll probably use your PDA more than you think, but there are a few people for whom it just doesn't sit right.

      Anyway, good luck.

  • Personally, I love the Visor. It has a ton of memory at a good price and the expansion slot is a cool idea. Unfortunately Handspring has failed to capitalize on their lead in innovation and even palm pilots and pocket pc's support expansion slots now. When are they going to push this platform to its potential.

    Some things that I would like to see, beyond new colors, include:

    • A serial travel cable... they have USB, but no serial... what's the deal? A serial travel cable will allow me to configure Cisco Routers without having to lug a laptop around.
    • A wired ethernet card. With a wired card, all these Visors become cheap network testers. They would make a killing selling these things.


    Oh well. No one listens to me. I have sent Handspring email on this and called thier customer service line, but they don't seem to want to work in the areas that would pull them ahead of the pack. It may be to late, by the time they come around (if at all).

  • As far as I'm concerned, the PDA is lacking the out of the box functionality which we were promised when they first came out. I want a PDA that is more than just a pda. It should have snap-ins for more than just management (notes and w*rd). How about a snap-in for your servers, showing network health, traffic, cpu load, logs, etc. Remote equipment monitoring would go a long way. Time spent hacking my PDA is time spent better elsewhere!
    I think I'll wait for a real tricorder
  • So, how do Handspring Visors compare to Palm Pilots? What's the big deal with the Visors?
  • so aside from the colors, what's the difference between the neo, platinum, and the $169 deluxe?
  • Since Handspring wasn't able to make headway with the Edge model (thanks to lackluster marketing) they've instead taken the Edge innards and put them in two new cases (modeled after their more popular models) and provided the option for 16mb of RAM in one of them.

    My only gripe is that they probably won't offer an 'upgrade' option to those of us who decided to go with the different product (Edge)... :/

    Live and learn I guess...

  • I'm a proud owner of a visor platinum. Of course, my model uses regular AAA batteries. I don't really mind that because a set of batteries usually lasts about one month. However, since the batteries are one of the more common complaints among handspring users, it was wise of them to incorporate rechargeables in the new models.

    Being of a technical mind, my biggest complaint about my visor is its lack of a flash-ROM! The onboard OS can't be upgraded to a newer PalmOS version nor another OS (linux). Supposedly, its possible to "upgrade" via the springboard slot, but not practical. That slot is reserved for a visorphone, or something else on my wishlist. I can however, understand why they've designed their PDAs without flash... planned obsolesence, etc.
  • The red,white and blue colors are a nice touch right now.

    The only PDA I've seen in a while that has done something new is the Handera

    Handera Website [handera.com]

    More expansion options, jog wheel, but the cool one is the "virtual graffeti area" that you can move around, and the ability to rotate the screen 90-degrees for spreadsheets or books or whatever.
    • .. ever since I first read about it, but I have a few reservations. Will PalmOS 4.0 fit in the 2mb Flash, and are most apps compatible with the higher resolution screen? I've already convinced myself I don't really need color, since I'd actually be using this as an organizer rather than an entertainment device (GBA is good for that). The CompactFlash slot should make up for the low memory.

      And does anyone know what/when Handera is doing next?
  • Interesting, but, dollar for dollar, the best PalmOS based PDA right now is the Sony Clie PEG-S320...

    I picked one of these up at Fry's a month ago for $200 bucks. It has PalmOS 4.0, 4 megs of FLASH(!), 8 Megs of RAM, a Memory Stick Slot, a 33MHz dragonball, Lithium Ion Battery (1.5 weeks or so per charge) and a Jog Dial. Sure, it looks a little girly, but you can't find anything else like it for under $300.

    Yes, it still has the lame 160x160 2bpp screen, but why do you need more? A friend of mine just bought a spiffy new iPaq for about $500, and all he got was an MP3 player(do I really want to fill my memory with mp3s???) a picture viewer, and some cool looking games. Neat stuff, but that's not what I bought my PDA for. If that's what you want, go buy a Game Boy and a Rio...

    • I bought a Clie S320 a few weeks ago. I was about to get a Palm device until I started looking at the feature-to-price ratio... the S320 won over anything out there right now, hands down. Having used the Clie very heavily since then, I must say I'm quite impressed with it. Besides the features you mentioned (lots of flash ROM, 8MB RAM, Memory stick expansion, fast processor, Li-Ion battery, Jog Dial), it also has a reasonably slim form factor (goes in my pocket without complaint) and an Indiglo-like backlight that blows the socks off the reverse backlights on Palms/Handsprings.

      I've dropped it on a variety of hard surfaces (unintentionally) with no ill effects. Construction appears to be strong.

      I like the included software, too. gMovie is a waste of time and RAM, but PictureViewer is cool, because it's integrated into the address book. You can associate faces with names (even though it's just a dim greyscale, it's enough to remind you), a feature that I think should have been in Palms since the OS supported greyscale.

      (Minor correction on your post -- I think it's 4bpp, not 2bpp, since it can do 16 shades of grey.)

      Other neat stuff: I like the fact that you don't have to use a cradle to charge it or synch it. One cable for synching, one for charging. I'm working my way through college, and it's nice to just roll up the synch cable and toss it in my backpack so I can talk to computers with it at home/school/work. Much less clumsy than a cradle.

      Complaints are few. I wish it worked with Linux. It uses the brand new PalmOS 4 (which seems to be somewhat incompatible with pilot-link and coldsynch) and the package only includes a USB link (trickier than serial, even under the 2.4 kernel).

      Also, the screen is a bit smaller than on most Palms (except the M10x line, I think); I suspect this was to cut down on the Clie's width.

      I don't like the chromy shiny girly look much either, to be honest, and that was the reason I almost bought a Vx instead. But with the navy cover flap (wish it was a hard flip cover), it looks surprisingly professional. (-:

      Overall, a great piece of hardware. Other devices do more, but for what I need it for, the Clie's fit the bill perfectly.

  • Not great but not bad (Score:4, Interesting)

    by steveha ( 103154 ) on Monday September 17, 2001 @07:25PM (#2312221) Homepage
    The Neo is exactly the same as a Platinum, but with pretty case colors and a newer version of PalmOS. It has that quick-lookup thing for the address book. Since it costs the same as a Platinum ($200), if I were to buy a Visor today, it would be a Neo.

    The Pro has two features over the Platinum/Neo: 16MB and rechargeable battery. The rechargeable battery might actually be cool for people who use their Visor heavily and/or use Springboard devices that need a lot of power. But this is assuming that the rechargeable battery holds more power than a pair of AAA cells... and I haven't found any hard numbers on that. (It ought to; a built-in Lithium ion battery can pack more power into less space than AAA cells, especially rechargeable AAA cells.)

    I use NiMH AAA cells in my Visor Deluxe. They do not last as long as Duracell AAA Ultra cells, but I do get weeks out of them. I like being able to carry a couple of AAA cells and swap them in anytime my Visor runs low on power. I also like being able to buy disposable AAA cells at any store if I run out of power and for some reason don't have my spare AAA NiMH cells on me.

    Anyway, these are nothing earthshaking. They are competent upgrades, but nothing really new. This is Handspring in a holding pattern.

    What Handspring must do is come out with an answer to the Palm m505: small, thin, sexy, and with color. Handspring execs have said in interviews that the Visor Edge has sold very poorly, and they realize that it was a mistake to make a device like the Edge that isn't color. Within a reasonable amount of time, Handspring needs to come out with something like the Edge but with color.

    And they should be very careful about introducing any new connectors. Both Palm and Handspring have been surprisingly cavalier about introducing new connectors, breaking compatability with accessories. Palm seems to have reformed: they swear that their new "Universal Connector" will not be changed for several years at least. Handspring needs to either use the same connector as the Visor Edge, or adopt the exact same connector as the Palm Universal Connector, or (distant third choice) maybe a new connector that will be the last new connector they invent for several years at least.

    Failing that, they should come out with something like the Pro but with color. The Prism is a good product, but it is bigger than the Visor Deluxe/Platinum/Neo/Pro; you can't use the same cases, you can't use the same keyboard accessories, etc. (I thought about buying a Prism, but it would be a lot of money for the Prism, then more money for a new keyboard, a new case, a charging travel kit, and a battery-powered emergency charger...)

    The Visor Deluxe is about as big a PDA as I'm willing to carry around anyway; I don't think I want to try carrying a Prism. If they can make a product exactly like the Prism but with exactly the same form factor as the other Visors, I think it would sell well. I'd buy one.

    steveha
    • Have to correct you on one point.

      The Handspring Visor Platinum and Visor Neo run the exact same Palm OS version, according to this Handspring page [handspring.com].

      This makes me glad, because I just plunked down $200 for a Platinum. I like black better anyway (I was tempted to get the silver model). I also read that the new Neo's felt "slippery". Yes, I have the "quick lookup" in the address book.

      Basically, Handspring is replacing the Platinum with the Neo just to gain some of the color appeal that the Deluxe had. I actually bought a "graphite" (black) Visor, sent it back within the 30-day period, and got the Platinum because they dropped the price $50. And I got a rather expensive leather case with it, something they are no longer offering.

      I think Handspring had a far superior line of Handhelds until Palm released their latest m50x series. The Platinum, Edge, and Prism models were simply superior - but mostly because of price and USB connectivity. They took out the flash upgrade, which few people seem to use (Palm OS 4 doesn't look very useful for current PDA owners). The springboard module is finally becoming more popular - there are a lot of great things for it. Now if they weren't so darned expensive, I just might get one or two...I'd consider the mp3 players if they offered CF/Smartmedia expansion and were about $50 cheaper. For $150-200 I can get a standalone model, which has it's advantages and disadvantages.

      Anyway, I agree with your point that Handspring must answer the Palm m505. Must be the size of the Edge or smaller, color, lithium battery, and get that springboard module in there. Oh, and they have to double the RAM to 16 MB. And it's got to be the same price or cheaper than the m505. Handspring has done it before (the Visor Deluxe blows away the Palm IIIxe), I think they'll do it again. It'll be interesting to see the next wave of wireless devices.

      • Yes, I have the "quick lookup" in the address book.

        Interesting. I just looked again at the web page, and "Fast lookup" is a listed feature for the Neo, but it is not a listed feature for the Platinum. I don't have a Platinum, and I was going off what the web page said.

        Did the Platinum ship with fast lookup all along, or are there some older Platinums that don't have it?

        Thanks for the correction.

        steveha
  • Come on, this is pathetic. At least Palm changed the case, and added a few things like a expantion slot, and a vibrating alarm.

    It seems that Handera is the only Palm OS PDA company that is doing anything.

    Unless these companys get off their butts and start making something worth paying for. I think my next PDA will be a PPC....if they can get the form factor down a bit.

    Here's a few things that I expect to see on the next Palm device:

    • 2x the screen res, and go with a soft graffiti area like Handera. So the res would be something like 320x460. Not sure if it's possable to fit a color screen like that, and keep the same form factor of a Palm V/M505, but it should be possable in greyscale.
    • Dump graffiti and inclued something like TealScript, which will let users make there own profiles, instead of learing someone elses.
    • Inclued a scroll wheel, and 2 buttons on the side of all devices, and make them usefull in the OS.
    • And some much needed features to Palm OS, like the ability to list people in the contact by there first name, not just last name and company (WTF?). The ability to transfer PIM info to differnt program like in WinCE (like copying a note, to the calander, or adding an alarm to a note etc). That's only naming a 2 of 100's improvments that could be made to the Palm OS, while still keeping it simple to use.
    And I didn't even mention any of the multimedia capabilities that the PPC have that Palm don't (I wanted to keep that part out of it, since there are lots of people that don't need or want multimedia capabilities on their PDA).
  • *sigh* All these years and still no reason to switch from my trusty HP 95LX... But, if only I could cram Linux or BSD on here, I'd be one happy hacker. *HINT*Handspring*HINT*
  • The stylus that came with my Visor Deluxe scratched the screen. Replacement tip ? - no way!I could only buy replacements in packs of 5 . No response from Handspring on this issue. So I buy a 5 pack.

    Inside a week and the screen has new scatches. The stylus tips are made of a harder plastic than those from palm. Of course , I want something that actually fits the device , so my options are limited.

    My advice - don't buy a visor . In all other areas the device is great.
  • In everything else I'm highly anti-microsoft...but in this product line...i'm all for pocket pc's. They simply rock! They are so useful.
  • Anybody want to buy my visor? I never use it.. i even have an mp3 card for it.. hah! what a waste of 300 bucks.. a paper and pencil is MUCH better
  • I agree with most folks that these two "new" models are dead boring. Visor should have had them two years ago.

    Referring to folks who said that 16MB is pointless, in my part of the world, palm-users generally have a couple of dictionaries loaded, a Chinese-Japanese-Korean enabling system, lots of reading and reference materials installed and a few Avantgo channels. The above would almost certainly stretch the 8MB that comes with the Palm Vx.

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