Customer Reviews

Handspring Visor Deluxe (Blue)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I got my Visor Deluxe last month and I love it.
If you are considering buying a Visor Deluxe, I'm sure you are deciding between this Visor and PalmIIIxe, because they have similar feature, spec, and they both have the same price.

AT the same time I bought my Visor, my roommate bought a PalmIIIxe (and he also loves his Palm very much). So i'll give you the differences between these 2 PDAs, and let you decide which one you like better.

I'll start with How Visor is better.
-Visor has expansion module, which means alot, you can add many many feature afterward, you can make your Visor am MP3 player too! And you can also easily add more memory to your Visor, while for PalmIIIxe, you can only add 2MB flashcard.
-Visor is a bit lighter than PalmIIIxe (5.4oz Vs 6.0 Oz, not a lot of difference though)
-When you buy a leather case for your Visor, you dont have to stick a valcro to the back of your PDA like you have to for Palm. (Palm need a Valcro to hold it to the case, while for Visor, there's a plastic holder attach to the back of the leather case, so you can jsut put your Visor securely in there)
-Visor comes with a fast USB cradle while Palm comes with slow serial cradle, so if you buy palm and want a fast synconizing, you'll need to buy a USB cradle separatly for about thirty dollars.
-Visor comes with a good quiality stylus, it has solid feel of metal, and if you open it up, there's a little screw driver and a reset pin inside. Palm comes with a piece of plactic stylus, my roomate had to buy a new stylus for about fifteen dollars.
-And another important nice thing about Visor is, you have 4 cool colors to choose from (5 colors if you include boring graphite color) If you are getting Visor as a gift to a college students or someone young, they'll love the colors.

Ok, now to what's better about PalmIIIxe
-PalmOS on Palm is upgradable, while Visor user will stuck with PalmOS version 3.1 for the rest of the VIsor's life. However, this is not a problem as it may sounds. most version of PalmOS's are essentially the same thing.
-PalmIIIxe has better display than Visor. Palm has 4bits display, while Visor deluxe has only 2bits. This means that, for Palm, u'll be able to display 16 level of grey-scale, while for Visor, you can only display 4 levels of grey-scale.

So, that's about it for the little comparison chart I made. Other tings about these 2 PDAs are the same, they use same processor, and dimension is the same. (Visor is slightly thicker, and Palm is slightly wider)

As a recommendation if you r going to buy Visor Deluxe, get one of the cool color, don't get the graphite one, unless you are a businessman, and want a more sophiticate looking device. Otherwise, other 4 colors are way cooler, (mine's orange)

If you have more cash to burn, then I recommend you getting either PalmVx or Visor Platinum, they are a little bit more expensive. However, I've never used them so I will not write any comments about them.

P.S. DO NOT get a PDA with less then 8MB memory, must have AT LEAST 8MB

I was one of the initial customers of the Handspring Visor and I have NEVER regretted my decision. Since that time I have managed to sway almost all new PDA purchases towards Handspring (they owe me big time!).

I think that alone says something about this product.

A few of my thoughts from owning this device: 1. If you're a WinCE user, you'll be AMAZED w/ how much faster the palm OS is. I actually use it MUCH more often than I did my WinCE device.

2. It comes w/ software to sync w/ a desktop program (also included) called Palm Desktop. There are "conduits" that will help you sync w/ Outlook and many other PIMs - Lotus Notes, not included.

3. You might want to consider purchasing Intellisync - but first buy the device and see if you'll need it. Just keep that filed in the back of your mind that this $70 software might also be necessary. However, this is NOT a mark against Handspring - because if you find you need it - you would've needed it for any other PDA device - Palm or WinCE.

4. If you're buying it for the modules - take a look at what's available right now. There's LOTS in development, but I'm still waiting for something useful. I am happy just knowing that I won't outgrow this device anytime soon. Friends who bought the Palm V are already in trouble because that 2MB of ram ran out.

5. If you're new to Palm - the memory goes a LONG way. 2MB can actually be plenty - you just have to manage it more. I have the 8MB version and I'm just over 2MB - that's w/ a few ebooks, tons of.... web pages, tons of contacts, and even MORE shareware loaded up. I keep just dumping stuff on it to see if I like it, then I'm too lazy to delete it. That's what happens when you have too much memory.

Go to .... (it's a visor discussion board) to get a feel for the issues people are having with it and to talk to some real users - or feel free to just email me any general questions.

Well, it was a tough decision... I weighed all the options between the Palm Vx and the Visor. While it was tough to get over the slick look of the Palm V, the blue Visor is really cool looking anyway. The key is, however, that looks really don't matter here - what matters is what it can do.

First of all, the springboard feature is the number one reason to buy the Visor. It's awesome. And yesterday, they just released a modem that is only the size of the cartridge (unlike the one for sale on Amazon) that doesn't even require batteries. It's amazing, and it's only a hint of what's to come. If you look at the Handspring home page and click on Springboard Module news, you'll be amazed at what you see coming in the near future.

Memory of 8MB is simply fantastic. It's not worth paying another $150 for 8MB on the Palm V. Plus, with the Springboard, you can double it. For way less than $150.

Make sure you get AvantGo. All the other reviewers are right - it's great. Don't neglect this service! News, sports, info, travel, fun stuff, whatever...excellent!

USB support is a big thing. It has it, and the transfer is pretty fast. USB is the future of computer ports, and Handspring obviously knows that.

Make sure you get the Write Right things to put on the screen to prevent scratching. And the Graffiti handwriting recognition is very nice. I have no complaints.

The only negatives would be that you don't get the rechargable lithium batteries, you can't flash upgrade the OS, and it's a bit heavier than the Palm Vx. But it makes up for it. Unless you're one of those people who needs color and the extra PocketPC features, I think the Visor is the way to go. An excellent product with plenty of upgradability. Definitely a five star innovation.

I have owned and used a Palm IIIe for a couple of years. I recently ordered the basic Visor for my mom as the lower end Palm devices are simply not available either locally or on the WWW. After the Visor was delivered, we discovered that the cradle that comes standard with the handheld requires USB connection. My mom does not have USB capability so she asked to trade her Visor for my Palm. I must admit that I was skeptical at first and not sure about Handspring. I tend to be loyal to products that have worked well for me. After using the Visor I absolutely think it is a great handheld! I have actually returned it and purchased the deluxe model with 8 MB of storage. It works exactly like my Palm but with these notable exceptions: tons of storage, the ability to expand via the Springboard, great fun colors and a super price! Already there are an assortment of modules and accessories that are quite impressive! I strongly encourage all skeptics out there to seriously look at the Visor! It is a great value and a great product!

I'm a first time PDA user and I'm in love with it.

Let me tell you this, I've never been an organized person, and I'm not now, but whenever I need to do something I just put an appointment with alarm in my Visor and it reminds me of what and when I have to do anything. Really useful for a guy who has no memory.

No more pockets full of papers with phone numbers, dates and appointmente, just write it on your Visor and let it take care of it.

There are even loads of applications that remind you of important dates like birthadays and aniversaries that can make a difference with your friends, family or clients.

Another fantastic feature is the posibility of answering you emails on the go, everyday I spend a couple of hours on the train, it is fantastic to read and answer emails that I don't have the time or will to write back at home.

I also installed Avant Go and now I can read the latest news every morning on the train.

The 8 MB memory is also a good deal, very good price and you can stuff lots of things in there. I got plenty of books (wich you can download from lots of places for free!), notes, pictures, games, contacts. I have more things that I can use and I still got 4 MB free of space!

No more getting stuck in an airport or train station with nothing to read or play (I got chess, othello, rpg games, shoot 'em up games...)

Just think of a use you need from the Visor, just get in the internet and check the thousands of applications there are for it, I'm sure you'll find the one you need. All that without speaking of the great modules that are available like 8 MB more of memory or the back up module which can save your day if you happen (not likely) to loss you data.

Don't think about it, buy it and you will take it everywhere!

When the first generation of handheld computers were introduced, I decided I had to own one, so I bought a WinCE one made by Hewlett-Packard. I only owned it for a few months due to circumstances, but I became accustomed to the convenience of a handheld. Four years later, the Handspring Visor was released. At first I thought it looked cheesy because, well, it had those same fruity flavors that the iMac became famous for. Upon further inspection, however, I found out that it runs on PalmOS, is more sturdy than it looks and as a matter of fact runs faster than any other Palm product out there (at time of review, anyway). I was quickly won over and now I own a sleek blue one.

I can honestly say this thing has become an essential part of my day. I use it for everything from reading e-books to writing this review! It's simply amazing and even Graffiti is VERY intuitive and easy to learn. The only downside to Graffiti is that after writing with it for a while, when I try to switch back to writing on paper, I find myself trying to write in Graffiti! Seriously though, the Visor is much smaller and lighter than my handheld from 4 years ago, but so much more convenient. It has a gorgeous, crisp screen and a very cool backlight, which allows me to read and write text in complete darkness. HotSyncing is a breeze, as it uses the USB port (a connector for serial ports is optional). Some may think no AC adapter is a con, but I haven't found it to be a problem at all. There's no major battery drain and I can do MANY things before I ever find my batteries low. As long as you're prepared to buy AAA batteries every so often, I can't really say this is a big deal. I can say, however, that if you plan to do a lot of websurfing, it'd be a good idea to stock up on batteries, as this DOES drain them more than usual. I suppose this is the sacrifice you make for being somewhat mobile though. ;)

It's far exceeded my expectations and I'd strongly recommend it for just about anyone! There are hundreds, probably thousands of useful programs for it, and a Visor combined with a Targus Stowaway keyboard and a CardAccess thincom modem (like I'm using right now) could probably replace most laptops for a MUCH cheaper price, unless you'd need it for multimedia purposes. The Visor is still much more portable than a laptop, weighing in at just about a pound *with* optional modem and keyboard included - I'd suggest that you get all three!

my first...

since this is the first time for me to own a pda, i was quite excited to open it up and try it out. here are my observations:

color: there are many colors to choose from, orange, blue, green, ice and graphite. I would stick to graphite as the rest make the pda look like its made of soft plastic and be confused with being a toy like a game boy.

feel: I was expecting the visor to be a lot bigger and was quite surprised that it fit in the palm of my hand. it seems to be a little heavy to put in your shirt pocket but it fits perfectly in the front pants pocket.

durability: the visor does not have the sturdiness look of a mobile phone or an electronic organizer(especially if you were to get one of the colored ones) i got to test its breakage accidentally as i got out of the car, the visor fell from my pocket and hit the pavement. the cover separated from the pda. when i looked it over, there where no obvious damages. pretty sturdy, it seems.

features:

stylus: my friend who owns a palm pilot tried it out and he says the stylus has a better feel on the screen.

cradle: unfortunately, my pc does not have a usb slot to be able to use the cradle. It indicated in the manual that if i required a serial cradle, it didn't come with it and i could just purchase it at handspring.com . i would have expected at least a choice on which to buy especially since the manufacturers assume your pc comes with a usb slot. i thus now have no way of testing the cradle and loading other programs. this seems to be the downside of the cradle connection and leaves me with 2 choices. either buy another cradle or bring my pc and have a usb slot attached.

features: it has a lot more programs than an organizer. what impressed me was the memo pad as i have a tendency to take down notes and ideas when i am reading but i misplace my notes frequently. the visor gives you three choices on how to write. the first is the grafitti which took me a while to master. the letters and the numbers were explained how to do but the other characters such as punctuation were not. the 2nd was the punching in of characters using an onboard screen keyboard. the last was a separate keyboard. i also like the address book feature where you can segregate contacts according to personal, business, etc. theres a to do list, calculator, datebook(two of them, wonder why) expense list, etc. all in all a complete package. my only complaint seem to be the registration of my time zone. the only asian countries on the list are japan and hongkong which i find kind of silly since they should have at least either put all the countries or put in a function that allows you to type in your home base. my friend had a palm pilot IIIe(the colored one) and we were zapping each other using the infrared functionality. i was amazed that i am able to send info also to a mobile phone and vice versa.

all in all, it is a must have gadget.

Generally all systems worked well, intergrated very easily and up loading of software was very easy. HOWEVER, Very reasonably priced but some design flaws require a overall gentle touch. After 4 of months the frame around the screen started coming loose. Batteries are hard to remove (no easy ribbon feature-needs to be done every 2 mo on avg)-in the process of getting them out the screen cracked cleanly all the way across. Since this is the interface-it made the PDA completely useless.
Warranty was useless 1)b/c it is only 90 days 2)they don't cover screen replacements (even within the 90 days). It costs [alot] to replace the screen. Its been less than a year....My guess that replacing it would be more expensive.
The concern is that handspring products overall are a little less durable. Both Palm and Sony have 1 yr warranties that include screen replacements. Even after the first year the screen replacement is less...Asthetically Hansprings look a little cheaper and plasticy-I would say that this is a case where the book can be judged by its cover.

Judging from other reviews this is not uncommon with the handspring deluxe

If you're shopping for a handheld you've got a tri-level decision to make.

First, should you get a Pocket PC or a PDA? I wanted broad-based, dependable consumer support at no more than three hundred dollars. Hence, a PDA.

Second, should you go Palm, Handspring, or Sony? Rather than download everything, I wanted to slip in some of the existing modules, currently available only from Handspring.

Third, should you consider a Neo, or even a Pro or an Edge? I did, but there's no accounting for the premium prices. A physician I spoke to says he downloads "ePocrates" into his Deluxe and has yet to use more than four megs of memory, so eight megs is plenty. (Eliminate the Visor Pro.) Moreover, he said he'd rather change batteries than fool around with recharging them. (I agree.) Finally, he suggested these devices do wear out and that it's more likely that you would want to replace it in a couple of years than repair it. (Makes eminent sense.)

Not I that needed any more convincing, but here are a few items I discovered on my own: 1. The inarguably sharper graphics of the Sony Clie are compromised by its slightly smaller screen (the Palms also have a smaller screen); 2. The attractive thinness of the Visor Edge is neutralized by the adaptor it requires to run a Handspring module; 3. Everytime Palm drops its price, Handspring does the same, pricing its model just under the comparable Palm. 4. Young sales clerks are invariably "gadget junkies" infatuated with Sony products, so take their recommendations with a grain of salt.

Finally, if you receive ANY of the above as a gift, you're likely to be satisfied--providing you discover your life requires the organization provided by a PDA and you have have the time and discipline each day to update and consult it.

I've been surprised at how useful this little thing is - especially because I don't really need it for the scheduling. The lists, addresses and memo functionality alone make it worthwhile for me right now, and I use it several times a day. It's particularly valuable for all of the traveling I do - I can store all kinds of account numbers and handle everything long distance.

One of my concerns was being able to learn the graffiti characters needed for inputting directly into the device and I've found it extremely easy. I'm known for having horrendous handwriting, but it's still quite accurate and fast.

With the backlight you can use it in the dark, which is great for night flights, hotels at night when you can't find the lightswitch, etc.

It's also significantly cheaper than comparable devices, expandable, and the colors are a nice change from all the bland office equipment out there.