Customer Reviews

OmniSky Minstrel V Wireless Modem for Palm Vx

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a great complement to your Palm Vx. I don't recommend getting this with a Palm V - it consumes a full megabyte of memory on your Palm, and if you have any other big applications, you'll run out of room quickly. (On my old Palm V, AvantGo took up 400k by itself, and my contacts and calendar were another 150k or so each... meaning that I had very little room for any additional data - like e-mail from my OmniSky device.)

With that in mind, you'll find that this makes your Palm Vx a true road warrior tool. The sheer convenience of checking your e-mail from the back of a cab, getting flight updates, searching phone books, or getting realtime driving directions makes the Palm Vx a tremendously useful PDA.

One reason I prefer the Palm V/OmniSky combination to the Palm VII is that OmniSky operates more like a true ISP, where the Palm VII requires you to use palm.net as the connectivity provider. With OmniSky you get more control over what you do with your connection. Also, it's nice to be able to remove the modem when you're not using it and return to the small, sleek Palm V.

The battery life is a concern. If you're traveling often, you'll want to bring the charger with you - you won't get much more than a day of casual use out of it without requiring a recharge.

The recent upgrade to OmniSky 2.0 makes e-mail download a lot faster (I check my corporate account in addition to my personal account without any trouble), and their e-mail client gives you great control through the use of filters. If you're already comfortable with Grafitti (the Palm handwriting "shorthand" for text entry), you'll find composing quick e-mails to be simple. Otherwise, you'll want to invest in the collapsable keyboard.

I've found that each of the .pqa (the Palm "clipping" applications that were originally designed for the Palm VII) applets work perfectly on my Palm V with the OmniSky modem. Check out http://www.handango.com/ for a list of useful PQAs.

If you're already a Palm loyalist and you are away from a computer for long stretches, you'll find that the OmniSky modem is truly a great extension of your existing PDA. I left the fifth star off because of the battery performance and the memory consumption... but for those two issues, this would be a no-brainer for 5 stars.

I purchased this product on ebay for about 10 bucks. Well,that's all it's worth these days. With Omnisky being bought by Earthlink and Earthlink stopping the service, it's completely useless. I'm surprised to see this here on Amazon.

I recently got the Omnisky modem for my Palm V. It allows you to access all sorts of content wirelessly that Omnisky has collected from a whole slew of content partners. Some other non-Omnisky apps also support live wireless access to content or at least wireless synchronization (e. g., Avantgo) once you have a wireless modem.

This includes lots of standard stuff like news, weather, stock quotes, Yellow Pages, search engines & directories etcetc.

The offer for online shopping and esp. travel booking is still WEAK. Amazon eg doesnt support the Palm, and the only travel site supporting wireless (that i found) is Travelocity (and there you have to register thru a PC BEFORE using it thru the Palm -- sucks if you're stuck at an airport and want to book an alternative flight as I once did).

So far, the content/apps providers just had enought fantasy to transfer to the Palm what exists on the web anyway. But where are the new apps that make REAL use of wireless? Where is the app, say, that tells me which public transport to use from point A to B when I want to arrive at a specific time? (Saw that in Germany on the web and it ROCKS).

All the content that you get through Omnisky or other apps on the Palm has been reformatted so that it will fit the tiny Palm display. Technically, it is also possible to access any web page -- but if they haven't been reformatted or have a REAL simple layout to start with, don't even bother. It is a) slow and b) you'll have a hard time deciphering anything at all.

Omnisky also supports receiving and sending email from any standard POP3 mail server. Cool!

The wireless coverage (ie, where you can connect) is still pretty spotty. You'll be fine in most metropolitan centers, but other than that, you'll have a hard time to connect.

The transfer rate is OK for email and reformatted web pages, however, dont expect a speed rush.

The price of the modem was pretty low (after a special discount they offered at year end '00), however, they want a monthly fee of $50 -- and that's PRETTY hefty for what it does.

The bottom-line: Cool & great for early adopters who don't mind playing the tech mine-dog and being punished for it (money-wise). However, this is no consumer-product yet.

I have been using a Palm Device since the old Personal Palm unit. Althought I loved my Personal Palm I didn't utilize it as much as I would have liked. There are only so many address, to do, and calendar entries once person can have. If I was going to upgrade my Palm I wanted it to have more funtionality.

With this is mind I decided on the Palm Vx and the Omnisky Wirless. Once received I went ahead with the setup of my account/modem and found it to be very straight forward with no issues. I setup my outisde POP3 email account with no problems.

The performance of the wireless modem is very good, download times are pretty quick. The content of the service is good with plenty of news, weather, sports, and other usefull information. Web site viewing is best with Omnisky content partners. I have not had much luck going out to other web sites but I wasn't expecting a lot in that catergory.

Overall I think this is a great wireless unit and service plan....

This product is a great leap forward into the next realm of wireless connectivity. If you are considering on buying the Palm VII, don't. The Omnisky unit give you a lot more content to make you web browsing more enriched. It's speeds are definitely more reliable than than a standard at home 56K modem speed. If you're and avid user of eBay, are constantly guarding your stocks, or just don't have time to check you e-mail at your office then this product is perfect. The only drawback is that you will only get a strong connection areas surrounding major cities since the company is still in its initial stages. You will not be let down if you purchase this.

This is a definite must-have for the mobile professional. The Minstrel V is slim and compliments the Palm Vx quite nicely. One of the features I like the best about the Minstrel is it allows you to specify up to six different POP3 email accounts to be downloaded to your PDA. In addition to downloading the messages it leaves a copy of them on the mail server so you are able to download them to your regular PC be it at home, work, or both. With this feature, I am able to check on my personal as well as my work email, downloaded to different folders to aid in organization. This feature combined with the mail alert system saves quite a bit of time compared with the time it takes to remove your laptop and connect with two or more servers, sometimes under very slow RAS connections.

The activation of the modem and installation of the software was straightforward and easy to complete even though it does take awhile. A minor issue that presented itself was the software did not add the additional mail account folders onto my Palm Vx; I went through and completed that manually. In addition, after the installation was completed I had to close the extra windows that were opened during installation.

The power management capabilities are also a plus for the Minstrel V. Not only does it have an auto-shutoff but also a sleep mode, similar to cellular phones. Unlike the Palm Vx, you are not able to set the interval for sleep or auto-shutoff; it is either disabled or enabled. However, the modem immediately powers up if a wireless connection is needed. Combine the power management functions with the short charge time, about 3 hours for about 12 hours of use; you will be able to continue to work while away from the office or hotel.

Should you decide to purchase the Minstrel V, you will not be disappointed. If you were to combine the looks with the functionality, you will wonder how you ever worked with your PDA without it.

I am very pleased with my purchase of the OmniSky Modem. I have had a Palm V for some time now and have just used it basically to keep my schedule and as a phone book. When I heard about the Palm VII, I considered buying it just for the "Wireless" capability since I trade stocks for a hobby and need to access my portfolio on a daily basis. All I can say is I'm glad I waited for OmniSky. There are a multitude of websites that I can view from my Palm V. Well worth the investment!

I had signed up for one year of OmniSky service. Because the modem download was so time consuming and the CDPD footprint was limited, I did not want to continue with my service. It was scheduled to expire in the middle of October 2001. OmniSky proactively charged the credit card I had used to originally pay for the service on October 1, 2001. They did not inform me of the charge. I was only made aware of it when I examined my credit card statement, which arrived quite a few weeks later. I contacted OmniSky Customer Support to cancel my account. I was told the full amount would go back to my credit card, and that I should monitor my statement for the credit. I specifically asked that whether the full amount would be credited back to my account, since I had not used the service and thought the situation was quite unfair. No credit appeared on my next billing statement. I contacted OmniSky again in December to remind them of the issue. After a few days, they credited my card a prorated amount, despite promising me that the FULL amount would be credited. When I contacted them a third time regarding this matter, I was told to contact the corporate offices. The corporate office phone system is automated and does not allow you to speak with a live person unless you know an extension. I contacted OmniSky support a fourth time through email and was rudely informed that they had no obligation to inform me when they charge my credit card, and they consider this matter closed and will not even acknowledged any further discussion on the matter. This interaction is representative of countless others I had to endure with this company when I experienced service issues.

I travel a great deal and thought that this would be a nice solution to stay connected. However, given the poor level of customer support, the inadequate coverage area, the shrinking number of cool applications on this platform, and the slow download times, I would highly recommend you NOT purchase this product and service.

This is a useful addition to Palm V and IBM WorkPad C3 (a relabeled Palm V offered by IBM) PDAs. It's relatively low speed and has limited functionality compared to more up-to-date PDAs, especially with respect to browsing and email. On the other hand, it's the only mobile wireless solution for the Palm V family, so if you need on-the-road email that can handle attachments, or the ability to browse any web site without restrictions you either need to upgrade to a newer PDA or use this device.

I like it because it's relatively inexpensive, even with the recurring monthly charges for the associated service, and it extends the usefulness of my Palm V. I am an occasional mobile wireless user and can live with the limitations cited above and in other reviews. Note that Earthlink is now the service provider and their customer service is among the most responsive and helpful in the business. This is a quantum improvement over OmniSky.

The questions boil down to (1) Do you need wireless mobility? (2) Does Earthlink's service coverage coincide with the areas where you will be using it? (3) Can you live with the limitations, or should you either upgrade your PDA or consider one of the 3G PCS wireless plans and phones, such as the Sanyo 4900 and Sprint PCS Vision plan?

We purchased this for a staff member and we've had a lot a trouble staying connected. I expected the connection to be at least as reliable as a cellular phone, but in Washington, DC it is not. It is also not compatible with our e-mail system, but I expected that. We've also found the access to data while connected to the Internet unreliable - many links are dead.