I’ve been an owner of some form of hand-held computer for almost a year and a half now. I started with a Palm IIIe, which was a simple, 2Mb model with a monochrome screen. I used it almost constantly and quickly came to rely on it as a calendar, calculator, notepad, clock, entertainment tool, etc.
When the Palm developed a fault, I got it repaired under warranty. When it was stood on and smashed, I was devastated.
As soon as I could afford to, I replaced it. I wrestled with myself for a while as to what the replacement would be, then, foolishly, turned my back on the Palm platform and went for a Journada running Windows CE. I had the Journada only a short time before I lost it at a Dooyoo meet. The Journada was good in many ways, but also had it’s faults. I’ll probably review it soon, but I’m so happy with this Visor that I wanted to write this op first.
For a whole month I was without a hand-held. I'd only just shelled out £200 on a hand-held so replacing it wasn’t an option, or so I thought.
I got some good news in the form of a promotion and a weekends worth of overtime though, so, to celebrate I got myself an extra Christmas \ congratulations present - a Visor Deluxe.
I went for the Visor for a number of reasons. Firstly, it runs Palm OS version 3.1. Having used both Windows CE and Palm OS in the past, I think I prefer Palms offering - it may not integrate with the desktop PC quite as well (Palm OS comes with Pocket Word, Excel, etc.) but it’s certainly a lot more stable. I also don’t exactly miss the ability to have a FTP server, ICQ, etc on my hand-held - I use it as a hand-held, not a replacement for a portable.
Palm OS is fast, stable, reliable and intuitive. Windows CE, while close to Windows, has a few foibles that take a while to get used to, and in my opinion can be plain irritating.
Since the Visor Deluxe is a Palm OS based hand-held, it uses Palms Graffiti writing system. This is much better than the Journadas handwriting recognition, and is very easy to pick up. Since I already knew it, I was back using this very quickly.
The Visor Deluxe has a monochrome screen. For me, this is a bonus as it’s easier to see in certain lighting conditions and at certain angles than a colour one is. It’s also much less of a drain on the batteries. Granted games aren’t quiet as much fun and it isn’t as good for graphics, but that’s not what I wanted from a hand-held.
This brings me to the third point - batteries. The Visor Deluxe is a lot like my old Palm IIIe - it uses standard AAA Batteries. I prefer this to a proprietary battery and charger, since it means I don’t have to worry about the battery dying on me or loosing the charger - AAA Batteries will be around for a long time, new chargers for devices even a few years old are hard to come by. Some may see the batteries as a false economy, but the batteries last a long time even under high usage, so I think it's worth having to shell out for new batteries every now and then.
You synchronize the data from the hand-held to your PC using a cradle which plugs in to the USB port. My past experiences have all been with the serial port and I’ll say now that there is a huge difference in speed. USB is much, much better. The cradle is VERY well designed so that when you put the unit in, there is very little chance of it falling out - you can actually pick the unit up, and the cradle will stay attached. Considering the mess that is my desk, that stability is valuable for fear-free synch-ing.
You get Palm Desktop with this, which is much more user friendly, comprehensive and reliable than ActiveSync. The Synch works almost every time for starters, and setting it up to communicate with software like Outlook or Outlook Express is easy.
The unit itself comes with a hard p lastic cover and a leather slipcase. In comparison, the Palm IIIe had only the cover, and the Journada just a slipcase. Having both is a huge bonus as far as protecting the thing in your bag is concerned.
The stylus slides into the back of the unit, as is standard on Palm-type designs. What is really nice about it, however, is that the two ends unscrew to reveal a needle that is used for re-setting the unit, and a screwdriver.
The units come in graphite and frosty blue. I chose the graphite one (plain old black) for the ‘serious’ look.
They have 8Mb RAM which, for Palm OS, should be more than enough. I have a whole load of applications and games installed and still have 6Mb RAM remaining.
You get the usual applications with the Visor Deluxe - Calculator, ToDo, Mail, Expense, DateBook, etc. You also get DateBook + and a souped up version of Calculator on top.
Speed-wise the Visor is not too bad - there isn’t a lag when tapping things, and searching doesn’t take too long. There are faster hand-helds out there, but the speed on this one isn’t really a problem.
The unit comes with a microphone and an IR port. I don't really use either of these, although there is a program out there that will turn your hand-held into a remote control for your TV/VCR. The problem with that is the IR port is on the side, rather than the top of the unit (to make room for the Springboard expansion slot.). This is a bit awkward and counterintuitive - you have to either stand sideways on or twist the unit to point it at something.
The unit feels quite light and flimsy, but that is deceptive - it can withstand a small amount of abuse at least. As much as I love dooyoo, I haven’t tested it by dropping it from a great height onto concrete YET, but if that ever happens I will update the review. I have dropped it from a lower height and sent it skittering across a metal floor with no adverse affects though.
It is slightly larger than a Palm III, but not annoyingly so.
I can’t comment on the quality of Handsprings technical support. Their web site is a little vague for my liking, but it does have plenty of downloads, including documentation and patches. Their documentation is pretty good, although Palms is better.
The unit came with a two year guarantee. I have no prior experience with Handspring, so have no idea how good the service will be if I take up this guarantee. I hope I never have to find out.
All Visors come with a Springboard expansion slot - the claim is that you can put in digital camera modules, MP3 players, memory cards, game packs, etc. The problem is finding modules in the UK. There are some stockists, but it isn’t something you can walk into a local Dixons and buy. The proprietary slot means it’s hard to find memory expansions too, although 8Mb should be more than enough for most people anyway.
Unless you have a specific need for a colour screen or Windows CE, then I’d highly recommend the Handspring Visor Deluxe - it’s only £129 and does everything that a hand-held is normally expected to do. Other hand-helds have more advanced features, but usually these are around the £250 - £500 price range. This model has the same features as a £200 Palm, but for a much lower price.
What else can I say? This is a great hand-held, there are a couple of niggles, but this is the best compromise between price, features and reliability I’ve ever seen.
