Whoops, I accidentally stepped on my PalmPilot
Written: Feb 07 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: adaptability
Cons: Graffiti
|
|
|
| pchristian's Full Review: Handspring Visor Deluxe Handheld |
Whoops, I accidentally stepped on my PalmPilot III cracking the screen into a gazillian pieces.
I concluded it was time to buy Handspring’s Visor Deluxe after what I need to admit was satisfaction with my two previous Pilots.
My Visor arrived just as I was leaving for a writing and photo assignment to Bonneville Salt Flats where a million-dollar electric car was chasing a world record.
I quickly opened the shiny new box.
Wow, I liked the Visor better than my Pilot already.
It was especially so when I discovered the removable hard-plastic visor protecting the screen from future screen breakage.
Snap the visor off.
The protective shield just as easily snaps onto the hand-held’s reverse side for a most convenient storage.
I snipped off two small pieces of Velcro and stuck them on the back of the protective visor.
I positioned them like I had done on the back of my Pilot.
So now I could stick my new Visor to the middle of my SUV’s steering wheel and the screens of my iBook and desktop.
I was running late so I was also thankful the Visor uses the same Palm OS 3.1.
And why shouldn’t it since it was designed by Jeff Hawkins, the Bill Gates of tiny and the very same inventor of the PalmPilot.
I quickly plugged my new Visor’s cradle into the USB port of my Mac iBook and downloaded everything I had had inside my Pilot.
Everything synchronized so much quicker than the Pilot’s serial cradle.
And I actually loaded more programs than I had been able to squeeze into my Pilot since I now had 8 megs instead of the 2 megs.
I tossed my briefcase and camera bag into my old Range Rover.
I stuck my Visor on the steering wheel, and entered my beginning mileage as easy as if I had been using it for months.
Amazingly It has the feel of the Pilot and a similar placement of buttons, and yes even the screen layout is much the same.
But It took a moment for me to find out how to adjust the contrast with an on-screen “slide bar” instead of the knurled dial my Pilot had. I liked it better.
So naturally you must ask, besides the visor on the Visor and the 8 megs of horsepower under the hood and the reasonable $250 price tag, you’re really getting a Pilot clone right?
Wrong.
I bought my Visor for what it didn’t have.
I mean I bought the Visor for what it didn’t have, yet.
On the front there’s a microphone, and on the back even more potential in the form of the Springboard’s expansion slot.
I can hardly wait for the plug-and-play hardware and software upgrades soon to be on the market.
I’ll be able to record interviews or notes on the photos I take on the coming voice recorders.
I’ll be able to listen to the MP3 player.
My visor can be a heart monitor, a modem, a pager/cellular phone.
It can be whatever, a developer and user can imagine.
It’s a well-spring of possibilities.
Want to know more? Go to Http://www.handspring.com.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID: pchristian
|
|
Member: Pat Christian
Location: Provo, Utah
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|