Alas, I have joined the lemmings…
Written: Jun 11 '00 (Updated Aug 22 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: niffty little trooper...
Cons: none yet...
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| celmatic's Full Review: Handspring Visor Deluxe Handheld |
It happened; I didn’t even see it coming. I have joined the countless millions that cannot live without my handheld computer.
If your reading this review and expecting me to blabber a laundry list of technical specs and unexciting numbers…please rate the hundred other Visor reviews. I want to share with you the personal experiences I’ve had with the Visor. Honestly, the only details I have happily described to others is the standard 8MB of memory and expandable slot that the Visor Deluxe has. The 8MB of memory is awesome, but the expandable slot which has great potential has yet to add any greatness to my Visor’s repertoire.
Some background on how I finally settled with the Visor and not with the Palm devices offered out there. My girlfriend considers me a techno-gadget geek. The majority of my geekyness can be blamed on my father; an attribute that he unknowingly passed on to me. When I was growing up, my father always had the coolest electronic toys that the local Radio Shack or Fry’s Electronics carried. One day while I was visiting my father’s house, I noticed three handheld computers at his workdesk. “How come you have three Palm Pilots Dad?” I asked him.
This was before I knew anything even closely related to handheld computers and their importance to human society. So I referred to any handheld as a "Palm Pilot". In hindsight I had no clue that my father was in possession of a Palm Pilot (the grandfather of handhelds), a Palm Vxe (sometimes described as the sports car of handhelds), and a Palm IIIc (the colored screen one). My father works for a well to do silicon-valley based company. With that in mind, he has the pleasure of receiving many “gifts” and “perks”. The three handhelds in question were the “fruits” of his affiliations with said company. Being in a generous mood, my father asked me to pick one to have and to make my very own. Being a skeptic to new technologies, I asked myself, “…the’ hell am I gonna’ do with that?”
With no real arm-twisting by my father I decided, “eh…what the hell.”
The techno-gadget geek DNA I have embedded in my genes told my instincts to, “pick the one with the colored screen dummy.”
With a gleeful chuckle my father informs me that he uses one of the three. My heart sank as the thought of deciding between the two monochrome screens filled my head. I am left to choose between the Palm Pilot (the old one) and the Palm Vxe (the sleek one). I chose the Palm Pilot because I thought the Palm Vxe was “flimsy” looking. Oh' what a folly my desicion was; but keep in mind I knew nothing of the handheld revolution that was taking place. So I took home my Palm Pilot and placed it on my desk…where it remained there for a week. Remember, I was a stubborn skeptic of new technologies, so I felt I really had no real use for my new gadget. Then one precarious day my cousin commented to me, “hey, you have a Palm Pilot, how come you don’t use it.”
“What am I gonna’ do with it?” I asked.
Then he wisely adds, “I had friends say the same thing, but now…they swear their lives on it.”
So I says to myself, “eh…what the hell.”
I downloaded the software for Palm OS and started to input some information into the Address Book. My interest was small at first but grew daily. I began to add dates into the Date Book. I even start to utilize the Memo Pad function of my Palm Pilot. Every thing was honky dory until…my Pilot crashed on me. Boy did it ever crash on me. I was at the optometrist’s office and trying to retrieve a policy number for my insurance company (located in the Memo Pad of my Pilot) when it crashed. The screen went blank and my life belonged to the hands of volotile technology. The lady at the optometrist’s office was kind enough to let me supply the policy number at a later time, but I vowed that I would never suffer the consequences of my handheld crashing ever again.
So I did some research, and conveniently found out that my precious Palm Pilot was the oldest of the old. So old that they didn’t even sell it anymore in stores or online, not even accessories. It was time for an upgrade, so I searched. I found the Palm IIIe was now selling for a reasonable $149.00 online and in stores. Problem with that, they were so popular that you couldn’t find them anywhere. I searched for the Palm IIIe for two weeks high and low while my Pilot sat at home suffering from a coma. I nearly gave up.
I was at Fry’s Electronics one day, now considering my self a “handheld” aficionado; I picked up the latest copy of Pen Computing. A magazine devoted to handheld computing and its greatness. The cover featured the face of the guy who developed Palm OS, the operating system that the majority of handhelds run. In the article he was boasting about his new company and product: The Handspring Visor Deluxe.
So again I was on a search. To my pleasure, this time I found what I was looking for at the local office supply store. I purchased the Visor and have been using it for two months now. So far so good, no crashes yet…and hopefully none ever. The software that the Pilot was running on is the same as my Visor uses. So I didn’t have to do any thing new, just add more addresses, dates, and memos. The most wonderful feature of the Visor is its potential. The Visor Deluxe’s features are comparable to the Palm IIIxe save for the Visor’s built-in mic. The real advantage that the Visor carries is it’s lamented expandable slot. In the future (when that will be is uncertain), you’ll be able to add a plethora of options to your Visor. So far you can add additional memory, play games, and take pictures (with a add-on digital camera). The latter is pretty cool, but when will I really need to take pictures with my handheld?
On the other hand, I’ve asked that question before…
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 249.00
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Epinions.com ID:
celmatic
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Member: Santos L. Halper
Location: Community Care
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 22 members
About Me:
Albert loves to QA, answer Bug emails, and long romantic walks on the beach.
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