Good device - bad support, but getting better?
Written: Oct 27 '99 (Updated Jan 17 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Less expensive than competing models, faster than 3Com Palm series, more expandable than 3Com Palm series
Cons: Bad cover and case design, difficult to contact customer service and tech support
|
|
|
| pushijima's Full Review: Handspring Visor Deluxe Handheld |
I was pleased to find out that the inventors of the Palm Pilot would be forming a company to design a device that both competed with the Palm Pilot and ran all its existing software. As many industry followers have observed, Palm Computing needed a run for the money which the Windows CE market could not provide. So Handspring "enters" the Palm OS market with their new product - the Visor.
General
The Visor comes in three flavors - Solo, Standard and Deluxe. The Deluxe model is the one I own and it has 8MB of RAM and features the same processor and screen as 3Com's Palm IIIx. It is available in five colors - translucent blue, green, orange, clear and opaque black. An all plastic stylus, removable hard screen cover, USB cradle and a leather slip case are also included. An important note - the Visors do not include any Flash ROM and therefore major updates to the Palm OS cannot be installed on them. This is already the case as Palm Computing just recently released Palm OS 3.3 which replaces the 3.1 version included on the Visors.
Software
The Visors use the same desktop software as the Palm from 3Com. The only difference is a minor update to the HotSync software that allows for USB cradles. For those who don't know, the cradle is used to allow a handheld to connect to a PC and HotSync is the software used by Palm OS devices to communicate and synchronize information. Like the Palm series, the Visor Deluxe includes Palm Desktop PIM (personal information manager) software as well as software for using it with Microsoft Outlook. Microsoft Outlook itself is not included. I use Microsoft Outlook, but not the PocketMirror that 3Com and Handspring provide. I have been using DataViz's Desktop To Go since before PocketMirror was included with the Palm devices. I do recommend using Outlook over the Palm Desktop software - it is simply more powerful. The Palm Software
allows the same functionality of the handheld versions of the software. The HotSync software included with the Visor is older than the most recent version provided by Palm with their Palm OS 3.3 update (3.02H vs. 3.04.) I have not tested high-speed serial HotSyncs (the feature added to the most recent Palm offering) with the Handspring version. The desktop software is the same version.
There are a couple of extra apps included with the Visor and some minor changes to existing ones. First, the Visor includes a version of DateBook3 called DateBook+ and the original Date Book app. DateBook3 is a popular replacement for the standard Date Book app. The version of DateBook3 included on the Visor is not the complete version that is available from the developer, however. If you are a user of the full version of DateBook3, you will need to ensure that it is reinstalled on a Visor to get the full functionality. For those who have not used the full version of DateBook3, you will still enjoy the selected features included in the dumbed down app. Some of the features are: support for floating untimed events that move from day to day until they're completed; enhanced views that allow you to see weeks, months and a year at a time; an enhanced alarm that allows snoozing, and more. It includes some nice features from the full DateBook3 without making it too difficult for new users. DateBook+ uses only the native databases and is therefore fully compatible with all third party synchronization add-ons like PocketMirror and Desktop To Go.
A world clock called CityTime has also been included. This clock allows you to see the time in your city and up to four other cities. You can also see the position of the Sun and its rising and setting times. A handy utility for travelers or those who deal with international contacts.
The calculator app has been upgraded. Two modes - basic and advanced - are available. Basic mode is a simple eight number precision calculator. Advanced mode loses the limited 8 digit precision (Yeah!) and adds some more robust features for finance, trig, logic, stats and unit conversion. A nice addition.
Hardware
The device itself seems sturdy. Buttons on the front of the device operate identically to the 3Com Palm series, but have a different feel to them. One nice thing is that they are concave which allows you to use the stylus to depress them a little easier than the Palm series. The device does not have a screen contrast dial. It instead uses a software based contrast slider a la the Palm V series. The screen itself is highly readable but uses the annoying backlight that the Palm III and V series use. The IR port is on the side, rather than the top, of the device. One major difference between the Palms and the Visors is the Springboard slot. Springboards are removable plug and play expansion cards which can perform a wide array of functions. One card could be used as an MP3 player, while another could contain software or additional memory. A number of neat Springboard modules have been announced by various companies, but only a small handful are currently available. I'm interested in seeing one called the SixPack which is supposed to include a vibrating alarm, LED alarm, digital voice recorder, 56K fax/modem and GSM adapter. Springboards make the Visors much more expandable that the 3Com Palm series.
The cradle for the Visor Deluxe is a USB cradle. This requires a USB port and Windows 98 (or a Mac with a USB port.) A serial cradle is available for an additional cost. In my experience the USB cradle is not significantly, if any, faster than the serial cradle operating at the high-speed allowed by the most recent HotSync software.
Gripes
The cradle's button is a little "loose" and I ended up opening the thing and stuffing some foam rubber under the little circuit board to firm it up.
The cradle has a little hook on it that requires the user to tilt the Visor forward before lifting it out of the cradle.
The included plastic screen protector is unwieldy in that it must be removed from the Visor to operate the device. It can be snapped on to the back, but I imagine that this won't be possible once an over-sized Springboard module is inserted. Also, the cover must be removed before being placed in the cradle. A simple flip cover would have been preferred.
The leather slip case included does not have a screen protector built-in. This means that you must use the included screen protector (or an equivalent) while it is in the slip case. Not using a protector will mean you risk cracking the screen or, less seriously, having the buttons on the front turn on the device and run down the batteries.
And the BIGGEST gripe...
The CD that came with the Visor was cracked. Even though the desktop software used with the Visor is identical to the Palm software I already had installed, the HotSync software was not (no USB support.) This means I needed some replacement software. Unfortunately, the Handspring Web site (at the time of this writing) does not have a download section for obtaining the software. Nor do they have a public FTP site. This meant a call to tech support was necessary. After being on hold for over three and a half hours over three phone calls, I gave up. I called their corporate offices directly through an "unpublished" number and talked to their customer service manager. She FedExed the CD to me, which was an exceptionally nice gesture, but I can only warn against having to contact their tech support or customer service department in these early days of their product roll-out.
Overall
I would recommend this device to anyone looking at a Palm IIIx or lower. It is not as stylish as a Palm V/Vx but it is more powerful and less expensive.
Update - 01/17/2000
Since obtaining this device late last year, I have recently started to experience some problems. Specifically, the power and memo buttons have started to fail. They still give a tactile response (i.e. they still click) but they only intermittently perform their respective functions. Also, I have had two cases in the past week in which the device had completely lost data as if a hard reset had been performed. In both cases the batteries were near full capacity. These errors occurred after somewhat recent installations of new software, but I have not been able to identify any of the new software as the culprit. Having BackupBuddy on your system is highly recommended!
In order to resolve the problems, I contacted HandSpring to send out a new device. Surprisingly, a tech person answered the call directly without me having to dial through a voice jail. After briefly describing the problem, arrangements were made to have a replacement sent. My only problem is that they have indicated that it will be five to seven business days before I receive my replacement. This is not a huge deal as my Visor seems to be functioning properly (aside from the buttons.) I wonder if they would have prioritized a replacement for a completely non-functional unit. My overall experience with receiving support for these issues is excellent. A far cry from past experiences.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 249 plus tax/shipping
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
pushijima
|
|
Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 41 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.