Visor Prism- I adVISE you to buy a Palm IIIc and save $120
Written: Oct 20 '00 (Updated Nov 14 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: rechargable battery, stylus, USB, color screen?
Cons: screen hard on the eyes, COST, SIZE, sunlight incompatible, no flash memory, cheap screen? and more
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| drdavec1's Full Review: Handspring Visor Prism Handheld |
The Visor Prism is a stunning PDA with unmatched color. That said, it is by no means perfect. As an owner, I can say that the Prism has some great features but is not the dream machine I had hoped for. Initially I gave this PDA 4 stars... after using it extensively I have changed my rating to 2 stars. If I were going to buy a color PDA, I would now get the Palm IIIc instead of the Prism, AND save $120. Or better yet, wait until next spring when a Palm Vc is rumored to come out. In this Review, I'll highlight pros, cons, speed, faqs (coming soon)and a Palm OS PDA buying guide...
Quickly, the PROS are a)color b)OS 3.5.2 c)appearance d)springboard capability e)stylus f)rechargeable battery g)USB
The CONS I will discuss are: 1)size 2)cost 3)SCREEN HARD ON THE EYES 5)slow 6)datebook not updated 7)cheap screen? 8)does not come with serial cradle 9)instability 10)lack of flash memory 11)sunlight incompatible
OK...enough already here is the review
PROS
•COLOR- Handspring has proved yet again they are a force in the PDA world. Not only did they release a color PDA machine, they released one with over 64,000 color capability. The Palm IIIc handles 256 colors. Looking at my Visor Prism, I was impressed with the color and clarity of the screen. We are talking razor sharp screen. You can download a color photo album and store FULL COLOR pictures in your Palm. I will say however that the color is better than the Palm IIIc but NOT $120 better The color is best for Games, On the Prism,Zap 2000 (a space shooting game) looks like it would be a best selling Nintendo GameBoy game. Other games that blew me away in color were Billiards and BlackJack Solitaire. Still, I must say, I use my Palm for business (medicine) and organization and not games... color games are nice but not a must for me.
•OS 3.5.2H Handspring has updated the operating system including their version of Palm OS 3.5 The new features are a drop down menu, faster hot syncing and more. Of course, Handspring includes their Datebook+, a souped up datebook, Calculator (an advanced Calculator), and City-Time a world clock that is BEAUTIFUL in color. And the Prism OS does not suffer the memory leak that Plague’s palm os 3.5. Of course, City Time is a pointless application that I would never use.
•Appearance Yes the Prism is BIG. I'll get to that Later. However, it does look nice. Unlike some other Visors, it comes in only one color- a navy blue. The color looks great. It features the sturdy metallic buttons, an on-off button on the R side. The back of the device is curved to fit well in your hand. Oh yeah, it is big though
•Stylus The Prism comes with a beautifully weighted stylus. Easy to remove, it features a plastic tip, metal body. it includes an internal reset pin and screwdriver. Unfortunately, as I will discuss later, the reset pin I need to use way too often!
•Rechargable Battery- The Prism is Handspring's first model to have an internal rechargeable Lithium Ion battery. this is a GREAT feature. In medicine, I use the Prism often (I use it to track patients and use it as a drug book). By the end of the day, I drain the battery to 60% capacity, probably with 2 hours of use. For less active users, the battery will last longer. The beauty of the Prism is that it recharges fully and quickly in a matter of minutes! No more worrying about batteries. Plus, Handspring has added a battery recharger light on the Prism... it blinks when the unit is recharging- a nifty idea
•USB- The Prism comes with a USB cradle. Now virtually all computers have USB and it is definitely faster than a Serial connection. I will say it is not light years faster, but I do perceive a decrease in hot-syncing time. Later, i will try to time this for you all...
NEUTRAL
• Springboard Capability Like all of Handspring's models, the Visor Prism has a springboard port. You can add a flash module for more memory, phone, mp3 player, etc. The Springboards are slowly coming out. Right now, I know there are some concerns over compatibility of springboards with the new Visor. No doubt, these issues will be resolved over time.. But a big problem with Springboards is cost... many of the good ones cost a couple hundred bucks and add greatly to the weight of the Prism. I put the springboards as a neutral as only time will tell how useful they will be to the Prism and all Visor models. (Certainly they do make the Visor large in size)
CONS
•Size- Size matters and the Prism is way too big. It is TWICE as thick as my Palm Vx and weighs twice as much. I understand that Handspring has to be big because the springboard port is large and color devices need to be big for now. However, in keeping it in my shirt pocket (or actually white coat front pocket) the weight is perceivable. Don't get me wrong the Prism will not give you a bad back... but all things considered size is a problem with this beauty.
•COST The Visor Deluxe won rave reviews for being $249 and giving so much memory and so much power. The Prism is gorgeous but it certainly is a costly PDA. It costs $450... not as much as a Windows CE device, but way more than a Palm. By comparison, the Palm IIIc is $330. is the Visor Prism worth $120 more? That is a decision that you have to make. If you have unlimited funds, go for it. If you are on a budget, think twice indeed. My gut opinion in comparing their features and screens is that the Palm IIIc is a much better choice... buying the Prism for the color screen is throwing out $120.
•Hard on the Eyes- The prism screen is white... text appears black on it. Now this does seem nice at first. however stare at the Prism from close distances and you will be dizzy, seeing double. I am not kidding. I wish I could write more on this point to emphasize how important and detrimental it is. i think this may be related to the screen refresh rate. The problem is, playing with a Prism in the store is not enough experience to learn how dizzying it is. But over a period of weeks and months, this will annoy the heck out of you.
•Cheap Screen- Having used and abused many PDAs, I can say that I fear the Visor Prism screen may scratch easily. The screen has the same feel as the Visor Deluxe screen... it is not as hard as the palm Vx. Hard to describe, but having used a Vx and Visor Deluxe extensively, I can perceive the difference The Visor Deluxe and Solo were plagued with an easily scratched screen, where using the Visor without a screen protector (such as WriteRights by Concept Kitchen) would put the user at risk of a scratched screen. Many Visor owners thought that the screen of all PDAs needs to be protected. Having abused my Vx without a screen cover, let me dispel this myth. Palm makes superior screens than Visor... Palm screens do not scratch without a screen cover. I fear the Visor Prism will scratch and thus I recommend all users to buy screen protectors such as WriteRights.
• Not for outdoor use - much like the Palm IIIc, the color screen of the Prism is nearly impossible to see in sunlight. Now for those who are stuck in a hospital all day long like myself, this may not be a problem. However, the few chances I get to see the sun, I cannot see my Prism. The only thing visible I the black text… colors are nearly impossible to see.
•Not all programs in color- As the technology improves, more programs will be in color. For now, only games and a few other programs are in color. The color is truly something to behold, but my medical programs are still in black and white.
•Datebook not updated This may confuse some of you. The Visor comes with Datebook+. Datebook+ is a Handspring version of the popular program Datebk3 which offers MANY features that are lacking in the Palm OS datebook. This is a con however and here is why…Datebk+ is not the best datebook on the market. Its successor Datebook4 has tons on new features that are not included on the Prism. (for more info on datebk4 see tanster’s or my review). If I want to add Datebook4, I will have 3 datebooks on the Prism which is absurd (there is no way to delete datebook or datebook+). Plus, my Prism is in a memory crunch…. I can’t rationalize taking another 400 KB of RAM on the Prism for datebk4, although it will be sorely missed.
Does not come with serial cradle- Now many people have USB, but what about people with old desktops? If you only have a serial cradle, be ready to shell out $30 for a serial cradle.
Instability- I have had the Prism for 3 days. In that time, I have had to reset it about 20 times. Only twice did I have to do a hard reset. It will take time to learn which programs are incompatible. However, even doing some simple functions (such as opening the calculator or photo album or scrolling down in a program) caused a soft reset where the pin was needed. Probably they may be related to overclocking or hacks, but I can’t be sure
Lack of flash memory- The Prism comes with NO Flash memory. Handspring says Flash memory is expensive and it greatly contributes to the cost of the unit. (what would this cost with flash- 600?) Flash memory is separate internal memory that is save from hard resets. The biggest disadvantage of not having Flash is that a major OS upgrade could not be installed, unless one used a special springboard.
Another downside….Data stored on flash memory cannot be erased in hard reset. I use a program called FlashPro on the Palm Vx, which allows me to backup all of my addresses, phone numbers, and patient data. On the Prism, there is no way to backup this data(except in a springboard). As I said before, I have had to hard reset twice, so clearly not protecting crucial data could be dangerous.
SPEED ANALYSIS- My Bench Mark Testing- ANOTHER WEAKNESS OF PRISM
The Visor Prism uses a new processor, a 33 MHz DragonBall VZ. My Palm Vx uses a slower processor- 20 MHz. Theroretically, the Prism should be much faster, right? My Palm Vx is faster the the Prism I do overclock the Palm Vx and run it at 29 MHz, using the program AfterBurner. I tested the two units in running some medical programs I use. In searching for durgs that cause impotence (in Epocrates), the Vx was 30 seconds faster than the Prism. 30 seconds! I was shocked, especially when you consider that I run the Vx at 29 MHz. In another program I have, 5 Minute Clinical Consult ( program with info on thousands of diseases), I scrolled from A-E on the Vx and the Prism. The Vx finished the task in 3 minutes and the Prism was done in 4.25 seconds…. Again, the Prism was over 33% SLOWER!!! I do overclock the Prism with QuickBits, and they say it helps with speed, but it still cannot keep up with Vx, FYI- (overclocking allows you to run the Palm at a faster speed by ‘tweaking’ some of the settings… it is pretty safe and very effective. My Palm Vx does not crash despite maximum overclocking. )
FAQ- coming soon… please email me ?s at dandac@earthlink.net or ask them in the comments..thanks
VERDICT
The color again is awesome. The cost is PAINFUL. The Palm IIIc, albeit with 64000 less colors, is $330. The Prism is $450. A HUGE difference. The Prism is slower than many of its rivals. It weighs a ton. Clearly, the technology has a way to go. I am impressed with Handspring’s effort but I am going back to my Palm Vx for now. If you want color, get the Palm IIIc... it is $120 cheaper and only looks a little better. Better yet...wait for future models. Color on Palms has a long way to go.. maybe the upcoming Palm Vc or Sony color clie will be better. BUT THE PRISM IS NOT WORTH YOUR $$
PS- For all Handspring users... you must use www.VisorCentral.com as the source for all info, rumors, news, discussion. There is a wealth of info and ideas there
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 450
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drdavec1
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Member: dave
Location: New Jersey
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