When I bought my Handspring Visor Deluxe, eight megs of memory seemed like a lot. However, I didn’t realize all the great stuff I would want to put on it. There are so many databases, maps, eBooks, and don’t forget all those web pages you can download through AvantGo. Eight megs doesn’t seem like enough now!

Luckily with the Springboard expansion slot, there are ways to expand your Visor’s memory. You can buy 8 meg and 16 meg expansion modules, but there are also some great memory card readers available now including the MemPlug made by Portable Innovation Technology, Ltd.

The MemPlug is a SmartMedia adaptor for Handspring Visor PDAs. It reads all 3.3V SmartMedia cards. These cards are ultra-thin and currently available in 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 megs. SmartMedia cards are rather affordable too: about $16 for 8 megs up to $80 for 64 megs. However, it’s important to note that no card is included with the module. You will have to buy one separately.

The MemPlug module itself is just slightly bigger than standard modules. It’s about 1 millimeter thicker, and not quite flush with the top of the Visor either. The Visor still easily fits in the Handspring slipcase, and the plastic cover can still snap onto the front of the Visor. However, you can no longer snap it onto the back of the Visor.

Like most Handspring modules, the MemPlug has several self-installing applications:

* PiBackup to backup your Visor memory to a SmartMedia card. This program is very similar to and just as simple as the software on the Handspring Backup Module.

* PiMover to move and copy files between the Visor and SmartMedia cards. You can create directories and sub-directories with PiMover. Since the module is compatible with the FAT 12/16 file system, the SmartMedia cards can still be swapped between PC card reader/writers (like the Zio!) and other devices like digital cameras.

* PiViewer to view JPEG images directly from the SmartMedia card. This program works on the newer color Visor Prism as well as the older gray-scale Visor Deluxe. PiViewer had absolutely no trouble decoding 312kb JPEGs from my Ricoh digital camera.

* PiPrefs to manage your SmartMedia cards including labeling and formatting.

* gMovie Player to playback video clips. Again, this program works on the newer color Visor Prism as well as the older gray-scale Visor Deluxe. I was impressed with movie playback. Of course, it doesn’t have sounds due to the limitations of the Visor speaker. Still, I never knew my Visor was capable of playing video at all! The MemPlug module comes packaged with a CD-ROM which includes the full version of the gMovie Maker (Mac and Windows) for converting video files to the gMovie Player format.

Unfortunately, there are some limitations to the MemPlug. It is mainly just for file storage. You cannot run Palm applications directly from a SmartMedia card. You will have to use PiMover to first swap it to the Visor memory. Then you can run it like any other program.

Also, most programs cannot read data stored on the SmartMedia card. However, the included PiViewer and gMovie Player can read directly from the cards. The MemPlug web site also offers a custom version of CSpotRun (the popular Palm DOC file viewer) which can read from the SmartMedia cards. This makes the MemPlug ideal for storing eBooks. Hopefully, in the future, more software will support file storage on the MemPlug.

Portable Innovation Technology is currently beta testing a MemPlug upgrade, PiDirect, which will allow most programs to run directly from the SmartMedia cards. However, it will only work with the Palm OS 3.5 and above. Since you can’t upgrade the OS on the current Visors, only newer Visors shipped with the new Palm OS will be able to take advantage of the MemPlug upgrade.

Since the Memplug does not use batteries, it must run off the power of the Visor. However, the power consumption is very low: only about 0.02mA. In comparison, there is a CompactFlash module on the market which consumes a whopping 30mA!

So, although the MemPlug has limitation, I’m still very impressed. It’s excellent for backups (In fact, I’d recommend it over the Handspring Backup Module), it can view JPEGs from a digital camera, it can view movies converted with gMovie Maker, and it can read DOC files using the custom version of CSpotRun. PiMover is a breeze to use for swapping over the programs and data you only occasionally need.

The Memplug is now my constant Visor companion!




Recommended: Yes