The whole world in your hand
Written: May 20 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Many. Durable, quick, powerful, expandable.
Cons: A few. Pricey, poorly lit, no colors, no flash upgade.
The Bottom Line: A workhorse device that simplifies many tasks. Don't leave home without it!
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| aashtech's Full Review: Handspring Visor Platinum Handheld |
I am familiar with a variety of different models of handheld PDAs, having used them in my job, and selected the Handspring Visor Platinum for personal use for a number of reasons. This very fast device has 8MB of memory, is loaded with the software I need, and is priced to meet my budget.
Why use a PDA?
I rely on external tools to keep track of my schedule, address book, expenses, To Do lists, and other important pieces of information (such as Frequent Flier numbers.) You probably do, too. I like the flexibility of recording and maintaining that data electronically and linking it all into a larger PC to exploit the power of email, word processing, and spreadsheet manipulation. For me, a PDA is a natural fit.
Scheduling appointments is easy with the Date Book functions of the Visor Platinum. With graphical representations of the year, month, week, or day, all of my appointments can be scheduled to the minute (both start and stop times,) grouped by category (which makes sorting and filtering quicker,) and announced with alarms (tailored to how soon beforehand you need to be reminded.) It is a breeze to keep track of birthdays and schedule recurring events, such as weekly poker games, and so on.
Everyone has to keep track of Addresses and Phone Numbers, Email identities, etc. The Address Book function simplifies all of this, too. As you would expect, you simply plug in the names normally, with fields broken out for Last name, First name, and so on. Most of these fields have memory capability, which helps match similar entries. You can fill in five different phone numbers, such as home, work, fax, mobile, etc, and decide which to display first. You have four custom fields, too, that can be named whatever you like. I usually attach Notes (see Memo Pad for more information) with things like driving directions. Once you set up your own address book record you can beam it to other Palm devices, too. Neat!
You can track Expenses quickly. Enter the date, expense type, and amount. I group them between billable and not. This way, once linked to my desktop computer, these expenses are launched into MS-Excel, using the template provided. To-do list entries are prioritized, optionally dated, and categorized. Many of these entries can be kept private with password control, if you like.
The Memo Pad application lets you jot down various notes, of seemingly unlimited size. You can change the fonts within these notes, if you like, too. As on most of the applications you can tap on the Menu Bar section to get additional functionality, such as Cut-and-Paste.
How do I get all this great information in there?
The way I prefer is to just tap it in using a shorthand called Graffiti. Some people don't like this method, but I find it very fast and accurate, although a little tedious for long passages. Each character (letter, number, symbol) has a pattern you simply write on a section of the screen. Most of them are just the same as handwriting. O, U, I, E, and so on. You can shift lock (so all the letters are capitalized) or keyshift (so that only the first letter is a capital.) "A" simply looks like a teepee. "T" looks like a number seven. There is one area to write letters and another for numbers. Tap the face once to turn on punctuation. Tap-tap is a period. Tap-S is a dollar sign. It's really pretty easy, although I use the backspace a lot to correct misinterpreted entries. You can select a little keyboard, too, or import data from other files. A typical format for text files is *.txt, and this can be imported, as well as CSV (comma separated values,) among others. For large entries, though, I usually just use my desktop PC and then HotSync, or synchronize, the information. This HotSync procedure is fairly sophisticated, as the latest changes made on any platform (either the handheld or "host" level, in my case a desktop) are kept current.
How expandable is this thing?
One of the really nifty aspects of the Handspring line of PDAs is the Springboard Expansion module. You can snap in various components like modems, mobile phones, MP3 players, RF data collection elements, snap-in keyboards, and global positioning satellite navigation (with some cool mapping functionality.) You can play games or track your golf scores and handicap, get restaurant reviews and synchronize with a wide variety of software for reference, medical information, planners, etc. You can download many of these applications right from the internet.
It seems like every day I find another great use for this little gadget. I bought mine directly from the Handspring web page and it shipped in about three days. It comes with a USB cradle to synchronize data (you can get a serial port entry cradle for an additional fee--$20 or $30, I don't recall.) It includes a plastic protective cover and a leather case, as well as the stylus. I also got a little game on a CD and a "Gameface" cover, that converts the six little buttons into an arcade-style joystick arrangement.
What's the catch?
Certainly, you need to consider the price. This baby lists for $299 (pretax.) That may be too much to pay to be able to throw away all your paper phone lists, calendars, etc. Not for me.
Secondly, the lighting is a little dim and backlight is little better. I almost never use the backlight feature, since it is so faint and it consumes battery time quicker.
Third, there is no flash upgradable ROM. This is a serious drawback that will limit the life of this gadget. In time, new features will be added to the PALM Operating System, and this will be unavailable to this unit (at least for all practical purposes.) I am sure there will be XML support at some point in the future, and this device will not be fluent. However, translation adapters on the host-level should resolve this, although only as a patch, or band-aid solution.
Lack of color display may bother some, but is not an issue for me.
These few negatives are minor on balance with the positives.
The Handspring Visor Platinum boasts the fastest operating system (33Mhz) in the industry and provides 16 shades of gray. The Springboard expansion slots are impressive. 8MB of memory is among the biggest available. The PALM operating system is the most open and should last through any shakeout, buyout, and collapse of this market space. If you are like me, you will find this a good choice for daily use and will quickly become reliant on the power of this little electronic assistant.
Just the facts
Size: 4.8" x 3" x .7"
Weight: 5.4 oz (153 g)
Finish: Silver finish only color available
Processor: Motorola 33Mhz Dragonball VZ
Memory: 8MB standard with 8MB expansion capability
Flash ROM: N/A
Display: Monochrome 160x160 pixels w/16 shades of gray
Power: 2 AAA alkaline batteries (2 to 3 months lifetime, typical use)
Comm: USB or serial port (choice) and infrared standard
OS: Palm OS 3.5.2
Warranty: One year
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299.00
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Epinions.com ID:
aashtech
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Member: Steve
Location: Raleigh, NC
Reviews written: 106
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Hack golfer and passable poker player.
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