Handspring Visor Neo
Written: Dec 07 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 8 MB RAM, fast(er) processor, very affordable, Springboard
Cons: somewhat bulky, outdated OS
The Bottom Line: I rate it as agove average now - it performs as it should, nothing more nothing less.
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| forevergomer's Full Review: Handspring Visor Neo Handheld |
I received my Visor Neo as a Christmas gift in December of 2001. At the time, it was a good bargain - $160 for a Palm OS PDA with 8 MB of RAM. Today, the Neo can be purchased for a little over $100, and there are dozens if not hundreds of models which are newer, more stylish, faster and contain more memory. But what about my Neo?
Well, to start with, it has a 33 MHz Dragonball VZ processor from Motorola. Most of the Visors before (and several that came after) ship with procs that run half the speed. In addition, I believe (but could be wrong) the lower end Palm m-series also use a 16 MHz processor. Using my friend's m105 compared to my Neo, there is a huge difference in speed - it is very noticeable, not just in benchmarks and specs, but in real world performance.
The 8 MB of RAM is luxurious for a Palm. I have a couple of AvantGo channels downloaded to read about current news (MSNBC) and computer industry news, plus my livejournal palm channel. I also have a complete Bible downloaded, plus a few other apps and games, with several megabytes of memory left. I don't ever even think about memory usage, really, unlike some other Palm users who have to obsess over what they can fit on their handheld.
Other bonuses include a more advanced DateBook known as (drum roll please) DateBook . There are a few minor usability differences, as far as I can tell only a few cosmetic differences and an additional view or two. The advanced calculator is useful, but the majority of time that I would need a calculator, I would be in class or doing homework and would have my TI-89 graphing calculator handy. The translucent dark red casing is pretty slick, and EVERYBODY likes to comment on it. Too bad it's so fingerprinty! The metal stylus featuring the removable tip with reset pin, and removable top with screwdriver is nice and heavy - solid - and much nicer to use than Palm's plastic ones. I lost my stylus, however, and had to buy a replacement - I would only by a Handspring-issued stylus. It's very high quality, and it makes a difference.
I purchased some rechargeable AAA batteries because I use my handspring a lot. I was going through alkaline batteries pretty fast, so the rechargeables paid for themselves pretty fast.
The springboard expansion slot isn't very useful, unfortunately. I mean, who buys a budget PDA only to spend $200 or $300 on an expansion module? Newer devices have SecureDigital or CompactFlash expansion bays, which would be far more useful. Also, in terms of expansion, one other gripe I have is that the Neo shipped with Palm OS 3.5.x which was outdate even when the product first hit the market, and the OS is not updateable. However, that said, I have never thought "Man, it would be nice to have Palm OS 4.0." So take that for what it's worth.
Basically, for $125, I would still recommend this PDA. It's solidly constructed without being unbearably heavy, made of quality components with a few extra thoughtful bonuses from Handspring. It's faster than it's Palm-manufactured counterparts, and it does everythign it's supposed to. I'm still using it and still finding new ways to use it, and I believe it's a bargain for somebody unwilling to shell out $300 or more for a top-of-the-line PDA.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 160
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Epinions.com ID:
forevergomer
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 1 member
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