VisorCentral.com - My New Platinum

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Visor Platinum (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=32)
-- My New Platinum (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=8841)

Posted by aldo on 10-21-2000 05:21 PM:

I returned my two week old Deluxe ["Ice", I hated to part with it]. My new Platinum arrived within three business days: I paid the extra $11.
I am very happy with it. The plastic is NOT painted, as someone suggested. It is a very nice silver-platinum color,[it looks very "offical"] and the snap on cover is black. That is a very nice combination. I actually like the snap on cover. It is protective and no trouble at all.
I purchased it for three reasons:
1. New and faster processor; even though speed is really not an issue, at least at present.
2. Updated Palm OS.
3. Better resolution, although I have no means to test that.
I "tested" the speed by entering a trip proposal in "Metro" for New York City. I must say that the processing did go faster: the indicator bar never even got to the middle. It travelled about an eighth of an inch instead of an expected half inch. But to be honest, I do not think speed is really an issue.
There are a few visible added frills with the updated OS.
The battery indicator, for one.
As for better resolution, I have no way of testing that at the moment.
In general, I am completely satisfied because my Platinum Visor does exactly what it is supposed to do, and it does it very well.
Of course, I will buy a color version, as soon as they make one that uses a sensible [non-rechargeable]battery.

Posted by jj_w on 10-21-2000 09:20 PM:

Wow! This Visor Platinum rocks! I was waiting a long time to upgrade to something. I've been using a Pilot 5000 since 1996. Upgrading took literally 5 minutes. The new features on the Platinum are sweet. There are so many software upgrades since my Pilot. I welcome them all.

This is a very high quality PDA. It feels rock solid. I ordered it with the Backup Module which I am very pleased with.

A couple of hundred dollars more for the Prism wouldn't have been an issue for me. I would have ordered the Prism, except for the rechargeable battery - as in the previous post. I am extremely happy with my purchase. I was in bed tapping away in the dark for at least an hour last night, and my battery is still full. Disposable batteries = peace of mind. I can buy them anywhere at any time.

Posted by MIKE STH on 10-21-2000 09:56 PM:

Aldo, it appears you and I are in complete agreement. I also purchased the Platinum as an upgrade from my BVDX.

One point that I would add as a reason to upgrade is because I really wanted to keep on top of the speed/OS curve. I find that the Platinum satisfies on all counts. I would classify myself as a "power user". My memory is almost gone(as is my Visors) and I enjoy using net access and many other add-on's.
I only found one incompatability issue and that was with APPLIST this was easily surmounted by switching to SOFTTRACK.

The Platinum has a quicker response, so much so that you realize your VDX was NOT as fast as you thought.

The Platinum also seems to have a better speaker as both volume and clarity seem better.

The Silver color was a minus as far as I was concerned, but as I use the unit I become more and more fond of the Silver finish. It looks REALLY nice in my Rhodiana as my BVDX basically dissapeared in the darkness. I did note that the springboard cover now has a tab at the bottom so I have to tear a bit on my business card to make it fit. My missgivings about the black cradle/cover were unfounded. I thought that ice would be a better choice, but it seems that the black is a better match.

I'll have more observations as I play more, but at the moment, I feel hapy with my decision about the Platinum. To tell the truth, I was starting to second guess myself as all the Prism reviews started rolling in, but in the end, it was the battery issue that cemented my choice. I'll gladly switch to color when I can head out to the wilderness for a two week trip and take extra batteries along....

__________________
"Stupid Handspring."

Posted by Today Special on 10-25-2000 02:01 AM:

Just like Aldo, I got my VDX two weeks ago and recieved my Platinum today. Platinum is noticeably faster. It's pretty evident when I load up a huge page in AvantGo. Since I've only been a Visor user for two weeks, I can't really tell how much difference does the new Palm OS or 4-bit greyscale make. The overall feeling is I do not regret to spend the extra $50 + $7 for shipping VDX back.

The only thing that I don't quite appreciate is the new silver/black case. It just looks.....dull. Does anybody know where I can find color Visor shells? Or does anyone want a good deal on a two-week old VDX with Platinum shell?

Posted by Winchell on 10-25-2000 03:10 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by aldo
Of course, I will buy a color version, as soon as they make one that uses a sensible [non-rechargeable]battery.

And assuming, of course, that you don't mind wearing an automobile battery in a back-pack.

You see, those color screens suck batteries like a turbocharged Hoover. A pair of alkaline AAA batteries will last about 10 minutes. To get a halfway acceptable battery life with non-Lithium batteries will take something on the order of six "D" cells.

__________________
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Posted by dkessler on 10-25-2000 02:29 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Winchell
To get a halfway acceptable battery life with non-Lithium batteries will take something on the order of six "D" cells.

Well, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration. The Prism's Lithium polymer battery probably has a capacity around 950 mAH. Your average D cell alkaline has a capacity of around 18000 mAH. Now, alkalines are pretty bad in high drain applications, but even at 1000 mA continuous, they'll still retain 30% - 40% of their capacity. So four D cells would run the Prism 6 to 7 times as long as the internal battery. And four AA cells would get you about the same amount of run time as one full charge of the internal.

Of course your point is still completely valid. No one wants to add enough space for 4 AA cells ... especially if they're only going to give six hours or so of continuous use.

For those concerned about Prism battery life when spending extended periods away from A/C power, check out this page. I've looked over Handspring's charging specs and this battery booster wired to a hotsync connector should work great. One user reported 30 hours of continuous use with C cells and a Casio PDA - the Prism should be able to do as well

__________________
<ul><li>Dave Kessler President - Kopsis, Inc.</li></ul>

Posted by Petro on 10-25-2000 03:31 PM:

My next door neighbor has a Platinum, and it sure seems painted to us! The texture is slighly smoother than my Visor, and the surface shines. To me, this means it's probably painted. I'd love to hear the first story of a scratched Platinum case and these "black lines" that appear.

Btw, I'm still going to get one :P

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Posted by yardie on 10-25-2000 03:39 PM:

Not Painted

The Platinum is nto painted. I don't think it is susceptible to scratch any more that the Graphite unit is susceptibe to scratch. In orders, there is no paint to strip off.

Posted by Petro on 10-25-2000 03:47 PM:

I guess they've just made the unit smoother!
Glad to hear it! Thanks!

Posted by jj_w on 10-25-2000 06:14 PM:

The Platinum IS painted. It is silver metallic paint on silver plastic. If the case gets scratched, it will still be silver underneath.

If you still do not believe it is painted, look at the sides and inside of the battery door when removed. You can also look at the dummy springboard module.

This would not deter me from purchasing this unit, though. I have had it a week now, and with constant use the battery meter has only moved back one line of pixels (barely noticeable).

Posted by MIKE STH on 10-25-2000 06:41 PM:

jj_w brings up a good point. I've been hitting my Platinum HARD for the past 5 days and it seems as if the Platinum gets better battery usage than my BVDX. I don't believe that could be possible, but RUNTIME will tell the tale. I had the habit of changing out batteries when they were down to around 40% so I'll see how many hrs I get out of these.

Posted by [email protected] on 10-25-2000 11:02 PM:

just got mine, and wow! it definately rocks. i must say, i am quite impressed. while it is painted, it isnt like i thought it would be. if you get a scratch, unless it is really deep, you wont be able to notice.

now i must admit, i am a first time visor owner and there is one thing that is pissing me off, the reverse backlighting. is there a way to change this to the way it is on palms? thanks.

Posted by Petro on 10-25-2000 11:03 PM:

Unfortunately, no. I wish I could switch the backlighting back too.

Posted by krypton on 10-26-2000 02:38 AM:

Backlighting

You CAN switch the backlighting, just use one of the hacks that invert the backlighting.

I use LightHack on mine, and it works fine. There's also InvertHack, and GreenLightHack...and I'm sure there are a couple of others out there that I haven't mentioned.

Posted by [email protected] on 10-26-2000 02:54 AM:

thanks! works great.

Posted by Petro on 10-26-2000 03:14 AM:

Where can you get those hacks? Don't they work by switching your pixels so your blacks are white and vice versa? Unless the backlight doesn't go through the pixels, it won't really help with the brightness, will it?

Posted by CaptainVisor on 10-26-2000 07:00 PM:

Any comments on the 16 level greyscale display?

Can anyone comment on the quality level of the 16 levels of greyscale on the new Platinum?

Photos?
Avantgo images?

All of the promotional photos show the datebook shots only.

Posted by CaptainVisor on 10-26-2000 07:03 PM:

opps

Sorry. There IS one small caparison on handsprings website

http://www.handspring.com/products/...m/details.jhtml

Any LARGER examples?

Posted by Winchell on 10-26-2000 07:43 PM:

Well, I was _almost_ right...

quote:
Originally posted by dkessler
quote:
Originally posted by Winchell
To get a halfway acceptable battery life with non-Lithium batteries will take something on the order of six "D" cells.

Well, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration. {snip-o} And four AA cells would get you about the same amount of run time as one full charge of the internal.

Of course your point is still completely valid. No one wants to add enough space for 4 AA cells ... especially if they're only going to give six hours or so of continuous use.

I stand corrected, sir!

quote:
For those concerned about Prism battery life when spending extended periods away from A/C power, check out this page. I've looked over Handspring's charging specs and this battery booster wired to a hotsync connector should work great. One user reported 30 hours of continuous use with C cells and a Casio PDA - the Prism should be able to do as well

Now that's the sort of engineering that Handspring should have provided in the first place! Such a simple design to fix a major flaw. As soon as I can obtain a spare cradle I'll be off to Radio Shack while my soldering iron heats up. (there are some times during the year when I am separated from a wall socket for longer than 6 hours...)
For the Handspring Prism, you omit the diode, right?

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