VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Springboard Modules (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=10)
-- I wish I had bought a Palm VII (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=5430)

It is nearing the one year mark since I first heard of the Visor. I bought it for one reason; springboards. In fact, I bought two. Now almost one year later, what springboards do we have? None that are worth a crap. More RAM, ok. We can use that. A camera that takes pictures worse than I can draw by hand? I don't think so. A 33.6 modem? That was current technology 4 years ago. Sure it works, I will give it that. Lets not forget the vibrator from Innogear. I am not even going to go there.

Bottom line is this great springboard slot that made the Visor so popular is basically worthless.

Handspring and other springboard manufacturers, I salute you. You have managed to take a device with great potential and turn it into a piece of **** that I can't upgrade. I sure wish I had bought a Palm VII.

I agree that it is quite annoying the lack of springboards. Though I have a vague feeling that that is about to change a bit (Seven modules on the modules list here say available June or Q2. PC Expo starts on the 27th).

However, as far as your upgradablity statement, the VII may not have been much of a better choose. Agreed the VII would have giving you wireless capability. However:<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI> The VII only has 2Meg of memory, and is not upgradable. Maybe by a third party hardware hacking shop, but I have not seen anyone offering this yet. <LI> The VII uses the original Dragonball processor instead of the EZ. This limits the hardware to only 4 level gray scale instead of 16. There have been statements that later versions of the VII may use the EZ, but I have not heard of those being out yet. <LI> The VII uses PalmOS v3.2, though stored in Flash, a 3.3 upgrade for the VII is not available.
</UL>

I just want to comment on the "it's been almost a year..."

They came out in November. Not quite a year.

I said "It is nearing the one year mark since I first heard of the Visor.". I did not say one year since it was available.

As for the mention of springboards coming out very soon, what exactly does that mean? Wasn't the 6 pack supposed to be out 1st quarter? Same with Marcosoft's GPS as I recall. They are still vaporware, as are most of the other modules. I sure didn't pay $250 to have an electronic book!

So what kind of springboard module were you looking for that you can get an equivilent add-on for the Palm??? The modem for the Palm V is only 33.6 and I seem to remember having seen somewhere that the speed for wireless is at 14.4.

If your that dissatisfied with the Visor, sell it and buy the Palm and quit griping.

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Have Visor Will Travel!

Old El Paso.... I ordered mine on 10/6. They started in Sept...Close enough to one year for me. Although I wish Slacker would use more appropriate language in a public forum, his point is well taken. The springboard attachments have been an utter joke. Skip on over to the modules section of VISORCENTRAL. There's nothing there. It very well may be vaporware. Consistently (asin time-and-time again), companies have made public statements as to their release dates. NOTHING is produced. Put this out on the modules section:

Coming end of 2Q 2000... the ultimate springboard! It runs diagnostics on your automobile. Having chest pains? No problem. Our handy springboard is a portable difibrilator. Simply place the stereo headphones of the MP3 output over your ears, tune in some soothing music, attach the electronic probes over your chest, yell "CLEAR" and away you go. Ambulances will have no trouble tracking you down..not with your internal GPS unit handy. We're a young progressive startup company. When we get our WEB site up come on over and check us out.

While I understand the point, and would also like to see many more springboards coming out much faster, let me just say this:

Don't we sound like a bunch of impatient spoiled kids stamping our feet and screaming "I WANT IT NOW, NOW, NOW!!" ?

The Springboard Slot is far from worthless, and though we may have to wait longer than we want to, it will be filled.

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Hmmmmmmmm......

Obviously, Mchlwise is new here. Most of us got in lots of whine-time while waiting for our visors to ship back in the Fall.

Hey, I'm actually happy with the selection of boards currently out.

I have poor hearing, and the promise of a vibrating alarm board is the "killer app" that made me buy a Visor in the first place. And, I have it now.

As far as the 33.6 modem, that's still the fastest that will dial into another generic analog modem. If you want to take advantage of modems faster than 33.6, you have to dial into an ISP or someone else with a special modem. I dial my own modems at home more often than anything else, so 33.6 is just fine for me. And the main use I think most people would have for 56k would be graphics for a web browser -- how much do you think that'll happen on a device with a screen this size?

In addition, the backup board is extremely useful, since I usually use the unit without hotsyncing it to anything else.

The only board I'm still waiting for is IEEE 802.11b wireless ethernet, and Xircom has announced that board. When that comes out I'll probably buy it (my home has 802.11 in it already), and then perhaps never buy another springboard again.

Slacker, even though I understand (and big-time share) your frustration with the lack of desired �killer� modules, I don�t understand the Springboard slot being �worthless�. From what I�ve heard, at the time Visors came out, the Palms in the same price range (*were* there any??? � � anyway...) did not have the memory of the Visor. The Palm most comparable to the Visor cost much more then. (They didn�t bring the price down until after Visors were announced.) To me, it was like getting the Springboard slot �for free�.

Also, I think that the backup module alone, is a BIG plus on Visor�s side. Playing around with syncing, I messed-up the info on my unit. It only took a few minutes to restore everything with the backup module... If I had to make the choice again, even now, I would still choose the Visor.

I'd rather wait a couple of more months than having to deal with a bunch of buggy Springboards. Sure it is disappointing to have to wait for the Springboards once you have the Visor and you want to use it.
But hey, don't you think the Springboard manufacturers want to make money with their designs ASAP?
If you really think your decision to buy a Visor was a bad one, then sell it and buy a Palm. But I think, once most of the promised Springboards are available, you will probably regret your decision.
But as I said, it is your decision.

I can wait a few more months (in fact, they haven't even started selling the Visor in Europe yet, so the folks there have more reason to complain).

later,

mc9

Personally I don't see why you are griping. A 33.6kB connection should be more than enough for the Palm. Geez, what on earth are you planning on downloading that requires 56.6Kb?

I was on the fence for a while because I could decide on either the Palm IIIx or the Visor DX. I choose the Visor DX. I'm happy with it. I bought the 8MB Flash module and I can backup my data. I'm happy with it.

If you really want a Palm Pilot, check out the Palm IIIxe seems to me Palm put this out specifically to go up against the Visor Deluxe. It costs the same, it has the same amount of memory. It has flash ram (I suspect you will have to confirm it), but no springboard.

When people ask, I NEVER recommend the Palm VII. Expensive, and it really doesn't have that much going for it. I usually recommend the Visor Deluxe or Palm IIIxe. If style is a consideration and money isn't, then I recommend the Palm Vx.

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Eugene Hsieh
Editor, VisorCentral FAQ
Come visit my homepage.

Besides, if my Visor didn't have a springboard slot, where would I keep post-it notes and an extra business card?

Sheryl..Ah, truth in humor

I can't believe the whiners on this board. If a company release a bad module (see negative eyemodule and omniremote threads) you complain. If a company is taking the time to perfect (or close to it) its module before they release you complain...geesh

I for one would liek more springboard mosules to be released very soon.. But i would rather buy a springboard module that works very well than one that is mediocre.

futhermore, there is little a developer can do when there is a shortage of either cash or module components.

For those of you that regret buying the Palm..its not too late. Visors, even used ones still fetch a premium on sites like ebay. You can always sell your visor and buy the Palm.

Just my .o2 cents worth

If you don't want to hear any critism about your near perfect handheld, you don't have to play anymore. You can take your ball and go home. I can't speak for the other nay-sayers, but my gripe has not been to state that I'm sorry I bought the Visor. I have used it as much as anyone, know its virtures compared to the Palm and would and have recommend it unequivocally as the PDA of choice. However, if your suggesting that people with complaints go somewhere else, forget it! It's just a PDA! Its pluses far out weigh its negatives, but it ain't perfect! It IS a discussion group.

Sprinboard manfactures in my opinion have done alot of teasing. My issues have got nothing to do with a "I gotta have it now, can't wait any longer" attitude. My beef is in how many of these manufactures are all trying to get in on the springboard bandwagon. They know they need to make an early impact. They need to get your attention. They want you constantly 'checking back' to keep in touch. If a company wants to tell me openly and honestly what their constraints are and realistically what a viable due date is, I will wait a long time. In the business arena in general, I'm frustrated with the repair guy saying "I'll be there at 2:00" - only to be a no-show...of having an airline ticket and not being able to get on an overbooked flight. You may say "hey, that's life, get used to it", but it doesn't make it professional. Every company in the "Modules" section that lists TBA as a release date should be commended. They, at least are not using the carrot-and-stick approach. I've watch Innogear put out release dates long, long ago. They claim parts shortages, earthquakes et al for the delays. It's interesting to note that since they put out release dates, the physical design of most all their products changed. Come on, how close can you be to an honest release date when you're still working on how the product will look!. Finally, these are all relatively small companies. And you can bet that the real test of how they work will come when the users start pounding on them. Extended release dates do not necessarily correlate to better quality.
If you call me whiner can I call you gullible?

[This message has been edited by RJT (edited 06-09-2000).]

RTJ, you make some very good points.

I agree that companies who dangle carrots with unrealistic release dates are unprofessional, and should receive all the griping we can give them.

That doesn't change my opinion, however, that whining about not having every module that has ever been announced RIGHT NOW and wishing that you hadn't bought the Visor in the first place seems a little pouty and childish.

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Hmmmmmmmm......

very true

I too thought about buying a Palm VII until I checked the coverage areas for their network. Although their promotions say that you connect "virtually anywhere" there is zero coverage where I live (College Station, TX, only the home of one of the largest universities in the country). The same week that Visors showed up at my local Best Buy, I saw that they were also selling VII's. A week later they had pulled them when they realized that they were useless here.

No coverage. 2M RAM. $450. I've got no regrets about choosing my Vdx+flash springboard instead of a Palm VII. When people ask, I advise them to get a Visor unless they care about thickness and being rechargeable, in which case the Palm Vx is a good choice.

Slacker - if it's literally true that the Springboards were the ONLY reason you bought the Visor, then you must have watched Field of Dreams too many times.

[This message has been edited by huski (edited 06-09-2000).]