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- Visor Prism (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=19)
-- Returning my Prism tomorrow. (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=9197)

Returning my Prism tomorrow.

My Prism, which arrived two days ago, will be returned via Purolator tomorrow.

I thought people might be interested that my Prism came with a blue springboard cover, not a black one as was shipped to some other people on this board. The springboard cover matched the blue case of the Prism perfectly. But the plastic screen cover was black, and as reported doesn't fit on the back, just the front.

Basically I didn't like the size or weight of the unit. I found it noticeably bigger than the VDX, which is already a bit big if you want to carry it comfortably in your pocket. Also, the screen is really not that much better than the color Palm which I've tried out at Staples. Pictures look great compared to greyscale, but not as high quality as one might expect from a colour unit. The screen smudges really easily and is not easy to clean, and the screen protectors I was using seemed to interfere with Graffiti.

Speaking of which, my Prism had flawless Graffiti. I haven't used a Palm/Visor for two years, and I was getting 100% accuracy within 5 minutes of powering up the unit (remarkably I didn't have to relearn Graffiti, it was still in my brain somewhere!). So my Prism didn't suffer from the Graffiti problems being discussed in another thread.

I found the battery to be losing power very quickly and I wasn't using it all that heavily. Maybe I got a bad battery, and if I had kept the unit I would have tested it further and had it replaced if necessary. I like the idea of a rechargeable battery to reduce cost and waste of throwaway batteries, but don't like the thought of running out of power so quickly. Presumably this will be resolved, as will the quality of the screen and the unit's size, as Handspring brings out the new models rumored for 2001.

All in all, I wasn't willing to pay such a huge premium for a larger unit that offered mediocre color. I like Handspring's products, and will probably buy their color unit when it is smaller, and has a higer quality screen and battery.

For those of you reading this in Canada, Handspring has a Canadian depot for returns and repairs...but the Handspring customer service rep didn't know about it and initially told me to return the unit to Kansas! I said I had heard about a depot in Canada, and he went off and checked and came back with an address in Ontario. Needless to say, it'll be cheaper to return it to Ontario than Kansas.

If you need to return a unit or get one repaired, and your customer service rep says there is no depot in Canada, let me know via this board and I'll post the address.

The Prism wasn't for me, but don't let that persuade you not to try it out. If you absolutely need colour, don't mind recharging every couple of days, and can put up with a larger, heavier unit...give it a try. It's a very nice looking unit, and has the huge advantage of being based on the Palm OS. Which, of course, is great.

Are you going to get a Visor Platinum? I'm thrilled with mine.

Me too...

Yep...I can't agree more. The unit is nice...mine also had a blue springboard cover, and Graffiti was flawless. However, I did not have the same battery problems...mine is still fully charged after two days minimal use.

Anyway, the size and weight is really an issue for me: I just switched from a Palm Vx. I'm interested in the color, the USB synching, and the rechargeable batteries, but this is not the unit for me. I'll just have to wait awhile I guess...

All-in-all, a nice unit, but not the perfect PDA by far.
When you stop to consider the price ($720 CAD) you realize how important it is that you be COMPLETELY satisfied. One could have a pocket PC, or simply wait for the (higher- priced in all likelihood) Color Vx to come.

Regards,
Mark

Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by StiMPy
One could have a pocket PC, or simply wait for the (higher- priced in all likelihood) Color Vx to come.

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My blog: Pocketfactory

Could reflective color mean disposable batteries?

You know, I never noticed this before, but my prism LCD has a stuck yellow pixel!

I realize this is an acceptable problem on the larger LCD displays (ie: Flat panel monitors)...But you'd think you could pretty much eliminate this issue on a 160x160 display.

On another note:
Mark--If you could post that Canadian depot address, I will also be returning my unit on Monday. I'm going to wait it out and see what pops up in the future. May even give ppc a try. We'll see...

Regards,
Stimp.

Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by foo fighter
Next year, we'll see a big push from Palm into color. From what I understand, practically all of their models will sport color displays.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Re: Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by dick-richardson
[QUOTE]Originally posted by foo fighter
Speaking of which, when are we going to see a desktop computer running the Palm OS? It'd make my life easier.

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My blog: Pocketfactory

Canadian depot address

quote:

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Originally posted by StiMPy

Mark--If you could post that Canadian depot address, I will also be returning my unit on Monday.

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Battery drain could be caused by the screen brightness being set too high. Not seeing the difference between the PalmIIIc and the Prism means you weren't looking at the right software. This thing blows the IIIc away!

Rick

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Rick

www.visorsolutions.com

Re: Re: Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by foo fighter

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Originally posted by dick-richardson
[b]Speaking of which, when are we going to see a desktop computer running the Palm OS? It'd make my life easier.

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[snip]

But if you want to experience the same Palm style simplicity on a Destop PC, try a Mac. In fact, parts of the Palm OS were inspired by the Mac OS design. Hawkins once eluded to this fact a couple years ago in a public statement he made.

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Re: Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by dick-richardson

quote:

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Originally posted by foo fighter
Next year, we'll see a big push from Palm into color. From what I understand, practically all of their models will sport color displays.

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And the plot thickens. Don't you love pda manufacturers slugging it out to put the best pda in your hands at the best price? Just thinking about what's in store makes me drool. Too bad Microsoft can't hang with the big boys. Speaking of which, when are we going to see a desktop computer running the Palm OS? It'd make my life easier.

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by Vertigo


While a Mac may be easier to understand as far as Desktop OSes go, one cannot compare it to the PalmOS. The PalmOS is crude when compared to any desktop OS (I'm not complaining..). I'm not sure what Hawkins was talking about, as I can't think of a single part of the PalmOS that uses any Mac OS specific features.

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Handspring Return Depots

I wonder how many return depots Handspring has for returns. You meantioned one in Kansas, One in Canada. I live in Oklahoma and when I sent my prism back they had me ship it to:


Handspring Service Center
11201 Electron Drive
Louieville, KY 40299

Re: Handspring Return Depots

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Originally posted by warriorguy
I wonder how many return depots Handspring has for returns. You meantioned one in Kansas, One in Canada. I live in Oklahoma and when I sent my prism back they had me ship it to:


Handspring Service Center
11201 Electron Drive
Louieville, KY 40299

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by lennonhead

quote:

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Originally posted by Vertigo


While a Mac may be easier to understand as far as Desktop OSes go, one cannot compare it to the PalmOS. The PalmOS is crude when compared to any desktop OS (I'm not complaining..). I'm not sure what Hawkins was talking about, as I can't think of a single part of the PalmOS that uses any Mac OS specific features.

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He was probably referring to the essence of the Mac OS rather than specific features. An OS that is simple and yet still incredibly powerful is the ideal OS. The Mac OS is like this, and it probably inspired Hawkins to mold the Palm OS in the same manner.

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Inappropriate

I think it is inappropriate for you guys to be posting Handspring' return address here. It is not on their site for a reason -- because they don't want people just sending their units back without obtaining an RMA number. Have you noticed that you have seen the addresses posted here before?

Yardie,

I agree with the point you're making, but I would hope that no-one was dumb enough to just send their several hundred dollar unit off to an address posted on the web without ringing first to get an RMA number.....

After all, I could take out a PO box and post the address and get a load of visors to sell on eBay....

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how did it all go so wrong?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Me too...

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Originally posted by HostileJava


Actually the processor that the palms use is very similar to that wich the original mac's used, i believe it was called a 64k or somthing like that. In fact the original software used to build programs for the palm was a slightly modified version of the one used for the old mac.

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I think the Visor Platinum will be an interesting note of the transition of the Palm OS to competing seriously via features to Win CE. However, I believe that using a transmissive display versus the reflective display that the iPAQ uses is a BIG mistake. The whole point of the Palm line is usability and how useful is a Palm that can't be seriously used outside. I love playing games on my wife's IIIc but when we did an outside activity which required being able to read her Palm it was totally useless.

I'm glad to see that Sony plans on producing a Palm OS unit with a reflective color screen. I hope Handspring quickly sees the disadvantage that they will have but I don't think the media really has jumped on what I feel is the iPAQ's advantage. They are very focused on the sleeves (which is of course a very important feature) rather than the increased usability.

Everything is changing so quickly in the PDA front that it might be nuts to actually buy a PDA right now. If you are satisfied with your current pda (like I am with my Visor Deluxe) you might just want to wait a while and see how the dust settles. I think it s very interesting that the prototypes of the new Symbian devices are starting to look very Palmish rather than CEish.