VisorCentral.com - Is Palm's quality better than Handspring's??

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Visor Prism (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=19)
-- Is Palm's quality better than Handspring's?? (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=11886)

Posted by confused_monkey on 02-16-2001 01:25 AM:

I know quality is a subjective concept, but in terms of durablity and precision in construction, who makes better units, Palm or Handspring??

Posted by dick-richardson on 02-16-2001 02:27 AM:

Supposedly the Palm's were of better quality than the early visors. Now I think they're pretty similar, although the prism feels quite a bit more solid than any of the Palm's I've held at our local OfficeMax. But as far as actual personal experience I had to return my Palm IIIe more than any other pda I've had -- 8 times. My deluxe was returned 6. My last PalmPilot Pro was #5. I just had to return my prism because the screen was absolutely blank (even after a hard reset) and they sent me a replacement with no sound capabilities (even after a hard reset) so I will be on my 3rd fairly shortly. This isn't exactly scientific as it doesn't take into consideration the amount of time I owned each unit, but the Palm IIIe was a pile of crap no matter how you look at it. I only owned them for a month and a half.

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Posted by eyebrowse on 02-16-2001 06:15 AM:

Subjective

When Handspring first came out, I was more than happy to stick with my Palm III because as pretty as the Handspring looked, it just felt cheaper. More fragile. It was just a gut reaction, though, not related in any way to having mistreated either.

But the later Visors started feeling more sturdy, and then Palm came out with the m100 (which my coworker bought). Suddenly the m100 came up feeling the most like a cheesy toy, and then I played with the Platinum and Prism, and the rest was history.

I have always admired the functionality of the Visor, but somewhat envied the elegance of Palm's offerings - of course the Palm V especially. And with Palm planning new devices with the Palm V form factor, the work will be cut out for Handspring to keep a cut of the "looks classy" market.

We all know it's the Visor's versatile slot that makes it what it is... but man that Palm V - even now, well after its release - sure looks good. I'd urge Handspring to concentrate on the "form factor" battle, rather than coming up with a same-bodied entry-level Visor to match the Palm m100's limited appeal.

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Posted by David Vitale on 02-16-2001 02:40 PM:

I've never had any complaints about either. The Palms have always felt sturdy. With the Visors - as with anything new -- including new .0 releases of operating systems - there will be a break-in time where beta's just can't catch everything.

I've had a Prism for about a month and I find it to look, feel and perform very studily and correctly. I don't think you can go wrong (now) with a Platinum or a Prism.
dave

Posted by foo fighter on 02-16-2001 03:25 PM:

There is no question that Visors have always had poor quality plastic, especially the colored units. They seem to have a very low stress tolerance. Palm devices had a much more rugged and high quality plastic....that is until they unveiled the IIIxe and IIIc. Now they are EVERY BIT as cheap as the Visor. It's a crying shame that Palm felt it necessary to move to a cheaper quality plastic as a means of lowering production costs.

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Posted by confused_monkey on 02-16-2001 07:41 PM:

microphone

OK. I'm deciding on keeping my replacement Visor Prism, albeit it has a loose power button--I mean, it's not like the Visor is going to die or anything.

Also, I see that many of you have been going through so many replacement units. I kind of feel paranoia now that I read all these problems. Anybody know how to test the microphone on the Visor without, say, the voice recorder springboard? I don't want to run the warranty out and then discover a problem with the Visor.

So many problems...

Posted by dick-richardson on 02-16-2001 09:22 PM:

Re: microphone

quote:
Originally posted by confused_monkey
Also, I see that many of you have been going through so many replacement units. I kind of feel paranoia now that I read all these problems. Anybody know how to test the microphone on the Visor without, say, the voice recorder springboard? I don't want to run the warranty out and then discover a problem with the Visor.

I treat my equipment hard. It's a character flaw on my part, not a quality control issue with Handspring or Palm (except the IIIe). I expect Handspring to be pretty good about the warranty even if it's expired. No need to be paranoid. Just hope that if you break it somehow the screen remains intact. All the times I've had my units replaced I've only had to pay the $85 thrice.

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Posted by David Vitale on 02-16-2001 10:08 PM:

I don't know confused monkey, if I had a loose power button I wouldn't be concerned with how it operated at the moment -- but rather -- is the power button about to fry for real leaving me without a unit? If you're under warranty you might want to make them replace it until they get it right.

Also Dick, I've only been a Visor user for a month, what's this about the $85? Do they charge that whenever they have to replace a unit -- or after Warranty. Also, I'm lazy and haven't checked -- is the warranty 90 days, 6 mos or a year?

tanks - dave

Posted by Clovis on 02-16-2001 11:07 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by confused_monkey
I know quality is a subjective concept, but in terms of durablity and precision in construction, who makes better units, Palm or Handspring??

I've owned both Palm and Handspring products, starting with Pilot 5000 to Palm III to Visor Deluxe and now Visor Prism. I have to say that quality and construction has to go to Palm. I've owned the Visor Deluxe which had cracks develop at the power button, this has been exchanged numerous times. In addition, the painted icons on the buttons have also rubbed off. Now, my Prism is experiencing not only the famous paint rubbing off on the back side, but also hairline cracks at the top where my Handspring oversized modem "slams" into the case during insertion. My Visor Deluxe never showed signs of cracks at the Springboard module port, and I've "slammed" that modem in there for over a year before I received my Prism. I am very anal with all my PDA's and have always kept them safe in a case.

Many of my family and friends own Palm products, IIIxe and IIIc and Vx, and none have experienced the poor quality problems I have experienced in less than a year of ownership that I have.

On the plus side, Handspring's Customer Service is A-1 in handling my problems. I just wish Handspring would build better quality into their products the first time, so that I don't have to waste both of our time on exchanges.

As soon as Palm comes out with a color PDA with real USB interfacing, I will convert back, A.K.A. Palm m505. It's ashame that I'm knee deep in Springboard modules and a Stowaway keyboard that won't be useful when I go back...can you say "e-Bay".

Posted by David Vitale on 02-17-2001 01:37 AM:

This is like so ironic, but I was showing the features of my Prism to one of my sons friends (12 year old), and, dropped the damned thing. My prism (from 4 feet) hit the floor, bounced about 3 times and came to a rest. Needless to say I thought the world had ended (as far as my Prism was concerned).

All is well, so far it works fine - I am floored that I didn't ruin the Prism for good. I'm talking about a hard drop without being in any kind of a case. "BANG - on a tile floor!

Now, I know that things may change, but so far -- I'm breathing easier.
dave

Posted by dick-richardson on 02-17-2001 05:35 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by David Vitale
Also Dick, I've only been a Visor user for a month, what's this about the $85? Do they charge that whenever they have to replace a unit -- or after Warranty. Also, I'm lazy and haven't checked -- is the warranty 90 days, 6 mos or a year?

$85 to replace a visor solo, deluxe, or platinum with a cracked screen. $100 to replace a prism with a cracked screen. If it doesn't work but the screen is okay getting a replacement is free for 1 year. It's pretty sad I know the warranty details by heart.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Posted by comcom on 02-17-2001 05:09 PM:

Buy a zippered Custom Case

With all of the discussion about breakage, etc., I must offer my insight. I have owned my Prism, Platinum and Deluxe for quite some time now; with this in mind, they are all in perfect condition. I try to take care of my investment, so I purchased a zippered custom case for each unit. Yes, this was a pricey decision, but one that has kept my PDAs is tip-top shape. Another must is a screen protector -- WriteRight from ConceptKitchen -- that will add years to your screen. One of the biggest complaints I hear about PDAs is that the screens get smugged and scratche too easily.

My 2 cents worth!

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