VisorCentral.com - Prism v. ClieT615

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Visor Prism (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=19)
-- Prism v. ClieT615 (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=21267)

Posted by manilaborn on 02-04-2002 10:54 PM:

Prism v. ClieT615

Hello everyone, I am thinking of upgrading from a VDX and currently my two top choices are the Prism or the Clie T615 as I want a color device. Does anyone have any advice especially regarding the screen. I'm more concerned about colors being washed out, clarity and brightness than I am about useability outdoors. I don't really want mp3 capability and the form factor is not as important as useability. Thanks in advance.

Posted by jpessin on 02-04-2002 11:14 PM:

I have owned both the prism and the t615c. The colors on the prism were definitely more brilliant. On the Sony, the reds have more of a brownish hue and the blues seem a bit paler. However, the high resolution screen sure makes the text easy to read. Overall, I am sticking with the sony. The form factor of the prism isn't comparable.

Posted by seboditz on 02-05-2002 09:00 AM:

what about the question of outdoor / under bright lights look of the screen.

am planning to buy one for my wife together with an EM2 (she loves mine on my VPLat) but her job sometimes takes her into the field. we read some concern about the screen being difficult to see when used outdoors.

Posted by cheesehead on 02-05-2002 12:15 PM:

I too have owned both a Prism & T615C, and can tell you that outdoors there is no comparison. The Sony is perfectly useable outdoors, and the Prism is comparatively worthless. On an overcast day, the Prism stands some chance of being read (with your hand shielding the screen), but with full sunshine, forget it.

If you plan on using your PDA outdoors at all, go with the Sony. If you're looking more in the Prism's price range, and you don't mind the larger form factor, try the recently-discontinued Sony N610 (some stores may still have stock, or eBay I suppose). The N610 was my PDA before the T615C and I loved it, esp. outside!

As far as a camera goes, Sony has a memory stick camera, but check out reviews on it. From what I've heard, it's not as good quality as the EM2.

Posted by manilaborn on 02-05-2002 05:13 PM:

Is the screen of the Prism larger than the Clie? Is hi res a significant factor in the decision to choose a Clie over the Prism? Lastly, do I have this right that when Palm comes out with OS5 you can upgrade the Clie but not the Prism? Thanks again for the great info.

Posted by Zip-Zilla on 02-05-2002 07:24 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by manilaborn
Is the screen of the Prism larger than the Clie? Is hi res a significant factor in the decision to choose a Clie over the Prism? Lastly, do I have this right that when Palm comes out with OS5 you can upgrade the Clie but not the Prism? Thanks again for the great info.

Yeah. that's one thing.

It's a pity that Visors dont have the Flash ROM chip... otherwise, OS 4, here we come!

I wonder what Jeff and Donna were thinking when they said No to the engineers...

On the other hand, if we keep upgrading the OS, what $$$ will Handspring earn? Because then no one would upgrade!

__________________
my little webby
I still love my Visor Prism

Posted by TDS_Computer on 02-06-2002 02:24 PM:

No, the sony cannot be upgraded to Os 5. That OS will require an ARM processor, not a Dragonball like the Prism & Sony have.

Doug

Posted by dnottingham on 02-07-2002 11:54 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by TDS_Computer
No, the sony cannot be upgraded to Os 5. That OS will require an ARM processor, not a Dragonball like the Prism & Sony have.

Doug

Actually if you go Here:

http://www.palmos.com/platform/os5/osdatasheet_3.html

You will see that OS 5 WILL be compatible with DragonBall Processors.

Also this page mentions Motorola demonstrating an OS 5 device running on a DragonBall Processor at PalmSource:

http://www.pdabuzz.com/#newsitem1013068668,6919,

Posted by critic on 02-08-2002 05:42 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by dnottingham

Actually if you go Here:

http://www.palmos.com/platform/os5/osdatasheet_3.html

You will see that OS 5 WILL be compatible with DragonBall Processors.

Also this page mentions Motorola demonstrating an OS 5 device running on a DragonBall Processor at PalmSource:

http://www.pdabuzz.com/#newsitem1013068668,6919,

I haven't read the PDABuzz article yet, but it should be noted that Motorola is slapping the "Dragonball" name on its line of ARM processors as well. So just because it's a "Dragonball" processor doesn't mean it's not an ARM processor.

Or then again, maybe I'm just talking out of my a**.

__________________
What do you think, Sirs?

Posted by gadgetguru on 02-08-2002 06:14 AM:

They may be calling the ARM a Dragonball, but the current ones
are not 32 bit like the ARM is. Therefore any current device will not
be able to upgrade to OS 5.

__________________
Rick

www.visorsolutions.com

Posted by septimus on 02-08-2002 01:54 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Zip-Zilla
I wonder what Jeff and Donna were thinking when they said No to the engineers... On the other hand, if we keep upgrading the OS, what $$$ will Handspring earn? Because then no one would upgrade!

I think they were thinking: if the ROM is flashable, then there will be an expectation of upgrades the moment they're available. We know that the folks at Palm aren't going to do anything innovative or wacky for awhile, so lets save money and save face with the non-upgradeable OS. We'll make up the difference by including a version of that Datebook3 app and maybe some other little stuff.

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Posted by Toby on 02-08-2002 02:22 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by dietrichbohn
I think they were thinking: if the ROM is flashable, then there will be an expectation of upgrades the moment they're available. We know that the folks at Palm aren't going to do anything innovative or wacky for awhile, so lets save money and save face with the non-upgradeable OS. We'll make up the difference by including a version of that Datebook3 app and maybe some other little stuff.

Don't forget that Flash ROM was also pretty scarce when the Visor was originally released. I think it was also a business decision at the time between having product to sell vs. having even _more_ delays than they already did. After the first runs didn't have it, I think they just didn't bother with the rest.

Posted by Winchell on 02-08-2002 02:52 PM:

Just to muddy the waters

What's this Cli� N760c thing on the Sony website?
It is listed as $450 as opposed to $400 for the T615c.

Quickly compairing the two, I fail to see any significant difference between them. Other than a slight difference in their memory specfications.

--
SURREAL SAGE SEZ: I was going to procrastinate but I kept putting it off.

Posted by Winchell on 02-08-2002 03:01 PM:

Maybe I should look first...

D'oh!!

Of course, Visor Central already has the answer to my questions!

http://discussion.visorcentral.com/...;threadid=21313

http://discussion.visorcentral.com/...?threadid=21321

Posted by pgnewarkboy on 02-09-2002 09:49 PM:

I have had my Prism for one year and enjoy it. I am very disappointed in Handspring and have no faith in this company any more. I can't recommend that anybody buy a product that has been discontinued - even if it is reduced in price.

I am going to try to get out of the Handspring family as soon as possible. Why buy a treo? Who knows when Handspriing will dump that product line.

I think I would be better off with a pocket pc. Microsoft is pretty tenacious about their products and don't give up easily. I will be looking at the sony and the Casio E200. The Casio has a USB connection that other usb devices can attach to such as a regular keyboard, scanner, printer etc. This is a very interesting and seemingly useful option.

As far as I am concerned it is so long to Handspring. They sent me their so called $150 dollar off offer. I just don't want to risk throwing away another $400 on one of their products.

Part of the reason that I am so mad is that their handspring board idea is great. I like the capability. Its a shame!

Posted by Carl0 on 02-14-2002 03:15 PM:

Don't forget that the Sony has a jog dial.

It's extremely useful, a lot of funktions can be accessed with one hand and no stylus. And no thumb-ache when reading long texts.

__________________
Carlo

Posted by Xolstis on 02-14-2002 03:23 PM:

Probs with fonts

Been using me visor for about 2 months...overall its pretty good....but i seem to have probs with the fonts...(hi-res) dat is...
anyone has any ideas? Using wordsmith, hi-res just makes my fonts go fuzzy.....and using superdoc(ebook reader) i get the same result

__________________
-xol-

Posted by Zip-Zilla on 02-14-2002 05:07 PM:

Re: Probs with fonts

quote:
Originally posted by Xolstis
Been using me visor for about 2 months...overall its pretty good....but i seem to have probs with the fonts...(hi-res) dat is...
anyone has any ideas? Using wordsmith, hi-res just makes my fonts go fuzzy.....and using superdoc(ebook reader) i get the same result

Visor doesn't support Hi-res fonts because the LCD resolution is only 160x160.

Only the SONY Clies support Hi-Res (the N600, N700, T600 series).

Cheers.

__________________
my little webby
I still love my Visor Prism

Posted by septimus on 02-14-2002 05:14 PM:

Re: Re: Probs with fonts

quote:
Originally posted by Zip-Zilla
Only the SONY Clies support Hi-Res (the N600, N700, T600 series).

Yes and no. Any color device can support font dithering, which uses the three-subpixels found in each pixel to smooth out fonts. it does tend to look a bit fuzzy, but sometimes I likes it and sometimes I don't.

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Posted by TDS_Computer on 02-15-2002 02:19 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by pgnewarkboy
I have had my Prism for one year and enjoy it. I am very disappointed in Handspring and have no faith in this company any more. I can't recommend that anybody buy a product that has been discontinued - even if it is reduced in price.

I am going to try to get out of the Handspring family as soon as possible. Why buy a treo? Who knows when Handspriing will dump that product line.

I think I would be better off with a pocket pc. Microsoft is pretty tenacious about their products and don't give up easily. I will be looking at the sony and the Casio E200

Dou you honestly think that other manufacturers do not discontinue there products? Handspring has kept the basic "And compatable" Visor line for as long or longer than any PDA competitor. Palm went from the Pilot, then the III & V, and now the m500 series, and those were all different. Sony does the same thing, but once every three months instead of once per year. PPC are no better at all. They were even forced my Microsoft to change the CPU they use, so 3/4 of the devices purchased a year ago cannot be upgraded at all, and will soon be unable to run the latest software. (PPC software had to be created to run on different PPC CPU's)
Handspring has never for a second mentioned they are leaving the PDA business. They are very possibly moving out of the PDA with no wireless business. This is the business that other companies are now talking about getting into (MS and there "Stinger", Audiovox has a new PPC with integrated data and voice, etc...)
Donna Dubinsky made a very dumb announcement when she said they were going to move out of the traditional organizer line. And she should be flogged with a wet noodle for doing it. But that announcement does not mean that Handspring is a bad company, or that they are screwing their customer base.

Doug

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