Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Beaverton, OR USA
Posts: 87

Graphite Standard and love it. Wish I got the Deluxe.

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Mark N.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 12

3 weeks and counting. Have had minimal problems. A couple soft boots here and again. Benn loading up on App's - some are keepers, some not.

Played PocketChess against the wife before the movie started. Good place for the backlight!

I do NOT miss my Franklin Covey Planner!

Glad to be in the 21st Century!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 247

I've had my Blue Visor Deluxe for about a eek now and it's everything I imagined it would be and more! No problems synching, no problems at all except for the rather scary plastic stylus

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 11

Love my visor. I got it 12/31/99. Also convinced my mom, dad & husband to get one!

I haven't had any problems at all! It's fantastic & fun.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: NY, NY
Posts: 19

I've had my BVD since November and I LOVE IT. I use the Pilot Pentopia ($15 @ BJs) and no problemes with the screen. I do get some dark vertical lines, but not so bad that it changes my opinion. I also love datebook+, JFile and AvantGo ROCKS.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Cary,NC,USA
Posts: 5

I too have an IVDx and absolutely love it. The vast majority of the Palm owners who see it are ready to dump theirs and get one. I have had no problems from the start, software installed, and ran on my PC, syncs have been seamless.

After reading some of the boards, I decided to use WriteRights from the start and am very happy with that choice.

When PDAs first came out I brushed them off, but now I am so happy I waited for the VISOR.
I would recommend it without any reservation.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 3

I have had my Blue Visor Delux for just over a week now, and no problems. I really like it. No scratches yet using the supplied stylus. Avantgo is REALLY cool.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 42

I have had my Graphite Visor Deluxe with the 8mg backup module for a month. I love it!!!! It is my first PDA and I can't live without it. I wonder how i lived without it. Everyone at work that has a PALM III is jealous.

It compares to the PALM Vx, but has a little better screen and with afterburner it runs faster. The only disappointment is my 16 year old son bought a PALM Vx from a classmate for $50 bucks and I paid $320.00...

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

I'll chime in with my impressions.

I've had my Graphite VDX for about 6 weeks and use it heavily. It's my first PDA, so I have little to compare it to, but on the whole I'm *quite satisfied*.

I still have Win95 at home, and NT4.0 at work, so I only hotsync with serial, but I've never had a problem with it.

I do inadvertantly get the calculator if I'm trying to scroll down on a scroll bar and I'm not very careful with the stylus. This is, imho, a *design flaw*. I didn't like the results of readjusting the digitizer and have not gotten around to what sounds like the best solution, a DA which allows a person to map the silkscreen buttons in pieces. I avoid the problem by using the hard buttons for scrolling. NBD.

I do not see any evidence of "cracking" that some people's Visors have. I have used the snap-on cover many times per day from day 1.

My screen has noticibly more 'give' at the top than in the silkscreen. I suspect it's slightly loose inside. It doesn't affect normal use and I'm not going to open the case to investigate until the warranty runs out.

No scratches on the screen; I've been using WriteWrites (WinCE size) since day one.

My VDX does not sit perfectly flat on a flat surface, but I always have the snap-on cover on the back (which does sit flat) so it's not a big deal.

My VDX does not flex and it does not creak unless you're fairly firm with it, so I'm satisfied with the physical form factor.

I like the heft and reset pin of the five-pack stylus (I bought an Orange one on the for-sale board and think it looks cool with Graphite), but I find the stock stylus adequate. I would not have bothered to buy the Orange stylus if I hadn't been able to use PayPal and effectively get it for free. I have fairly small hands and occasionly the stylus (stock or deluxe) causes cramps due to the short length. If my hands were bigger, I'd buy a pen-sized third party one.

I also wish the alarms could be louder, but it's my understanding that the Palm models have the same problem.

I have had to do several soft resets, usually when I was fooling with new software/hacks, but I've never needed a hard reset (I still bought and use BackupBuddyNG though).

I use rechargable NiMH batteries and change them every couple of weeks. Longer battery life would be a nice bonus, but with one set always in the charger, it's really not a big deal.

For the price, I would have bought the VDX even without Springboard or USB capacity over any current Palm, so I'm only minorly disappointed that no killer Springboards are out yet. As I've said elswhere, I'd buy a cellphone module if it were offered so that I wouldn't have to carry both.

Sorry for the long-winded post, I just wanted to be cover all the points I could think of.

P.S. I ordered mine on the web mid-November, so I was not an early-adopter. Can anyone confirm/deny that early-adopters are the ones with the most problems?

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 40

I've had my Graphite VDx for about 3 weeks now. (It's my first PDA, I had a Compaq C140 before.)
This is great PDA, I've had no problems with Handspring so far, I got my PDA 10 days after I had placed the order
I've been using screen protectors after reading a lot of screen-scratch-sob-stories!
I use my GVDx every day.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: San Diego, CA 92110
Posts: 10

my girlfriend and I have had our BVDs since mid-novermber and we are both completely happy with them. AvantGo is definately the killer app for the Visor Deluxe. I have four MBs worth of news and entertainment with me all the time. It's also perfect for shopping lists and whatnot. Being able to IR notes to each other is a lot easier than post-it notes and other paper scraps.

Speaking of post-it notes, I am currenty using my springboard cover to carry them. The only complaint I would have is that the groovy Springboard modules are still not available. I have my eye on Innogear's MiniJam MP3 player and possibly a OCR springboard.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 14

I love mine! I have a OVDx and have had it for almost 7 days... very slick.

Everyone I show it to thinks it's a GameBoy. :-) I can't wait until I can order the mp3 player from innogear. I originally ordered the Rio 500 over the Christmas holiday; but it was on backorder for so long I canceled and ordered the visor. Now I'm glad I did!

I've only had to do a soft reboot about 7 or 8 times.... but you have to understand, I've been putting it through the ropes. I've successfully filled the memory to capacity and then cleaned it off. I think I've loaded almost every piece of freeware out for the PalmOS! It's a very nice gadget.

My only complaint is that the ROM is not flashable to my knowledge. O well; this version of the Palm OS works fine so I shouldn't have to upgrade anyway.

I've lost all my data once--thou that's enough for me! It happened when I completely took the visor apart, just looking at the guts ;-) A memory loss was expected.

Overall, I have had good experience with handspring. I have called the 1-800 number over three times (anxious for my visor to get here!). I never waited over 5min. My luck I guess.

Wes

[This message has been edited by Klaymen (edited 02-04-2000).]

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 5

I've had my BV for about 10 days now and it's become indespensible. It was delivered within 8 days of ordering, and I immediately loaded up the calendar and address book.I ordered the serial cradle separately (silly me - I just assumed one of the ports on my Mac G3 Powerbook was a USB port). The serial cradle also came within a week of ordering. I just got it today and have been spending the last hour downloading stuff. No problems with any of it, even though this is my first PDA. I'm looking forward to getting a database program this weekend and starting on some custom work.

My only complaint is that my CD didn't come with any of the games that some of you have mentioned.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Geneseo NY
Posts: 34

Ordered mine September 14. Got it October 26.
The unit has met or exceeded any expectation. I use it everyday, work or home. At my suggestion my employer has changed from Palm to Visor for employee PDAs.
There are now about 25 in my plant, (food processing) and except for the batteries getting cold (42 degree F room) I have had ZERO problems. I keep trouble shooting checklists, keep track of parts, do realtime producton stats, and play games, and read my bible all from my shirt pocket.
I was looking to replace my WinCE device which didn't suit any of my needs when I heard of the Visor, I have never regretted it and never looked back.

Craig Wadsworth
Kraft Foods
[email protected]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 86

I've had mine since November and it's great!

They say the dullest pencil is better than the sharpest memory. My Visor is even better than a dull pencil. I bought one for my wife for Xmas and even though she initially thought "What a geek toy" she now loves it too. Although she refuses to play games on it.

It's a great way to read books. I like to read while I'm at lunch. Now I just take my Visor out of my pocket and read any one of a half dozen books I have loaded up. So far I've read Treasure Island, Dr. Jeckyl & Mr Hyde, 20K Legues under the sea, and The Hacker Crackdown.

I'm lost without it.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 48

I got mine just before New Year's. After about two years with the PalmIII it's like driving a Ferrari. I've loaded up over 4MB of apps and such and not a single problem. I've managed to get four of my friends to buy Visors since I got mine (Hear that Handspring? Maybe you can expedite the case I ordered three weeks ago?)

Gotta love it!

Registered: Not Yet
Location:
Posts: N/A

Just got my Ice VDx on Friday (It's Sunday now) and am LOVING it! My only other PDA was a 256K Sharp Wizard that was obsolete when I bought it.

The Palm OS is amazing. I heard the stories about learning graffitti in 5 minutes, but it's true. The Visor is THAT EASY to pick up.

The supplementary shareware and freeware on the web is outstanding. Plenty of resources. I've been able to find more than enough additional resources to fulfill job and life interests.

The Visor itself is sturdy, hasn't scratched yet (but I'm on the prowl for a screen protector, just to be safe), and the deluxe stylus is top drawer. I am impressed with the product, the hot-synching capacity, and the responsivenes of the keys.

Great product, great experience. Thanks, Handspring!

(By the way, I've enjoyed VisorCentral and used it as a top resource in choosing to purchase a Visor over a Palm or a Win CE device. Good work!)

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: "Children are a gift from God, they are a reward"
Posts: 1049

I loved my Green Visor til I lost it so I ordered another (blue this time - 'cause there's a thin chance my green one might show up). I had no problems with my unit in the two months I had it, and I took it with me everywhere.
'Nuff said.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 10

I loved my BVDx. It was the key to my salvation at the work place. I had EVERYTHING in it. Including the inventory of several of the retail locations i was managing. Then one rainy, dreary morning I dropped it in a puddle...

Ever see your life flash before your eyes?

It is dead. God rest it's soul. The Visor can do anything but it is not water proof (YET!).

So I called customer service and got a new one!

Call it a happy ending (I DO! :-)

No problems (crappy shareware aside) and i still cannot believe how dependant I became on the thing so quickly. It is the greatist thing since sliced bread.

sniff... i think i'm in love ... sniff

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 15

Love hardly says enough. I definitely find myself in the "how have I lived w/o this" category. In the 3 weeks I've had it, I've become more organized and efficient than I had been for the previous 28 years.
by just showing it to others I consider myself personally responsible for the sale of 3 others.
I've tried to figure out why this works where Outlook and regular organizers have failed and I've come down to a 3 main (related) points.
1) I always have it because it fits in my front left pocket. Pen and paper organizers may work for my girlfriend but she has a purse to carry it in, my organizer wasn't there when I needed it because it was too bulky to carry.
2) Outlook 2000 is great as a fully managed PIM but talk about being bulky and not there when you need it! I couldn't carry around my desktop.
3)Even though I often travel with my laptop, it's not convenient to power it up everytime a little thing comes up that I want to make note of. My visor is out of the pocket and the info entered in less time that it takes to boot up my laptop.
4) I have it with me in bars, grocery stores, on the street, in my car, whenever and whenever I need it.
I don't want to get in to details (so as not to jinx myself) but suffice it to say I have had only 1 minor problem since I received my GVX and I've added hacks, games, and all sorts of stuff...uh-ohh now I've asked for it. But I am not afraid. I've only had to call support once and I got through in 2 minutes or less at 11 AM EST and I was off the phone within a minute with the right answer (b/c it's not enough to get off the phone with just any answer)
It wasn't just love, it was love at first sight!