Discussion > Other Areas of Interest > All Handhelds > Why HandEra?
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Why HandEra?
By: matthewjp @ 04:06 PM
I must have missed something. I recently checked out the HandEra web site and looked at the specs. I cannot imagine spending $299 for a HandEra. What features am I NOT noticing that account for the enthusiasm. Thanks.
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Re: Why HandEra?
By: volcanopele @ 07:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by matthewjp
I must have missed something. I recently checked out the HandEra web site and looked at the specs. I cannot imagine spending $299 for a HandEra. What features am I NOT noticing that account for the enthusiasm. Thanks.
The two major features that the Handera 330 has that most like is the Virtual Graffiti and the dual expansion slots. I agree, I still don't think it justifies the cost but for some these features are indispensable. If only they made a thin version with color 
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By: septimus @ 10:14 PM
I don't think it's all that difficult to find a 330 for less than their list price. That said, 300 bucks is a bit much for ANY mono device. The Handera is the best non-thin mono device out there, period. If you don't require color and form, get it get get. Here's why:
- Jog dial
- virtual graffiti area gives you more real estate
- good backlight
- incredible battery life
- uses III (read: cheap!) peripherals
- dual expansion allows you to have memory AND something else
If I were fresh on the market today, I would be getting a Handera.
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Re: Why HandEra?
By: Toby @ 11:19 PM
quote:
Originally posted by matthewjp
I must have missed something. I recently checked out the HandEra web site and looked at the specs. I cannot imagine spending $299 for a HandEra. What features am I NOT noticing that account for the enthusiasm. Thanks.
Well, I don't have one currently, but if I hadn't heard a rumor that a color one was coming in the next few months, I'd have replaced my Edge with one by now. Here's a short laundry list of why:
- Dual expansion slots - One can have memory expansion via the SD/MMC slot, and use the CF slot for a network card/GPS/modem/etc. This means that you still have the sync port free for a keyboard.
- Screen - I think this is a highly elegant solution which allows you the capability to have more and clearer text on the screen for reader apps and still have the convenience of the Graffiti area when necessary. Higher resolution, soft graffiti, and rotatable to boot.
- Support - Handera/TRG has always seemed to keep their devices relatively current and up to date with OS support. This means if a new app requires a new software feature, you can use it. You don't have to wait for a third-party to come up with a workaround for your non-supported OS.
- Compatibility - Palm III peripherals are easy to find and cheap.
- Real backlight - nuff said
- Jog dial - ditto
Re: Why HandEra?
By: ganoe @ 11:49 PM
Well, I have a 330 and it's all the features mentioned above plus others. I like being able to plug it in with a cheap AC adaptor when I'm on a trip. I like the fact that the alarm light stays on so I can see if I missed an alarm. It's nice that I can dial a phone with it using DTMF tones. Oh, and the voice recorder.
Anyhow, the screen really blows pretty much everything else away. I am not impressed with any of the current color screens, they're all too dim and/or use too much power. The 330's hi-res screen might last quite nicely for me till the OLED ones are out.
The CF slot means cheap memory expansion and cheap 802.11b options. Sam's Club is selling the 330 for $219 I think and CompUSA has them for $249 this week after rebate. Try doing 802.11b with even the cheapest Visor and your cost go well over the 330 with and 802.11b CF card. Once you've used the Springboard slot for an I/O card, there goes your memory expansion.
By: Techie2000 @ 01:46 AM
My personal feeling is that HandEra wil be able to steal the market from if they drop prices and come out with at least a color device.
By: AzNCoMpUtAnErD @ 10:14 AM
Handera is one cool company, and I'd be using their products if they weren't so darn ugly. Though I don't know about their survival...they are such a small company that very few people know about them. Those that do are generally power users. Thus, the only people who would purchase their products would be mainly power users, which makes up a very small piece of the PDA market share. Palm, Handspring, and Sony dominate the consumer base, the largest chunk of market share, and Handera would never be able to take a chunk of it. I hope they stay alive for us, but I just don't know about them...
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By: dorelse @ 02:23 PM
Handera is a cool company, I drive by their HQ's every day on my way to work...I also have a 330, an Edge, & a Jornada 567. (Yes, I have a PDA genetic defect.) Anyway...I love the 330. It looks better in person than it does in pictures...as I was turned off the by picts initially. But...what other device has a built in SD card for memory expansion + CF type I+II built in? A couple new 2002 PocketPC's, and that's it, not even all of them do.
Plus, the virtual graffiti area is Backlit...which is IMHO, the biggest asset you get from the Virtual Graffiti...plus you actually get to see your graffitti strokes as you write them!
My only problem with it is that not all Apps work well on the Handera 330. BugMe! crashes it, and BugMe! Messenger gets a weird resolution from it...show's up using 1/2 the screen. Silver Screen doesn't work either. (Well, they don't work on my 330.)
But my biggest complaint is that its only Serial...which takes my sync from under 2 mins on my Edge to over 5 on my 330...sometimes that's just unacceptable when I need to leave.
Which is where the Jornada (& all PPC's) shince...with ActiveSync, there's no waiting...its always sync'd.
There are some local rumors about the Color Handera unit around town, but nothing I can confirm or deny. Plus Handera is really trying for the corporate sales, not us power users...although they don't mind us speading the good word either.
Re: Re: Why HandEra?
By: Toby @ 03:51 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ganoe
[...] It's nice that I can dial a phone with it using DTMF tones. [...]
Forgot to list that one.
quote:
Originally posted by dorelse
[...] But my biggest complaint is that its only Serial...which takes my sync from under 2 mins on my Edge to over 5 on my 330...sometimes that's just unacceptable when I need to leave. [...]
You could always get a CF ethernet card. Even USB couldn't compete with that.
My Handera
By: waynorth @ 10:51 PM
I have a 330 and just got a JVC Digital video camera with sd/mmc slot for digital pictures.
The sd card fits into the Handera and with JPG view you can see the pictures right after taking them in the camera. The pics look great and load full screen in landscape.
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