Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NYC
Posts: 287

The first time I used an electronic organizer was back in my first year of college, about 4 years ago. I started out with a Sharp Organizer of 125K Memory. I was pretty excited about it because finally I've found something where I could write down all my phone book and my calendar. I also liked the fact that it looked like a small Laptop. However, things changed and I decided to get more power and bought a Sharp Wizard of 500K Memory. I got more excited this time because I could make backups of my organizer to my PC. It had something called "PClink," which allowed me to synchronize files. Really neat and also it had more features, bigger screen, better resolution, better phone book, calendar and memo Pad, etc. I found what I was looking for and thought I was going to use it forever.

However, because of destiny my girlfriend got mad at me a throw away my Wizard 10 feet away. When I turned on, I've lost half of the screen in visibility. Even though it was almost dead, I could sync a back up of the whole memory.
Later on, because of destiny too, somebody stole my book bag from my car. And guess what? my Wizard was in there.

I spent almost 2 years without an organizer. I missed many appointments or was always late, my wallet got fatter because of all the phone numbers and cards I had, I had the need to always carry a notebook, in other words I became the most unorganized person in the world.

Later on, I realized that I must get another Wizard, but this time I wanted something better. I found a Sharp PDA that had a system called "PocketMail." I thought that was what I wanted because I could also get e-mail anywhere I go. I just needed to dial an 800 number from any payphone and voila�! You could even get your AOL mail, plus an Organizer. The price was $100, not bad.

Doubts came to me when Palm publicity became stronger. I was always wondering, "What is that thing called "Palm Pilot," Why is it so popular and why so many people are buying it? What is that thing of writing on a screen instead of typing it in? Therefore, I went to J&R in NYC to see what a Palm Pilot was and why people are buying it? I found myself among many people trying to get their hand on one of those PDAs. I also saw many people buying GoType keyboards. Then I asked for the price of a nice looking Palm V. The answer was $450. I said to my self, "What?" Then I asked if I could get e-mail on this device and they told me that I would have to buy a modem for $200. I said, "Ok thanks" and made my way out of the store saying to myself, "This is almost the price of a cheap Laptop." Therefore, I decided to buy the $100 Sharp PocketMail on my next week visit to J&R.

When I got home, I found on the mail a PC Magazine and went to my bathroom to read it. Guess what I found, "HANDSPRING, Visor Deluxe" starting at $145. I could not believe it, so I check on their website and there it was looking at me saying, "This is what you've been looking for all this days."

And that was how I became addicted to my Visor Deluxe. There is not a single day in my life without it. I think a day without it would be like a day without my brain.

Thanks Handspring for making my life much better.

Al

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Stowaway is the Visor way to go..!

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NYC
Posts: 287

Oops... sorry about the "ed" of own on the title

Al

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Stowaway is the Visor way to go..!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

before my Visor I had a Royal davinci 2Mb (old version) before that I just had my brain....

I liked the davinci, it was a nice cheap machine which introduced me in the world of PDA's. Too bad the lost the lawsuit and had to redesign the OS.... b.t.w. I sold it last week (with pain in my hart, but since I am moving to the other end of the world I need to get rid of all 'non eessential' things...

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Posts: 170

For the last 10 years, I've been using a succession of Sharp Wizards, two of which had been stolen -- one, like acajigas', stolen out of a car (the damn theif also ended up getting my beloved Hartman attache, which had my Wizard inside).

The last one I'd bought had been a refurbished OZ-8200s, with 128K, purchased about 5 years ago.

It's still a great unit and has all the basic features I need: calendar with daily/weekly/monthly views, memo pad, calculator, 3 phone files. It's just not as convenient or versatile as the new PDAs. It's about twice the size and although I can back up the data to my PC, it downloads to a DOS-based program (!) and obviously can't synch to any Windows-based calendars.

Also, with the exception of annually recurring calendar items (e.g. birthdays), or events spanning an uninterrupted time frame, any repeated calendar entries have to be entered individually: So that bi-weekly meeting? Gotta make separate entries for each occurrence! Probably the unit's most glaring fault.

Still love the unit, though. Satisfying to know I was an electronic organizer convert long before PDAs were the 'hot new thing'!

Over the years, I'd scoffed at the competitors: the Psions, the Casios, the Rolodexes. Thought I'd be a Wizard guy for life. But now, the changing of the guard -- just got the e-mail from Handspring confirming that my first VDX has shipped and will arrive tomorrow. I feel like I should have some sort of retirement ceremony for my beloved Wizard...

[This message has been edited by leojbramble (edited 07-26-2000).]

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 341

Palm Pilot Pro
Sharp Zaurus (2)
Velo 1
Velo 500 (2)
LG Phenom (3)
LG Phenom Express (6)
Jornada 420 (several)
Nino 510 (2)
Nino 312 (2)
Jornada 545 (3)
Aero 1530 (3)
Aero 1550 (6)


[This message has been edited by dequardo (edited 07-26-2000).]

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 638

Visor Deluxe (2)
My history isn't as intresting as some others, but there's not much I can do about it.
BEN

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Secaucus
Posts: 1

I owned a palm Vx
Psion 5mx
Casio E-105
Visor Deluxe,

I am thinking about changing back to the 5mx, can someone try to persuade me. I need help.

Marc

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

Palm3 (stolen, amex covered it)
Palm3 (stolen)
Apple Newton 110 ($40 on ebay)
Apple Newton 130 (Keyboard, Modem)
PalmV (Modem, GoType *gag*)
Handspring Visor (Stowaway)

Registered: May 2000
Location: Sewell, NJ, US
Posts: 13

Can I count the TRS-80 Model 100? I bought that in 1983 and paid $1000. Had to buy a tape recorder for mass storage. It has (still in my drawer) an 8 bit, 2.4 MHz processor and came with 16k of ram. It ran for about 20 hours on 4 AA batteries. Really too big to be classified as a PDA, but it had four built in apps and a built in 300 baud modem. The Model 100 had the spirit of the PDA.

I've also owned several Sharps, and a PSION 3c before I finally got my Visor Deluxe. I didn't go for the PSION 5MX because it costs too much and PSION's marketing in the US just plain sucks. I love my Visor (I'm a visorholic now...there, I finally said it!).

John

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: England
Posts: 5

Well I've owned quite a few in the past 5,6 years...

Started off with a little 2k Organiser �18 sold it for �20

Then on wards and upwards to a Oregon Organiser 32k �35 still have it

Then went upto a Psion Series 3c in its last few days of commecial life which is why I got it cheap �270 sold it to a mate who kneeled on the screen �140

Then a Psion Series 5 'classic' �500 sold as paint peeled �140

Then got the Psion Series 5mx day before release �380 still own and use

Now my adventure begins with the PalmOS on me Handspring Visor Deluxe �204

Next stop Psion Netbook

Hmm brings back the memories of cheating in tests by beaming/recieving answers to tests

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

I had a stack of Post-it notes, scraps of paper, notebooks and business cards all in various piles on my desk.

One day I realized I was totally inept at filing and jumped on the internet to order a PDA. The Visor's were cheap and I've been happy (and just a bit more organized) ever since.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

I had a Palm III for about a year and a half before my VDX.

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James Hromadka
VisorCentral.com
Personal Website: http://www.Hromadka.com

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 219

Sharp Wizard OZ-9520->It was nice & came with a modem that I used a lot for checking e-mail via telnet & sending fax. Got tired of typing with the small keyboard & stopped using. (Still have)

Filofax(paper organizer)->Total waste of $80...hated writing repeating events each time (Still have)

Royal daVinci->Good pen-based electronic organizer for $90;not nearly as many 3rd-party applications as Palm-OS;besides, Royal abandoned old OS & its support for good because they were sued by 3Com. (Gave to a nephew)

Ice VisorDx!! Love it!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 8

DayRunner became Sharp Wizard 8000 became PalmPilot Pro.
Upgraded PPPro (2MB, PalmIII upgrade) then bought an IVDx.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 88

How about these tools.

The original Radio Shack 100
The original Pilot from U.S. Robotics
The Apple Message Pad 2000
The Apple Message Pad 2100
The Jornada 540

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 32

I owned a cheap RadioShack organizer, with 32k RAM. And of course my good old school-issued assignment pad


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seanseanadams
your friend and mine

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 32

oops, i sent this twice... sorry

[This message has been edited by seansean (edited 08-04-2000).]

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 241

I had a Sharp organizer with a full 16kb of memory!! Oooh! It wasn't very good, but it was small, and I could write memos if I used multiple ones and used the full 20 some character limit per memo.

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-Petro
Go to The Hunger Site and help eliminate hunger!
All you have to do is click one button! No catch, no personal information requested!!
Please go once a day! Every day!

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: St Petersburg Fla
Posts: 224

Nothing. Wanted an organizer that kept in sync with my PIM on PC. Didn't want to spend the time entering data in the PDA and due to some misfortune, lose everything. Palm Pilots were excellent PDA's but lacked ability to restore PDA standalone. There were other PDA's that communicated with a PC, but still wasn't what I wanted. Then Visor came along with the Backup module. This was what I was waiting for. I always carry the Backup module with me. If the VDX needs a hard reset or the batteries die, I can recover.

Registered: May 2000
Location:
Posts: 23

I have a drawer where my electronic organizers and Apple Newton Message Pad 100 all went to die. I've had at least 2 Casio organizers, 2 Sharp organizers, The Apple, and a Texas Instruments phone file. It was the size of a small calculator. It had a two line screen. It would hold phone numbers and small messages. That was back last century, in the late 80's

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"It isn't easy bein' green"