Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Posts: 3

Can anyone who has used an actual Visor comment on the smaller screen? I am amazed
that they would shrink the screen, and I am
further amazed that the entire board isn't covered with people raving about it!

ZDNET reports a shrink from 2.4"x2.4" to
2.1"x2.1", which is approximately a 25%
reduction in screen size. I consider this
to be rather significant.

With a smaller screen, crappy cover, unnatural location of IR on the side, bad
stylus of non-standard size, and lack of
Flash memory for OS upgrades, I'm really
beginning to wonder if Handspring sacrificed
way too much to keep their costs down.

Everyone keeps saying how a Visor Deluxe is
so much cheaper (many people claim half the
price of Palm), but as far as I can tell,
it's only about $20 cheaper than a Palm
IIIx by mail order, and you can't get any
discount on Visors. Plus, with Palm reducing their prices, soon the IIIx will be even
cheaper. Sure, it still won't have the
springboard slot, but Palm is likely to make
an 8meg version, and I think the IIIx form
factor is a lot nicer than the Visor from
what I've heard.

I think I will ignore the first generation
of Visors and wait for them to take care of
all these minor (and major) defects first.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Spokane, WA, USA
Posts: 114

Stay cool.

First of all, the screen isn't THAT much smaller. It's a little smaller, on the factor of 2mm or so. If it's really the same screen as the V, then it's really cool because the contrast is absolutely spectacular. And part of what's nice is that you will have a hard time seeing the pixel separation that is so readily visible on the IIIx. So don't panic about "small screens". It won't kill you, really... I didn't see anyone have major fits about the screen on the V (granted, the overall design may have distracted them!). If you're not sure about the screen on the V, take your IIIx to a local office or computer store (CompUSA, Circus City, OfficeMax, Staples, whatever) and compare them again.

I'm not really keen on the left-side IR either... The front works so much better for me. But the thinner form factor should actually be nice overall. And it looks like they used concave buttons similar to the V, which really is nicer than the IIIx. I don't know if there's such thing as a "standard" stylus size... even the V stylus is thinner than the III. Hopefully they'll send out a metal stylus with the real units (they still have time to figure out something).

I'm still not sure about the lack of FlashROM. And I still haven't heard back from Handspring about their solutions to system upgrades.

Nonetheless, my Visor Deluxe is on order. If all goes well, my IIIx will be sold once everything is HotSunk to the new machine.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Posts: 3

I was unaware that the Palm V had a smaller
screen, I never seriously investigated them
since they were so expensive, only had 2meg,
and lacked the flip-cover. I will visit
some co-workers with Palm V's and take a
look.

Thanks!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 3

"ZDNET reports a shrink from 2.4"x2.4" to
2.1"x2.1", which is approximately a 25%
reduction in screen size. "

hold on there... now wait a minute, my IIIx screen is NOT square... is yours? I just measured the screen as 2.4" x 3.2"

if that's the report ZDNet gave, I wouldn't trust anything I read from them anymore...


It's a good thing my friend pointed the Visor out to me when he did... my IIIx was still under return period for one more day!

(thankfully that was the date I had to call in the RMA... but I still have my palm till UPS comes and picks it up