Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Avondale, AZ, USA
Posts: 22

I am diving into the world of PDA's for the first time. I'm about 90% sold on the Visor Deluxe despite the shipping problems that Handspring has had. I won't feel like I've done all my homework unless I've checked everything so I would appreciate some inputs on CE devices (hence the subject).

The words that I have heard on CE is way too much OS crammed into a PDA. On the other side, there are many now that will play MP3 now and have CF slots for existing modems. I will need to be able to connect to the Internet (information junkie) and Email while on the road 12-14 days a month. It seems that it might be a while before a decent and affordable modem is available for the Visor.

Personally, I think the CE PDA's are too big and I really don't care about color just now. I would appreciate any inputs that anyone has especially ones that have been using these computers for a while.

Thanks,

Bill

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Vancouver, BC. Canada
Posts: 57

I'm a refugee from Windows CE who is patiently (more or less) waiting for my Visor Deluxe to arrive. I bought a Nino 320 almost a year ago with the intent to use it for email, reviewing word files, taking voice notes, general geek fiddling around etc. Well, although I did enjoy it at first, I quickly found it was not really suitable for my intended uses - I absolutely _loathe_ the email program that comes with it, (and nobody as far as I know makes a replacement), and found the modem to be slow and buggy. The screen readability is not great, it is heavy and too large, and interestingly enough, I found that I didn't use most of the bells and whistles that CE uses to try and distinguish itself from Palm.

The Voice recognition is useless, the software selection and user community is much smaller, programs are larger, it was more expensive than a palm, the voice recorder was more of a toy than a useful tool (for me at least), and the windows based interface is slow, bloated and annoying, especially since it's hard to close programs you are running.

It wasn't all bad: the big screen is nice, it syncs very well with Outlook, and word files were easy to drag and drop into it. I even managed to put an MP3 on board (with a looooong download through the serial port), which was cool, but once I got my hands on a Palm for a trial, I knew it was simply a much better experience all round. I mustn't be alone, as Philips recently stopped making the Nino.

This plus the price, and of course the promise of the Springboard sold me on a Visor. Granted the waiting experience and corporate foul-ups haven't been great, and Handspring will have to work hard to build their reputation back up again, but I'm hoping by early next year this will all be a bad memory and I'll still be discovering cool things I can do with my Visor.

Good luck!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 19

Hoover,

After using a WinCE (Casio E-10) device for close to a year, I tried a friend's old Pilot 5000. Now I'm [not so]paitently waiting for a BVD.

Why? Well, for starters, the battery life on the Casio was dismal. I was constantly replacing the batteries, and it seemed to consume the batteries even when not in use. Friends with other CE devices weren't too impressed with their battery life, either.

My other big complaint was with the WinCE OS. It was slower, more complicated to use (the Start menu on a CE device just doesn't work, in my opinion), and I just didn't use the additional features touted by MS. Oh, and yes, It needed a good rebooting from time to time.

One thing that I did like better about the CE device was the handwriting recognition, though I'm getting good enough at the grafitti now that it doesn't make a big difference.

I'm going with Handspring mainly because of the lower price point. I'm also intrigued by the expandability via springboard.


[This message has been edited by bloonr (edited 11-15-1999).]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Columbia, MO, USA
Posts: 68

"Oh, and yes, It needed a good rebooting from time to time."

Proof of a Microsoft product if there ever was one...

LarryD

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Avondale, AZ, USA
Posts: 22

Thanks for the help and advice..Just ordered a Blue Deluxe.

Bill

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: East Lansing, MI, USA
Posts: 126

AHHHH KILL THE START BUTTON FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD. Just my opinion. I hate that start button on a PPC.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Dayton, TN, USA
Posts: 66

Speaking of the start button. I nearly had a coronary when I saw that someone had created one for the palm platform. No thanks, but that's one "innovation" that Microsoft can keep!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Wilmington DE 19802
Posts: 3

To all out there crying for Handspring to fix delivery... I ordered my Deluxe on October 16th
Got my Graphite unit November 17th. A month.
Did i wait for it impatiently..... NO
I have a life (a software developer's at that). What I want to point out is this. If you order most sensible unit color (Black) you will get it that much faster. This is just my opinion. All other colors are cool, but why??? We have IMacs in our office and frankly, I couldn't care less if they made them in Mary Kay's purple. One of the reasons
all monitor and computer cases are made of vanila plastic or other non-transparent color is so that aluminium can be evaporated on to inside of the cases. Why you may ask??
For RF emission containment. Now, I don't know IMacs are RF profed or not, but I bet their emissions level are higher.. Sorry for weering off the subject.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Avondale, AZ, USA
Posts: 22

Hey Alexo,

Did you order by web or phone? I'm curious since it seems like Handspring may have turned the corner even though there are still some Sep. orderers still waiting. I guess first in line is not necessarily best.

Thanks for the info on cases but Mary Kay's color is pink. A pretty ugly pink too. If you have ever seen one of those ugly pink cadillacs with a woman 5'2 driving who is now 6'9 with the poofed hair, you know what I mean.

Bill

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Wilmington DE 19802
Posts: 3

I ordered mine by phone... I meant pink, of course.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 2

one question. is a visor really worth the wait? im interested as hell in getting one but im not too overjoyed at the wait...

john

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Columbia, MO, USA
Posts: 68

Yes, I would say it was worth the wait. I absolutely love the fact that I can use USB... it's incredibly fast (compared to serial).

I suspect that the waits will continue to exist, but things can only get better on the stand point... Of course, there's also the issue where you might receive more than one, like I did today. I received the one I ordered last week and just received another one today.

All the best,
LarryD