Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

Ideas for new Prism owner?

Hi all! I am upgrading my beloved 2 year old Deluxe to a Prism (fell for the Wal-Mart prices!) I have a Stowaway, and some cases that will hold it nicely (although I know that my snap-cover based cases will no longer work.

At the same time, I will be trying out MemPlug (I currently have a FlashPlus) to take advantage of the movies, etc.

So...

1. What problems should I be on the lookout for to start with? (I heard there was a problem with the digitizer at one point). Any fixes or upgrades I should slap on ASAP?

2. Any assosrted hints or tricks you have run into that might help, case recommendations, etc.?

3. Which color apps do I HAVE to get, cuz' they are just so cool or whatever?

Thanks!

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Arlington, TX
Posts: 334

Go to the Handspring support pages and download the updates.
You will see screen flicker.

Get Bejewelled, SplashPhoto, LauncherIII (for the memplug) and
lots more that I can't think of right now.

__________________
Rick

www.visorsolutions.com

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

quote:

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Originally posted by gadgetguru
Go to the Handspring support pages and download the updates.
You will see screen flicker.

Get Bejewelled, SplashPhoto, LauncherIII (for the memplug) and
lots more that I can't think of right now.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

I loooove Datebook4 with color icons--I think ActionNames (the other calendar program recommended alot by others) uses color icons, too.

gadgetguru:
"You will see screen flicker." Do you mean before or after the updates? I am a relatively new Prism owner, too, (woo hoo!) and downloaded the updates already...
Kelley

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

quote:

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Originally posted by K. Cannon
I loooove Datebook4 with color icons--I think ActionNames (the other calendar program recommended alot by others) uses color icons, too.

gadgetguru:
"You will see screen flicker." Do you mean before or after the updates? I am a relatively new Prism owner, too, (woo hoo!) and downloaded the updates already...
Kelley

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__________________
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. JOHN 14:2

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

quote:

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Originally posted by GSR13
The PRISM has been notorious for Screen Flicker. HandSpring finally released a utility to adjust the Contrast on the Prism. Do a search on the forum for Prism Contrast and you will see many, many users note this problem. It is possible that HandSpring has fixed this problem in newer models, though I find it unlikely.

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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

quote:

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Originally posted by K. Cannon

Will it disappoint you if I say no?

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__________________
In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. JOHN 14:2

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 832

It's all about the games! At least for me, I was scheduling and dialing just fine with my VDx

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 15

Power

The biggest thing you will have to determine is the minimum screen brightness that you can live with. The Prism screen is wonderful on full brightness but it sucks the battery down quickly. I have a dimmer hack that sets the screen at 45% for 30 seconds and then drops to 10% if no activity. This has helped extend my battery life significantly.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

quote:

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Originally posted by GSR13


You wouldn't happen to be the K.Cannon the actress would you? The one that appeared on MagnumPI.

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My former college advisor is named K. Cannon and he lives in South Carolina. Hmmmm.

__________________
"Life is what you experience between racing games"
Galley

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

quote:

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Originally posted by Galley_SimRacer
My former college advisor is named K. Cannon and he lives in South Carolina. Hmmmm.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

quote:

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Originally posted by GSR13
Not at all. Actually, I was watching Magnum today and the name "Katherine Cannon" popped up as a guest star. For some reason, I immediately thought of you.You know how it is, I had to ask.

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I admit to having to do quite an extensive web search to see who Katherine Cannon was. Had she been extrememly good looking, I would have professed to be she.

Registered: Nov 2001
Location:
Posts: 33

Flicker

The only problem I have with my visor is the screen flicker. Which in itself isn't really that bad. The only time it is evident is when I have the brightness turned all the way down and I'm in my bedroom with the lights off. Other then that I have had no problems with my Prism... well then again there's the battery life issue. Recharging the battery isn't an issue but I wonder how many recharges it will accept before it starts to perform really poorly and I haven't found any place on the web where I can buy a replacement battery, even though most say by the time the battery is through, I would have moved onto another pda.

we'll see...

__________________
Great Success always comes at the Risk of Great Failure.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 172

quote:

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Originally posted by K. Cannon


LOL! My husband is going to be quite shocked to hear this one! Nope, not a TV "star" or a college professor!

P.S. I see you are in Greenville--did you go to Furman by any chance?

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__________________
"Life is what you experience between racing games"
Galley

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Phoenix Arizona
Posts: 74

Hi,

One note on the screen flicker - it's not tied to the brightness but rather the contrast. If you get the contrast update that Handspring has released you find that the normal / best setting for contrast seems to be about 1/3rd of the bar from the left -- this gets rid of the flicker.

As far as dimming - this depends on your usage. I normally don't have to dim my screen at all as I'm usually near a power supply.

Also, go get a utility called 'Khroma'. It's free and comes with a lot of good color schemes. This will allow you to set the colors throughout most of your applications and on your launcher. By the way, you'll want to stick with LauncherIII as it seems to work best with a CF card. I use Matchbook with the FAFFilemover software. Takes a bit of getting used to but it works very well.

There's also some clocking software out there that speeds up your Prism. I use CruiseControl with Benchmark to monitor speed.

Enjoy
dave

Registered: Nov 2001
Location:
Posts: 33

Dimming

quote:

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As far as dimming - this depends on your usage. I normally don't have to dim my screen at all as I'm usually near a power supply.

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When I was talking about turning my brightness all the way down it was not for power conservation, it was for my wife's sleep conservation I usually end up turning the brightness all the way down when I am in the bed (reading an e-book or something) and my wife is usually trying to sleep. If you've never used your Prism in the dark before, you'll be surprised how bright they are. On Christmas Eve our power when out and I and my wife used our Prisms as flash lights. May be a good topic for another thread. "The strangest Things you've used your Visor for" ...lol

__________________
Great Success always comes at the Risk of Great Failure.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

Thanks for the info!

Flicker: downloaded and installed the utility right off the bat- no flicker noticed any more!

Battery life: I found that keeping the brightness as low as practical fo the situation helped tremendously, and I also ordered the Batt Plug device from Visor Solutions- (great turn-around time! Thanks!).

Datebook software: I was using Action Names before, and am going to continue ot do so. I am trying to upgrade to the latest version, but am running into a snag with the registration process somehow. Even in the next-to-last version, the colors are great and I love it!

Launcher: I was using Launcher III before- the shareware version, and love it as well. I tried the 'full color' version, but did not like the way it handled B&W icons, and the other version is working jujst fine for me (sure, I have to load things to the memory card by 'hand', but that is not too tough!)

MemPlug: As much as I loved my FlashPlus, I am findin ghte MemPlug to be a bit more stable. I have not had a fatal crash or software conflict since starting to use it.

Thanks all for your help!

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Jackson, Mississippi
Posts: 51

color apps

I got a Prism about a month ago and searched around for apps that much better in color than greyscale. My favorites are SilverScreen and Planetarium.

Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Sumner, WA
Posts: 70

quote:

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Originally posted by GSR13


The PRISM has been notorious for Screen Flicker. HandSpring finally released a utility to adjust the Contrast on the Prism. Do a search on the forum for Prism Contrast and you will see many, many users note this problem. It is possible that HandSpring has fixed this problem in newer models, though I find it unlikely.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Sumner, WA
Posts: 70

Re: Power

quote:

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Originally posted by scromer
The biggest thing you will have to determine is the minimum screen brightness that you can live with. The Prism screen is wonderful on full brightness but it sucks the battery down quickly. I have a dimmer hack that sets the screen at 45% for 30 seconds and then drops to 10% if no activity. This has helped extend my battery life significantly.

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