Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Holland
Posts: 2

Upgrade

I wonder if it is a good step to go to the color Prism.
Is it really that good? Problem is I cannot go to a store in Holland to find out.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 242

It's good enough so that having used color you'll never go back to black and white. There are a couple of drawbacks: the lith ion battery wears down faster. And it's hard to see the screen in bright daylight. (But much easier to read in shade or indoors.)

Of course, this depends on what you do. Do you like carrying a few pictures around on it? Play games? Use eyemodule? It's less important if all you do is use it as a calendar application. Of course, even then the color is more appealing, just not as essential.

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Holland
Posts: 2

Upgrade to Prism

Thanks for your reply. I think I go to a shop and have a look at a color Palm. I cannot see a Prism her in the shops nearby, but I guess a Palm will be the same. Or is there really a difference?

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 11

Prism waaaay better indoors

The Palm 505 screen is terrible compared to the Prism indoors. The Palm is washed out and very dim, while the Prism is bright and beautiful. Plus, at 299 it is a steal.

Reid

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Truth matters

Registered: Sep 2001
Location:
Posts: 5

I had a Visor Deluxe for about 6 months and really liked it. My wife bought a Neo and she really likes that. I wanted to try new software that needed a newer version of Palm OS, and when I found a good price on a Prism, I bought one. It is many times better than the Deluxe or Neo imho!!

A number of my friends have Palms which are fine, but I could not be happier with the Prism. It's a wonderful PDA. I don't think you'll be disappointed. The color screen is not as good as the IPAQ or CLIE, but I don't really care about the color anyway. What's nice is that it's illuminated from within (like your computer monitor). Much easier to read. Gets my highest recommendation!!

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 53

quote:

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Originally posted by Slawsky
I had a Visor Deluxe for about 6 months and really liked it. My wife bought a Neo and she really likes that. I wanted to try new software that needed a newer version of Palm OS, and when I found a good price on a Prism, I bought one. It is many times better than the Deluxe or Neo imho!!

The color screen is not as good as the IPAQ or CLIE, but I don't really care about the color anyway. What's nice is that it's illuminated from within (like your computer monitor). Much easier to read. Gets my highest recommendation!!

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:

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Originally posted by Shel
Prism was great, in 1999!

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um... the prism didn't exist in 1999.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location:
Posts: 5

CLIE is cool, but....

OK, no question the CLIE is a nice machine but it'll cost $400 and up to get a color version. I bought my Prism for $260. I also like the selection of springboard modules -- I use the SoundsGood for MP3 (it's terrific!) and the VisorPhone (thumbs up again for cell phone, AvantGo, and e-mail).

Here in New England, we're not too worried about getting a screen that works well in the sun. (Don't get enough sun during the warm weather to worry about.)

So if you can spare the extra hundred bucks or so, and you don't care about the springboard modules, and you want to be sure you can use your PDA in direct sunlight, sounds like the CLIE is your choice. Otherwise, I love my Prism.

Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Simsbury, CT
Posts: 40

For what it's worth, I recently had a chance to play with several of these devices at my local CompUSA. I was most impressed with the Prism. The high res screen of the CLIE is beautiful. I also like the jog wheel and the form factor. The memory slot is kind of a wash because you can spend $40 or so and get a MemPlug CF for the Prism, which to me is more useful (I have a digital camera with CF).

So, why do I prefer the Prism over the CLIE?
1. Sony. I have several pieces of Sony A/V equipment and have always been happy with them there (though I've read numerous complaints about the quality of their A/V stuff within the last year or so). However, when it comes to a PDA, I prefer a US company. Why? Well, in this case (Handspring), we're not just talking about a US company, we're talking about the company that invented the Palm OS. Having said that, it does surprise me that they still are bent on not offering flash memory. While the Sony does have flash memory, I think we've seen recently with their upgrade plan that they don't quite understand the mindset of their consumers (the early adopters realize that their big upgrade is simply a software upgrade and shouldn't cost as much as their charging nor require the user to mail in their handheld and wait who knows how long for it to come back). My point is that, IMHO, US companies are going to treat these things as computers, offering better, more useful websites, neat info, etc. A Sony is going to look at this as a consumer electronics device. They release the device and that's it. I don't think we'll see them working closely with other companies to come out with neat add-ons to the CLIE or worrying about making new devices/OS upgrades which won't obsolete their older customers. Again, this is all my opinion. Maybe I'll be wrong here, but their past history with the older B&W CLIE demonstrates this.
2. The screen has faults. The high-res is great, but it's a reflective screen. I have this same type of screen on my iPaq and it accumulates internal dust after time. It seems that every device using this type of screen so far is prone to this, making this a technology which is not production-ready, IMO. Also, for me, I prefer the color vibrancy of an active matrix screen.
3. I feel embarrassed for saying this, but I enjoyed playing Galax at CompUSA on the Prism. As I said, I have an iPaq which, from a multimedia perspective, blows away the Palm OS for games. But what you won't hear too often from the PPC folks is that all of this wonderful hardware is limited by lousy gaming controls. The iPaq can't do simultaneous button and "joypad" presses. The speaker is built into the joypad, so you cover the speaker when you use it. Why am I talking about the iPaq? Well, IMO, th CLIE developers failed in this regard as well. IMO, the buttons are diffucult to press and the up/down button is even worse to use. The Prism buttons, on the other hand, have great tactile feedback. Plus, there's the Visor Gameface (never used it, so I can't comment on it) as well as some other snap-on device (not sure if it's out yet) for the Visors which looks to offer even better gaming control. I really don't expect to play many games on my PDA, but it's nice to have good buttons for when you want to.
4. More expansion capabilities. Tons of springboards abound. I, myself, will probably try out the VisorPhone (cost: free) though I'm worried that the coverage will stink and I also am not thrilled about the size of it and other usability issues with it as compared to a Kyocera 6035 smartphone, for instance. Want GPS? You can get it. Want always-on wireless (e.g. - Omnisky)? You can get it. Being in Holland, these wireless options may or may not be useful to you, but I'm guessing that you do have GSM coverage (right?) so the VisorPhone probably is. I will say, though, that I feel that several of the springboards make the device too big/bulky.

As always, everyone's needs vary. So, just because something seems better to me, it may not meet your needs. To be honest, I'm somewhat disappointed in all the current offerings. What I really want is something akin to a color Kyocera 6035 (if you're now thinking of suggesting the Samsung i300, note that I like the Kyo's hard keypad and Verizon's wireless coverage).

Hope this was useful.

Scott

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 53

Scott
Thanks for your thoughts and review. I found it very informative.

I believe, however, that Handspring is fighting for their corp. life, and they have decided that they need to move away from the standard PDA and Springboards, and over to tele./PDA combined units.

The springboards, while originally a good idea, have simply not taken off. I owned a Visor Edge, and the only springboard I purchased was the backup module. The other boards, I felt, were too expensive, or too gimmicky. The fact of the matter is, with H.S. market share, take away people who purchase Visors but aren't purchasing springboards, and you have a VERY small market to sell Springboards. This means, developers need to charge a high price in order to try to recoup thier investment. With Sony and other PDA manufacturers coming on the scene, the market share for potential Springboard purchasers is only going to come down.

From my perspective, when I owned a visor, I'm thinking : An mp3 player for $200??? I can get one not attached to my PDA for quite a bit less. A camera? It takes VERY mediocure pictures, as compared to a stand alone device.

Yeah, the backup module was nice, but guess what? With a Clie or M505, just purchase a memory card, and you can not only back up your internal, you can store additional programs and files on the same card, all for LESS or the same price as what I paid for my backup module.

H.S. is releasing the Treo line. That's where they have really put their money and engineers. Just look at their recent releases, the Pro and Neo. 16megs internal memory, and a rechargable battery. No engineering really required for either of these. Where's HIRES??? Why can a small company like HandEra get a Hi Res unit to market, but the "Inovation leaders", Handspring, still have 160x160?

Bottem line: I think Handspring is blowing off thier Springboards as a failed experiment, and focusing on telephones.

You state: "I don't think we'll see them working closely with other companies to come out with neat add-ons to the CLIE or worrying about making new devices/OS upgrades "

Well, Sony has already released an MP3 player for those devices which didn't have it built in, they've announced and shown prototypes of a Memory Stick camera and GPS, and there is already available a Stowaway keyboard for the Clies, as well as wireless modem! They also released an OS upgrade. Yeah, its' $50, but at least Clie owners have the option of upgrading or not. Handspring STILL doesn't provide flash memory, so their customers can't upgrade for $$50, $100, for ANYTHING!