Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Tampa
Posts: 10

Visor Phone Virgin

I want to buy a Visor Phone for my Prism, but have grown increasingly confused reading all this Cingular/Spring/GSM/CDMA/minutes per byte stuff. I'm not a complete moron, but I play one on these boards. Can someone just break it down for me in simple terms. Here's all I'd use it for:
1. The occassional phone call or two or three a day.
2. Check email.
3. Surf the web during down time for stuff to read. Surfing is the real benefit that I personally see to getting one.

I have a cellaular phone (Nokia/Cingular, but don't you have to have GSM service for this? Cingular doesn't), DSL at home and T1 connection at work, I work for a newspaper so I'm in front of a computer alot, so maybe I don't even need this. But I WANT it.

That's all. Can I do this without paying 50 additional bucks a month for service? Any ideas?

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

Can I guess that you've already gone to www.handspring.com and found out that Cingular woud be your carrier?

Also, have you used AvantGo? It's a great way to get interesting stuff to read into your PDA.

__________________
Jeff

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Tampa
Posts: 10

Actually, according to Handspring.com, my supplier would be VoiceStream, which confused me more.

And I use AvantGo when I sync and love it. BUt my knowledge of the possibilities of AvantGo goes no further. All my PDA knowledge is quite rudimentary, though I have figured out the Targus keyboard, Springboard modem, and various programs. VisorPhone, however, due to fear of getting some surprise $50-100 bill, is much more scary.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 60

Here's the quick scoop

1. I think Cingulair uses GSM only in CA and is on another standard elsewhere (I don't remember if it is CDMA or TDMA). That is why Handspring is telling you that Voicestream would be your provider, you must live outside of CA and the VP is a GSM phone.

2. I have Voicestream in NYC for my Vdx/VP combo and am very happy. Her is how it works for me:

Get More plan at $39.95 gives me 600 anytime minutes and 2000 weekend minutes (via promo avail when I signed up). I also got 50 SMS messages a month (called Ping Pong by Voicestream). I bought 500 addnl SMS messages a month for $2.95/mo.

3. Data services come with the plan. You set up the network pref. to dial up your ISP and the minutes come out of your voice minutes. I use AT&T Worldnet without a problem. There is some new wireless data service called iStream, but I don't need it or have it. I think it is GPRS which the VP can't use anyway. (The Treo wil be GPRS upgradeable).

4. As a phone the VP is good. Quality is about as good as my old nokia on AT&T wireless. Coverage in NYC is OK, but their are more dead spots than other carriers. Good enough for me. Actually, I was in Southern New England over the summer and found the coverage to be great, better than my wifes AT&T coverage.

5. As a web browser the VP is great. I particulary use it on Weekends since I have all those minutes. I use both Blazer 2.0 (comes with VP) and Avantgo. Avantgo has a wireless funcion mode that works just like any other micro browser. Great for PDA formatted sites. check PLINKIT.com for a list.

6. For Email I use One touch mail to get my Yahoo mail via POP3. Works great!

7. The SMS service is an unexpectedly useful part of the VP. I set it up with AOL IM and chat with my sister. I use .net alerts and Ebay alerts to get updates on new2s, weather, and bidding. There are also so callded on demand alerts that will give you quick info like news, sports scores, weather, etc. Very fast and reliable. Actually on 9/11 SMS was the only way I was able to contact my family and find out that they were all right. I couldn't get a land line call or wireless call through and wasn't near a computer to do email or AOL IM. It sure felt great that day to be able to at least make some contact.


Basically, I am pretty satisfied. I will strongly consider the color Treo as an upgrade when it comes out for a few key reasons:

16mb RAM
color
better form factor
GPRS upgradeable

Hope this helps.

Joel

Registered: Nov 2001
Location: CA
Posts: 47

Re: Visor Phone Virgin

I, too, have just received my VisorPhone (VP). Neat little thing. Anyway, I'm in the Santa Barbara, CA area and thought to reply. I've been with Cingular since 1995 when it was Pacific Bell PCS (beta tester #10,750). Cingular for the most part is TDMA, but is currently converting over to the GSM standard. For everyone else, I think it's Voicestream. I don't know for certain if the phones they offer come with the SIM card. Here in CA, the plans do NOT include data access minutes. They're an extra service at about $5/month AND $0.15/minute. That's right, you read that correctly, $0.15/minute. I don't know if there's any way around it. But with my renewal date coming up in a couple of weeks, perhaps I can use my loyal customer status as clout

As with you, I use my VP about 2-3 times per day and use about 60-90 minutes of data access per month. That's about $10-$15 in addition to my $29.99 access plan. You really can't go too crazy with surfing the web (I have Blazer v2.0). But why would you want to? You have DSL and a T1 on a more powerful desktop computer. I only use my VP for data access when I need specific bits on information while on travel and away from a desktop. That's when Palm's PQA's come in handy. This way, I only get the information I want and don't have to wade through all the fluff. The real cool thing about the VP is that now I only carry one device instead of two. Much lighter on the beltline

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cotey
I want to buy a Visor Phone for my Prism, but have grown increasingly confused reading all this Cingular/Spring/GSM/CDMA/minutes per byte stuff. I'm not a complete moron, but I play one on these boards. Can someone just break it down for me in simple terms. Here's all I'd use it for:
1. The occassional phone call or two or three a day.
2. Check email.
3. Surf the web during down time for stuff to read. Surfing is the real benefit that I personally see to getting one.

I have a cellaular phone (Nokia/Cingular, but don't you have to have GSM service for this? Cingular doesn't), DSL at home and T1 connection at work, I work for a newspaper so I'm in front of a computer alot, so maybe I don't even need this. But I WANT it.

That's all. Can I do this without paying 50 additional bucks a month for service? Any ideas?

---

__________________
Experience is what happens when something unexpected comes up.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Posts: 790

Re: Here's the quick scoop

If you're not getting Cingular, forget about the difficulties with it.

quote:

---

Originally posted by joelforman
2. I have Voicestream in NYC for my Vdx/VP combo and am very happy. Her is how it works for me:

Get More plan at $39.95 gives me 600 anytime minutes and 2000 weekend minutes (via promo avail when I signed up). I also got 50 SMS messages a month (called Ping Pong by Voicestream). I bought 500 addnl SMS messages a month for $2.95/mo.

3. Data services come with the plan. You set up the network pref. to dial up your ISP and the minutes come out of your voice minutes. I use AT&T Worldnet without a problem. There is some new wireless data service called iStream, but I don't need it or have it. I think it is GPRS which the VP can't use anyway. (The Treo wil be GPRS upgradeable).

4. As a phone the VP is good. Quality is about as good as my old nokia on AT&T wireless. Coverage in NYC is OK, but their are more dead spots than other carriers. Good enough for me. Actually, I was in Southern New England over the summer and found the coverage to be great, better than my wifes AT&T coverage.

5. As a web browser the VP is great. I particulary use it on Weekends since I have all those minutes. I use both Blazer 2.0 (comes with VP) and Avantgo. Avantgo has a wireless funcion mode that works just like any other micro browser. Great for PDA formatted sites. check PLINKIT.com for a list.

6. For Email I use One touch mail to get my Yahoo mail via POP3. Works great!

7. The SMS service is an unexpectedly useful part of the VP. I set it up with AOL IM and chat with my sister. I use .net alerts and Ebay alerts to get updates on new2s, weather, and bidding. There are also so callded on demand alerts that will give you quick info like news, sports scores, weather, etc. Very fast and reliable. Actually on 9/11 SMS was the only way I was able to contact my family and find out that they were all right. I couldn't get a land line call or wireless call through and wasn't near a computer to do email or AOL IM. It sure felt great that day to be able to at least make some contact.

---

__________________
Jeff

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 560

Considering that it is free now, I'm thinking of getting VP and replacing my omnisky.

Question though:

You don't need to get DataStream to access the net with VoiceStream? If so, that is great. But, what benefits do you get if you get DataSteam?

Considering the 225 charge if you cancel, what is the minumum contract they require?


Yo Joel,

Have you ever been to 168th street. How is coverage up there. I work around there and would like to know. My Omnisky gets terrible reception in the area.

__________________
Felipe Garcia
Happy Treo 600 user, so far. Thanx Cingular for having an unlocked phone.

My Treo 600 is my phone, my PDA, my watch, and my MP3 player. Oh yeah, I take a picture once in a while with it. Convergence is such a great thing.

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Providence, RI
Posts: 78

VP is Good and Bad

I've had my VP since July 2001 and it has done what it was billed to do. But:

1. Already broke one headset by putting it in my pocket numerous times. You know, the wire within the rubber eventually severes usually near the end and you must wiggle it hear to anything...Handspring generously sent me a replacement..Thanks HS! Basically, a headset is a major inconvenience while walking around. Then you don't necessarily wish to dangle it from your jacket w/the clip because it looks corny and with all the heightened security, people tend to look at you twice. Putting the VP itself to my ear make me (maybe not you) feel socially uncomfortable (My mom though I was talking into a gameboy!).

2. Bulk of the unit is substantial. My Visor feels like it weighs like a feather when I remove the heavy VP module. This bulk leads to all sorts of problems such as lugging around what seems like 1980's-sized era cellphone on your beltclip and where to put it in the car while on the road. If you leave it in the case (I have the HS Sport Case) you cannot safley remove it, look at the screen, and push the answer button. Doing all of these necessary steps would lead you to remove your eyes from the road for a dangerous amount of time. I purchased a PDA Vent Mount from Ankron Inc., but it is not built specifically for the VP so it does not grip the VP well and you need BOTH hands to place the VP in its grasp, which IS NOT recommended while driving, of course. Also, at night, the Visor backlighting DOES NOT turn on when the VP riings, so it is an additional step to hold the power button and turn the backlight on before answering. All of these cumbersome steps to answer a call are very annoying and could be dangerous in a vehicle while driving, as would suddenly pulling over to perform all of these steps.

Basically, I believe that HS did the best it could with the VP design. However, I believe they failed in several areas. First, they could have eliminated awkwardly square battery which protrudes from the back of the Visor like a block. It would even help if the battery had rounder edges or something. HS could have designed the VP to use the Visor's recahrgable batteries and eliminated the battery altogether. Hey, if GSM has such great battery efficiency then so what, we would charge our batteries every night like most cell users do! I also think my Visor Deluxe should have a rechargable batter but that's another forum...

Essentially, give it some serious though before you purchase the VP. Since it is FREE now, you cannot really argue the cost. However, Voicestream will charge you that cancellation fee if you break the annual contract early. Also remember that you will be locked into using a Handspring product for at least an additional year. So if a snazzy new Sony CLIO model, Palm handheld, or PocketPC come out...forget it because you'll be stuck with your Visor and its VP contract. I myself feel the VP is more inconvenient than convenient. I should have just purchased a compact flip phone, a connector, and the phone to connect my Visor to the Net when necessary. But...I've got 8 months left on my VP prison term... I mean contract... and ball and chain..I mean my VP. Hope this helps!

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Tampa
Posts: 10

Voicestream made my decision

VoiceStream blows.

I was about to settle on a 500 min, unlimited weekend plan for $39.99 when the sales rep told me that if I access the internet, even on the weekends, it comes out of my weekday minutes, or the 500. That really blows. I probably wouldn't even use it that much, but it's the principle. It's either unlimited or not.

Went to Cingular, got hooked up with a better plan on a phone with internet, and I guess I can IR my way onto the web if need be. or not. But I'll wait for the Treo color to come out and hopefully drop in price, right about when my Cingular one-year contract expires.

Thanks for the help though. Sure sounded good for a while.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 60

Voicestream coverage

Felipe,

I don't often get up to 168th street so I can't comment on coverage in that area. At 98th street on the east side the coverage is fine. I have had no problems lower in Manhattan either. In Astoria where I live coverage is mostly fine, but not as strong as in Manhattan.

As far as the form factor of the Vdx/VP combo goes, it is big and heavy, but I think the integrated functions of the VP, particularly SMS and Web browsing are well worth it. I keep it in a Vaja case on my belt and am quite satisfied.

My only complaint is the relatively short battery life. I wish it had the reported life of the new digital link. Why is there a difference anyway? Anyone know?

Joel

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 49

Re: Voicestream made my decision

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cotey
VoiceStream blows.

I was about to settle on a 500 min, unlimited weekend plan for $39.99 when the sales rep told me that if I access the internet, even on the weekends, it comes out of my weekday minutes, or the 500. That really blows. I probably wouldn't even use it that much, but it's the principle. It's either unlimited or not.

Went to Cingular, got hooked up with a better plan on a phone with internet, and I guess I can IR my way onto the web if need be. or not. But I'll wait for the Treo color to come out and hopefully drop in price, right about when my Cingular one-year contract expires.

Thanks for the help though. Sure sounded good for a while.

---

Registered: Apr 2000
Location:
Posts: 71

I second what artemis125 said. I use a LOT of data minutes on the weekends and they've never come out of my weekday minutes. I also agree that the Voicestream customer service reps are complete idiots.

Good luck.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 242

Your service requirements sound somewhat like mine.

VOicestream's customer service accomplishes the miraculous feat of being worse than Handspring's, but the phone service I've found to be pretty good.

For what sounds to be your needs, you can probably do what Ido: sign up for the $40 a month plan, and you'll have all the minutes you'll likely need for surfing without buying datastream. Whether you can live with a cheaper plan depends on how much you'll surf.

The problem you have additionally, which I also had to face, was that with a cable modem at home, I had no dialup ISP already. SO that was an additional expense. I searched around for an ISP, prepaid in advance for a year, so it's a backup to my desktop, and primarily for my Visor. Your total still winds up at about $50. But hey, if you get certain VS plans, long distance is basically free. Your cell can replace your regular phone.

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