Registered: Mar 2000
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Posts: 89

Well I received the 'Pocket Express Entertainment Pack' Springboard module today. Just wanted to post a quick review of the module for anyone that is interested in it.

First of all, it is shipping. From product announcement to actual ship date was only one week. In my opinion that was a smart move on the part of Pocket Express. This site is full of postings regarding companies that have slipped their ship dates and the angst that this has caused amongst the Handspring community.

Secondly the packaging is appropriately sized for a Handspring module. Actually the package is larger than the module, but it is only large enough for the module and the registration card. There is no printed manual with the module.

The next thing that I noticed was the startup application. When you insert the module you are presented with a screen that lets you launch any of the 6 games that are on the module. In my case I already had two of the games installed on my Visor, and the startup application was smart enough to 'omit' those games from the available selection. I can only assume that this is done so that you can safely download 'newer' versions in the future and the module will not attempt to overwrite the new versions.

So far 'Lode Runner' and 'Solitaire' are my favorites. The 'PocketChess' game will come in handy when I am with friends (they have to be close friends before I would let them play with my Prism).

The module is available at PalmGear for $39.99. If you were to purchase each of these titles separately from PalmGear you would pay almost $65 dollars. Of course Pocket Express also offers a download version of the Entertainment Pack for $29.99.

Gotta go now... Jake needs my help.

The module includes the following:

Tetris Classic

• Version: 1.0
  
• Size: 50K
  
• Color: Yes
  
• Deluxe: Yes
  
• Prism: Yes
  
• Registered: Yes
  
• Price: 14.99
  

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Lawrence, NY, USA
Posts: 148

quote:

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Originally posted by Ed Gain
If you were to purchase each of these titles separately from PalmGear you would pay almost $65 dollars. Of course Pocket Express also offers a download version of the Entertainment Pack for $29.99.

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__________________
Life's just a blast, just it's moving really fast, and you'd <BR>better stay on top or life'll kick you in the ass -Limp Bizkit

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 33

dont' forget - Visors have only 2mb

__________________
Mongooses rock

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Posts: 89

parb33,

There are many reasons why people might be interested in this module. As ChowChow mentioned there are VC'rs out there that have 2MB Visors. So saving space could be an issue.

Originally posted by parb33

quote:

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Originally posted by Ed Gain
If you were to purchase each of these titles separately from PalmGear you would pay almost $65 dollars. Of course Pocket Express also offers a download version of the Entertainment Pack for $29.99.

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Lawrence, NY, USA
Posts: 148

Ed: A lot of good points; let me just respond to them one by one.

quote:

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[list][*]If someone is using a company owned Visor. The user (employee) may not be permitted to install additional software on their employers machine.

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Man, that's pretty cruel of the company , but I guess it's conceivable. Anyone have that type of arrangement?

quote:

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[*]Families/friends with multiple Visors who want to legally own the software may be able to save money by just buying the module and then sharing it. Registration of the software on the module is not tied to a user name.

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True enough (although the family members could just give their Palms the same usernames).

quote:

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[*]It is cheaper than buying an 8MB memory module to hold your games.

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This only holds true in a very extreme case where the person has their Visor's internal memory full, but only needs to install these games, and nothing else.

quote:

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[*]Friends can share/trade modules (no nag message resulting from beamed applications)

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Also a good point (but same as above).

quote:

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[*]Help support the developers - we have asked for modules that cost less than $50 and Pocket Express listened. We should encourage the development of these modules by creating a viable market for them. Criticizing every module that gets release will only damage the market for springboard developers.

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This is one that I really take issue with. Although the Springboard platform offers advantages for the end-user, I believe the party really gaining the most is the developer. Software on a Springboard module is completely secure, and not vulnerable to piracy or hacking. Similarly, it cannot be used by two people with the same Palm Username (something that is rampant in my high school). The price of the software isn't set in stone; it's not as though it costs them a specific amount of money per piece of software they sell. Therefore, Pocket Express should be willing to sell the software itself for ~$25, with the remaining $5 going to pay for the springboard module (no, I don't believe the parts they use in the module actually cost 10 bucks).

quote:

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[*]The 'impulse' buy when someone buys a Visor at their local Staples or Target. They can purchase a game that they can start playing right away. Heck, you don't even need to have a computer with an Internet connection to download the software (lower cost of ownership).

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Can't argue with that, but would have to point out that people make a lot of stupid impulse purchases, or buy something on impulse which they then realize can be found for much less.

quote:

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[*]This module has a 'cool' GameBoy module feel to it.

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quote:

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The difference is $10 between the download version and the module - Some of us will find that the module is more convenient than a downloaded application. Having a module with unlocked software on it is preferable to having 6 different registration codes to keep track of. And since many of the software only versions are registered with a specific user name (or system serial number) it makes it difficult to upgrade machines (ie: from a VDX to a VPR).

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Now that's a good point (I'm always losing track of those registration codes).

quote:

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Others will find their own reasons to purchase this module. I am sorry that you took exception to my posting. But my intention was not to persuade people to buy this module, but to inform them of its existence and its capabilities.

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I wasn't trying to argue with you, just to state my personal opinion concerning the pricing of software springboard modules. Whatever...

__________________
Life's just a blast, just it's moving really fast, and you'd <BR>better stay on top or life'll kick you in the ass -Limp Bizkit

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Posts: 89

Thought of another one on my drive to work today. Resell value! It is easier to resell a module when you are tired of it. People like having something 'solid' to show for their money.

While I agree with you that Pocket Express could have lowered the price of the module so that it matched the price of the download. There is still the issue of 'perceived value'. Having a physical box and a Springboard module feels more substantial than just some bits on a disk. Even if they are essentially the same thing. Additionally Pocket Express would have to answer to Palm users complaints that the downloaded software 'should' be cheaper because there was no manufacturing required to distribute the product.

Also keep in mind that not everyone who has a Visor has a computer to synchronize with. My sister-in-law has had her Visor since last Christmas and she 'just' bought a PC a few weeks ago. Different needs for different people.

I don't wish to argue with you either but your statement: Software on a Springboard module is completely secure, and not vulnerable to piracy or hacking is only true for casual users. Crackers would prefer to snarf the games from a module, since the module has the registration code burned into the application. I won't go into any details on how this is done, but to an experienced cracker this is a fairly trivial task.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Lawrence, NY, USA
Posts: 148

Time to eat crow...The night before posting that bit about Springboards being completely secure, I'd been reading The Palm Expansion Whitepaper on Palm.com, which discusses among other things the security present in different expansion solutions (i.e. MS, CF, SD, SB). I thought it said that SB modules were secure, but after looking back I realize that it says that they are the only expansion standard without security. My bad

__________________
Life's just a blast, just it's moving really fast, and you'd <BR>better stay on top or life'll kick you in the ass -Limp Bizkit

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Posts: 89

Springboard modules 'could' be made secure, but at an additional cost. I suspect that modules like the 'Entertainment Pack' will always be done on the cheap. So get the crow out of your mouth!