Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 15

I have never owned a PDA before, so am somewhat in the dark about them. I am intrigued by the Visor and the Springboard module capabilities.

However, I don't know the the additional 6 mb of ram will buy me by going from Visor to Deluxe, other than thousands of additional addresses, etc, which is not needed by me.

If I download additional Palm software, will it allow me to run bigger apps, more apps, etc?

I'd appreciate if someone more knowledgeable could enlighten me! Also, what other considerations (other than color and memory) between Visor and Deluxe should I be concerned with?

Thanks for any all insights and suggestions.

Drew

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA
Posts: 255

There's no real difference between the two except the RAM size and coulour.

I had originally signed up for a Visor but I've been spending my time increasing the drool factor by plowing through palmgear.com and other such sites to see what types of applications there are.

I'm a download junkie and I download tons of stuff just to try it out, even if I have 8 other programs just like it. I don't want ot have to worry about deleting things, and I want to leave on there as many things as possible. I switched to the Deluxe to ease all those fears.

I figured 70 bucks is well worth a few years of NEVER having to worry about filling it up (probably). I don't want to kick myself in the crotch forever wishing I had spent 70 bucks to get 4X the RAM. I've never owned a PDA before, but I'm sure I might feel that way.

Just some thoughts to maybe convince, not that it matters much anyway. It's all what you're about.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 22

Drew I am by no means an expert but here is my opinion. I own a palm personal what that means in laymen terms is. I have a palm with � Meg of memory. I have never filled up my palm. Let me repeat that I have never used up all the space. That said I ordered a Visor Deluxe which will have 16 times the memory of my current PDA (Personal Digital Assistant.) That said the question is why. So hear arm my reason with no particular order

1) If you build it they will come (CE not included) Now that people know that there will be palms out there with significantly more memory people will start building bigger programs. I am a programmer by profession so I feel I have a good deal of insight in that mentality.
2) The cost difference is not that much 180 Vs 250. 70 bucks buys you 6 more Megs of memory. When I bought my personal I was in school so money was tight. That said the only thing I could have upgraded to would have cost me 120 bucks more and only added � Meg of memory.
3) I make good money and 70 more dollars won�t make that much difference. This is not bragging it�s just my perspective 70 bucks to some people is a big difference.
4) I am a Tec geek. I love toys and this is a toy. The number one app I use is a chess game, which at level 4 and above can have it�s way with me and the address book is just wonderful.
5) When buying a PDA think of it kind of like a computer. If you buy a 1000 dollar computer you will have an ok computer for a year. If you buy a 2500 dollar computer you will have a great computer (comparatively) and it will get the job done for about 2-3 year. If you buy a top of the line model it will take it that much longer before you device will start to look shabby.

In conclusion if the 70 bucks won�t hurt the budget then get it. You will be happier with it.

Peace
Bryan

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Posts: 599

drewb,

I agree with PAX...spend the $70 bucks if you have it you can't go wrong. Unlike Windows on a PC the OS doesn't hog a lot of memory everytime it changes.

However, once you start preview or using additional software for apps or games those can hog memory. If you know your only going to use it for a PDA with addresses, to do's etc then you'll never use the whole memory thing unless you run for President and your little black book is bigger than Clinton's.

But go look at the following web site: http://www.palmgear.com there is a lot you can do with one of these PDA's such as stuff that I have:
Highway Log . tracks car expense
Phone Log . tracks phone calls
Chess . (level 4 way to go)
Action Names . which is a great enhancement over the standard calendar program and will be the first program loaded to my Visor
and multiple other software titles all at the link.

The Springboard technology will greatly enhance any small foot print PDA that comes out using this technology..except Windows CE devices. They don't deserve to be called PDA's. A better name for them is .....

Good Luck!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Midland, Texas
Posts: 231

I currently have the Palm IIIx with FlshPro, which is to say that I have 4.8MB of memory. Just like the Palm III (2MB) I had before, I am playing the game of constantly have about 100K free at any given time, deleting a rarely used app/database in exchange for trying a new one. I am like my wife is with her purse; it doesn't matter how much or little it holds, it is always stuffed.

I have four "apps" that take up most of my memory:

1. The Bible 1.4MB (Plus a secong version of the New Testament ~400K) total 1.8MB
2. iSilo book reader with about 1.4 MB in books (I am a school teacher at a classical Christian school, thus all the books. Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes and authors other of the classics are all open domain works because they were written so long ago; therefore there are quite a lot of great books available for free download.)
3. AvantGo with about 300K of news channels
4. HanDbase database with about 100K of data (my gradebook)

The rest is used for more standard apps. Only about 1/5 or so of my total memory is taken up by the apps themselves. The bulk is consumed by data files.

BTW, welcome to the world of PDA's.

tyler