Registered: Jun 2001
Location:
Posts: 4

Hi all:
This may be a sacrilegious question in this forum but I am having a hard time deciding between these two. I love my VDx but am seeking a "smaller" alternative. With regard to expandability all I really need is a modem. Does it make much of a difference that the M500 uses Palm OS 4.0 vs. OS 3.5? Should I stick with my heart and go with the Edge or should I join the dark side and get a Palm? Thanks for your advice.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Prison
Posts: 421

Hmmm...

Well, it depends. Do you want to keep your VDX or not? While I'm guessing you can fraud the system, HS will give you $100.00 towards the purchase of an EDGE. HOWEVER, you could sell it on eBay for nearly twice that. So it really makes little to no difference. BUT, to speak on Palm's defense, retailers are heavily discounting prices on the M500. From what I heard, Best Buy WAS selling the M500 for $70.00 under MSRP.

When paired side by side, the M500 is the CLEAR winner in the long run. (The pressure on SD will cause a drop in prices in some areas!) However, if you own a Springboard module already, stick to the Edge. If you can wait about 3 months for the Palm SD modem to come out, you'll be much happier with the M500 not having to carry around a sled to connect. The M500 has a more impressive form factor than the Edge, and has some nice features like the vibrating alarm, etc.

Now Handspring DOES include Datebook+ and Citytime , which are two nice apps I wish Palm included. But the overall difference is around $30.00 between the two. I personally, would spring the extra $50.00 (no discounts attached) for the nice color on the M505.

If you ever were to expand for purposes of Memory (store your old emails, maybe?) , I would say pick the M5X series hands down.

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Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 37

No need to "fraud the system" for the trade in program on the Edge. Handspring doesn't require you to trade in a Visor. Just give them the serial number of your Deluxe and they'll give you the $100 discount. The trade in is for people who have something other than a Visor. This makes sense when you think about it. Why take a Visor out of someone's hands when they could donate it to someone else who could become a future Handspring customer?

So you can get the Edge for $299, then you can sell the deluxe on ebay for "a lot more than" $100.

When you put those two together, the Edge starts to really look good next to the M500.

But again, the choice is really yours. Personally, I'd much rather have an Edge. The 500's styling is getting really old looking, and I don't have as much confidence in SD as everyone else seems to.

I would strongly suggest looking at the M505 screen before going for that, too. Sure, it's only $50 more than the B&W M500, but from my perspective, it's easy to see why. The color screen on the M505 is so dim it looks black and white.

I think Palm in general is on its way down the drain. I just hope Handspring picks up the slack, instead of letting PocketPC step in.

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mrjoec
www.mrjoec.com

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

I am biased toward the edge, but I don't think unreasonably so. Between getting the rebate and the $150 you could probably snag for the deluxe, you're down to $150. There's nothing can match that price. Even at full retail the edge is a good choice, given its durability, proven expansion (despite what bblue would have you believe, SD is not proven), form factor, fast lookup (which has no third party solution that I can find), advanced datebook (which does), city time (rarely used on mine, but still nice), and HS customer support. No matter which you go with, you're going to screw form factor to hell and back when you expand (e.g. add a modem/mp3 player/recipe book/etc.). And the screen of the m505 sucks. But you're the one who has to use it, play with them both and decide.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

Best Buy was supposedly having a huge sale on all their PDAs, the Edge was also supposed to have been marked down $70.

I'd personally say, get an Edge. The modem for the M500 looks like it pretty much doubles the size of the unit, you might as well get a ThinModem for $20 cheaper than that and have something that still smaller, not to mention easier to store when not in use, and has extra memory for apps.

The M500 has 2 things over th Edge though, do you need memory expansion without changing the unit's size and/or do you need a vibrating alarm? Then the M500 is your only choice.

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Matt Nichols
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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

I, too, am biased toward the edge (mine is currently in transit from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis). But if your only expansion needs are memory and backup, go with the m500. It's starting to look like it's going to have better 3rd party accessory support, as well. Which is too bad, because I think HS made it easy with their "rail" system. I went with the edge b/c I wanted to stick with the sprinboard, and I like the design so much better. Vibrating alarm? Bah. Not for me.

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Registered: May 2001
Location:
Posts: 17

Deluxe to Edge

I've also be thinking about switching from the Deluxe which I have only had for about a month (still haven't recieved my 50 dollar rebate yet). But I am very tempted as much for the narrow form factor and styling as the speed. Unfortunately I've heard that the cable I just got for my Deluxe to Startac phone won't work with the Edge.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Re: Deluxe to Edge

quote:

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Originally posted by buckm
...Unfortunately I've heard that the cable I just got for my Deluxe to Startac phone won't work with the Edge.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 64

I suspect the reason it won't work with the Edge is that the Edge has a different USB connector (at the bottom) than the rest of the Visor family

Registered: May 2001
Location:
Posts: 17

I have the Startac 7868 and I got the cable from Gomadic but the first cable didn't work at all and the replacement worked for a week but it too seems to have failed.

Has anyone had better luck with cables to connect the Startac 7868 with a Visor Deluxe or Edge?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

I've had great luck with my cables4pdas cable on both my vdx and vpl, though nobody wants to buy it

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