Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Reston, Va, USA
Posts: 41

Your're right. I just checked buy.com out of curiousity and it's $218 there. The value america thing is a special deal in one place.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 3

I too cancelled my order! I just couldn't resist the IIIx for $150. I ordered it on Tuesday and had it Wednesday! Now THAT'S service. I've used it for a whole day and I just love it. For the difference of $120 for the Visor I've gotten a ton of apps and have $$ left over for more. The springboards would have been interesting, but this is UNBEATABLE!

Joe

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 200

I wanted to buy a Visor - but then came across a 2nd hand IIIx with 8Mb.

Now I can wait a few month and see what is coming next. I don't think I will be using the IIIx one year from now.

I think many buyer belong to the 'I want my gadget HERE & NOW' category.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 1

Can somebody point me to the Value America deal on the Palm IIIx. I've been on their website but I couldn't find one for $150.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 82

check the off-topic forum Monkey-Boy

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 28

it's true. if u could get a iiix for $150, a lot more of us would be cancelling our visor orders. Cheapest I've seen the iiix is $218 on buy.com

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

I too ordered a IIIx from VA, and I must say I was impressed with an ultra-speedy delivery, but I only ordered it to finance my Visor.

I certainly didn't cancel my order for the better machine. I already have a IIIx that the Visor will replace (gotta love that 8MB and USB), and I am auctioning the VA IIIx on eBay. With my roughly $40 profit, I ease the expense of the better PDA. (In fact my current _used_ IIIx has already sold on eBay for $245. I am now only waiting for the payment process to complete, and I will have made an even trade for a IIIx to Visor. Not to mention my pocket money thanks to VA.)

Isn't free enterprise great?

tyler

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 20

I'm wondering if I should cancel my order. Considering I ordered my Visor rather late, I probably won't be getting it till December. I'm afraid that a month later a newer better product will be released and I'll wish I had been a bit more patient.

Cheers,
-Tears in Rain

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 12

I called VA to purchase the IIIx but they don't ship to Canada! Very bad planning on their part... anyhow, at this point I'm just going to wait to see whatever product I can get cheapest. Price is the only factor. Never bought a PDA before, so I wouldn't be able to tell the diff btw the Palm screen and the Visor screen. Also, I know I would never spend money on those Springboard cartridges. Anyway, that's the plan. If anyone can suggest a way to ship to Canada from VA I'd appreciate it.
Thanks, N2K.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 17

Although the Springboards sound great, I dont think I'd ever use them except for memory expansion. At a limit of 8 megs of addressing on the fireball anyway, there doesn't seem to be a need.

I too went for the ValueAmerica deal. At $142, I won't have to bye a separate serial cradle or USB port board for my home PC.

From posts I've seen around different web sites, the customer service at Palm is outstanding as well. I'm sure Handsprings will be too once they are fully ramped up.

All totalled though, I'm saving $140 by getting the IIIx.

Cz

[This message has been edited by Chris Z (edited 10-18-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Burlington, VT, USA
Posts: 127

Well, I hung in there with my Visor Deluxe order and use the ValueAmerica offer mentioned here to get a Diamond Rio 500 for only $130. :-)

Called Handspring last night, my Deluxe went out on Friday.

I guess it's the nature of the early adopter, but I'm surprised with all the vitriol directed at Handspring. Companies sometimes have technical problems... Plus, they always said October ship, so it's not as if it's late.

Still, anyone wanting a good deal on a Palm IIIx can find my mint IIIx, GoType, modem, hotsync cable, and extra cradle for sale on EBay (search on seller DennyA) at a low, low price. :-) I've used a Visor Deluxe (review unit) and I'm sold on it.

------------------
Denny Atkin / [email protected]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 10

I ordered on 10/6 through the Web site and after spending 40 minutes on each of three occassions trying to change my order to the Visor Deluxe, I bought a Palm V through VA today.

Still, I'm a big fan of Handspring and want to support the company. And I don't have a choice anyway at this point, since I can't cancel my order since the CSR don't have have any info on online orders.

Ideally, my Handspring will arrive within a similar timeframe to the Palm V, and I can compare and send one of them off to eBay.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Green Brook, NJ
Posts: 7

I have owned almost all the Palm devices, the Pilot 5000, Palm III and currently the Palm V. I ordered two Visor Deluxes, one for me and the other for my daughter, I think the extra memory, the Springboard and upgraded software are worth the money, $259 for each Deluxe, not to bad. Most of the reviews I have read are very good, I ordered the first and second weeks in October, so I quess I will be waiting until later in November for delivery, as long as I get them before Christmas I will be happy.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 9

I cancelled my Visor Deluxe order today. As one of my co-workers put it, "don't turn on the faucet if nothing is going to come out". The Handspring marketing whizes are a bunch of idiots. they poorly anticipated the demand, and as a result their website crashed, phone lines are jammed, and shipping seems to be taking the slow boat from China (so to speak). They keep on saying that their servers are down so they can't look up the order information, and I find that a complete joke.

My concern is also that if it's taking this long to ship the product, how long will it take to get something warrantied if the damned thing goes on the blink. Since I've heard from many colleagues about how good 3Com's customer service is, I decided to order a Palm V. they have 'em at Outpost.com for $299 (though I've seen it at zones.com for $287 - don't know what shipping will add), and that includes next day shipping. Better than six weeks.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Salem, OR, USA
Posts: 91

The marketing whizzes did their job once you ordered a Visor. The phones are jammed because of the obscenely high demand, looks like a sign of success to me. Shipping is no longer in six weeks, it's now. I'll have my Visor before you have your Palm V. (unless you ordered it Next Day Air Early AM, yesterday) Take a look at your post, it starts out calling Handspring names, then progresses to suggesting the 'damned' Visor will go 'on the blink', and concludes in an advertisement for Palm. Hmmm... What is your hidden agenda?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 17

Just wondering if anyone has received their Visor yet?

I did jump off the Visor wagon and put in my VA order for a Palm IIIx @ $142 of Friday afternoon.

It was waiting for me when I got home last night.

I too am very interested in the future of ALL the Palm companies and wish them all the best.

Now with color anounced, it will be interesting to see how everything pans out.

Isn't the 20th / 21st century amazing!

Cz

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Posts: 12

Well, I jumped ship and bought a Palm Vx. All in all, I estimate that I will have paid about $100 more Cdn for the Unit, but it is smaller and not a first generation product. The customer service at handspring didn't give me the warm fuzzies. And besides, I have my Palm Vx here now beside me. It's great. The only problem is that when I tried to cancel my order for my Visor Dlx I was told that I was probably too late (ordered Oct 5). Maybe I will get to compare and return the one I don't like.

Gilligan

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 82

with 45000 sold so far I think that we're well on the way to assurring the viability of the springboard platform. Keep that Visor! You'll be able to use those springboards as new handspring handhelds come out.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Posts: 12

Well, I jumped ship and bought a Palm Vx. All in all, I estimate that I will have paid about $100 more Cdn for the Unit, but it is smaller and not a first generation product. The customer service at handspring didn't give me the warm fuzzies. And besides, I have my Palm Vx here now beside me. It's great. The only problem is that when I tried to cancel my order for my Visor Dlx I was told that I was probably too late (ordered Oct 5). Maybe I will get to compare and return the one I don't like.

Gilligan

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 9

DKantola must have ordered his/her Visor a long time ago, because upon last check (read: yesterday when I called) I was still given the same four to six week delivery time. Which will leave me with at least two more weeks of waiting. So I don't know where you're geting your information from about immediate shipping. I ordered my Palm V through outpost.com for $299, and their standard shipping method is next day. So I'll have mine in my hands tomorrow.

As for hidden agendas - I call 'em as I seem 'em. If anything, to use your strategy, I'd ask you what your hidden strategy is. I don't work for 3Com.

Anticipating sales traffic is the backbone of good business practice - which goes a long way towards establishing good feelings about a brand. Having worked in sales and customer service in previous jobs, I've discovered that first hand. This could be a marketing strategy, but in my opinion it will payoff in the short run. The damage they do to their brand, on the other hand, will have much longer-term effects.

Obviously, companies such as IBM see the value in this, as they responded to the web fiasco (by not anticipating the hits to the site) of the '96 Atlanta Olympics by bolstering their backend solutions for their web effort for the '98 Winter Games in Nagano. I could go on with more stories, but I don't feel the need to wax poetic about good business practices.

And by the way, I've been on hold for thirty minutes now to confirm my cancellation order from Handspring...