Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 36

GoAmerica has announced their wireless product and it works with the Visor and Visor Deluxe, and also uses the Minstrel S modem. More info can be seen here:

http://www.goamerica.net/html/showc...cts/minstrel_S/

The pricing is about the same as OmniSky and YadaYada. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, either upgrade my Visor and go with OmniSky or stick with the VDLX and get either YadaYada or GoAmerica, but I just thought I'd point it out to the rest of ya!

Have a nice day.

Rick

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 117

no PQA support

Keep in mind that no matter what the provider does, there is no PQA support for the VDX. I suppose you could still have an acceptable wireless-web experience with everything but PQAs, though. Kudos to YadaYada and GoAmerica for not taking the same stance as Omnisky (i.e. if you can't run PQAs, Omnisky wont support you).

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 13

look carefully at service plans

Look carefully at the bottom of GoAmerica's service plan page. There is a note :

*Note: an additional $0.10/kilobyte fee will be assessed for usage generated by non GoAmerica provided software.

So if you're planning on using generic network applications, you may incur extra charges. I don't know of any other providers who do this type of surcharge.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Here
Posts: 213

The $10 per month plan only includes 25K of data ! hmmmm how muck online time would that amount to? Or the big jump to $60 per month for unlimited. I guess I won't be signing up.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 57

10 cent extra charge for non go-america software?!

What?! Is the 10 cent charge a kil for real?? So that means I won't be able to use aol instant messanger, yahoo messanger, and other really cool apps like that?? ahhhhh stupid wireless...my only option if I wanted wireless is Omni sky because Yada yada is not in my area...go america is way to much, but with omnisky I have to upgrade my visor!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

__________________
Push Any Key To Start
"Wheres the Anykey?!"
-Homer Simpson

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 264

How long would 25k really last? It's hard to tell because I don't use wireless stuff now, but I think I'd go through that pretty quickly!

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 53

Its OK for e-mail!

I think the goamerica service is ok for e-mail. If you have a VDX or Solo - why waste money to upgrade to platinum?
BYe
AM

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Jefferson Citym MO, USA
Posts: 6

Re the $0.10/kb charge for non-GoAmerica applications, other providers have tried this. For example, the AT&T PocketNet service (AMPS cellular phone with built-in CDPD modem) originally wanted $0.05/kb for access to any applications not built into the phone (e.g., using a connected laptop), but the monthly flat rate access fee would include unlimited use of the built-in reatures. Back in 1998, 3Com announced future availability of a Palm to PocketNet phone cable, but this product was apparently never introduced.

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jpkovar

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 34

Since the Minstrel S will support up to 19.2Kb a second, that allowed monthly amount of 25Kb for the service could be eaten up in, oh, 1.3 seconds. I think there's a typo on their web site someplace. Even the average email message can run 1Kb easily.

It's been proven now that the Visor and Deluxe do not require the RF shielding as once thought since these modules are now being provided for Visors other than the Prism or Platinum. The OS issue cannot be supported either- Handspring itself stated that OS updates would be software patches- they even released a new one recently for the Prism. The could add PQA support if they really wish to. Sure, it may end up eating a full Mb or so of your system RAM, but if I had to choose between that and rendering my green Vdx completely obsolete, I'd take the OS upgrade path. It seems to me that since also that Yada yada and GoAmerica can get away without PQA support, that Omnisky really doesn't need it either- and if they do, they are the only ones requiring it and should provide users of that service with the OS patch necessary to make the product work with existing hardware. Handspring isn't to blame for on manufacturer who built a device requiring special OS's when it's been proven unneeded. Omnisky should provide the patch instead.

Anyways, with GoAmerica and YadaYada proving you can use a Vdx with Minstrel, I'm sure there will be others out there doing the same shortly and Omnisky will quickly change their marketing plan.

By the way- this message is 1.47Kb in size it would have cost 14 cents to read according to GoAmerica's plan. To have read all the messages in this topic along would have been over a dollar.

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Green Vdx
The Mountain Dew of PDA's.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 117

been there, done that

We could continue to argue the PQA issue until we're blue in the face (in fact, I already have). Handspring has already made their position clear: they are not going to patch Deluxes to provide PQA support (even if they can). I sincerely doubt Omnisky will either, nor do I think they should. PQAs have been supported since OS 3.3 and Handspring released their first products with OS 3.1--AFTER OS 3.3 had been out for awhile. Therefore, Handspring is to blame.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 106

quote:

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Originally posted by euangel
How long would 25k really last?

---

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 36

Whew! I'm glad you saw the $0.10/kb in the fine print, because I didn't, and was about to sign up. I'll probably use PalmIRC and AvantGo more than I'll ever use the built in apps. Ok, well that narrows it down to YadaYada, or upgrading to a new Visor and getting OmniSky. Quite the dilemma...

I'm still not sure exactly what a PQA is. How will that improve my online experience compared to using an e-mail app for e-mail, a browser such as AvantGo for web browsing, etc... ??

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 117

PQAs are an information fiend's best friend

PQAs, to put it as simplistically as possible, are a way to present forms on Palm OS. There are numerous PQA interfaces for free reference materials on the internet. Dictionaries, Weather Data, Airline Schedules, etc. There are also PQAs that make interactive services (such as Yahoo Mail) less cumbersome than they would be via a full-fledged Palm browser.

I don't claim to understand all the finer points of PQAs, and I oft-times wonder if PQAs could be made obsolete through the ubiquitous use of style sheets designed for handheld computers. Can someone better equipped to answer this take a stab at it?

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 99

PQA's are a wireless Palm user's best friend. It forces information providers to put their data in a light format that is great for Palms.

We all knew that not having flash RAM would come back and haunt us. Now the ball's in Handspring's court to fix this situation, which removes %90 of it's market from obtaining OmniSky modems.