Registered: Mar 2001
Location: pittsburgh, pa
Posts: 72

cut to the chase

We give up!

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: DFW
Posts: 82

Sounds like it's time to start horse-trading w/ the OD manager(s)?!? What a budget minded lot we are.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 447

Haha, only loyal to the best price.

Registered: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 15

quote:

---

Originally posted by mdatl
Sounds like it's time to start horse-trading w/ the OD manager(s)?!? What a budget minded lot we are.

---

i would have gladly paid near full price for a smartmedia memplug because that is something that i perceive as having much utility/use/value. (that and since i can't find it at any store, online or b&m, new for < $50, i would consider anything less than full price a bargain and purchased it.)

the keyboard on the other hand is not something that i perceive myself as using. i didn't recently purchase my visor to input great gobs of text, nor do i want to carry around a keyboard in my other pants pocket (as one pocket is already full with the visor). if i need to enter lots of text, like populating my brand new password database with all my current passwords, then i use pose on my laptop/desktop and upload the resulting database it to my visor. so, even though the keyboard may cost more than what i purchased it for, and may be worth a lot to other people, i don't have much need for it. but then again, i didn't buy it necessarily because i wanted it, but because it was a great deal that i couldn't pass up. (i know, i know: how compulsive of me.) and for the record, if you (re)read my post, i didn't initiate the haggling down of the price; the manager did.

thinking about it, i'm surprised the office depot employees (or maybe even their friends & family) don't/didn't snatch up everything (or maybe that's why the two stores i visited had no selection of anything useful, and they simply overlooked the keyboard ) and sell it online. purchase a keyboard for $50 (and that's not even discounted/haggled), sell it online for $70. office depot employee makes $20, some visor owner saves $20 off the average online price (a little over $90 appears to be the average at pricegrabber.com). it's a win-win situation.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: pittsburgh, pa
Posts: 72

[QUOTE]Originally posted by undefined
[B]thinking about it, i'm surprised the office depot employees (or maybe even their friends & family) don't/didn't snatch up everything

You know I was thinking the same thing but when I went into the one store and mentioned handspring Visor the guy looked at me like I had two heads He sort of acted like he never heard much about them and judging by the number of keyboards still under lock and key most of the other employees must be clueless too! It was hard to figure out how much really sold out quickly because Office depot in our area never really had a big variety of Handspring products to start with.

Registered: Feb 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1

Stowaway sighted at Chicago OD store

Stowaway: Just a tip for someone searching for the vanishing stowaway keyboards. I found one for $29.88, and the next day (this morning actually) I found another one hiding in the clearance bins at a different store. This one cost $50. It's in the bottom of the leftmost plastic crate in the clearance area, front of store at Lincoln Village mall at McCormick and Lincoln in Chicago (north side.) No GPS coordinates available, sorry.

Cases: There were also several soft leather zip cases designed to hold the Visor (probably not for the Edge though.) The cases held a pad of paper and had pockets for credit cards. There were at least a dozen of these, cost was around $20, not a great deal IMO. The cases are made in China and the quality seemed acceptable.

A version of the case had an additional zip compartment with wide elastic straps to hold springboard modules, and whatever else could be stuffed in the compartment. Not quite room for a stowaway from what I could tell. There were 2 or 3 of these left, priced at $31 or so. Still not an amazing deal but stalk 'em a while and they'll probably go down.

Calling stores is advisable. I was lucky to find a smart and helpful employee. I found the 2nd stowaway at a store where an employee had supposedly looked while I waited on the phone.

good luck!

b.

Last edited by itsbarry on 02-06-2002 at 03:47 PM

Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 28

The Office Depot's in Omaha are nearly empty of all Visor products. All Visors and Springboards are gone. Only a few cases and Stowaway keyboards at one and a Skytel wireless modem at another. The reps there say that they are making room for the HP Journada and have such a Palm backlog that they need to move, that they need the space.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 28

OD pricing tip

I hit the two stores in Sac yesterday for modules and got a tip from a very helpful asst mgr. If the store is down to the last item, the mgr can use their decretion and lower the price to move the item out. It can be the case for more stock, but she said if the have 2 or more they are following the price guidelines as noted in earlier posts. Magellan GPS went for full $150 in Sac... did not discount.

I scored:
- Tiger Woods module 2 wks ago for $8.50
- Stowaway keyboard for $49
- Total Recall recorder for $20
- Zipper case that holds visor in clip and has a second zippered fold for modules, incl notepad etc. Has extra clips for Edge, Prism and Dlx, Platinum - $16

Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 22

Just a quick note to "undefined" ... as well as anyone else who is interested. So "undefined", you mention the memplug unit a couple of times in your posts -- and it sounds like you want one -- but are hoping to find one for less than $50. Well, you're in luck if it's the SmartMedia version that you're looking for. www.amazon.com has it going for $42.49 right now. There's no tax at Amazon ... and there are typically a lot of $5 off coupons floating around. The $5 discount would cancel out your shipping costs -- and you'll have the unit delivered to your door for no more than $42.49.

Or, throw on the Sandisk (good brand from all I've heard) 64MB SmartMedia card for $39.99 -- use a $10 of a $75 purchase coupon, and you'll have your whole set-up for $72.48 (plus shipping).

No, I don't work for Amazon ... or have any vested interest in them. I'm merely in a Visor-related shopping frenzy right now -- so I've been keeping my eyes open for good deals. Anyway, if anyone is interested in this deal, feel free to email me and I'll try to find a coupon for you.

Cheers!

Registered: Aug 2001
Location:
Posts: 383

I used to have a couple near me, but then they all went belly-up.

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Holly Springs, NC
Posts: 124

All I want is the GPS to go down! That is the only thing I would really pay for. The gamepad is 8 bucks... but 8 bucks is still 8 bucks. Cases... I have a great case. Styli? Nothing will replace my Pentopia any time soon. Cradles? I have three. When is the GPS dropping below 150? It hasn't moved a cent since the clearance. They still have about 4 in stock at the OD in my area. Why don't they want to move them?

__________________
"Take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's Fire." - John Parr

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 366

Got a Total Recall recorder for 25 bucks at the Office Depot in Lenexa, KS next to the Sam's at 95th and Quivera. Don't go to the OD at 103rd and Metcalf, they don't have anything. The store at 95th and Quivera also has cases, cradles, Magellan GPS Module, and an Activelink(sp?) wireless module.

Jason

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Did you just go near a burning hot river of lava or are you just happy to see me?

Registered: Feb 2002
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 14

Hi. I'm in Winston-Salem North Carolina, tonight I went to one of our two Office Despots [sic]. Unlike many other people's experiences at OD here, I got good friendly help quickly and accurately.

After finding my way to the PDArea, I got to the end where the Springboard modules were and started looking for the Total Recall Voice Recorder, which was the one module I thought that A) I had a realistic chance of finding, B) would be at a price I'd be willing to pay, and C) I even wanted to begin with. Lo and behold they had them for $12.49.

Right about now a sales associate (with braces) comes over to me and asked if I needed help. He had been assisting a guy who didn't have a PDA but was looking for an entry-level PocketPC. I handed over the slip for one of the Voice Recorders, and also asked if they had anymore Fellowes PDA Pocket Keyboards (also shown on the shelf for $12.49, but with no slips in the pocket). He said he'd check.

Then the guy started asking more questions about the PocketPC. He asked if they were going to have a newer, better model in 6-7 months that would make him wish he'd waited for that instead, and the sales guy said "The way computers are these days- uh huh." Not too bright. So I stepped in and told the guy that what the kid was saying was true, but it shouldn't discourage him, because that would happen no matter when he bought one. I told him I'd had mine for about a year and there were new models with more features now, but it didn't mean I didn't get a LOT of use out of the one I have, or wasn't glad I got it a year ago. I explained a few things about how it'd helped me, showed him mine (Prism with a VisorPhone, big on wow value), and he got interested again- but now in the Palm models. He started asking about the VP, and then the Kyocera and Samsung phones, and can he get service from just any phone company? So I had to go into all that about the different services and pros and cons of the different phone/PDA combos. In the end I talked him into getting an m125 by telling him "hey, this way you're not dumping a ton of money into your PDA at the start, you're getting a good value, and later you could get a newer one and pass this one on to your wife or kid or something." So off went the sales kid to get my Voice Recorder and the guy's m125. BTW this is all in the same 6-week period that my wife bought her first PDA (a Cli� I've nicknamed "Nag" because she has its reminders going off constantly), a co-worker got a VDx (and I traded him my extra serial cradle for his USB, which his computer doesn't have), and I sold three other friends on the idea of getting their own (including one college senior who's springing right away for my same Prism/VP combo). Think Palm and/or Handspring might be hiring?

(Meanwhile I struck up a conversation with another guy who had sorta joined in, who was working at a local hospital. He was talking about how much these things are getting used in hospitals (one, in Greensboro, has a wireless intranet and all the doctors get instant access to patient files and test results on their PDAs). In fact, his hospital is mentioned in this month's Handheld Computing in an article about the medical database E-Pocrates. He had the program and demonstrated it's prescription-checking feature- which I recognized as being what my wife just downloaded this week!)

So the sales guy came back and said he had one Pocket PDA Keyboard left, which I took, and four Voice Recorders left, of which I took one. I asked him why they were clearing this stuff out and he said he thought it was to make room for the iPaq stuff, but he couldn't understand why because that stuff was just sitting on the shelf, whereas before he couldn't keep the Handspring stuff in stock!

Again, those Recorders are $12.49 each, so if anyone can't find one at their own store and wants one bad enough, drop me a line and I'll pick it up for ya. I haven't decided yet if I'm keeping the Pocket PDA Keyboard, but if you want it tell me. Oh yeah, and I also have a Landware GoType keyboard that came with my Prism (one big auction on eBay, but it won't work with my Prism) and one of those older regular bifold Handspring cases, black leather with a velcro closure, if anyone's interested in either of those.

I'm also going to our city's second Office Despot tomorrow to scout for more stuff, I'll report back then.

Last edited by fletcherism on 03-22-2002 at 05:07 AM

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: DFW
Posts: 82

Would you check on and post the prices and availabilty of:

b/u mod sku 785-391
8 mb mem mod sku 785-381
and the keyboard sku 785-301

There is a "cygy2k" around here that wants a b/u mod. DFW stores are all out.

If the keyboard is proportionally less expensive, I want one. Or at least a store number and I'll get my store to match the price.

thanks,
/s/MTM

Registered: Feb 2002
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 14

Roger Wilco. Also, I made a mistake in my last post- the article about E-Pocrates is not in next month's Yahoo IL, it's in this month's Handheld Computing.