Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

visor neo slower than platinum?

I ran benchmark 2.0 on my visor neo and get a score of 162%. The platinum gets 204%, I thought the neo and platinum are supposed to have the same processor. Does anyone know what's going on?

Thanks!

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 7

I wanted to ask same question. I have Visor Pro and same result (162). When I overclock it to 40MHz (Afterburner) I get 197. Why does Platinum have 204 when it uses same processor on 33MHz?

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

I've got a Pro and Benchmark tells me I'm at 175%... Then SysInfo tells me that the processor is running at 28MHz. I am not using any overclocking software. I'm a little puzzled as well.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

I've tried a few games on my neo, a friends visor deluxe, and another friends visor prism. The prism which should have the same processor as the neo is much more responsive in the game, while the neo and deluxe seem closer in speed, but almost like the deluxe was running even a bit faster than the neo. This is very strange.

Anyone have a platinum and neo and notice a big speed difference playing games?

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 10

I recently upgraded from a deluxe to a neo and I have definately noticed a speed boost. The processor is a factor of two faster and that is backed up by my experience. Everything runs faster (even moving things to my Innopak).
I have no experience with the pro, but I can say that the neo *is* faster than the deluxe.

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

I tried playing the game again on all the systems, yes, the neo is faster than the deluxe, but only slightly. But both of them feel way too slower compared to the prism and the edge which I tried just a few minutes ago. For having the same processor, there is something strange going on here. First I thought it might be the color screen might help the prism for some strange reason, but after trying the edge, I know it's not the color screen thats making the difference. I wish handspring would publish more detailed specs about the machines so we could find out what is actually causing this difference.

Registered: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 32

This Slow Pro is Burning my Bisquits!

I noticed the slow speeds as well. I can OC my VDX up to 268 in the benchmark at 34MHZ. I OC'ed my Pro all the way to 54MHZ and it still only shows about 197.

Maybe the bench software isn't up to the task?

WTF!!!

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

It's not just the benchmark software either, you can really feel the difference playing bejeweled. It's significant.

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

I believe it, but I find it odd. the neo is nothing more than a Platinum in a pretty casing. Believe you me, the platinum is wicked fast.

...maybe the neo is less than the plat... maybe handspring cut some corners here and there to bring down production costs. The neo is essentially their low-end model anyway, so they're not too concerned if it's not up to snuff..

...and given the fact that the Pro seems slower than the Plat, they definitely don't want their baseline model outperforming their top-of-the-line one!

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 10

I don't know how many of you have seen my post in the pro vs edge thread, but I have the same experience with the Neo that you guys do. I grabbed sysinfo of the web and it reports my Neo's clock speed at 28 MHz, or roughly 84% of the 33 MHz it is supposed to be at. If you assume that the Neo should run at the same speed as the Platinum and should get a score of 204, then multiply by that 84%, you get right around 170 in benchmark. I have also heard that Handspring is using different a different kind of ram in the Neo than they are in the Platinum. That could also account for the speed difference, but the impression that I have gotten about the ram thing is that it is slower, but not THAT much slower in the Neo.
I contacted customer service (via email), and they actually called me back. I wasn't home at the time so I called them back. They gave me a standard email about what a benchmark is and how best to compare but were unable to explain why my Neo scores so much lower than my friends Planinum. They also told me that they mainly support software and that I should contact Customer Care at a different number. I will let you know how it turns out.

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

Yup, checked out my neo and it's 28 mhz too. Has anyone actually tried sysinfo in their platinum, pro, edge, or prism to verify that they run at 33 mhz? If the neo really is running at 28 mhz they are false advertising us since everywhere you look they mention the 33 mhz clock speed.

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

I tried to clear things up with Handspring Tech Support and I got no where. I asked why Benchmark was rating the Pro and Neo slower than the Edge and Platnum, and I got a pretty useless response...

-----------------
"Thank you for contacting us, I understand you have benchmarking question for
visor pro as compared to a visor edge.

Some benchmarks measure how fast number-crunching is done, others measure
speed when handling complex graphics, others gauge text search-and-find
response time, and a number of other indices. The most comprehensive
benchmark comparisons are done between computers with a similar class of
microprocessor and operating system, measuring a Variety of Different types
of computational tasks.

When it comes to Visor family handheld computers, you will generally see
that Handspring products provide some of the most impressive benchmarks for
Palm OS handhelds. You may notice some more narrowly based benchmarks
suggest surprising things about one handhelds performance versus another.
For example, an Older model may seem to edge out a Newer model, depending on
the benchmark test used, and what it measures.

The best benchmark
Because each user employs his or her handheld in a unique way and depends on
it for different tasks, the best benchmark is always simple day-to-day
usage. Just put a Visor or Treo in your hand and use it. We designed our
Handspring products to be a great compromise between battery life, processor
speed and price.

If you have any other questions or queries, please call the Handspring
Technical Support line quoting the case number listed in the subject line of this email......." and so on and so forth.
----------------

I had also called, and got another e-mail pertaining to the speed difference that was noticed first hand, not by a benchmark utility. For this they gave the following response...


------------------
"Thank you for your email.

We understand that you would like to know why the Visor Pro is slower then
other Visors with the same processing speed.

The only difference between the Visor Edge and the Visor Pro is the memory
chip. The Visor Edge uses DRAM memory while the Visor Pro uses the SDRAM.

Also the Visor Pro has more memory therefore the refresh rate is slower then
the other Visors.

If have any questions please email or call the Handspring Technical Support
line, quoting the case number listed in the subject line of this email. This
will assist us in tracking your case for further trouble shooting...." and so on and so forth.
-----------------


Anyone else want to try? Does anyone know how to get in touch with some engineers at Handspring? Do any developers know the deal? Is there an online reasource for detailed spec's on the hardware of the different models?

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

This is all starting to feel like a dead end. We may just have to accept the apocryphal evidence that the Neo and Pro (and Treo, I might add) are somehow slower than other Handspring models because the ones who could corroborate it are too busy making software and hardware for really fast models to come.

Why are they slower? Search me. Are they slower? Yes.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

Have you tried using afterburner's speed settings and checked sysinfo after a change? Seems like when my afterburner is set at 54 mhz, sysinfo shows only 40 mhz. It takes an afterburner setting of 39-40 mhz to get the neo to 33 mhz. If afterburner thinks it's setting the device at the proper speed, is it improbable to think maybe sysinfo is reporting an incorrect speed? Seems like either program could be getting the speed wrong.

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 16

Well, I tried sysinfo on a prism and a deluxe. The prism was rated 22 mhz and the deluxe 20 mhz. I think sysinfo is not reporting the speeds accurately, so maybe the neo does in fact run at 33 mhz, but the slower ram is causing the speed discrepancy.

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 1

I have an Edge and a Neo and while I can't really speak to the speed difference (I do think the Edge is a little fast just from observation) I'd love to maybe throw a little more confusion on the subjet. I notice that the screen on the NEO is clearly crisper in daylight (even though I can't see specs anywhere that support that) but the backlight on the Edge is clearly brighter (alot).

One thing I would note is that all of us are into these kinds of details (the crowd using PDA's for rolodexes I think being rather small)---they should put the specs in great detail on the box for us.

Last edited by Buddtlb on 03-07-2002 at 01:40 PM

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mililani, HI, USA
Posts: 256

new platinum slower than old platinum

I bought a Platinum of the first run a couple of years ago. Now that HS has reintroduced the Plat with OS 3.5.2 H3 (with fast lookup), I bought another as a backup. (I'm not confident that HS can continue to stay in the pure organizer business, and I'm pretty heavily invested in the standard Visor product line...can't afford to upgrade to a completely new form factor when my current machine dies out.)

Anyway, I tested out the new Plat with Quickbits. It has a lower Quickbits index score--about 20 pts lower than the original Platinum!

Also, the box that the new Plat came in was plain brown. (I guess HS isn't bothering with the printing of new boxes, since these new devices are being sold on the web only.) The label on the box said Visor Neo Silver! One of the reasons I bought a Plat and not a Neo was because we all thought the Platinum was faster. Now it looks like they have the same internals--only different casing.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: 'braska
Posts: 211

That's what I figured HS had done, taken Neo internals and dropped them in the Pro case.

Bummer!

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mililani, HI, USA
Posts: 256

quote:

---

Originally posted by flips13
That's what I figured HS had done, taken Neo internals and dropped them in the Pro case.

---

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 9

Sorry...

I hope this isn't flogging a dead horse, but, I ran this benchmark app called Speedy on my Edge, a friend's Platinum, a Prism and a m515. It does tests on memory speed, processor speed and... something else, then averages it. Anyway, it said my Edge ran at 30mhz, the Platinum at 28, the Prism at 22 (I think, I know I was very unimpressed but I'll check it again tomorrow since everyone is saying it seems fast) and the m515 at 31 or 32. I really don't understand it. I guess whatever differing nuances there are must have a big impact, though you think they would stick to, gee, the fastest variant? ...I suppose it's somehow more complicated than that. Hmmm.