Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 24

Well.

I had thought that I would never mover from my prism to an m505. But, after thinking about it, I believe I might.

Yes, I know the screen may not be great. But, after I thought about how I actually use my PDA, the m505 makes more sense to me.

Here's my thoughts - comment away:

1. I use my PDA for really 2 Purposes:

(a) As a "laptop" replacement. I go to law school part time so I use the prism, wordsmith and the portable keyboard to capture class notes. Once they are captured, I use the desktop to clean them up, organize them and convert them to Peanut Reader (now palm reader) to view and study from.

(b) As a datebook/address book/to do tracker. Basic stuff - I'm not very religious about this part. I use may 10% of the functionality of datebk4.


2. Based on my use requirements, the m505 is probably the better device.

As I said, the big app for me is document managment. As such, I have both the memplug and CF adaptor for my prism. I store the docs on them - mostly as backup since only CSpotrun will read them from the card.

However, with Palm buying peanut press, things have changed. I love peanut reader - I think its the best reader out there. When they bought peanut press the first thing palm did was add SD card support to peanut (palm) reader. So now, my favorite reader does something that the Prism can't - read docs off an expansion card.

Additionally, software developers are going to support the SD slot quicker than they will support memplug/CF adaptors. So, I suspect very shortly wordsmith with have SD support and I would be in 7th heaven with a m505.

3. I use my PDA both indoors and outdoors equally

As such, the m505 may be a better choice here too.


Anyway, can someone talk me out of this? I really dont want to ebay my prism and modules (eyemodule 2, keyboard, backup, 8mb expansion, CF adaptor w/16MB card, memplug w/128 mb card). I mean we are talking abou 900 worth of handsping stuff. Then, I would have to buy the m505, keyboard, SD card. God what a mess. any thoughts?

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

Man! Two people think you're an idiot and aren't telling you why.

Get what you need. If it's an m505, then go that route. If enough people go the m505 route, then Handspring will almost assuredly implement the most popular features. And don't forget about an SD<��>Springboard adaptor. I'd bet money that it won't be too long before one pops up. I personally like what Palm did with the m505 (vibrating AND LED alarms, dictionary/thesaurus card � I've only seen a dictionary for visor, MUCH better games card (IMO), released at the same time as a keyboard, the all-important backup card, supposedly superior screen IF you're an outdoor fanatic, back-lit graffiti area, etc.). The m505 has my attention. Nothing looks better than the red edge, though.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 24

SD SB

SD Springboard would solve all my problems

BTW, one of idiot votes was my own

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

Re: SD SB

quote:

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Originally posted by hamiltondj
SD Springboard would solve all my problems

BTW, one of idiot votes was my own

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LOL!

You need a shot of self-esteem.

__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 200

How large are the documents you have to store? I'd wait to see just what the m505 screen looks like, and how long it takes to get either SD or CF/Memplug support for your software (did you try asking the Wordsmith people?)

Does Palm Reader's SD support require OS4.0, or any changes to run with a Springboard SD adapter/module?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 431

quote:

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Originally posted by dick-richardson
Man! Two people think you're an idiot and aren't telling you why....

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:

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Originally posted by kalahari
...The m505 is vaporware. Wait to see what Handspring's next models look like before attempting to make any decisions.

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__________________
My blog: Pocketfactory

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 431

quote:

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Originally posted by foo fighter
Why do you say it's vaporware? It's still going to ship within the next 4-6 weeks. As for Handspring, I don't think we're going to see any more new devices from them unitil late summer/back to school season.

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Last edited by kalahari on 04-14-2001 at 09:40 PM

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 28

quote:

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Originally posted by kalahari

The other one was me... The m505 is vaporware. Wait to see what Handspring's next models look like before attempting to make any decisions.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 17

Peanut reader with expansion card

Hi hamiltondj,

quote:

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Originally posted by hamiltondj

So now, my favorite reader does something that the Prism can't - read docs off an expansion card.

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Phoenix Arizona
Posts: 74

I've had my Prism for about 3 months now and can honestly say that I'm quite pleased. A couple of points to ponder before going out and buying a new M505:

1. It's very easy to spend time on these forums, gathering information, learning what's new, what's working - what's not -- but -- it's also very easy to get quite 'caught up' in getting everything that's the latest and greatest - until you're spending a lot of time buying new stuff. It's kind of like a new car in that, if you are always buying one every time the new models come out (and that's OK if that's your hobby), you're losing a lot of money each time you upgrade / purchase new. I think that I'll keep my Prism for at least a year and then make an intelligent decision on what to replace it with (assuming I want to).

2. It would make sense to let the M505 hit the market for several months - to see what the bugs / issues / defects are. If you read the 'Edge' forum you'll see a lot of comments that could direct / change your impression on the 'Edge' vs. what was being posted a month ago.

I'm a Macintosh person, and I know to never install the first / new version of system software. I don't want system 7, system 8, system 9 or OS X. Instead, I'll wait for OS 10.4 -- which by that time should have a lot of the bugs and conflicts worked out. That's probably a good rule of thumb to apply with buying PDAs. These companies are pushing new products out into the market as fast as they humanly can.
dave

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 28

Re: Peanut reader with expansion card

quote:

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Originally posted by rickk
Hi hamiltondj,



We use the Peanut Reader on a prism. Mostly for reading ebooks. The ebooks and the Peanut Reader reside on an 8MB Springboard module. This works fine.

Not sure why you are having problems. What happens when you put books and/or the Reader on your module?

TeamSTARS
Rick Kier and Dick Gordon

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 24

Re: Re: Peanut reader with expansion card

quote:

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Originally posted by mshe




I think he was talking about the CF and SM springboards.

You can't run or read files directly off those. It's different from the 8 and 16 MB expansion cards.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 17

8MB compacting problem

quote:

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Originally posted by hamiltondj

I do have an 8MB expansion module but it seems to have the "compacting" problem which caused me to loose everything on it.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 14

COMPACTING SOLUTION!

See this discussion thread:

http://discussion.visorcentral.com/...;threadid=13989

__________________
leslie
Prism Addict

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 24

10 idiots votes

Actally 9 (one was mine)

I'm bummed

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 200

Note to self: if I ever start a poll, do NOT make any of the choices "you're an idiot."

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Alabama, USA
Posts: 92

Memory is your main reason for moving?

Well, then truck on over to http://www.palmpilotupgrade.com and upgrade your Prism to 16MB of on-board RAM. Terry is a great guy and does a superb job on the upgrades. I've had mine for a little over a month now and it's the perfect device (well, that and my VisorPhone).

Another thing, the m505 won't have a phone module for quite sometime that is SD compatible. If it does, where's the mic going to come from? On the prism, it's built in. On the m505, I haven't heard that there is one. In that case, the only way Palm would be able to pull it off is to make an external module much larger than the Handspring VisorPhone. Plus, with as small as the port is, I don't know if I would want a large batter pack hanging off such a small connector. It would most likely easily damage the unit.

Anyways, I'll be sticking with the Prism for quite sometime.



Jon

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 347

quote:

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Originally posted by hamiltondj
I really dont want to ebay my prism and modules (eyemodule 2, keyboard, backup, 8mb expansion, CF adaptor w/16MB card, memplug w/128 mb card). I mean we are talking abou 900 worth of handsping stuff. Then, I would have to buy the m505, keyboard, SD card. God what a mess. any thoughts?

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My thoughts are that you should ditch that crappy Prism and buy yourself a m505...then you can sell me your keyboard and backup module!!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Grand Junction, Colorado
Posts: 9

Palm Reader and Prism Modules...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hamiltondj
Well.

However, with Palm buying peanut press, things have changed. I love peanut reader - I think its the best reader out there. When they bought peanut press the first thing palm did was add SD card support to peanut (palm) reader. So now, my favorite reader does something that the Prism can't - read docs off an expansion card.

I use the Palm Reader with a Visor Prism and a 16MB Flash Module. I can read ebooks that are on the module with no problem at all. I just move the actual data to the springboard module and leave the bookmark and annotation files in main memory; works like a charm.