Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 6

Well, I think I am the first to have cancelled his order for the Visor Delux. I have purchased a Palm IIIx instead. Why? Well, after really looking at both products, There really is nothing neew the Visor does to make me want to have one. The Springboard, while it opens up many possibilities, it is too early to really tell. I use my current Palm III for an organizer and information repository. I have no desire to send/recieve e-mail, web clip, or listen to MP3's on it. That is what my laptop is for. I never was much for the Swiss Army Knife approach. However, I can always purcase a nice slim wireless modem for my Palm IIIx if I really want to web clib and / or send e-mail from my Palm. The Palm line has been around for years and has been working flawlessly. Their service and support is excellent. I am just not convinced Handspring can match that level of reliability and support. I rely on my Palm 100% and just can not take the chance. The 4 megs of RAM is more than enough memory for what you NEED, and if it is not, for $169.00 I can get an Xtra Xtra board which give me 8 megs more PLUS 2 additional megs in Flash. As for color cases, well, if I want that, I can get that as well. There are replacement cases shipping in the near future. I wish every one who is buying a Visor nothing but the BEST with their new product and I hope the Springboard technology takes off as expected. I also wish Handspring nothing but the Best of success. I am always happy to see newer Palm devices. Anyting but WinCE.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Pittsford,NY,USA
Posts: 223

I think your decision may be a bit premature since they aren't even shipping yet, but of course the choice is yours. Good luck with your Palm IIIx.

-Eric

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Marietta, Ohio USA
Posts: 92

Gee Whiz..Acollet.. Wheres the adventure in your life ?
One has to take risks in life..... You missed your risk-taking chance !

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 106

Acollet
Couldn't agree with you more. Have fun with your purchase. As for now, I'm still leaning towards the visor. I've been reading this forum since its inception and have rec'd a ton of good info. But when it's all said and done, we (the forum members) are not the ones who are going to make or break this product. With all the whistles and bells the visor (and high-end palms) bring to the table, John "Q" public, I believe, really wants something that is compact, solidly built, that keeps track of phone numbers and schedules. Virtually, everything else can be relegated to water cooler conversation regarding what their units are capable of doing. Very few people I think really need to get their E-Mail via a PDA. Laptops travel with execs to keep their docs and presentations on. PC's at work, at home, at remote office sites are waiting to dump the pounds of email on command. You can bet that if something is so important that it needs to get to you NOW�you will be paged. While we all want to be traveling in some remote world location, how many of us need to know where we are with GPS. While we all want the ability to Flash the unit, very few of us will ever do it. Why? Because it will be some time before there will be a real need to, and when the time comes, other units will have come onto the market. They will be cheaper, smaller and slicker. And we will buy them. No one I know of (outside of the technical arena, EVER flashes the bios on their PC's). Don't misunderstand, I not against anything that this, or other units bring to the table. They're fun and that may be enough reason to buy them. Right now, I think many of the features can be packaged under the category of "leading edge toy". What do I carry now? A pager, a cell phone, and soon to be PDA. Put a laptop under my arm, strap on all my gear and my wife looks at me like I'm nuts. None of it makes any sense until it's all comprised into one reasonable compact unit (pager, cell, PIM etc.).

Finally, why am I leaning towards the visor? I'm forever thinking of things I should remember to do. The eventual springboard attachment that allows for voice recording is something that for me, should be invaluable. Also incorporate it with skip free MP music and I can use it for jogging. I hope Handspring provides a solid unit with great customer service. That is what word of mouth and media types will eventually pick up on.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 7

Dumb move! Once you see the speed of the Visor on the road, your going to wish you had not done this.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 61

RJT -

I totally agree with you with regard to how Visor is going to be a success. It is not going to be with the users who talk here (who I think would buy or at least try all the extras that come out). It is going to be with the mass market of people who just want the ability to keep track of Dates, To-Dos, and Addresses - and to do it quickly, easily with the most convienience. This is what the Palm has always done well. The Visor has added another level of customization (with hardware) to the user. And this is the question that will need to get answered for Handspring:

Will the average users want to add anything (or at least think will want to) to their PDA?
If Yes, Visor wins. If No, They will probably be just another product in the diverse Palm line.

Additionally, I wondered what will happen when other companies with more experience taking products to the consumer and truly mass market (Apple, Sony, etc.) release Palm OS devices. The only winner in this situation would be Palm.

jonpod

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 21

FroCheese, I think you're going to far telling him it's a dumb move... cause the visor is gonna be good for those who want it. What's the use of staring at it when you don't want it... or what's the good of lusting over it if you already have something that works for you?

The only notable difference between the Visor and the Palm Computing Palm III series is the Springboard and the lower price. However, you'll notice you can find the IIIx for about $275 (shopping.com). Also, as was originally said... 4MB is plenty for an average person. Then comes the "Springboard" technology... which for some uses, is already available with the Palm. (such as the modem, etc) And I thought to myself... it's really cool! But then I thought I again, and realized.. what are the chances that I'm going to go out and spend $100+ on pieces of equipment that I really don't need? Chances are, I'm not going to be using the springboard at all. (as for the MP3 player and recorder, it will probably be more value purchasing a Diamond Rio, and you'll probably get better quality.)

To everyone their own. Some people may say some are jumping off the band wagon too early... but what if you're jumping ON too early? In my opinion, I don't think we'll see much of a "Springboard Revolution" in the near future. The Visor is there to bring the competition and raise the standard, but Palm is already trusted, working and proven.

Guess we'll wait and see. I know I'll be waiting. Probably with the Palm Vx in my hand. (can't beat the slickness of it's look)

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Hoboken, NJ, 07030
Posts: 105

I've been thinking that maybe I ought to drop back to the Visor standard, then I can accumulate some of the better springboards and switch to the next incarnation of the Visor, maybe one with PalmOS 4.x, flash memory, rechargable batteries, and who knows what else.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 200

FroCheese, the Visor faster speed (has anybody here seen it yet?) is due to a piece of software which can also be installed on the Palm.

I read it somewhere a few days ago, but can't find it now. Will look for it later.

I will also buy a IIIx coz:

1. It's there NOW
2. Its OS can be upgraded

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 7

I think you misunderstood me, I was not talking about the processor speed.

I was talking about the speed "on the road"
after the wheels are connected and the OS has transformed into the engine.

[This message has been edited by FroCheese (edited 09-26-1999).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 106

Wadda say we all get together, put a web page up. Sell a product that promises everything, that nobodys seen, and that we can just keep churning up the orders for? Oh yeh! it will come in different colors? Any suggestions for a name?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 22

I don't understand some of the comments in this topic. First of all, even if you're not going to use the Springboard technology and don't need the extra four megs, the Visor Deluxe is *still* cheaper than the Palm IIIx. Second, the Visor is not something that some random company has simply promised to deliver... there already are many units out there.

The only reasonable reason for buying a Palm IIIx over the Visor is if you don't want to (or can't) wait until the Visor is actually shipping. I suppose there could be reliability problems later on with the Visor, but as of now there is no reason to suspect that. Since it uses the Palm OS, and it's designed by the people who originally created the Palm OS, there is every reason to think that it will be at least as reliable, if not more reliable, than the 3Com Palms.

On the other hand, the Visor doesn't seem as elegant as the Palm V, nor does it have the simple connectivity capability of the Palm VII, so 3Com is still way ahead of Handspring in respect to innovation.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 21

Hagop, when has cheaper always stood for the better standard? I don't think that we should all jump onto a product that hasn't even been shipped out to the public yet.

Palm Computing's Palm IIIx has ALREADY been proven to be a great product. You haven't probably haven't even SEEN a real Visor Deluxe yet.

Handspring made some changes to the system, to account for USB capability and the Springboard. Who knows? That might be enough cause it to crash reliably once a month. Has anyone tested their for over a month yet? Has anyone had a Palm IIIx for over a month? Yes.

Now, if you're wanting to go withthe Visor, go for it! I encourage everyone to buy it who wants one... but if one likes the sleekness of the Palm V, the Palm IIIx's proven track record, or the Palm VII's simple connectivity... let them buy it!

I really don't understand why everyone is taking such offense to people deciding NOT to buy the Visor. I really don't want a PDA just to play Tiger Woods. I can get a modem for the Palm V. I don't need 8MB of memory, though I will have it when I get my Palm Vx. And the rest of the Springboards? Haven't seen any... and even if they become popular... when they TRULY become popular enough... that will be my time to get a new PDA anyway... and I'll consider it then.

My suggestion... let people choose... why should you guys know any better?

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

If you have listened to Rush Limbaugh you may be familiar with the concept of the "seminar caller"(I'm not making any accusations). If you are, take a step back and look at this thread.

In some of the posts you may see a kind of twisted logic; where one discounts their need for a feature, then states that they can pay more for it if they want it later. In others you may see subtle suggestions that Handspring is untested, even unreliable, and not to be trusted to deliver a quality product. Even given the fact that in regards to top-level management, Handspring is Palm little more than a year ago. A few of the posts even sound like sales pitches for Palm.

Frankly, there are a few different explanations for all these negative comments/sales pitches, but I will reserve judgement until I see more replies to this topic. Although I am a bit surprised to see the antagonistic response to people taking a chance on Handspring. Everyone has every right to their opinion about the Visor and I don't think I should even have to say this, but the level of sensitivity nowadays is always way too high, anyway here goes: If all you're going to do is give a sales pitch for a Palm device and denigrate the Visor, what is your motive for posting at all? Shipping and reliability will be a non-issue in two or three weeks, what will you have left? The fact that it's not in a store near you? I don't think this should be a contentious issue. The choice is always left to the consumer whether it is stated or not, I don't presume to make that choice for anyone, but I do think that discourse here should at least be intellectually honest.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 151

This is good. Nothing excites a bunch of zealots more than someone who supposedly was "in" and then decides that it's not for him. LOL, some of you guys need to relax! Palms/Visors/WinCE...it's not like they're religion or politics!