Rating: 
Summary: Great choice for your first PDA
Review: This past year I finally made the leap from paper organizers (and sticky note reminders all over my house) to the Handspring Visor Deluxe. I figured I'd just use the calendar and address book features. But once I started using it, I found more and more uses! It's easy to use, has plenty of power and storage (8mb) for normal use, and now that it's come down in price, it's the best choice out there. I always know where my to-do list is, and I never miss a meeting. I can even store pictures of my puppy in it so I can bore my friends!
Rating:
Summary: A steal at this price!
Review: At these fire-sale prices, the Visor Deluxe is a steal for folks who have missed out on the PDA revolution because of the cost.
It wasn't that long ago that this model was selling for twice the price, following the latest deep discounts.
Make no mistake, with a little patience, this is a device that will change your life. After a transition period, you will be able to toss away your Rolodexes (I used to have three) and your paper calendars.First the two weak points (and the reason why this doesn't get 5 stars):
-- The Visor Deluxe has 2 AAA batteries instead of a rechargeable battery. You have to replace them every couple of weeks of medium to heavy usage, which can cost $20 a year.
-- The case is relatively bulky, although it will still fit in a shirt pocket. Now, for the many advantages: Unlike the bargain-basement Palms, the m100 and the m105, the Handspring Visor Deluxe, and all other Handspring products, have a FULL SIZE SCREEN. I returned my m105 (a gift) after a week of squinting.
I can't emphasize that enough. With a monochrome screen to begin with, and the built-in difficulty of pointing and clicking on a Palm device, size matters. BTW, unless Handspring cuts the price of the Visor NEO, it is not worth the extra bucks just for a faster processor. All Handspring models also have an expansion slot for adding everything from memory to a cell phone to GPS. You will also need the Visor Deluxe's 8MB (the regular Visor and Palm m100 model only come with 2MB) if you want to run some of the cooler downloadable programs for your Palm. Three free programs that I use all the time are Mapopolis (free maps from mapopolis.com, streets are searchable), Vindigo (a restaurant and city guide with movie reviews and showtimes at vindigo.com), and Avantgo (a news service where you can get the likes of The New York Times, the Weather Channel and CNN on your Palm). If you want to stay with Palm, but can spend a few dollars more, consider the Palm Vx. Although lacking in expansion slots, it comes in a super-slim package with a rechargeable lithium battery and a full-size screen. I recently bought one for my wife and another for me. The Vx's downside is that it comes with a slow serial cradle instead of the Handspring's speedy USB. I also have a friend who is very happy with his snazzy, expandable new m505, but in that price range I think a PocketPC might make more sense. Here's a basic product guide:
Palm m100/Handspring Visor -- Bargain basement models with 2 MB of Ram. Good starter models for the price.
Distinguishing characteristics: Visor has significantly larger screen, expansion slot and fast USB cradle. Palm has slower serial.
Palm m105/Visor Deluxe -- Workhorse models with 8 MB of Ram (plenty for monochrome models). Visor Deluxe has bigger screen/USB/expansion slot, and is, for now, cheaper. Palm m125/Visor Platinum/Visor NEO/Sony Clie Monochrome -- Upper middle class models. Visor Platinum and NEO have larger screen. All have USB/expansion slot, although Sony's slot is only good for memory. NEO and Platinum are virtually identical. Sony has lithium rechargeable battery, others don't.
Palm Vx -- Classic, not significantly expandable. Smallest full-function PDA with lithium rechargeable battery. Still the standard.
Visor Prism -- Cheapest and brightest color Palm-branded OS, but bulky for its pricetag.
Visor Edge/Palm 500/505/Visor Pro/Color Sony's...consider buying a Pocket PC instead, unless prices drop substantially. Good luck!
Rating: 
Summary: It just works!
Review: The Palm Pilot is a success because it does what people want. It lets you take the critical information from your computer with you on the go. The Handspring Visor is especially great for those who use a Mac because of the built in USB interface. If you want freedom of choice, choose the Handspring and Palm OS as it does not box you in to using the the service... um I mean... OS from one company. The Visor is fast, works with a wide range of computers, is easy to use, and shows that you are not a lemming.
Rating:
Summary: Please stop charging extra for serial cradle!!!!
Review: This is a terrific buy, (the best feature is the extra RAM - you can run out quick) but PDAs are work tools and at the office you don't get to chose yhour own hardware. We have legacy Win95 system (hopefully they will be upgraded soon, but most business budgets are tight) and regardless of the box the software does not support USB. I resent being punished for having "outdated" equipment when it is not up to me. Either let customers choose whether they want USB or serial, or throw both in free.
Rating:
Summary: A very good PDA.
Review: I put off buying one of these for a while. With the prices still a little high and so many different ones out there I wanted to get the one right for me. The price was excellent for this model and the expandability options are more than most of brands out there.
Rating:
Summary: Buy one now!
Review: What a fantastic little PDA! More features than a Palm for less money! The Springboard (expansion) slot is what sold me On the Handspring line. I currently have a MemPlug module in my Visor (the Smartmedia version) and a 64MB Smartmedia card for a total of 72MB on my Handspring! The Springboard possibilities are almost endless! ECG units, TEMS units, pager modules, phone mudules, e-books, the list goes on and on. This unit has half the processor power of some of the other units in the Handspring line, but it's still a rocket! The amount of software available for download (since it runs the exact same OS as the Palm units, you can use the same software!) is unbelievable! It's cheap, very useful, and a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Almost there
Review: Pros:
* Good functionality
* 8 MB Ram
* Expandable
* Reasonably priced (can get for as low as 80 dollars) Cons:
* No rechargeable battery
* IR port on the side instead of front
* Case not flip up Conclusion: This is the best bet for someone who does not want their pda to be a do it all. It concentrates on a few things and does them well. If i had to go knocking it, i would pick on the lack of rechargeable batteries and the inconvenient case. Big pain. Other than that, all good.
Rating:
Summary: My life has never been easier!
Review: I resisted getting a PDA because "everyone" had one...but once I finally broke down and got the Visor, I couldn't be happier. I recommend getting the extra screen replacement protection warranty - a friend dropped his on the floor in his house (it slipped out of his hand) - it cracked the screen and he had to buy a new one. But I've been thrilled. It's helped me track of my busy schedule and activites, upcoming tasks and more so I can utilize my time efficiently. With the purchase of Ultrasoft Money, I synch up to my Microsoft Money on my desktop. Visor's are great!
Rating: 
Summary: Great, but why not a better display
Review: I use my Visor all the time- I wear it on my belt - I use the add on module area to carry pills in. Love the thing EXCEPT: The display stinks - All of the PDAs have really lousy displays - NO I don't want color - I want better contrast ratio and get rid of the glare! I'd pay more for a better display (throw a bit more RAM in at the same time.) The Glare is so bad that someone wrote a program that blacks out the screen so you can use it as a Mirror! One other tip - I find that the pen point of the optional pen stylus works better than the stylus that comes wit it - requires much less pressure and does not scratch it. Just throw the stylus cover away.
Rating:
Summary: Don't wait to buy one
Review: I was very hesitant to switch from paper to a Palm-OS PDA, but am now very glad I did. The callendar, contact manager, todo list and memo capabilities replace much larger notebooks that have to be reordered and updated each year. What really made this thing wonderful for me was an application which tracks and records my billable hours. This app, "Alltime", did not come with the PDA, and has a user interface leaving a bit to be desired, but gets the job done much better and more professionally than paper records. Also, all PDA data is transparently synced and backed up on my laptop or desktop with a single button on the docking cradle (that comes with the Handspring). I have used 1/3 of my battery charge in the first month of use, and have not desired more processing speed than provided by this Deluxe. Don't wait to buy one.
| 
