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Handspring Visor Neo (Smoke)

Handspring Visor Neo (Smoke)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Beware, it is SLIPPERY
Review: I recently upgraded from the Visor Deluxe to the Neo and although I am happy with the way it works, but please be aware that the product is VERY slippery! It will be easy to drop and break. The faceplate on my Visor Deluxe cracked after a relatively short drop and the Visor Deluxe was a lot easier to hold onto so I am very worried about dropping the Neo, too. A case would be mandatory along with this product--one that it can be used in such as one that zips or snaps shut, not a case that you pull it out of to use, thereby leaving it unprotected in your hands, when it probably needs the most protection from slipping out of them!).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: this little gadget is a gem!
Review: I'm a first-time PDA user,have had my eye on
Visors for a long time.What a surprise!This neo is
more fun than I ever expected! very easy to use,
and having the daily journal is a huge plus.It's sleek,
quick,graphics are neat,very simple to learn for a first timer..It's great!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Bang for the Buck
Review: I've had my Handspring Visor Neo since late November 2001 and have loved it for the most part. It's easy to sync with the USB port and docking station. It's quite possibly the most versitle unit out there in terms of expansion whether you want it to become a cell phone, MP3 player, video game, etc. I traveled with it extensively since then and it's been a great performer and entertained me a good long while on plane trips. I particularly love downloading books into it and the maps. The batteries have lasted a good long while. I keep spare AA's with me as a precautionary measure but the automatic shutoff is handy plus, when you go back, it goes back on to what you let off with. My favorite thing is the feel of this unit. The buttons take slight effort to push and it clicks when you do. This is handy so you don't always accidently hit a button and lose what you were doing. Very crisp in that manner! It's also easily viewable, which is a strong plus. I like the smoke color as it's rather unique. I could care less about those that complain about fingerprints. I am more concerned with functionality and value and I believe it holds its own quite well!

Now, for the downside. I have been busy for the past month and really haven't used it. The batteries were half strength when I last used it. Now, the batteries were dead. I could not turn my PDA back on. So, I changed it out with fresh batteries and for some odd reason, the entire thing reset. I now have to reload all my programs and reset the OS to my specs, which is a pain. I don't have a clue as to why this happened. Was it because it remained dormant for too long? I don't know, but this is why I do not give a full 5 stars. It's the only qualm I have with the gadget. It's also only happened this once.

In addition, it did not come with a case. I don't know if most do or not, but I wish it did. I'll need to invest in one though it fits perfectly in my digital camera case. I mainly use my PDA for traveling purposes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great value and quality, but may not be right for everyone
Review: I've had the original Visor for about 1.65 years (nice, black plastic that feels like that of a TV remote, 2MB of RAM, Palm OS 3.1, 4 shades of grayscale, 50% slower processor than the Neo) and the Visor Neo purple (I don't care if it says blue on the box, everytime I look at it, I see purple/indigo) for about 5 months now. I primarily made the upgrade to a Neo over the original mostly due to the extra RAM and faster processor. The new version of the OS and continuing Springboard compatibility were additional plusses. Finally, It was priced cheaper than what my Visor had cost, had free shipping, and came with a free promotional nylon carry-case (the one with the big zipper, 1 big pocket for your handheld, 2 mini-pockets for any Springboard modules, and a little room left over to squeeze something else, like a set of headphones).
Here's my detailed breakdown of the Neo:

Palm OS: If you've ever played around with a Palm OS before, then you gotta admire its simplicity. There's Very little micro managing, relatively low problems, and has thousands of applications available. This platform is also used by 75% - 90% of the handheld community, so unless they're sticking with their cell phones, you'll be able to freely-exchange software, contact info, and variety of other things. Unless you're hardcore on viewing video, listening to mp3s, or other heavy multi-media tasks, PalmOS should suit you fine.

Exterior: has that "cheap, greasy plastic" feel in where fingerprints and body oils smudge very easily on it. Would-have been nice if there was an alternative to this, but I've gotten used to this. Having a snap cover as opposed to a flip cover means that you'll need 2 hands to open/close it, but I've gotten used to this too. They're 3 different colors, mine being opaque/translucent, lighter-colored ones being more transparent/translucent. If your cover is also clean, you'll be able to see your screen without removing the cover, which can be convenient due to what I've mentioned previously.

HotSync/Palm Desktop: Easy setup, easy to use. Backs up your handheld, lets you enter data onto PC and sync it over to your handheld, as well as new software. It'd be nice if it displayed important notices more clearly, such as same files being duplicated because of different information from HotSyncing. Currently, you need to go through the logs to pinpoint this. All in all very well done (with a backup module to provide fail-safe if something should go wrong)

Screen: Grayscale does look ugly next to a color screen and/or higher resolution screen, but you do get your "returns" with a less expensive and less power draining PDA. For me, it would've been nice to view pictures, maps, and games in color, but the grayscale gets the job done quite adequately. Pressure detection on the screen produced minimal concerns, as several times I would miss when I try to click on very small targets, although it may have been like that because I miscallibrated the detection accuracy.

Battery life: the 2 AAA alkalines last me about 2 weeks when I do an hour of gaming or other heavy use a day, while over 3.5 weeks with more mild usage of daily lookups and small notetaking. If this is a concern for you, nickel cadium batteries should save you money. Even though Handspring doesn't recommend this, it's moreso a battery guage monitoring issue than performance/damage-wise.

Reliability: As of with my Neo, I never had any fatal problems. Certain times I had to soft reset because of missing files for some applications caused errors that prompted me to do so, but I never had any information losses, freezes, or crashes. With my original Visor however, loading tons of games or something caused it to "downward spiral". This is where day-by-day, the performance and operation gets noticeably worse (like Win 98 from when you first use it fresh from a reformatted hard drive to4 years later when you need to reboot the damn thing 2-12x a day). Soft-resetting my old Visor temporarily solved this problem for a few days at a time, but ultimately a hard reset (purging all of your data) was required to, yet again, Temporarily remedy this problem. Tech support (NOT a toll-free number BTW) was kind enough to promptly send me a replacement (but first sending me an actual return box to put the defective handheld in. Procedures.... humph).

Springboard: Of the 2 Handspring handhelds I own, both aren't tremendously innovative compared to what the competition has to offer, but are nice values, so I'd generally recommend them to anybody. However, if you aren't going to bother dealing with them modules, I'd recommend you consider the Palm series or even a PocketPC, just to keep your options open. If you Are primarily interested in Visors for their Springboard modules, then poke around online and other places to find out more information, specifically, what modules you would use, availability, and prices. Thankfully, modules no longer cost "an arm and a leg" like they did years ago, but certain combinations of purchases can still deplete your wallet quickly. Many models of the latter 2 also have some sort of expandable data storage/backup and can even mimic the functionality that Springboard technology offers for Visors (e.g. certain Palms have wireless email/web capabilities and PocketPCs have a built in mp3 player). As for myself, I currently own 4 different kinds of modules: 8MB backup module (peace of mind for in case my PC AND my Visor BOTH fail), 16MB Hagiwara flash memory (expandable storage for databases, Ebooks, and games), a 2MB flash memory + "silent" vibrating alarm (for the limited amount of memory and also being cheap), and the SoundsGood mp3 player I managed to find on Amazon Marketplace (I plan on getting a REAL mp3 player soon, but this novelty item does come in handy for when I don't lug the player around).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If You Have A Passion For Ebooks...
Review: If You Have A Passion For Ebooks - especially the classics, there is no better ebook reader than the Visor Neo or Deluxe. As an avid publisher and reader, over the past years I've tried most handhelds available.

The Handspring Visor Neo and it's still available predecessor, the Deluxe are the handheld hands down winners!

Why?
1. They run on 2 AAA batteries. Experience has shown that, surprisingly, AAA battery power is overall the best way to go over the long term and very simple and hassle free.
2. HotSynching with the USB cradle and Palm software is painless!
3. Sorry PocketPC, but you just cannot beat the efficiency of the Palm Operating System. In the Palm doc format, huge books take up amazingly little space. The Visor Neo and Deluxe offer plenty of room as an ebook reader - especially if you don't care about using the other features (though they take up only a small space also).
4. If you really want to "load it up" with a major library of books, add the Memplug Springboard module and a smartmedia card very inexpensively.
5. Add the best freeware ebook reader, CSpotRun, get the freeware program, MakeDoc, to quickly convert and synch text files to your Visor Neo or Deluxe and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
6. Good screens. Since the Neo is the new Deluxe it has a newer version of the Palm OS and better screen ... however, they are both excellent values for the money.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great
Review: it works fine now because i got a new one, but the first one i got broke in the first day

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the best pda you can find for a great price
Review: Looking for the right PDA is tough, everyone's different. For me I like the Visor Neo. I have smoke and it suites me well. If you are someone who likes games,and has an unorganized life, this is the right path to take. But, if you are a hard working business man/women, I'm gonna have to give some credit to my cuz, the Visor Pro. But I still have to say the Visor Neo is the best thing on the market.

...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love it!
Review: My job has been technology related for years, but I've avoided getting a PDA. My reasoning was that if I couldn't remember a phone number or address by heart, then it wasn't really that important.

But now that I have one I take it with me everywhere. Download AvantGo and have lots of news and other stuff handy, and get a doc reader and download free ebooks. I even bought an Eyemodule to play around.

Get one!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: For a Teen Just Like Me
Review: Recently i have had my eye on the Handspring Visor Neo. I have been looking around the net for a compadiable PDA for my needs as a high school student. I would really recommend this to n e who whom is young or who is young at heart. i am really considering purshing this item because it can do so much u could add more software even games such as Grand theft Auto (really great Game) and Student Assitant which would really help me out or help out any student in college, or High school (esp. if your taking Honors Classes :)) when i purshase this i am thinking about adding an MP3 player because its so cool. this item is completly verstile and i could do some damage with this product.

GO OUT N BUY IT its awesome

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: some small improvements add to a good product
Review: Returned a visor deluxe within 30 days for the neo and paid a bit more but glad that i did. On some applications it's faster, the graphics look a little "crisper" and easier to read and new o/s has some small improvements. Downside is that the case is a "slicker" plastic that feels more slippery so i put dots of rubbery glue (goop or silicon sealant) on the back and sides and now prefer the way it feels and it's less likely to slide or fall from a smooth surface. Overall i like the visor, believe that it's a better value than the palm pilot and find the palm o/s and all available freeware and shareware very useful, full of excellent reference information, and very user friendly. i use mine a lot and understand why it's so popular. The neo has enough small improvements over the visor deluxe for about $30 more that i believe it would be worth it for the semi-power user, someone who will be loading many applications or someone to whom the slightly better screen resolution matters.


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