Rating: 
Summary: If money were *no* object...
Review: I am a great fan of Handspring products (see other reviews) and I have been drooling over this unit ever since it was announced. The price tag has kept me away from it, sadly, but I was recently called upon to evaluate the Prisim for my place of work.hehehehehehehehe This is another solid machine from Handspring. The case is well constructed and has no felx or give then handled. The buttons are a little different from the VDX, but have the same nice responsiveness. The power button has switched sides, but other than that, it is very similar to it's brothers. The unit is a tad thicker, and a flair at the base of the unit (where the battery is located) gives it a nice feel when it sets in the cradle. Due to the slightly larger size, users of VDx's may feel it a tad bulky, but I got used to it. Other than colour, what are the improvements? Well right off the bat, the speaker is a good deal louder. The fact that it is rechargeable is a mixed blessing. While I like the fact that I need only to drop it in the cradle to top it off, it *does* go thru power rapidly. The fact that I couldn't just pop a set in if I got "low on the road" is a bit disappointing. The screen? Beautiful. Res. is the same as the IIIc, but the colours are much more vivid and bright. Cons? Well, like I said above, the rechargeable issuse (to me) is a mixed blessing. A bit more weighty and thicker may make it not quite a "pocket" PDA for some. The flaired base also made it a bit difficult to use with my GoType keyboard. All of my Springboards worked without a hitch (natch). Two last issues. While it is beautiful and functional, I just haven't seen really useful colour apps yet. Even the datebook and address book fail to take full advantage of the colour pallet available. The other "problem" being the price. A bit much IMHO. Bring down the price and I'd add the fifth star. Were it a perfect world, I'd run right out and buy one, and then FIND A WIRELESS MODEM THAT SERVICES MILWAUKEE! The colour-wireless borwsing (via Blazer) is *very* nice! You can find much *worse* ways to spend $450.
Rating: 
Summary: If a screen displays in color and nobody can see it.........
Review: I have been a Handspring customer for the past 2-3 years and have loved the device. I recently cracked my screen and decided it was time to upgrade to the color device. After one week of use and constantly having to strain to see the screen under normal office lighting, not being able to see it in sunlight at all; and finding its only real improvement over the black and white models to be an improved version of Solitaire and Klondike-I returned it. I have another 8Mb Visor, in black and white, on its way. Unless you're truly intending to use this device as a digital photo album, which in conjunction witht the digital camera is a pretty cool feature, or doing serious wireless surfing, I wouldn't reccomend spending the extra dollars. The typical user who relies on their Visor for calendar/contact management will hate the difficulty seeing the color screen.
Rating:
Summary: Slimmer Would Be Better
Review: I'm generally pleased with my Visor Prism. The color is brilliant and the Graffiti handwriting recognition is as good as that of my Palm V. My only regret in switching from the Palm V to the Handspring is that the Prism is more than twice as thick. If weight and size are critical to you, wait for the color Palm Vc to come out around March 2001.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific for power users, otherwise don't waste your money
Review: I love my Prism but unless you're going to use it like a maniac (I do), save your money and get a different Visor. The cobalt (dark blue) Prism comes with a standard Handspring black stylus, a black plastic screen cover and a leather carrying-case. I had a Visor Deluxe, which was great - a terrific upgrade from the Palm Professional that I had before. I switched to a Visor initially for the Springboard capability; I needed the backup module. I went from the Deluxe to the Prism solely for its internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery which really does work like a charm. The color and extra speed are great too, but unless you play lots of games or have some other visually-oriented special need, stick with a Deluxe or better yet, a Platinum.
Rating:
Summary: O/S Not Upgradable, short battery life, great organizer
Review: As far as Palm-O/S compatible organizers, nothing beats this one. 8 megs of ram, color screen, upgrade slot, Palm-O/S 3.5. The only drawbacks are that the O/S is in ROM rather than EEPROM (aka flash) and the battery life, even with the hard-wired lithium-ion battery is one quarter of any of the greyscale organizers. If you need color, and keep it charged, and don't mind a ROM O/S, then this is the one for you. The only organizer better than this (excluding the Windows-CE jobs, which are really palmtop computers, not PDAs) is the Agenda. Agenda developer model is 16m ram, 8m rom, strong-arm CPU, PDA software, reads Palm data, and it runs stron-ARM Linux. It's cheaper than any of the other pda's on the market and great for the hackertype.
Rating: 
Summary: Next best thing to the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy...
Review: Two words - amazingly useful. I had a Visor Delux which I seldom used and never really understood why. I *want* to use the Prism. 3 great things:- 16 bit color so I can carry photos of my kids with me. Rechargeable battery so I no longer have to panic when those AAAs run out. My wireless modem (OmniSky). 3 little things:- It's a little big. The cover doesn't clip on the back like it does with the Delux model. (Niggly 'cause there is nowhere to put it and I am sure I will loose it at some point). Battery life is a bit short, but long enough for any flight I have been on lately. (And it charges in the cradle). Summary:- Wouldn't be without it.
Rating:
Summary: Far Better Than The Others For More Than Just Color
Review: I started with a deluxe, loved it,but I wanted the modem and upgraded to a Platinum. I thought that was a fantastic product, except for the backlight and the batteries I found the Platinum perfect. It was those exception that led me to the prism. The color is impressive and lovely, but it's NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL. Most of the apps that you use for productivity don't take advantage of it and those that do don't do it tremendously effectively. I am sure those apps are coming, however. But it beats the heck out of the backlight and the rechargeable battery is a lot nicer thatn the 2-AA's. Rechargeable batteries tend to annoy me, they can't handle high-drain devices very well. Overall this is the finest palm device I've seen.
Rating:
Summary: Take it from a proud new owner - it's a winner!
Review: I wanted to contribute to the feedback of general PDA and Handspring fans as an actual Prism owner and everyday user and say, it's worth it! I had an old Palm III (and before that a Palm Pilot Personal), and am a longtime fan of the simplicity-is-key brilliance of the Palm OS. When Handspring debuted with its expansion slot, I knew my next PDA would come from them. In 2000, they came out with the faster Platinum, and the color Prism, and I mulled over the two until my brain started smoking. I sprang, ultimately, for the Prism, even though I thought the color would be just a gimmick at best. But now I'm convinced: it makes a world of difference. I could never go back to the green screen. Even out of the box it's a more pleasant user experience - easier on the eyes. And no time at all, I'd downloaded heaps of free apps that took advantage of the color (including some gorgeous games, photo album utilities and movie players). I also got the eyemodule digital camera add-in (also available at Amazon - I had to put the expansion slot to use, after all), and it makes a great partner to the Prism. The Prism's screen is not as brilliant as the Palm IIIc or other PocketPCs - but the greater color depth makes a world of difference compared to the former. It's hard to use outdoors in the sun, but if you're a cubicle inmate like me, it shouldn't be a problem. Another distinguishing feature of the Prism is the rechargable battery. At first I thought I'd feel weird depending on the charging cradle, but it's second nature... and it absolutely beats wasting AAA batteries or fiddling with rechargable AAAs (I've a desk full of 'em!). With daily use, I've yet to see my battery meter drop below three-quarters full. The biggest downside is travel - make sure you have a travel charger cable (also available on Amazon). And the speed is nothing to sneeze at. Both the Prism and Platinum boast a boost of 50 percent over previous models... and compared to my old Palm III? Thinking back to life then is like remembering my first 486 computer. Other notes: The Prism is slightly thicker and heavier (with a power button on the right side), so custom cases you have for other Visors might not work (I use Handspring's own "sport case" with no problems). Also, it's contrast settings are sometimes off out of the factory, but an "easter egg fix" posted around the web can solve most "shimmer/flicker" problems. Bottom line? The Prism is the first PDA to have it all. The simplicity and efficiency of the Palm OS. The speed of the latest chips. A built-in long-life rechargable battery. And a color screen. If you were debating between the latest offerings like I was, the extra dollars are definitely worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Big step forward
Review: I own both a Palm IIIc and an Compaq iPAQ 6500 series. I don't own one of the Prizms yet since I'm pretty happy with my Palm and iPAQ, but as I've had a lot of experience with color-based PDAs I thought I would make a few comments. I went down and checked this out at the local CompUSA and put it thru it's paces and compared it closely to my IIIc, which I had with me. One of the main things I noticed right away is that it is somewhat smaller in footprint than the IIIc. It is about 3/8 of an inch shorter than the Palm IIIc and about 1/4 inch less wide, so it's slightly smaller than the IIIc. It is thinner front to back at the bottom of the unit than the IIIc, but is slightly thicker at the top because of the Springboard module slot. Overall the impression is it is noticeably more compact and lighter than the IIIc. I'd been told the screen is actually brighter than the IIIc, but I really couldn't see this. I had my IIIc when I was doing this comparison, and so I cranked up the brightness on both of them and looked at them side-by-side, and they looked the same to me. However, the screen is just as sharp, maybe a little sharper than the IIIc, but I wouldn't swear by it. I called up a number of the apps to see how the screen looked. With 64K colors, the built-in apps really don't take full advantage of these, but there are many good examples of color-based productivity apps and games out there that will exploit the color capabilities more fully, such as To Do Plus, Listmaker, SuperNames, ActionNames, Memo Plus, Address Plus, CityTime, and so on. I don't know if the built-in lithium-ion battery lasts longer than the IIIc. Palm says 8-20 hours of life on the IIIc but in my experience that is optimistic. I usually use mine set at about 3/4 full brightness and that gives me about 4-6 hours of use. Hopefully the Prizm has improved on this. I think the main use for the 64K colors is for displaying photos. Even the Casio E115 only has 16K colors and the Compaq iPAQ has only 4K. So for people who want the most colors this is clearly the winner. However, the resolution of the screen still isn't as good as on the Pocket PCs, which are 240 x 320. Overall, however, this looks to be a great new offering in the PDA lineup. I'm not quite ready to trade in my Palm IIIc but if I didn't have one I certainly go for the Handspring Prizm if I wanted a color unit in the Palm category.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome Colors, Graphics... errrrr, Its the best
Review: I saw this in a magazine and said "I gotta get this sucker." My friend got one and I immediately fell in love. It has a pretty fast processer, and is internet capable. He has games on it, for when he is in class, and the teacher is being boring. I wanted A laptop, but now that I have seen this, I am never gunna even look at a laptop, (at least for the time being). My friend has a Palm VII, and it is backlit, and hard to read at some points, while this has color LCD. ne way, I gotta test to study for and have to go. You have to get this. You will be 100% satisfied.
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