Rating: 
Summary: A fair to mediocre product ... while it lasts
Review: Had problems with these things from the start. The first one had a flaky display that flickered, the second one had a defective cradle that wouldn't charge. After much arguing with Handspring about how doing a hard reset of the unit would not fix a short in the cord on the cradle, I finally got all the parts and pieces working. By the way, Handspring technical support is probably the second worst I've ever encountered. Their toll-free line is just a recording telling you to call back on a non-toll-free line. That line is only available during business hours (California time), and wait times are regularaly 30-40 minutes. Finally, their support is pay-per-incident, an ugly trend in the industry these days.The unit worked pretty well for about six months. But then, I've found most Palm devices are created equal as far as that goes. Display is crisp, colors are vivid, although if you're going to be using this outside, you'll probably want do get a model with a passive display rather than an active display like this one. It's almost impossible to see in sunlight. One thing I have noticed is that after six months, the unit doesn't hold it's charge quite as long. I've gone from three days between charges to just over 1 day. While this is supposed to be common with NiCad devices, the fact that you can't change the battery in this unit leads me to the conclusion that it's intended to be a rather expensive disposable device with about a 12-14 month lifespan. With the emergence of cell-phone PDA's and Internet PDA's, the unit will probably be obsolete before it's non-functional, but if you're planning to hold on to your PDA for a while, you'd best read carefully about replacement parts before making your decision.
Rating:
Summary: Flimsy construction. M100 is better
Review: Ok. The color gets 4 out of 5. The unit plastics seem flimsy. I will be buying a palm m130 soon. I said a while back that is was a good desktop away from home.. well it it is if you hold the thing like a 100 year old person.
Enough said
Rating: 
Summary: So, what DO you do when the battery wears out?
Review: This is a nice device. All of Handspring's machines are nice. But I kept looking and looking for a place to get the replacement battery pack for when the rechargeable battery pack wears out. You know - not IF it wears out, but WHEN it wears out. Never had a battery-operated device where the battery didn't wear out eventually. I finally found one mention of it under "repair and replacement" on the handspring.com website. Wanna know what it says? Pack that puppy up and mail it back to handspring to get new batteries. How sad. When I finally was forced to the conclusion that the batteries were the most important consideration in my buying decision, (more than, say, functionality!) I chose a Neo. I hope someone from Handspring is listening.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent but maybe surpassed now
Review: I researched long and hard about whether to buy the Prism or the M505. I live in the arctic with few stores so called Future Shop in Ottawa and told them that I was coming down and could they charge up one of each. It took about 1 second to choose the Prism - the M505 doesn't count as a colour screen in my book. The Prism is bulkier but feels well-made and I personally have no trouble at all with the cover - it just fits neatly behind the unit when I am typing. The battery seems to last me well and all told I could not be happier. After about 9 months I started to hear a squeaking sound coming from the back of the unit like an electrical short. It did not affect the use of the unit but was annoying and I was worried that it might get worse. I called Visor and they told me to send it in and I would get a replacement. As I couldn't do without my handheld for even a day I chose to pay the twenty five dollars and have them send me the replacement first....an easy exchange - no questions, no hassles - excellent. I would have given the Prism 5 stars except that I just saw the new Sony in a store and it has the most AMAZING screen. If money is no object, buy the Sony, otherwise the Prism is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Home PC away from Home PC
Review: I use my prism just like i use my Dell at home. I play games, get e-mail, get news from Avant go, Write on a word processer., The only difference is that the Prism uses Palm OS and my Dell uses Windows XP
Rating:
Summary: A very cool organizer
Review: I upgraded from a Visor Deluxe to the Prism and am glad I did. I was concerned with the Lithion Ion battery and concerned it wouldn't power my MP3 springboard player long enough, but it has played w/o any noticable power drain at all. The battery counter goes down less with the Prism than with the Deluxe on Alkaline batteries. The only negative technical things to say are: 1) The screen has an annoying habit of "blinking" -- as if a refresh is occuring. This is not the same as flickering under certain lighting conditons (to which Handspring has released an adjustible fix) -- this is like the screen turns off for a fraction of a second and then "blinks" back in. It's very very fast, like when you might catch your TV blinking if you watch it from a 45 degree angle out of the corner of your eye.) The color blows the existing Palm devices out of the water. Pictures are very sharp and clear for a 160x160 screen. I like the faster processor too.
Rating:
Summary: BETTER PDA OPTIONS ARE OUT THERE
Review: I bought one last year after they first came out and I still have mixed feelings. On a positive note, I didn't have any of the USB problems that other people apparently have. However, I know that the palm operating system is now outdated. If weight matters to you, then go with a lighter unit, because this one is heavier and bulkier than average. One big plus is that screen colors are great and resolution is very good, but the jornada is better. The other irritant is that everything is an ADD-ON for the Prism (e.g. the HP540 Jornada comes with an MP3 player). The add-ons are not priced to be cheap either. By the time you add on a travel charger, an MP3 player or a modem, you've invested more money. Most of the time, I find I have to special order accessories. It is hard to find compatible stuff at your local electronics store for the PRISM since it doesn't fit the same connector base as the other handspring PDAs (e.g. the case for the other handspring PDAs won't fit a Prism, neither will the mini-keyboards, etc.) I now know that would have been easier to have bought the Palm505 or waited for the HP540.
Rating: 
Summary: Can't upgrade OS, color screen is pixellated
Review: This Handspring has 8MB, but no flash-ROM. The flash ROM is what allows you to upgrade the Palm operating system on the device. This is a major oversight in design in the rush to market. What good will this PDA be in 3 years when nothing is compatible anymore because your OS is outdated? Another major drawback, in my opinion, is the color screen. It's lousy. There's this funky grid that overlays the screen and makes things look pixellated. Once you see it you'll notice the grid every time you look at the device. Gives me a headache. The worst thing about the whole Prism is that it doesn't work with my machine. I've got a USB and I just can't get it to work and the manufacturer won't take it back. I'm really stuck with this thing and loathe it the longer it sits here. The technical support didn't fix the problem and kept referring me to someone else who never called me back. So if you like wasting your money, go ahead.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the hassle
Review: I received this PDA as a christmas gift. While this is a great deskweight, it does little to increase the "mobility" or portability of data that cannot be moved from the Handspring to my computer. I have had a very hard time getting the device to work on my system with the USB cradle. I don't know if it is because I have Win2K, SCSI or what. I've tried to HotSync it on several other systems. It seems that if there is SCSI, the USB cradle won't rock (uh, work). Without SCSI, it Sync's OK. Wouldn't it be nice if it somewhere it big bold letters that the Handspring w/USB is not compatible with SCSI devices and you should steer clear?
Rating:
Summary: Worse than Palm M100
Review: Where should I start........ Oh yes, Let me start on the color. The color, when the bacckround in a app is white, the white has a pinkish hue. The durability of the Prism is auful. I dropped it one in a padded case by mistake, and the screen breaks. (Handspring's technical service is 10x worse than palm's)Screen cracks are not not covered in warrenty. The price to have it fixed is US$135.00 (EUR 137.50) palm covers screen cracks in warrenty. The battery life, handspring, says is two weeks, well I can't get the battery to last for a whole High School Day. If I was you I would look at the Sony Clie T615c, Palm M505 or the palm IIIC
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