.KEYWORD prism
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Handspring’s new fast and colorful devices
.FEATURE
.SPOTLIGHT FIGALT cover.gif
.SUMMARY One year after the first introduction of the Visor, Handspring has unveiled two new and exciting products. Claire Pieterek reviews the full-color Visor Prism and the lightening fast Visor Platinum.
.AUTHOR Claire Pieterek
Just in time for the end-of-the-year gift-giving season, Handspring has released its two newest models: the Visor Prism and Visor Platinum.
.CALLOUT Buckle up, the Visor Platinum is fast.
The Visor Prism, pictured in Figure A, is Handspring’s first color model.
.FIGPAIR A Color your world with the Visor Prism.
The Visor Platinum has a new, sleek, silver case and is extremely fast. It’s pictured in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B Buckle up, the Visor Platinum is fast.
.H1 The operating system
Both the Visor Prism and Visor Platinum run Palm OS 3.5.2H, Handspring’s enhanced version of the Palm OS, which continues to offer some nice improvements over Palm’s version, such as an enhanced Date Book, an enhanced Calculator, and World Clock. For more information about Handspring’s enhancements to the Palm OS, see my article, "A first look at Handspring’s Visor," in the October 1999 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199910/visor001.html.
The best new operating system feature I found on the Visor Prism and Visor Platinum is the much-improved Calculator. Calculator offers a number of different modes to suit just about anyone from a financier to a rocket scientist, or someone who just needs to convert from English to metric. And you can still hit the buttons with your fingertips, just like the original, as you can see in Figure C.
.FIG C The enhanced Calculator offers a number of different modes.
Other than Calculator, I didn’t find any major differences in Handspring’s version of Palm OS 3.5. For more information on Palm OS 3.5, you can read my article on Palm’s color device, "The colorful Palm IIIc," in the March 2000 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200003/palmiiic001.html.)
Handspring is still holding firm on its ROM versus flash stance. Both of the new Handspring models use Palm OS patches that reside in RAM but can’t accept full version upgrades that reside in most Palm models’ flash memory. Both the Visor Prism and Visor Platinum are about the same size and shape as the other Handspring models. This is good, as whatever case you’re using with your current Visor should work with the new models. I carried the Visor Prism in a standard Coach Compact Case (nominally for Palm III-series devices) with no problem.
.H1 The Visor Prism
The Visor Prism weighs in at 7 ounces even, 0.2 ounces heavier than the Palm IIIc. The extra weight might be accounted for by all the extra colors. The Visor Prism can display 65,536 vibrant colors, 65,280 more than the Palm IIIc. Like the Palm IIIc, the Visor Prism is powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. However, Handspring has taken a slightly different tack in terms of the form factor. The back of the unit is sculpted, so that the Visor Prism has a much better feel in the hand. Of course, these two points also obviate the need for yet another cradle, one that can both fit and charge the Visor Prism. The Visor Platinum, however, is compatible with other Visor cradles. Although the resolution hasn’t changed–it’s still the Palm OS standard 160×160–the Visor Prism’s display just doesn’t seem as pixilated to me as does the Palm IIIc’s display.
The oddest thing about the Visor Prism is the color of its case, which Handspring describes as cobalt blue. I laughed when I took it out of the box because it’s the same color as my old Iomega Zip drive. While I don’t think I’ll mistake the Visor Prism for a Zip drive, I think I’d describe it as "purple" rather than cobalt. Another difference is that the Visor Prism’s power button is on the right side of the unit, rather than the left side (the way it was on all previous Visors).
.H1 The Visor Platinum
For those who want to stay with a monochrome display, Handspring’s Visor Platinum is the Palm OS-based device to choose. The speed difference is really compelling. I’m going to have a tough time going back to my old Palm IIIx, even with over-clocking software. Case-wise, I think the Visor Platinum looks a lot cooler than the Visor Prism. I guess I prefer silver to purple, even though it’s rather trendy.
So other than the exterior color, what makes the Visor Platinum so special? Well, if you were to consult the Handspring Web site, you’d learn that the Visor Platinum is an advancement over the Visor Deluxe in that it’s "fast," "really fast," and "super speedy." What’s more, the Visor Platinum "can organize your life really, really quickly," "has the very speed you need," and " can access all your data without the wait." You might be getting the impression it’s supposed to be fast.
In fact, it’s more than twice as fast as a standard Palm IIIx or Palm V, according to Neil Bridges’ Benchmark application (at http://www.quartus.net/products/benchmark/). Benchmark measures the CPU (Central Processing Unit) speed and bus bandwidth utilization of your device relative to other devices on its scale. I also measured the Visor Prism’s performance with Benchmark and discovered it came out a couple of percentage points faster than the Visor Platinum! But what are a few percentage points between friends? The final results for the Visor Prism are pictured in Figure D.
.FIG D The Visor Platinum measured a couple points behind the record-holding Visor Prism pictured here.
Note: I used an older version of Benchmark. The latest version, 2.0, adds the Visor Platinum to its table and uses the Palm IIIe and Palm IIIxe as the baseline devices.
.H1 Disappointments
I wish that Handspring would consider putting flash memory in their devices rather than ROM. I just put a TRG xtra xtra Pro in my Palm IIIx and really like the security the flash memory provides. Springboard modules are great, but you can’t use the 8MB flash module at the same time you’re using the modem module.
The biggest gripe I have with Handspring, however, is that their models ship with USB cradles by default. Once I’ve successfully performed a HotSync with a serial-connected Palm device on the only PC I own with a USB port, I’ve found it next to impossible to get any Handspring model to successfully HotSync via USB without having to reformat the PC’s hard drive and reinstall the OS. Simply installing the Handspring version of Palm Desktop just doesn’t suffice. Now, please, don’t send me any flamage regarding operating systems. You’re much better off in a newsgroup like alt.sysadmin.recovery if you want to discuss that sort of thing! If it were up to me, I’d just lower the price by $30 and have the end user purchase her own choice of cradle or HotSync cable as she sees fit.
.H1 Conclusion
Handspring’s Visor Prism redefines the Palm device marketplace. With more and more Springboard modules coming to market, such as the InnoGear SixPak Combo and the VisorPhone, plus already-available modules like the eyemodule digital camera and OmniRemote universal remote control, not to mention the vast amount of third-party software available, the real question becomes, to borrow a question from Microsoft’s own ads, "Can your pocket do that?" Microsoft’s Pocket PC platform simply doesn’t have the expandability and affordability that Handspring’s Visor Prism provides.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on the Visor Prism, visit http://www.handspring.com/products/visorprism/index.jhtml.
For more information on the Visor Platinum, visit http://www.handspring.com/products/visorplatinum/index.jhtml.
For more information on the Coach Compact Case, visit http://coach.com/shop/product.asp?product_no=542&category_id=127.
For more information on the Palm IIIc, visit http://www.palm.com/products/palmiiic/.
For more information on the Iomega Zip drive, visit http://iomega.com/zip/products/index.html.
For more information on the Visor Deluxe, visit http://www.handspring.com/products/visordeluxe/index.jhtml.
For more information on Benchmark, visit http://www.quartus.net/products/benchmark/.
For more information on the TRG xtra xtra Pro, visit http://www.trgnet.com/cat-xtrapro.htm.
For more information on the InnoGear SixPak Combo, visit http://store.innogear.com/products.cfm.
For more information on the VisorPhone, visit http://www.handspring.com/products/visorphone/index.jhtml .
For more information on the eyemodule, visit http://www.eyemodule.com/splash.htm.
For more information on OmniRemote, visit http://www.pacificneotek.com/omnisw.htm.
For more information about Handspring’s enhancements to the Palm OS, you can read "A first look at Handspring’s Visor" in the October 1999 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199910/visor001.html.
For more information on Palm OS 3.5, you can read "The colorful Palm IIIc" in the March 2000 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200003/palmiiic001.html.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6eae4
