Is this a good deal? Handspring (1 Viewer)

[McPaul]

I just picked up one of these Handspring Visor (Deluxe)? units that has 8mb memory, comes with a 56k modem, a leather case, screen cover, 1 stylus, hotsync cradle with USB connection for $100 Canadian. It was the last one in the city and past the last day of the sale, they just had their sign still up and I inquired and they gave me that price...

It's not backlit though, but I can live with that.

I think it was a pretty good deal even though they have the new model out now called the Neo.

Any Handspring Visor users out there? What's the first thing I should get for it? software/accessories? I was thinking a little thumb keyboard for sure. Any good Handspring resources websites or forums out there??

I'm pretty sure it's the Deluxe model(came in a repackaged box for the pagenet service, not the origional box - but it's not a refurbished unit) but on the inside it says deluxe, just not on the unit itself, it just says visor. What is the difference between the visor and the visor deluxe?

These things are neat, I've been playing with mine all day!!

What's the coolest thing you like/you can do with your Handspring?

 

[DavidY]

Hi, Paul,

I have one (actually, two...an extra one that my bro didn't want). Mine didn't come with a 56K modem though. Both were refurbs for CDN$180 each.

You will probably need a few extra styli (plural I think for stylus)...they are easy to lose. Also, screen protectors like WriteRight (sp?) to prevent scratches.

Alkaline batts last about two months. Rechargeables not recommended.

Dave

 

[Bill Slack]

It should have a light. I've never seen a Palm device w/o one. I own a Visor Deluxe. Hold the on button down when you turn it on, that should turn the light on (uh, if I remember correctly, mine just collects dust!)
Ok, technically, I believe Palm screens are front lit, due to their screen type... but the sucker should glow a soothing green color!
And yeah, that's a pretty sweet deal. It's a bit older, and Handspring seems to be dying, but... It's a Palm based device, and it's quite useful.
The free modem is especially cool!
IDK.. try using it as an ebook reader or something. I've never tried it, but am intrigued by it enough to be heading out right now to by some batteries for mine and try it. (And it's midnight right now!)

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

Visor Central
you can change the way you turn on/off the backlight. i forget how, but i have to drag my pen from the writing surface to the center of the screen to activate it. you can also get a hack (glowhack or something similar) that will allow you to set it so that if you turn the unit on after a certain time the backlight will automatically be on...kinda neat.
Palmgear will allow you to try out a lot of neat apps.

 

[Tony_Faville]

I have one of those....bought it for $99.....which is far better than the $249 they were selling for less than 18 months ago. I love it and use it all the time. Even has my list of DVD's on it.

 

[Bill Slack]

IIRC, Handspring is basically JUST focusing on the Treo (and it's ilk) now.

Every model is on-sale with freebies via the website.

Yeah, Palm is sucking it up, as well. Palm OS is just becoming antiquated. Personally, it does most of the things I want, and is much gentler on the hardware/power than WinCE devices. Palm still is the dominant OS for PDAs, but it's eroding pretty quickly.

Revenue for 3rd quarter this year vs. last year are down 52% @ HAND.

There's gobs of software for Palms, and perhaps people will realive that their PDA _doesn't_ need to play videos and MP3s to be useful (though playing with my co-workers ipaq _is_ quite entertaining!)

Oh, and I downloaded The Origin of Species (Darwin.. uh, duh!) and Anthem (Ayn Rand) fromt Project Guttenberg and converted them to a Palm eBook format. My Handspring has a new lease on life!

----------------------------------

Last Trade 1:21 PM ET - May 1 2002

Price $ 2.48

Change $ 0.12

Volume 676,500

Trades 877

Day Low $ 2.40

Day High $ 2.62

52 Week Low $ 1.13

52 Week High $ 17.59

EPS -1.24

Palm, on the other hand is at $3.10, from it's 52 week high of $9.87. EPS is -.79.

 

[McPaul]

Thanks for the info, guys, backlight works, but why are rechargeables not recommended?

 

[Bill Slack]

They'll wear out pretty quickly.

NiMH (as opposed to NiCad) would most likely work pretty well though.

 

[Mark Dubbelboer]

NiMH is the way to go.

The brand on mine is FastCharge or something similar, not sure if they're still in business. it was an internet online retailer