Advice about the Visor (Handspring Visor)

Member Name: tgoldring

Product:	Handspring Visor
Date:	01/02/02 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good OS, Graffiti writing system, Fairly low price

Disadvantages: Weighty, Dated, Case

I bought my Handspring Visor in the summer of 2000, when they had been around for a year or so, and overall have found it to be a valuable asset.
The unit looks a little dated now (Jan 2002), due to the frightening pace the computer market moves at. It is fairly weighty too, but not enough to make you notice it too much in the pocket of a jacket.
It comes with a case which clips onto the front of the unit when not in use, and can then be clipped on the back of the Visor. This makes for a rather clumsy first impression, but can be overlooked. Indeed, I have purchased a leather case for my Visor, which has rendered the plastic case useless!

The Visor runs on the Palm Operating System, PalmOS, which is very stable and efficient. Some programs you feel really should be included out-of-the-box, such as a drawing program, and perhaps a few games. Yet these are minor quibbles, as they can be dowloaded easily from shareware sites, such as www.vnunet.com , or www.zdnet.co.uk .
There are some features included which Handspring have tweaked, such as a whole-week view in the Date Book, and for me this is one of the essential programs. Other programs which are useful are To-do list, and Address Book, which all integrate with each. For example, you can view your To-do list in the Date Book, and see which day they are due by; this is an extremely useful feature. The Visor also has excellent battery life, which is a must for a handheld device.
Data entry is by the Graffiti writing technique; this is outstandingly simple to pick up, and in about half an hour anyone can be using the Visor competently. Except for my dad.

The Visor is looking a little tired now, but this by no means diminishes its usability. It is a robust little unit that is still a bargain for the price, and I do not hesitate to recommend it.

Thomas

Summary: