Quality of Handspring?

I've had problems with my Visor Deluxe... I dropped it and cracked the case, and then some days after that it stopped working... I called them up and said I had the "broken button issue" (the case cracked right under the pwr button, and this was a known design flaw) and since it was still under the 1 year warranty, they replaced it.. about a week later I got another deluxe with return postage for the borken Deluxe... All in all I was happy with the service (I got a free set of AAAs too...) But now that I think about it, a lot of people have been having quality issues with Visors... Whatever, I wasnt going to buy a PDA anyways ( at least not a monochrom one with non rechargeable batteries and no phone capabilities... TREO 270 here I come!!!) too bad its so damn expensive... I hope I can find a good calling plan for it...

Well I personally know a few people who have visors, and I am the only one that I know of with a problem.... read up @ <a href="http://www.visorcentral.com" target="_blank">www.visorcentral.com</a> they should have forums and stuff (I think) where people talked about their problems with visors.. but of course YMMV.... If i was forced to get a PDA (non cell phone) right now I would look into the sonys... they seem to be the most innovative right now... It sucks tho because the springboard slot is so cool!!!

Handspring just released the Treo 90 today and it looks great! And at $299, the price is competitive and comes with a built-in keyboard, color screen, and 16MB of RAM. It looks like a worthy competitor in the PDA/Organizer space.

[quote]Originally posted by imacmike:
<strong>Handspring just released the Treo 90 today and it looks great! And at $299, the price is competitive and comes with a built-in keyboard, color screen, and 16MB of RAM. It looks like a worthy competitor in the PDA/Organizer space.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Also, check out the Handspring 270 color with wireless phone. trade your visor in and get $200 off. My friend has the 180, b&w and it was awesome device esp for SMS and Wireless email (See Treo Mail & Visto Mail). Here is Europe, people go nuts on SMS and the keyboard device for sending SMS on GMS and GPRS networks is awsome. The email is also pretty fantastic. Its a nice form factor. I like it more as a SMS/Phone and Email device than a PDA but you can use the Address book to make calls/emails easier and faster.

My Visor Edge came right out of the box with the backlight not working and the plastic areas around the screws slightly fractured. I think it was banged around in its initial shipping to the place I bought it from.

I called Hs and the next day a box was waiting for me. I sent it out on a Friday (via Airborne Express), they got it Monday. That day they fixed it and shipped it out and I got it Tuesday. And that's only because I didn't want the possibility of getting a refurbed one as a replacement.

That was a few months ago, and since then it's been nothing but a pleasure. You just have to take care of them, that's all. Generally, when you drop anything, it's not likely to work as well.

Oh, and re: the Treos: I saw one in my local Best Buy store recently, and up to then I'd wanted to get one. Not now. They're fat, and look kind of silly. I'll just stick with an exclusive phone on one hip and PDA on the other.

my first pda wuz a newton.
slow and big. but fun to be almost 10 years ahead of the rest.

a year ago i got myself a handspring visor edge.
it got stolen last month.

now i don't know what to buy.

-a edge again? (price dropped from 700 swiss franks to 300) <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
-a treo (is this product ready for the market? looks like sh!t to me) <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
-or wait (i'm not giving up on apple) <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

[ 05-31-2002: Message edited by: peve ]</p>

Peve,

First, it is an insult to the Newton to call it a PDA, it is a Tablet Computing Device. Print Data Arduously(PDA) devices are a pain in the wrist.

Second, Apple killed off the Newton/Emate because they concluded the school age kid(0-25 year old) really didn't want it as a computer and Apple refused to push it as a game device.

I am currently typing on an Emate and I have used a Handspring Prism for about two and a half years.
I have dropped the Visor over a dozen times and only the back has cracked. I would like it to be a little smaller so that it fits into more of my pockets, but otherwise I think it is made better than a Palm. Everyone else at my facility uses/abuses Palm PDAs. I have lost track of the number of them that have had display problems.

An Apple a day keeps the computer doctor away. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

I bought a Visor Edge (and the really nice aluminum case) about eight months ago. I don't have any complaints, though admittedly by Christmas I'd had enough and went back to notebooks and pencils.

[quote]First, it is an insult to the Newton to call it a PDA, it is a Tablet Computing Device. Print Data Arduously(PDA) devices are a pain in the wrist. <hr></blockquote>

Not really an insult. It's not a tablet (too small), and it's not one of today's tiny PDAs (too big). Technically, it's a handheld computer, but I call it a PDA because it most resembles that type of device, even though it's much more powerful than the tiny PDAs on the market now.

[quote]Second, Apple killed off the Newton/Emate because they concluded the school age kid(0-25 year old) really didn't want it as a computer and Apple refused to push it as a game device.<hr></blockquote>

Absolutely incorrect. Apple 'killed' the Newton because they were losing so much money and projects like the Newton had to go. Printers, scanners, and nearly everything else that had an Apple logo but wasn't a computer was 'killed'. The eMate was so successful that Apple had a deal with the State of Texas to sell 3,000,000 of the devices to them, but since it was 'killed' and support was dropped, the deal did not go through. The messagepads themselves were NEVER marketed for the 0-25 year old market. They were more for executives. Some college students bought them for note taking, but for the most part, the Messagepads were a luxury item. The eMates were for schools.

Apple promised to re-enter the market with a "Mac OS based device" encorporating the Newton technology in 1999. This never happened, despite the development of Rosetta on the Mac OS (now known as 'Inkwell'). That's the history lesson for today.

[quote]I think it's reasonable to assume that a PDA will be dropped once or twice. If it's not made to survive then that goes toward the quality IMO. <hr></blockquote>

Not that I would ever drop my Newton, but they are durable devices. Sounds like these Handspring devices are of very poor quality.

quote:
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Absolutely incorrect. Apple 'killed' the Newton because they were losing so much money and projects like the Newton had to go. Printers, scanners, and nearly everything else that had an Apple logo but wasn't a computer was 'killed'. The eMate was so successful that Apple had a deal with the State of Texas to sell 3,000,000 of the devices to them, but since it was 'killed' and support was dropped, the deal did not go through. The messagepads themselves were NEVER marketed for the 0-25 year old market. They were more for executives. Some college students bought them for note taking, but for the most part, the Messagepads were a luxury item. The eMates were for schools.
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Gee, I love your double talk. First you say that they didn't market to school kids then make the argument that a big school deal was one of the best arguments for it existing. I was one of those College students that bought an Emate because I was one of those college kids that was hooked on the Mac I had too. Only a very small group of executives use(d) Apple as compared to the millions of school age people that have for over 15 years. I think your wrong, Apple did and recently realized that they should stick to the 0-25 year old market. The entire iSeries (iBook,iMac,iPod,iPhoto,...) is once again directed to the 0-25 year old group and brought Apple back to life.

[quote]Originally posted by Fran441:
<strong>Apple promised to re-enter the market with a "Mac OS based device" encorporating the Newton technology in 1999. This never happened, despite the development of Rosetta on the Mac OS (now known as 'Inkwell'). That's the history lesson for today.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Fran441: The iBook arguably fulfilled the promise of a "Mac OS based device" following in the footsteps of the eMate. From what I remember, it wasn't clear whether Apple's promise related to Newton technology or the eMate. Judging from the deal in Maine, the iBook (Dual USB) is following in the eMate's footsteps quite well.

WRT Handspring quality, I am getting bored with my Palm IIIxe, even though it has held up well to tons of abuse. The Treo 90 looks like a neat replacement. (I don't want phone functionality, mainly because I'm too cheap for a wireless plan.) We'll see if I fall for one next time I'm in a computer store.

Escher

I like the quality on my Visor. I've dropped it plenty, and with the exception of the time I dropped it on a hard concrete service, I've had no problems at all. That time, the screen cracked, and I went through the replacement program (good deal).

If I was buying again, I'd go for a model with a rechargeable battery. And quite possibly a dual phone/visor model. I'll probably get a Treo in a couple of years when the price drops.

I like the look of the Newton, and agree, it is a tablet "PC" more than a handheld. One of the things I like most about my handheld is the ebook. I can hold onto the rail on the bus/train and hold my Visor in the other hand, thumb on the page down button and read a book. I've read about 10 so far that way on the way to/from work.

A happy customer...

I own a visor edge, and have no complaints. For some reason every review i have read of the device has slammed it, but i love it. It's small, and with the free case it comes with now relatively durable. And mine came without any defects whatsoever directly from Handspring.

since it doesn't look like apple is going to sell me a pda-like device - i got myself a visor edge again.

it has everything i need to carry with me and works great with mac os x.

i never had any trouble with my first edge and my 2nd is serving me well, also.

...and doesn't look to bad, too.

happy again.
well, i would have liked a apple-pda (ok, ok, i'll stop now