Which Palm?

[Matt Midcap]

Hi Everyone,
Ok. I finally got some cash a I'm taking the plunge - I'm buying a Palm!
Now I am very new to the handheld devices so I don't know which features I do or don't need. Right now I think I'm going to get one with the most memory/cpu possible that I can afford. Kind of like buying a computer.
Any suggestions or hard earned lessons I should look out for?
Thanks!
Matt Midcap

[shailesh sonavadekar]

matt , why don't you go to palm site & get the latest information about hte latest gizmo by them. See they are changing the gizmos very fast. You decide from their product range which best suites for your requirements & for your pocket also. I think , If i Have not mistaken you should go for
PALM VII. So , made lots of cash. Time to celebrate. enjoy. tell me after your buying spree what you have selected.

[Matt Midcap]

Good idea shailesh, why didn't I think of that? Although I am also inquiring the expertise of our users. Kind of like how they inquire the expertise of the JavaRanch for Java stuff.
Thanks,
Matt
[This message has been edited by Matt Midcap (edited October 19, 2000).]

[shailesh sonavadekar]

recently been to palm's site. They have got two new products in offing. palm m100 handheld & Palm VIIX , which they are claiming as the first handheld in the world , with fully integrated wirless internet connectivity. what do you say ? My what a gizmmo with which they have come out ?
this is the link for your help. There is palm store on the site where you can buy the stuff also.
http://www.palm.com/products
What do you say about my expertise now? I hope this is hopeful to you.

your friendly bartender.
SHAILESH

[Andrew Brasek]

Well, I'm quite pleased with my Vx. Although, for a lot less money, you can get the Handspring Visor. My brother has that and is pleased w/ it.

[Jim Lang]

How does the Handspring Visor have less functionality? It's certainly cheaper...

[Matt Midcap]

Hi Andrew,
Do you know if the Handspring unit can do J2ME? I also saw the Casiopias in a store last night but the are running windowz ce.
I need to investigate what works with which. I'll let you know what I find out.
Matt

[Matt Midcap]

shailesh,
I looked at the link - thanks, it was helpful.
Matt

[Matt DeLacey]

The HandSpring can DEFINATELY "do" J2ME. I've got the KVM on my HandSpring and I've written several apps for it. As a sidenote, I would highly recommend considering the HandSpring. There i a TREMENDOUS amount of development going on for them right now, because of their ability to support Springboard Modules. I don't think the Palms have extensibility of this magnitude (plus the price). I LOVE mine. The only other PDA type device I would consider is the Compaqs (although I don' think they run PalmOS which kind of stinks because I think the KVM does not support Windows CE), because they are SOOO Powerful! They can do some amazing stuff. I've got computers that I didn't think were too outdated that don't have the processing speed that those things have. Truly amazing.

[Matt Midcap]

Well, I finally "sprung" for a Handspring Prism!
It was the most expensive because of the color display but so far I am very happy with it (had to save longer for it too)! One of the biggest reasons I went with Handspring is because of the plug-in modules ("Springboard Modules") you can get for it - very cool idea. Check it out at:
http://www.handspring.com/products/Category.jhtml?CATID=49
Anybody else have a Handspring? Do you like it?
Matt

[George Brown]

I resurrected this post because I was hoping to find out more about the Handspring's capabilities. The main difference between that and the Palm as far as I have been able to find out is that the Palm can download OS updates whereas the Handspring needs a ROM-swap.
About 7 years ago I bought an Apple Newton on which I learnt Graffiti, so the learning curve should be minimal and I guess that there are quite a bunch of things in common between the Palm OS and the old Newton OS. However, the Newton never had a VM ported to it. I've since sold the Newton.
I'm considering buying the Visor Platinum because it's a bit speedier than the other models. Can anyone say whether this a good choice for using as a testbed with small j2me apps?
Matt, are you pleased with your Prism? Any gripes?

[Matt Midcap]

Hi George,
Actually there is a couple (litterally) things with the Handspring. Although I have been told by the retailer that these things happen with every hand-held, including "Palm Pilots".
My first one worked so well that I decided to buy one for my girlfriend. Well, wouldn't you know it, after she got hers, mine started to do wierd things. It would shut down all by it's self and erase everything on it - even though the battery had a full charge! I took it back and exchanged it for a new one and thank goodness the palm os software backs up everything on your hard drive (sycronizes everything). Plugged in the new one and viola, everything was fin.
Next, my girlfriend asked me - "hey, does your back lighting go dim and then you have to push the back of it to make it come back?" NO! And your's shouldn't either! Back it goes...
Anyway, from what I understand, these types of things are common place in the hand held world - regardless of brand (Mindspring, Palm, etc...).
So I guess you kind of have to expect it and deal with it until you get a good one. Kind of like Windows - but there isn't a good one there... Sorry, as you know I'm a UNIX biggot too...
Other than that I love my Handspring, the modules, and the way Handspring is going about helping developers.
Oh and yes, you can not update the OS on the Handspring, it has to be replaced (ROM).
Best regards and good luck,
Matt