The
Handspring
Visor
Professional
Technical Summary
Processor: 33 MHz Dragonball EZ
Memory: 16 Mb
Screen: 4-bit greyscale, backlit, 160 x 160
resolution.
Operating System: PalmOS 3·5·3H
Form Factor
The Handspring Visor
Professional has the traditional PalmOS case and button arrangement. The power button and the four application
buttons sit at the bottom of the device, under the screen, and by default they
launch the Datebook, Address, Tasks and Memo applications. Pressing and holding the power button toggles
the backlight on or off.
Screen
The Professional has a touch
sensitive, monochrome LCD with a resolution of 160 by 160 pixels, with the
contrast function being controlled by software, much like the Palm Vx.
For some users, the screen may be a little blocky but to me, it’s
perfectly acceptable for text based applications. Like the monochrome Palm models, the
backlight is the green “reversing” type, which can make it difficult to use in
certain lighting conditions and is easily the screen’s poorest feature. The backlight is inadequate for dim lighting
unless the user is looking directly at the screen, although as it gets darker,
it becomes easier to use. For the PDA’s
primary purposes, the screen is certainly satisfactory – you typically don’t
need anything over what the Visor Professional provides you with.
Sound and Notifications
Handspring’s Visor Professional
has a disappointingly quiet speaker, and is almost inaudible at the “Low”
setting.
Storage
The Professional was the first
Handspring model equipped with 16 Mb of memory and the first “mid range” device
to have this full amount. Doubling the
main memory from 8 Mb to 16 Mb makes a useful difference to the device if you
tend to carry around some heavy weight applications or data files.
The Professional uses an
internal rechargeable Lithium Ion battery with an estimated capacity of
approximately 800 mAh. This provides the
device with a battery life of approximately eighteen hours, although with processor
underclocking, I’ve managed to squeeze twenty five hours from a charge. This battery life shows the Palm Vx up, but of course the Professional is
significantly larger than the Vx!
Expansion
All Handspring Visor devices
have the “Springboard” expansion slot, which offers the user a large number of
accessories encompassing MP3 players, modems, GPS receivers and memory
expansion units.
Summary
Although not especially
glamorous, the Handspring Visor Professional makes a very good case for
itself. The internal rechargeable
battery combined with 16 Mb of memory makes for a compelling argument,
providing the user can discount the monochrome screen.
Device Update
Regrettably, and since writing
this review, I’ve sold my Visor Professional.
You see, although it’s an impressive piece of kit, it didn’t really add
enough to my PDA party. Yes, there’s
plenty of memory (the same as the m515) and yes, there’s a nicely quick
processor (the same as the m515), but in terms of size, it’s not
especially small (the m515 is smaller).
Can everybody see the trend here?
Yes; the Palm m515 is a
superior PDA.