Prism Visor Case

▷▷▷▷▷ Handspring Visor Prism | Handhelds & PDAs

Review & Description

Expandable: Snap in Springboard modules whenever you want. Connected: Sync quickly and easily with USB connection. Rechargeable: Recharge the battery right in the cradle. Imagine the possibilities when you add these modules: digital camera, gps receiver, game pack, phone , music player, wireless modem.Handspring's first foray into the realm of color palmtops, the Visor Prism may not deliver the crispness of displays on the latest Windows CE devices from Casio and Compaq, but it does improve on the Palm IIIc, its main competitor.

While the Prism costs more than the Palm IIIc, its increased color depth and brightness (it delivers 16-bit color compared to the 8-bit color of the IIIc) really shines in gaming and graphical applications. Even the default world map that's used to set geographic location and time appeared more distinct and offered the illusion of 3-D.

Like other Visors, the Prism contains a Springboard module slot, letting users upgrade its capabilities--such as adding an MP3 player, expanding memory, and eventually adding a cell phone (among many options). With the color screen of the Prism, modules such as the eyemodule digital camera really take on new life. With the Prism, the eyemodule takes color pictures, while previous versions of the Visor only allowed users to view them in grayscale.

Further, unlike other Visors, the Visor Prism uses an internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery--a nice touch as the color display would have drained the standard two AAAs quickly. Handspring claims that a fully charged battery should last a week or two with normal use, but we found continuous use of the display, such as with game playing or extended note taking, wore the battery down much faster. However, every time the Prism syncs in the fast-transferring USB cradle, the battery gets charged--and it only takes a few minutes to top off the current level of juice.

Although the color screen only extends the thickness of the Prism by a tenth of an inch compared to previous Visors, it's still twice as thick as the sleek Palm V line of devices. But it is smaller than CE devices such as Casio's EM-500 and the Compaq iPaq, and for its size category of palmtops, it delivers the best colors around. --J.