For years, Palm users screamed for expandability, a better price, and a USB connection. When Palm wouldn't give it to them, Palm's founder left to start a company that would.
Handspring's first product, the Visor, comes equipped with all the functionality of a Palm, a USB connection, several software enhancements, an evolutionary expansion port, and a bargain price that makes Palm's "economically priced" machines blush in embarrassment.
At first glance, the standard Visor bears the same graphite black colour, rugged feel, and size (12.2 by 7.6 by 1.8 cm) of its Palm cousins. But on closer examination, the Visor has been tactfully improved with rugged application buttons and a small microphone (although it currently isn't used), and a 3.8-by-5-cm plastic back door hides the expandable Springboard port. And while Palms come with soft cases, the Visor comes with a hard plastic case that clips securely to either the back or front of the device.
Unfortunately, the Visor does have two items that may throw off some users. First, a cheap and flimsy stylus makes it hard to write. Secondly, the screen appears to be of a slightly lower quality than what you would find on a Palm -- images are still easy to read, but they seem to have less contrast than those on a Palm display. The effect is more noticeable when the Visor's backlighting is used, as images appear slightly grainy. We can forgive the Visor's less than ideal screen and stylus, however, in lieu of the added functionality of its Springboard port.
For basic functionality, the Visor features the standard Palm device applications with a memo list, to-do list, address list, and calendar along with connectivity to the Palm Desktop, Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, and other popular PIMs. You can also download most software built for other Palm devices. New applications premiering on the Visor include Date Book +, which is a program that expands Date Book functionality with a daily journal, floating events, and user-created templates. If you're a frequent time zone skipper, CityTime lets you track times from Adelaide to Zurich.
The Visor's most compelling feature is its Springboard port. While the Palm units require bulky hardware add-ons, the Visor's Springboard port lets you plug optional hardware modules and memory into the back of the device in the same manner that you'd plug a game into a Game Boy. With 8MB memory-expansion modules, several modems, a camera, and an MP3 player already available, you can customise the Visor to your own needs.
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