Why did I buy a Visor?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I got a Visor for Christmas. I’d had misgivings about this, but eventually decided to go for it. I got it and happily poured info into it.

I’ve barely turned it on in the past month. I have one meeting a week, and its time is more or less at random. Since I never turn it on, I don’t get those birthday reminders I needed. I don’t use the alarm for anything, as there’s very little I need to be reminded of. I sit in front of a computer 8+ hours a day, so downloading web content or text onto it is nothing I ever even think about doing.

So far the main uses I’ve gotten out of it would have also worked if it were a $1.49 pocket notebook. And games.

So am I doing something wrong? Or should I sell it. It’s a nice neo Visor by Handspring, I just never seem to use it.

2

Hopefully in these threads you will find some things to bring back the coolness factor of your visor.

Here, here, and here.

I have a Visor Pro and while I don’t use it as much as I did when I first bought it, I find it invaluable for keeping up with slashdot and making shopping lists, reading and composing email and various other odds and ends.

Novus

3

Well I have had one for over a year and enjoy it thoroughly. But it took a new, more complicated job to present the need for a PDA. I also use the Visorphone springboard module.

Consider these:
Keeping your current phone and addresses
Use the memo function to establish and maintain lists of important stuff. I have lists of wines, music CDs, ink jet cartridge model numbers, video to rent, cigars to try etc. You can also download ebooks from memoware.com to read where ever.
Using Pocket Quicken to maintain your checking accts.
Using HandyShop to create shopping lists of any type.

Also check out the Handspring’s Springboard modules for extended functionality—like MP3 playing and GPS stuff.

4

In order of decreasing usefulness:

My personal killer ap on my Visor is Noah, a dictionary program. Ideally, I would tuck my unabridged dictionary into my hip pocket and take it with me everywhere. Noah’s the next best thing. This is why I’m glad I have 8 Megs in my Deluxe, so I can have the largest database that Noah offers.

I like Handyshop for grocery lists. I also use it for longer-term list-keeping, like my list of “Books to Read,” “Books and CDs to Buy,” “Books Loaned Out,” etc.

The calculator is very useful. I’ve programmed in many unit conversions that are helpful for work and grading. My Visor is actually smaller than my scientific calculator, and, except for graphing, it can do pretty much everything I need to do on a regular basis. You can download better calculators (included graphing calculators), too, but I just use the one it shipped with.

I have a doc reader. I always have couple of Guttenburg ebooks, plus tons of miscellaneous gaming notes. A keyboard is pretty much a must if you want to do any serious text entry.

I have several games that I play pretty frequently, when I get stuck in a long line or waiting at a bus stop. Mostly I play Patience (an excellent freeware solitaire program) and PictureLogic and Pikoban.

I use it for phone numbers and addresses, too, though it’s not clear that it’s a significant improvement over carrying small address book. A friend of mine had a huge database of phone numbers for restaurants that deliver, and she beamed it to me, and that was pretty cool.

I rarely use the calendar, because my life is really not so complicated as to necessitate one.
I had a whole bunch of other stuff on it, too, but a month ago I had an unscheduled hard reset (I neglected to replace the batteries in a timely manner) and I didn’t bother to reinstall half my apps. Every once in a while I think, hey, I could use this or that . . . and then I remember that I didn’t reinstall it, and I usually just shrug and think, oh, well.

5

I dunno, I’m still not sold on this thing I already bought. I can’t imagine doing email on it, or reading any amount of text on it using eyes I want to keep. The list function has come in handy, as well as the address books, but those don’t HAVE to be electronic. I’ve used the memo pad feature on the spot before. I certainly can’t see buying a GPS module (I have a GPS device that was cheaper than the module) or an MP3 module (How many mp3s could it play, four? How would this be different from just buying an MP3 player and taping it to the Visor?) - since I’m already having a hard time justifying the money I already spent, spending more seems counterproductive.

I guess the thing is that it’s sposed to organize my life and my life doesn’t have much in it to organize. I have no meetings, no appointments, nothing weird about my schedule. The thought of writing a shopping list on it and then ticking the items off in the store, as compared to scribbling them on a junk mail envelope and then tossing it in the recycling bin afterwards is silly.

I’m not saying there aren’t uses for such devices - clearly there are - but I don’t want to invent silly uses for it just to justify owning it.

What’s more is, winter is ending soon. How am I supposed to carry this thing around with me all the time? Right now it sits in my coat pocket but once it’s warm, then what?

I guess I should get a pocket notebook and see if it fulfils all my needs. If so, I sell the Visor, if not, I keep it.

6

The Springboard modules didn’t really take off as much as I hoped it would when I got my Visor, lo these many years ago. You basically get to spend more money on an inferior product for the privilege of plugging it into your handheld, making it even more bulky than a standalone unit. Yippee. I got a good module of games including Loderunner and Tetris, but I lost it when I lost my Vison in Houston. :frowning: A friend of mine uses the flash module for backup, and he likes it a lot because he’s often away from his computer and can’t hotsync regularly.

Just because the PalmOS is emphasizes certain functions (like the address book, calendar, email, etc.) doesn’t mean that you must use your Visor primarily for these things, and that anything else is silly. If you get good use out of an app, it’s not silly. And did you know that in the system preferences, you can reassign the buttons to whatever apps you use most? I have the “To Do” button reassigned to HandyShop and the “Memo” button brings up my doc reader.

I’ve got a lot of wacky apps . . . a program that computes the passes of artificial satellites (the documentation says this is exactly the kind of intensive calculation PalmOS was designed not to do, but it’s just so nerdy, I love it . . .), a calculator that tells you how far away lightning is, a Hnefatafl program with a pretty good AI, a program that does 2nd Ed AD&D character sheets, a Mah Jongg program (real 4-player Mah Jongg, not the solitaire game), a calculator that splits a bill (including tip) at a restaurant, a gagillion puzzle games of various qualities . . .

That’s the fun of having a Palm, IMHO. There’s tons of freeware available for every imaginable purpose. No hobby or profession is too obscure. The OS is so simple that you can install any type of crap that you want without worrying about messing up a registry or picking up spyware or viruses. At the very worst, if you somehow install something that really messes up your unit, boo hoo, you do a hard reset and reload everything but the screwed-up thing–but I’ve never had to do that. Much of the freeware I’ve used has been really impressive. I’ve even registered some shareware.

If you have any RL friends with handhelds, you can ask them what programs they use. Spend an evening downloading tons of weird little programs to play with. If none of them float your boat, well, just face it . . . you’re not what we call a “Palm Person.” It’s best for all involved if you sell your Visor. Just make sure that it goes to a good home with someone who will love and cherish it as they should. :wink:

7

Irk! That’s lost my Visor in Houston. I am not blind.

8

I’m with you–I just don’t find many reasons to use the Visor in everyday life. This year, when I haven’t been doing a lot of clinical work, I’ve barely touched it.

When I am working, though, it is beyond valuable, and will be doubly so next year since the hospital I’m going to has a place where you can sync your Visor and download all of your patients’ labs, radiology/path reports, d/c summaries, etc.

Dr. J

9

Ok, I was thinking “Because you already had enough hats?” but I see that’s not what you were talking about.

I’ll just go back into my cave now.

10

Me too!
I was thinking,
“I don’t know either because the visor is the dorkiest headgear EVER created.”

D’oh!

11

This guy likes his Visor!

12

I had a Palm pilot issued to me by my employer - its best use was storing phone numbers for me. It was nice that I could sync it with my Outlook address book & calendar - I used that feature frequently.

However, there’s little 50-dollar electronic address books that can do phone book, calendar, reminders, etc. that can do everything I ever used my Palm for, including sync with Outlook, and if I bust it (likely), I’m only out $50, not $300.

13

i too use a comp 8+ hours a day… but i have gazillion other uses for my Visor when i’m off the comp.

A really good thing for you to do is to go to the next local Palm User Group meeting in your area. You’ll be amazed at the stuff a Visor without any modules can do. You’ll be even more amazed by the accessories people bring to these meetings.

http://www.interpug.com will have a list of PUGs that operate in your area.

You could also check http://www.palm.com/community/resources/ for User Groups.

Also, to clarify, a Visor that is powered off can still beep on birthday reminders.

14

I have a visor prisim, and I love it.

It mainly gets used for work. I work a rotation, so I dont frequently work the same days or times week to week. Its great to use the palm to keep track of that.

I also have a medical dictionary and a drug database (love eproctries) for when I am on the ambulance. I am also able to keep a complete set of my services protocols on the visor for reference when needed. A medical caculator resides as well on my palm for conversions when needed.

I keep track of my checking account on my palm, but then 0 is a common number so its pretty easy. :wink:

Beyond that, it has some games I play on occasion.

15

I find mine very useful. When I’m working on a project, I keep my notes on it and I can always find them later. The text reader lets me have something to read when I can’t bring a book. Other nice bits of software include:

BigClock – I use the timer all the time.
Yaps – all my passwords
MetroO – when I travel, I like to use the subway. MetrO is just great for that.
Vindingo is also good for travel if you’re visiting a city they cover. I was in Washington DC a few months ago and was able to find the nearest movie, restaurant, etc.