visor prism

[mickyjune26]

I recently bought a color, visor prism, but I'm worried about the visor company. If they go bankrupt will I still be able to use my wireless modem add-on to connect to the net wirelessly? Are all the compatibility issues on the OS level (it has a palm OS). Or are their issues that are directly affected because of the hardware manufacturer?

ps. I understand that it's from the origanal makers of the palm pilot, but I'm not sure how that will effect the future of Visor.
-Micky

 

[JustKIDn]

Handspring (the makers of Visor) aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Even if they did go under, the Visor would continue to operate for you as it does today.

Your Visor is more likely to become 'dated' and you will want to upgrade it long before it wears out.

The only major downside to owning a Handspring is, the OS isn't upgradable. I'm not sure about the Prism, but all of the other models I'm familiar with are not flashable. The OS is on a ROM chip. I guess they do that to get you to buy a new one every couple of years or so.

As far as your wireless service, that depends on who you are contracted with for service. If it's Handspring, then that might be a problem.

Chances are if Handspring gets into any real trouble they will get bought by somebody.
(the bigger fish syndrome)!

And now that they are changing to a standard for their add-on modules that aren't propriatary, they should be in a position to compete for a while.

Have you added any useful software to it yet? The four basics are nice, but there's so much more you can do with it.

tgus

_____________________________________________________
A father's calling is eternal, and its importance transcends time.

 

[mickyjune26]

I'm adding the microsoft project 2000
add-on, but I need a good source for productivity/business software add-ons.
Any recommendations?
-Micky

 

[AlphaGuy]

I think the Prism actually uses flash memory, not a ROM, which means its OS is upgradeable (I'm 99.9% sure).

When you say "compatibility issues" are you asking about wireless service providers?

I would have to agree on the fact that they're not going anywhere. They're trying to get out of the PDA market and into the wireless communication market though.


AlphaGuy

 

[mickyjune26]

yeah, i mean by wireless service providors. But it looks like I won't have any problems.

 

[JustKIDn]

AlphaGuy,

You may be right about the flash on the Prism. But I can't find any reference to it in the Prism specs. Maybe, Micky can you look at the spec sheet that came with your Prism and see if it says something about ROM or Flash?

All I could find on Handsprings website about it is this;
+=============================================+
Can I upgrade to a newer version of
the Palm OS?

No. Handspring's Visor handheld devices use
what's known in the industry as mask ROM. ROM
(or Read Only Memory) stores the Palm OS, the
core applications that come with your handheld,
and any additional software necessary to make
your specific model of handheld work. You can't
write data to mask ROM, so you can't install a
newer version of the Palm OS on a Handspring
Visor.

At first that may seem like a disadvantage, but we
believe there are good reasons for using mask
ROM.

Enabling later OS functionality
Most of the differences between Palm OS 3.1 and
3.5, or 3.5 and 4.0 simply enable new hardware
functionality that is only important if you're also
buying a new handheld.
+=============================================+
See what I mean? They just want you to upgrade to get the newer features!
Or in some cases You need to upgrade just to use a version of software.

tgus

____________________________________________________
A father's calling is eternal, and its importance transcends time.

 

[AlphaGuy]

Yeah, I read that too, then my dad told me he had upgraded his so??? Anyway, I called Handspring and found out I was wrong. None of the Visor models are upgradeable. The wasted no time trying to talk me into a Treo though (apparently they use flash memory instead of ROM)

Sorry for the mis-information

AlphaGuy