Customer Reviews
don't count on it 
2003-10-08
I have now been through two of these, I might be silly but I expect to get more than a year and a half out of my investment. Customer service stinks and is a rip off. Both Prisims are garbage for numerous reasons, not batteries, they were changed. If you want something that will last awhile don't get it. And I don't have any other software on there except Datebook.
Great product with minor problems. 
2003-04-01
I love my Prism and use it constantly. It's great for games and reading on the road. It does have some minor problems, though.
1) In direct sunlight, the screen appears black, making it difficult/impossible to use.
2) The darned thing is bulky as all getout.
3) It doesn't work with any other Handspring products, except the styli and the cartridges... so you've got to have special cradles, chargers, cases, etc. And you can't use keyboards.
4) Poor battery life. Don't plan on using this thing all the way through a trip. Buy a car charger.
5) Customer support is AWFUL!!! I seriously think they were trying to scam me out of some money. They actually did get some out of me so that I could replace one IMMEDIATELY so that I could get something approaching a real battery life. Otherwise I'd have been PDAless for several weeks.
Simple Thoughts Count 
2003-01-20
I own a Handspring Visor Prism and currently I bought a Palm M130 for my motherinlaw. The fact is that Handspring had the mind to make simple adjustments that make Visor much easier to use than M130. For example, the cradle that Handspring provides,unlike that of Palm M130, can be used in any European country and no voltage difference pose a problem for recharging the battery. The screen is much brighter and image quality seems to be much better for Visor. Finally, I have been using Visor for over a year and never had I need to reset it. It took four hours for M130 to be jammed and to need reseting
Don't even think about a Palm !! 2002-12-07
I've bought 2 Palm Pilots. First one was a Palm Pilot IIIx. It kept hanging on me for no reason. Worked with Palm Customer Service for several weeks to no improvement. Finally Palm replaced with a III and refunded me the difference. I sold it and took a loss. Stupidly, I next bought a Palm m100 because it was [$$$] and this too started to hang. As soon as that happened I sold it on eBay and swore off PDA's. A co-worker heard about the Palm problems and told me he had the same Palm problems until he bought a Handspring. Against my better judgement I bought a Visor Deluxe. It was great. Everything a PDA should do and more. It allows snap-in Springboard modules for things like more memory, cell phones, voice recorder, GPS color maps, videocameras, and a lot lot more. In addition to the fact that it has never hung, it is also cheaper than comparable Palm products. I then bought a Prism which has, among other things, a color screen, built-in rechargeable battery, very visisble in direct sunlight or a dark theater. The color games are almost as good as Game Boy and it has never hung for me. The 2 bad things about the color Prism is that 1) its bigger than the Visor Deluxe due to the internal battery and you need to recharge the battery daily if you use it a lot like I do. The Visor Deluxe only needed two AAA every 50 days !! so I got a little spoiled.
wow!. 2002-12-04
Prism is my favorite among the Visors because of the color. Beyond that, Visor modules make this wee gadget phenomenal! Eyemodule 2 module turns the handheld into a camera/video camera. Haven't had an opportunity to try the video, but the still photo quality is terrific for digital. GPS module helps me to map finds when I'm hiking, and detailed street maps get me through unfamiliar cities. Audible module keeps me up with my subscription to audible.com for listening on the go, and the phone module keeps me connected. "Aren't all those modules a pain?" Not in the least. The modules listed above, plus others and a Targus fold-up keyboard, all fit in a small, zippered book cover case that I can tuck in any bag. If I were to carry the individual items to accompish what I do with my Visor Prism, I'd need a considerably larger bag and a stronger back. Almost forgot how rugged it is! While listening to an audio book in the hottub, the Prism fell in. After reeling it in by the headphone cord and taking the case apart to dry (3 days), it worked just fine! Water marks on the screen burned off after about a week. I've also managed to drop the Prism on several occasions and my big pooch doesn't seem to notice when she's standing on it. I highly recommend the clear screen protectors!
Good stuff 2008-06-18
Order was delivered promply and merchandise was better than expected. Vendor followed up promply and professionally.
3 years with my Prisim 2004-08-30
I have had my Prisim for 3 years now, The hard shell cover has allowed me to carry, (and sit on )it for all of the 3 years. The 8 meg is plenty for normal use.
It is in use every day, and backedup/charged just as frequently.
I know there are more advanced units out there, with more features and such, but I dred the day I will need to find a replacement that can measure up to this one when it is gone.
I never leave home without it for sure!
Brilliant value for PDAphone (Visor Prism+Phone) 2004-05-21
I've been using Visor Prism + Phone for about 2 months now, I bought it from a local store which suprisingly still had some stocks and guaranteed the item for 1 year.
Overall, I found it very very useful. I'm not a heavy PDA user, so mainly I use it to read e-books, see photos, games. Visor's 8 Megs is more than enough.
More about the phone, I can't tell how much I admire the modularity of Springboard. Handspring engineer have done great job. The phone and sms function work perfect, compared to the more pricey Tungsten W.
It's better than Treo 270 I assume, on color display (Treo has 4096 while Prism has 65K) and of course using Visor I don't have to worry about flip hinge crack that often happen to Treo user.
Some drawbacks that I found is that battery drained quickly, I also notice that there are some dead pixels in the unit I bought, and last but not least it's quite heavy to carry.
Based on the above, I still think that this product is a great collectible item,worth the price, and everywhere you carry it people were just curious to know. It's a bit rare that to some it's more intriguing than even the popular O2 XDA. Well done Handspring!
I Miss my Visor Prism!! 2004-01-10
I replaced my Prism with a Palm M515 and I miss my Visor!! If I knew then how difficult it would be to replace I would have purchased several more, kept a nice inventory and and made a profit on the rest. Handspring made a VERY nice color PDA.....I hope PalmOne stays with it...
Long-time Owner & User and Love It!! 2003-12-22
I have had my Prism for years now and absolutely love it. Loved it so much that when my wife was ready for a PDA, she got one too. We have Targus keyboards, the Magellan GPS, modems, Eyemodule camera, tons of memory and applications and now we can get apps and accessories for next to nothing!! She dropped hers the other day, broke the chassis, and will probably buy another--cheaper than repairing!! I was in a hurry in the car connecting the GPS, smashed the Springboard pins and will probably buy another as well!! Sorry for those with bad experiences, but we've had great service with ours. Obviously, a new power-user would want something more up-to-date, but for a student or someone like me who has had their Prism for a while, it still proves to be a great value!!
