Handheld Reviews

Pros:
compact unit, i like the car kit
i had no problem setting it up with my Palm m130
GPS was very accurate, acquiring took about 10-15 seconds, not bad at all, after that, it only acquired after losing the signal, which wasn't very often.
Cons:
the software! really awful when it comes to giving driving directions. for instance, it told me ways to go which were either impossible (like driving over water!), or using local streets when highways were more appropriate. too bad mapquest can't work with this. looking up the directions on the internet seems to be an unneccesary step, since the maps are already on the CD! highways that wind and curve were a problem, since it couldnt follow that accurately, and said 'off route'. also, a better piece of sotware would help with the refresh rate on the palm, which is ok if you dont load a big map (<100k) it's really a shame, since a better piece of software would make this useful

4 stars since the included SW is so terrible. I bought "Delorme Street Atlas USA 2004 Handheld" to run on my M125. Works great.
Navman does tend to eat batteries, but what Palm add-on doesn't.
Original SW was so bad, it couldn't catch up driving down the road. I had to pull over to let it catch up so I could turn the Palm off.

GPS module works great, but included SW will make you mad.

I think this is fantastic! The only down side that I can think of is having to upload your trips beforehand. But that is a limitation of the handheld, not this device. I took a trip from Upstate NY through Philly to the Jerey shore. And back. Another trip to Washington DC. This performed flawlessly for what it was designed to be. Beeped a little before my turns or exchanges. Tracked pretty well and only lost signal a couple times, ony to regain it moments later. I bought this along with a rebate and the deal was great. I recently bought the laptop version as well. That is how much I like this item. Unless you are nitpicky or expecting something this is not, you'll be pleased.

Doesn't work, no documentation, no tech support, nobody could help me making this thing connect to the Internet. It's in the garbage.

I had it for about an year. Doesn't work. It shows it is connected, but I cannot browse and websites. I get an error all the time.

I am a network technician at a small, local college and am on the working group to bring 802.11b ethernet wireless to our campus. Xircom was kind enough to give me a beta product for testing. Here are my impressions in a nutshell:

Pros: - - I'm able to check email (POP3 and IMAP4), hotsync to my PC across the network and browse the internet with the included software. According to the manual, those are the only functions advertised. Occasionally, you'll get web pages that, due to formatting, are clumsy to navigate, but you'll find they're good enough to get what you want. Many big sites such as CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, etc. are making their pages "PDA friendly", and they're actually very readable. - - Contains a signal strength meter that seems to be pretty close to laptops we used for our site survey (and indicator LEDS). It uses a bar graph, but I wish it had a direct numeric read out also. - - Has three different "profiles" settings, making it possible to have 3 different network logins and settings. - - Supports standard 802.11b WEP security (40 or 128 bit). - - Support for Infrastructure or AdHoc mode. - - Supports DHCP and static IP addressing. Both tested fine. - - Battery life is much better than expected. The manual quotes 2 hrs, and that's about what I get using it pretty hard. Because of the high frequency radio waves (2.4 Ghz), it almost gets too warm to hold for that long! Of course, when winter comes here, that will be a plus ! - - Doesn't use battery power from the Visor, instead it has it's own Li-Ion battery and includes a charger. Charge time is about 2 hours. The module has a software battery meter like the Visor does. And will give the user "pop-up" messages when the battery gets critically low. - - Network Hotsync feature works great. As long as I can login into a WAP, I can hotsync, install files, get new meetings and appointments from Outlook, etc. from my desktop PC anywhere on campus. - - Has power management features for auto-logging off after a preset time period. - - Contains a Cisco chipset, but have connected to three different manufacture's WAP's with no problems, getting the full 11 mb/s. - - Range appears to be comparable to other 802.11b ethernet products.

Cons: - - Had a problem with the included browser software "Blazer", but Xircom sent me a patch to gain a user login. There are other browsers you can use, such as AvantGo and Eudora. I like AvantGo, but you have to have connect to a server that is running AvantGo. It does, however, do a nice job of formatting web pages to fit the Palm screen, and you can keep pages "active" by having them cached on your desktop before doing a hotsync. Also, Eudora provides a free PDA internet suite, that includes a browser and email client, sounds good, but haven't tried it yet. - - A little bulkier than the other modules, due to it's battery and antenna. - -My only problem has been logging into my web-based managed network devices or mapping drives. - -Tends to become a "hand heater" after awhile of use (High freq. RF power dissipation for sure!). - - Also even with the fast WLAN connection, I believe due to the Visor Deluxe's slower processor, it acts as a bottleneck for the internet connection. I would probably buy the faster model (Platinum) instead of the Deluxe. There is a noticeable difference in loading pages.

Summary: I LOVE this thing!! I'm able to sit out under a tree and surf the net, send/rev email, check appointments and put it in my pocket when I'm done. Battery power is sufficient for doing all the tasks I needed to. I would have given this device a 5-star rating if it included the ability to use utilities such as Ping and Telnet... (Opinions and comments written here are of my own and do not reflect my employer's policies or opinions.)

Update 7/21: I have recently found several of the tcp/ip utilities I had desired. I am now able to ping and telnet to my devices. The telnet is a little clumsy with the screen format, but it does work! Both of those utilites are easily found on the internet, or send me email and I'll send them to you. The latest test was the ICQ Palm client, which, so far, as also worked well. I have no choice but to give this thing a 5-star rating now !

it never worked;not even with the batteries it comes with!!!!
do not buy it.

This may not be the top of the rechargable battery line but it works. There are a few things you might want to consider before buying. If you want a charger that automatically shuts off when done charging, this model isn't for you. It is capable of charging both AA and AAA batteries but nothing larger. The plug prongs on the back fold down for easier storage. You can charge other brands of NI-MH and Nl-Cd batteries but this one at least starts you off with 4 AAA NIMH rechargables. You could basically spend the money you would normally on disposables to buy this (how many batteries does your PDA eat?) Wouldn't it makes sense to give it a try?

This may not be the top of the rechargable battery line but it works. There are a few things you might want to consider before buying. If you want a charger that automatically shuts off when done charging, this model isn't for you. It is capable of charging both AA and AAA batteries but nothing larger. The plug prongs on the back fold down for easier storage. You can charge other brands of NI-MH and Nl-Cd batteries but this one at least starts you off with 4 AAA NIMH rechargables. You could basically spend the money you would normally on disposables to buy this (how many batteries does your PDA eat?) Wouldn't it makes sense to give it a try?

People who appreciate the funcionality and durability of the Palm unit, rightfully expect that other items put out by Palm (3-Com) should be of equal quality. Obviously, 3-Com is overwhelmed with success and is already forgetting about quality. This pen may look great in the picture, but reality is often stanger than fiction, the fiction being that this is a reliable product. If you want a good pen, look to a quality pen manufacturer like Cross. They have a pen called the DigitalDuo Writer. It is very practical, functional, and durable. 3-Com would look much better if they did their homework before putting out substandard products.

Im not quite sure what palm was thinking when it made this stylus. Although it really looks nice, as a pen it is absolutely lousy. It's not much better as a stylus too.

First of all, the pen itself is mediocre. To retract the pen is quite difficult. I almost broke it just trying to figure out how it worked

As a stylus, its strange how it works. Its slightly off center so its quite disorienting to use. The tip is not where you expect it to be.

Although it was substantially thicker than the stock stylus, it was incredibly light giving it a "flimsy" feel.

Considering all its drawbacks i am almost shocked how much Palm is charging for this thing. Its quite outrageous actually.

However it does have its good points. The clip fits the stylus silo so you can attach it there. With this pen attached to the V series it actually conforms to the overall shape of the unit. It looks really nice. Also the combination of the silver hard case, and this pen looks REALLY good.

Personally i use a multi-pen. It has a 0.7 mechanical pencil, blue pen and a stylus. All on a regular sized pen. I absolutely love it. Its a perfect weight and it looks professional and casual at the same time. Try it out, i promise you'll never use the stock stylus again.

I have used this stylus for the past 2 years and I have to say that I am still impressed with the design. There are countless third-party pen/stylus combo units which might be better pens, but they don't fit nearly as conveniently with the Palm unit itself. The pocket clip will fit right in the side barrel of the V and Vx models . It isn't any longer than the Palm itself so carrying it is easy. A "regular" pen/stylus which must be kept separately defeats the whole point of a "bundled" option. This is a very good alternative to the standard stylus and should be considered...

I had every problem mentioned in the other reviews but I wanted to add that the Palm V seems too slow to handle this unit. It is particularly slow when zooming in and out of maps. I have a DVD based nav system installed in my car which I love so I may have too high standards for this handheld unit. I believe the problem is mostly software based however. Basically, this products is not ready for prime time. BTW today is Oct. 2002. I tried this system out in 2000 so I don't know if there have been any improvements

Having owned several GPS devices in the past, I bought this unit for my Palm V without hesitation. Unfortunately, some of the "fun" stuff is left out. There is no way to track current heading, speed, distance to next turn, etc. The last package for my Palm was from Delorme and had an entire screen devoted to this real-time data. The maps are very detailed, and provide excellent point-to-point capabilities. However, in order to get turn-by-turn directions, you need to have an internet connection available (Delorme doesn't require this). Overall, I'm a bit underwhelmed by this package, but will certainly find times to put it to use.

I have been using this GPS unit for a year now. It is really a very good tool. Since I'm in Europe I couldn't use the added software so I bought GPSPilot and Route. I use a PC base routeplanner (Route 66 Benelux) and download the maps into the Palm. Takes me about 10 minutes extra from the normal planning process.

The GPS unit keeps me on course all the time. Very impressive.

Although this is a usb connection it has to be installed as a serial connection. I am still not able to sync but i keep trying. Do not buy this if you want an easy solution! It is good for charging ONLY.

This really should be a must-have for a Palm V. By using the power in the USB line, you do away with having to plug in an external power source. With USB it *should* be much faster to sync and be instantly recognized. But actually the way they have it set up is the USB connection becomes a virtual serial port. This was done, I think, so they wouldn't have to change Palm's hotsync software and it still thinks it is synchronizing via a serial port (COM 3 or 4). But Handspring works directly with USB and Palm Desktop 4 works with USB. The most irritating part: a serial port manager icon is added to your system tray and always opens in a window at startup so you have to close the window every time you start the machine (by renaming the serial port program I was able to avoid the pop-up window).

I'm hoping Targus will see fit to release drivers that will work directly with Palm Desktop 4 and work around all the serial port funny business so that this will be a true USB device.

Also, by following the instructions I didn't have a problem, but I didn't seat the cable all the way in to the Palm and couldn't figure why the HotSync would start on the PC (making me think the connection was okay), but the user couldn't be identified (causing the HotSync to stop responding). Once I clicked the cable all the way in, it worked fine, but it was very frustrating in the meantime and the manual didn't really help with that particular problem.

i have a similar product that's not made by targus, mine is a generic brand that has a stick-on label in the back that says: palm usb 1041323.

i originally paid $30 for it, and this was before the targus version was available.

when this type of cable (with the hotsync button featured on the cable itself) was first made, there was no official support from palm for usb sync. it therefore required custom hotsync software provided by the manufacturer. this software is very hard to get hold of, but i managed to find an archived copy here;

http://www.targus.com/us/drivers_manuals_archive.asp?SKU=PA260U

it works great under win98, win2k, and winXP.

Everytime I try to charge my Ipaq it locks up. And, it does not charge it. I have tried the wall and the car charger. Both give the same results.

Sync-charger cable works fine with my laptop and docking station as well as my desktop. I love the overall concept. This is the only product I've found that gives you sync-charge capabilities plus wall, car, and international chargers all in a small package.

Unfortunately, when I plug the charging cable into the car or wall charger, I have 2 problems ...#1: When my iPAQ automatically shuts down due to inactivity, it can't be re-started using the on/off switch--I have to do a soft reset. #2: The clock stops functioning, so I have to manually set it to the correct time.

Tech support suspected a bad cord, so I received a new one...and it does the same thing.

Have used daily for 3 months on HP5450. Works as advertised with no problems at all. Charged from wall, car and USB port with simultaneously sync capability when connected to a computer via activesync.

Initially I was stunned by this technology. I scanned text from books, the newspaper, nutrition information off a candy bar wrapper... all with reasonably good results. Once I started to use if for serious work, I was substantially less impressed. I had planned to collect specific data fields from a printed directory; instead of using a sheet-feed flat-bed scanner followed by heavy cut&paste, I thought I could just selectively hand-scan the needed data fields. While the OCR accuracy might be acceptable for short passages, the error frequency becomes unacceptable when more text is collected. The frequency of errors was so great that I went back to the flat-bed and cut&paste. I like the ergonomics of the unit. I am trying to figure out what I can still do this device.

I like this gadget, although it's far from perfected yet. I use it mainly to look up words in foreign books as I go along. For that purpose it usually works great and saves me a huge amount of time leafing through paper dictionaries or poking at the keyboards of electronic pocket dictionaries. (Note that the C Pen only looks up words in dictionaries. It cannot "translate", as the promos claim it can.) It takes a little time to get skilled at scanning text, and in a recent book I was reading it couldn't recognize the frequent German letter combination "sch" in a relatively normal typeface. Usually, however, it presents no serious difficulties.
For scanning large amounts of text, I don't think it's very convenient, because it's just too slow and not very accurate. You can, however, transfer the text to your computer and run a spellcheck on it in Word or some other program. That helps a bit. One nice thing is that it's smart enough to know that when it hits a hypen at the end of a line it probably needs to join the divided word.
It's sad that C Pens are so hard to get. It has the potential for great popularity, but in my experience Swedish companies let their popular items just get rare, rather than meeting market demand.

I used to had to manually copy excerpts and text from books while doing reasearxh, one day I saw this kid at the library come in, pulled a stacjk of bboks and started driving this small pen accross it... I asked him whart that was he showed me the C pen 600 scanner and how it worked, ten minutes later he left and I was still on my first book!

Now I have a life again! Could not live without this little device; I wonder why doesn't everyone else that does reasearch use one. What a time saver and no mistakes is the best!

consider the alternative. I've used this product for over a year now and it's literally saved my iPAQ's screen numerous times, both from stylus scratches and things dropped on the screen. Follow the instructions, clean the screen, make sure it's dust and lint free, start at the top of the screen and work your way down, be patient and work with it. The small bubbles are virtually invisible when the screen is lighted anyway. I've only managed once to completely get ALL the bubbles out but even with a few small bubbles, I wouldn't be without one on my iPAQ.

I have tried other adhesive screen protectors and I always return to this one. With just a little patience (less than 3 minutes of your time) they can be applied bubble free. I have also not found any evidence of the adhesive ruining my screen and I have been using them pretty consistently for 3 years. I do not do much handwriting on my iPAQ and so cannot speak to that sensitivity, but have not noticed problems with sensitivity for other stylus functions. And the image seems just as clear as without the protector. Also, I had no "Fellowes"/copyright label printed on the protectors as earlier reviews had mentioned.

I've been using these for about a year and they work very well, in my experience lasting for several months. They improve the feel of the screen, but I haven't noticed that they improve visibility...on the other hand they don't seem to degrade it either.

In my case they have not damaged the screen in any way, they remove very cleanly so you can use a new sheet.

They take practice to apply, and each of us will figure out our own technique. It's important to clean the screen first, and do the application in a lint free environment like a bathroom as opposed to your computer desk.

Don't panic when you see some bubbles after the application, they will go away by themselves in a few days...but you really should try to get most of them eliminated during the application process if possible.

I'm very satisfied with the product, all things considered.

People attempting to use this thing while driving should have to mount flashing strobes on top of their vehicle. I bought this thing last year (when it was already a few years old) to use with my IIIxe. Why? Because I'm an impulse buying gadget freak. I should have researched more. I only paid [money], as I ordered it new from the marketplace sellers...but sadly, it's not even worth that.

The software doesn't seem to play nice with 98SE or XP...it seems to have a limit on the number of commands you can issue before it crashes out...completely wiping the map you spent an hour customizing. On the Palm, the maps are hard enough to read sitting on the couch...reading them in the car takes some serious visual acuity...we're talking some breed of hawk, here. I had to ask my girlfriend to drive around town just so I could fiddle with the device from the passenger seat.

I don't think I've used it since that day. It just takes up room in my glove compartment. And lastly, no...this thing will not fit in your pocket. Maybe if you frequently carry VHS tapes around in your jeans you won't notice...but I can barely stand my Palm in my pocket by itself. The GPS adds a few inches and about half a pound to the package.

If you really want a GPS, you'll be willing to spend the money on a real one. Stay away from this thing. Just go tear up some money if you have the urge to order it....

I bought this product because I have a Palm IIIxe and wanted a GPS system I could use while traveling. Boy was I disappointed!! The bundled StreetFinder Deluxe 2000 PC software lacks sufficient detail to be useful. (It couldn't find my own address, while other software - notably Microsoft's Street & Trips - has no problem.) Whole neighborhoods are missing! You can download little subsets of your maps to the Palm, but because the PC software lacks detail, the Palm version really leaves a lot out to save on memory space. Going to Rand McNally's website doesn't help - there doesn't seem to be a way to upgrade the maps, so you're stuck with what you have (which isn't much.) I also had problems with the GPS. It is suppose to work on its own battery when fully charged, but I can only get it to work with the Palm when it is plugged into the cigarette lighter. When the GPS does work, the Palm StreetFinder software and downloaded map crashes a lot, requiring a complete system reset on the Palm (not fun to do while you're driving.) You also have to go through the Palm menu system to enable/disable the GPS (not fun while you're driving and the GPS is mounted to your windshield!) I would really stay away from this product, save your money, and look elsewhere. This doesn't live up to the claims. Rand McNally should just stick with paper maps.

The hardware is frustratingly close to being usable. Unfortunately it forces you to remove the palm cover which makes handheld use challenging. It's often slow to acquire a lock.

The software is nearly useless, a major disappointment. I've tried a number of palm GPS apps (the device is NMEA compliant and works well with all of them), and would rank streetfinder as the worst, for all the reasons mentioned in other reviews, and for others (a 3 CD package intended for use with laptops!).

My favorite palm GPS app is solus pro 2.0, which uses compact vector maps you generate online on the delorme.com website, and can use bulky, unscalable, bitmap maps (and directions) generated using delorme street atlas USA on a non-internet-connected PC.

In summary, if I had it to do over again, I'd get a standalone GPS with a serial cable, and would buy delorme street atlas and solus pro 2.0. That way I could upgrade out of the palm III form factor if I wanted to. I am happy enough with it to have replaced my III with a IIIxe so I'd have enough room for maps.