Organizer 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.

The instruction says to remove the "one" screw on the back holding batteries. There's no one screw, there are two screws holding the case together, and a hole to "reset" this unit, but, No battery cover or single screw.
What gives?

This is a great PDA/PDO for the price, especially the newer model with 768k. With both items, however, installing the batteries is tricky. The instruction booklet is wrong. There is NO screw to loosen. You have to use something with a small pointed tip to pry open the battery door just above the 2 wavy lines representing finger impressions. While I'm glad that the door is a very snug fit, I nearly returned the item to the seller because I, like other buyers, did not think I would ever figure out how to install the darn batteries!

I just bought this item, what more can I say other than..."I love this item". I am just a kid, and I filled in my school phone book, now I have everyone at my school at my fingertips! This item has many features such as home clock, world clock, 3 different catorgies to put names under in the phone book and it has an all catagory. this item has the month in calander form, under the schedule thing, and then it has your schedule, and then if you click on it again, it has birthdays. You have a to-do list which you can scroll up, and down to see what your plans are, if you click on it again you have a memo option that you can write your memos in. It also has great features like, a calculator that has a currency converter, a calculator, and a finance option. It aslo has a pc link where you can add and transfer data to, and from you computer using Microsoft Outlook. Overall I love this royal excelsior, and I think it's great!You should buy it because it is really cool! Furthermore it also has a menu option to see how much space you have left. This is a great item and I would reccommend this to everyone who likes, or needs to say organized. "BUY IT"

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?

This was a great idea but there are a few problems. First the software works on Win 98 & 2000 only - NOT XP. Second, the software is full of bugs. Three, there is no support or updates as the company's U.S. web site is gone. Too bad. If it only worked.

I purchased two CDOs only to find out that some of the lights on one of them did not work. After 6 weeks, KDS finally replaced it. It did not cost me anything but time and frustration. After 2 months, my second one has now failed. Most of the trays do not eject. It is no longer returnable and I have CDs stuck in it. Do NOT make the mistake of purchasing even one of these. Go to K-Mart and get one of the old fashioned manual ones. You will be much happier.

The device works Ok. I'm using it to store MSDN DVDs. The software has some bugs. I sent an e-mail to the tech. support and their response was: "Unfortunately Version 4.02 is the latest software released and also the last".
You can also check http://www.itechcds.com/ for an alternative device.

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.

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.

I just had a second one die on me. The exact same thing - it worked for a while, then started giving fatal errors and erasing everything. Two of them in two years? Forget it.

The first time, I sent it back to Xircom and got a replacement. But if not used for a few months, it seems to start to melt down horribly.

I recommend avoiding this at all costs.

I suggest you download ProxiWeb instead of Avantgo (OK but a pain when on a fullsize webpage). I bought this because I didn't want to carry a cable around like the Thincom. The three AAA batteries are a pain. They last about 4 hours before they trash your Visor: Xircom what is up with this? You are suppose to be THE modem company and you need 3 AAA batteries that last only 4 hours before a Visor Trashing: BAD BOYS!!!! I had two Hard Resets and thank God for the PC backup which was a 1.5 hour pain. Since the return time was gone from my CompUSA I decided to get the Back Up Module to make this Hard Reset easier. Well go buy the Back-Up, it is worth the peace of mind. Otherwise while it is working with ProxiWeb it works quite well. I had a blast surfing the Web. Remember to buy fresh batteries and you should have no trouble. Otherwise wait for the Sixpack.

I dont know why people here sais its a good for nothing product, I had one for about three weeks now and I am very satisfied about it. I had a small problem with it, but the fix was quite easy. The problem was that the AvantGo software that comes with this modem is bad installed and each time I tried to run it was crashing my palm so I had to do a hard reset. How I figure out this ? I just copied (with File Mover) the software from the modem into the palm memory, I made a hotsync and then I ran the avantgo software (from the backup) into the Palm OS Emulator software. This reported a problem with libmal.prc, so to fix it I downloaded avantgo software again from the (...) site, I install it on my palm , then with filemover I moved it into the modem memory (great idea this writable eprom memory for the modem). Then I restarted my palm and voila ! it worked.
With this modem I am now able to use lots of cool client software (pop3, imap, vnc, http, https, wap, ssh, telnet, yahoo messenger , IRC), and I just want to say that if there is any system administrator out there .. you have to check this out, the palmVNC and ssh clients are wonderfull. I found even a http server for my Visor !

Somehow I missed the fact that this product is not for the Palm IIIc.

Well I was excited to get this item because my deskspace at work is limited and I just wanted to have a small cord for syncing and charging that I could easily put away when I didn't need it. First couple times I used it, it worked fine. Now after maybe a couple months (and maybe a dozen uses, if that) the connection has gotten loose and it won't sync at all. It will still charge the unit (somewhat), but I have to fiddle around with the cord on my desk and make sure the green light on my palm is on so I know it's actually connected properly.

Palm sould really be ashamed at themselves for some of the crappy accessory items they make. I mean, is it so hard to make a sync cord that works? Very dissapointing. I gave it two stars only because it will still charge the unit...and sometimes that alone is useful when I'm at work and don't have a cradle handy.

This is one of those products that you really need if you bring your Palm on travel a lot but wish it was designed a heck of a lot better. I use it almost every day on my home computer and pack it with my laptop on travel. The lack of an AC adapter brick is a real advantage, as you can charge your Palm and hotsync through the single USB cable. (Why couldn't they do that with the regular cradle also?) And once connected, it works very nicely.

Notice that I wrote "once connected", as that is much easier said than done. The two very small clips barely hang on to the Palm when attached, so the slightest jostle can disrupt the connection. The other reviewers weren't kidding when they stated that you have to use this on a flat undisturbed surface so that the connection can be maintained. I always have to check that the green light on the Palm is actually on, even though it may look like the cable is seated properly. I also agree that the flismy design of the clips make it a real possibility that they can break off with regular use.

Palm really needs to do a better job of designing its accessories.

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.