Slim Handspring Visor Takes On Palm

With its built-in slot for Game Boy cartridge-size add-ons, Handspring's Visor has won a growing following among fans of the Palm operating system who want a more expandable personal digital assistant. But the Springboard add-ons require a wide slot--precluding a skinny Visor that could compete head-on with the popular Palm V.

The new Visor Edge tries to solve Handspring's size-versus-expansion conundrum with a compromise: It's about as light, thin, and sleek as a Palm V, and you can still add Springboard modules--but you must first remove a flip-up cover and slide on an included Springboard slot. Doing so restores the Visor Edge to standard Visor bulk, and makes for an extra piece of hardware to fiddle with whenever you want to use a module to add content or hardware such as modems, GPS receivers, phones, cameras, or MP3 players.

Weighing under 5 ounces, the Visor Edge comes in matte metallic shades of silver, blue, and red. With its form-fitting lid, the device resembles a cigarette case from the 1940s. Its monochrome display appears sharper than previous Visors' screens, and it offers better black-on-gray contrast. The device runs on an update to Handspring's Palm OS variant, version 3.5H. A handy fast-lookup feature allows one-handed address book searches (you use the application buttons to key in letters).

Though flimsy-feeling, the slide-on Springboard connector did work perfectly in my tests: The device recognized a backup module and a Tiger Woods golf game instantly.

The $399 Visor Edge features a 33-MHz Motorola VZ processor, 8MB of RAM, and a rechargeable lithium ion battery that Handspring says will last about two weeks. A new plastic power button on the lower right corner can be set to blink for a silent alarm. An attractive metal stylus/pen tool sits on the outside of the unit, but is tricky to remove. The HotSync/recharging cradle is smaller than previous cradles but does not fit other Visors. And when you flip open the lid it hangs down awkwardly, rather than rotating completely to lie flat against the back.

Though the Visor Edge does give Handspring fans a skinny option, it makes sacrifices that many users may not find worthwhile. It will face stiff competition from Palm's equally thin monochrome m500 ($399) and color m505 ($449), which can accept wafer-thin MultiMedia Cards and Secure Digital expansion modules without requiring an additional adapter. The first SD modules won't be ready until late this year, however, and Visor Edge users can start plugging in several dozen existing Springboard modules right away.

Still, if you want a PDA that's thin and expandable--and you can wait a bit for the expansion options--Palm's m500 series offers greater long-term promise, with smaller (and possibly cheaper) add-ons that won't increase the size of the device.