For those of you who have followed the Tech section
for
the last year or so, you know that we've used this section to review a lot
of
neat and useful technology toys. While some of these gizmos work very well
and do exactly what we want them to do, some of them do not live up to our
expectations. Read on to see how this item held up.
About a year ago I wrote with great pride about my
latest handheld computer; the Handspring Prism. I purchased
it to replace an ailing Palm IIIc which was losing data often. As a computer
professional, a handheld has become a staple of life and a very important
staple at that. With a defective IIIc, I decided I wanted another color
device but I wanted more memory, or expandability.
In the Handspring Prism I found the same amount of memory (8mb), but it also
had the expandability I craved. Handsprings, since their release several
years
ago, have come with a "Springboard" expansion slot which allows memory,
games, books, etc. to be added onto the device without taking up precious
RAM.
Not too many weeks after I wrote my review of the Handspring Prism I dropped
mine. It was a routine accident, as many of my expensive toys have come into
unexpected contact with the ground. What was not routine was that the corner
where
the device landed developed a small crack. This, I felt, was more annoying
than
anything. Since everything else worked fine, I moved on.
Well folks, don't ever let a simple crack on a $250 handheld go without
attention. Over time, this crack grew like a crack in a windshield. It
roamed across the top edge of the device and ultimately turned back
downward to the seam of the assembly. Once again, the resulting hole did not
affect device usability, just its looks.
A little over a month ago I called Handspring support. I was tired of the
hole in my case and I needed a new top plastic to replace the broken one. As
a computer technician and someone who has opened at least one model of every
generation of handheld from the original Newton, changing out a piece of
plastic is no big issue. After a good half hour of arguing with Handspring
Technicians and customer service, I hung up. Handspring had made its
money off my purchase but wanted to keep making money. They
would not send me the part. They would not sell me the part. Indeed, despite
the fact that they understood that I could not afford any "downtime" to do a
return for repair, they still would not send the part. My solution was
simple. I bought a new device. This time I bought a metal-cased Palm
Tungsten
T. You can read my review of it here. Eventually I will send the Prism in
for
repair, but it likely will be my last Handspring for a long time.
___
Kevin Martin is Whim's Tech Geek. His annual budget for tech toys is larger than most people spend on car insurance.
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