Handspring Cuts Prices (Updated)

Posted By: Ed Saturday, May 5, 2001 2:13:27 PM

As predicted this week, Handspring cut some of its prices yesterday. The Visor Deluxe is now $200, a drop of $50. They are also throwing in a free leather case for a limited time. In addition, the company introduced a mail-in $50 rebate for its Visor Platinum so it will cost $250. The rebate offer goes on until June 17.

Update: Handspring has also announced $30 rebates on some Springboard modules with the purchase of any Visor handheld. This offer is also good until June 17.

Handspring has been offering a $50 rebate for the Visor Deluxe for the past several months, essentially making it cost $200 already. This change simply makes that price permanent.

Free Leather Case with Visor Deluxe The free case that comes with the Deluxe is made of 100% black belting leather and includes a secure snap-in attachment for the Deluxe. The interior also has a pocket for credit cards or business cards, plus a stylus holder. The free case offer is good only while their supplies last.

Handspring claims these price reductions have nothing to do with the price cuts Palm made last month. A Handspring spokesperson said, "We're not immune to competitive pressure, but these pricing actions are previously planned."

Earlier this week, Lehman Brothers analyst Joseph To issued a report predicting that Handspring will soon cut prices for its low end Visors.

Springboard modules included in their spring promotion are the Margi Systems Presenter-to-Go, which can be connected to an LCD projector and used to display mobile presentations directly from the Visor handheld; the eyemodule digital camera, which takes both color and black and white photographs; the Wristband ThinModem, a slim wire line modem; the Magellan GPS Companion, a GPS navigation module; and the Xircom Springport Modem 56 GlobalACCESS, a 56Kbps wire line modem.

On the Web:

Handspring's Page on Deluxe Deal

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Module rebates also

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2001 4:39:16 PM #

I think today Handspring also added module rebates if you also order a new Visor, on Presenter-to-Go, eyemodule (not eyemodule 2 though), SpringPort Modem 56 GlobalAccess, GPS Companion and Wristband Thinmodem.

http://www.handspring.com/promos/modulesrebate.jhtml

Analyst's expected street prices for June

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2001 6:56:15 PM #

To also added predictions as to pricing of the various Palm OS PDAs. He has a pretty impressive record in predicting this kind of thing, so if you don't need a PDA now, you might want to hold off on getting one for a few weeks. You might be able to get a lot nicer unit than you thought you could afford.

Palm m100 - $119
Palm m105 - $169
Palm IIIc - $199 (will be discontinued in June)
Palm VIIx - $250
Palm m500 - $329
Palm m505 - $379
Visor Standard - $119 without cradle; $139 with cradle
Visor Deluxe - $169
Visor Platinum - $219
Visor Edge - $349
Visor Prism - $399
Sony CLIE S300 - $249
Sony CLIE N710C - $449
TRGPro - $199
HandEra 330 - 299

RE: Analyst's expected street prices for June

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/6/2001 11:49:16 AM #

I'm curious to know how you can predict the pricing of products to drop in price so drastically in just the 1st few months they are out. Is it worth the wait to test your predictions?

RE: Analyst's expected street prices for June

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/6/2001 4:27:38 PM #

All he did was to take $50 off of the prices now. This seem like the trend for price reduction of the palms, but this is in no way a analytical prediction.

Analyst's expected street prices for June. . .

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2001 9:15:37 AM #

If prices actually fall like listed above, amazingly, going with HandEra seems to be the best deal. For example, buy a TRGPro for $200 then upgrade to a HandEra 330 in about a year, after its price drops to the $200 range, and keep all of your peripherals. The Visor Deluxe looks good at the proposed price, but I still have issues with the entire Springboard concept, lack of an upgradable OS, and the quality of products I've seen in stores.
Although Palm made its money selling products in the midrange, $200 - $300 market, it looks like they want to either cater to the kiddie market with the “unique-looking” m100/105 or the upper-management, i.e., upper-income biz exec with the m500/505. Contrary to what’s currently going on with PDA pricing, I still think spending more than $300 is beyond the reach of a lot of mainstream consumers. A Palm IIIx with a SD slot, better MONOCHROME resolution, at about $225-250 would have/would be a hit, IMHO.

Visor Models

mark @ 5/6/2001 3:38:27 AM #

What is the difference between the visor edge and the visor platinum?

RE: Visor Models

bcombee @ 5/6/2001 6:07:07 AM #

The Visor Edge has a much smaller, metal housing and a rechargable battery, requires a clip-on backpack for Springboard modules, and it is incompatible with existing Visor accessories. Both are Palm OS 3.5, grayscale devices.

RE: Visor Models

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2001 3:58:56 PM #

Can someone help me decide between the Visor Platinum, Visor Edge and Palm m500?

I've ruled out the m505, b/c of the bad screen reviews - I figure my next device will be a color phone/PDA combo once they prove their worth/reliability.

So, here are my dilemmas:

1. Platinum is cheap ($210 with that www.dealuniversity.com offer) and offer most of the same benefits of the Edge. BUT no Fast Lookup and bigger size; alkaline batteries.

2. Edge is small, light, and rechargeable. Great for having the coolest looking Palm on the block. Has Fast Lookup. BUT Springboard expansion is clunky on this model. Worth the price?

3. m500 offers SD card expansion - will it be confusing?. Small & light (too light?). Same speed as comparable visors. Can upgrade OS. BUT no Enhanced Date Book or Fast Lookup.

I've been using a IIIe for about a year and I mainly use the Datebook & Address functionality, so the Enhanced Datebook is very important to me and the Fast Lookup seems like it would help out. Since I've been coping with 2MB for so long, 8MB will prob. seem infinite to me thus making me wonder if the SD slot is necessary in my situation. I also have a concern that moving things on & off the card will prove confusing.

I am in the lucky situation that cost is not the most important issue. But if I'm going to want color or a phone/PDA in just a year I don't want to spend too much cash now.

Thanks for the help!

RE: Visor Models

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/8/2001 1:36:56 PM #

I think you answered your own question.

If you're not looking for color, and you dont want to spend too much, at $210 the Platinum is a great deal. It has expandability with the springboards, so you can get your extra memory or even your pda phone. No, Springboards are not as slick as SD cards, but they work and they're available now.

I dont think "Fast Lookup" is a make or break function. And there are several alternative rechargeable battery solutions that in some ways are better than an internal rechargeable battery. Of the concerns you mentioned, the one I'd think about is whether you can live with the larger size. If you can, then you're saving yourself ~$150.

RE: Visor Models

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/8/2001 3:07:19 PM #

I would also consider the TRGPro. It’s been reduced to $250 since the HandEra 330 was announced and probably will drop a little lower once the 330's actually available. The benefits over the Visor are that the OS is upgradable and there are more options available for the CF slot than Visor’s Springboard slot. If you bought any accessories for your Palm, they should fit the TRGPro, and you can use your existing sync cradle. I also personally think HandEra (TRG) makes higher quality products than Visor.

I feel like a fool!

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/6/2001 10:12:31 PM #

I paid $179 for my visor solo about a year ago. I then had to buy a memory upgrade, so it upped it to about $260 not including tax! Damn I should've waited! I still refuse to buy a new visor until one with an upgradable Os comes out. Handspring what's up wit dat?

RE: I feel like a fool!

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/7/2001 2:21:49 AM #

i hope I don't make you feel worse but check out http://www.dealuniversity.com to find out how to get the platinum for $210 ...ebay yours off, and get this one!