Moving
programs and data between the Visor and the module is a breeze. Check the desired programs and/or data files then tap the Move
or Copy button. A screen will show the
current application that is being moved/copied, the overall progress, and show a warning against removing the springboard. The process
does not take very long for a few files, but copying everything over takes sometime. Data transfer is right at 1MB/min. Canceling
in the middle of a transfer leaves the files already transferred alone and stops the process. Deleting from the module is not immediate
either, but takes much less time.Remember that programs
that have data that changes should leave the data on the Visor. Because of this, File Mover warns you when
moving any Prefs file to the module. I was also warned when moving over DOC files. Handspring
also says that not every program will be able to read data properly from the8MB module. There should not be any problems as long as the
data does not need to be modified.
A word about battery consumption-- when running programs or accessing data on the 8MB module, there
was not any noticeable battery drain. Moving data to/from the 8MB module will consume more of the batteries. It is not terrible, but I
did notice my battery drop 10% after moving several megabytes of data back and forth.
Working with Programs
To
see how well programs could be ran from the 8MB module, I moved MyBible,
CSpotRun, and all Bible data and DOC files I had over to the module. They
ran perfectly and showed no difference in speed. As I mentioned earlier, these programs since they are in flash will have a square bullet next
to them. I noticed that Launcher III displayed some programs that were not in flash. This may be because
LauncherIII caches icons. When I moved the CSpotRun
and MyBible programs back to the Visor and
left the data on the module, they read the data without a hitch. This can be very convenient for keeping data on the module that you
do not use often but want to access quickly. Keep all of your fun etexts, rarely used maps, etc. on the 8MB module and drop it in when you go
ont hat long trip.
Conclusion
The 8MB Flash Module is
a very handy springboard that allows you to carry data that you may not have
been able to otherwise. Moving/copying data is easy to do, and the FileMover program is very easy to pick up --
in fact, the manual is only three pages. The 8MB Flash Module is not designed to be used strictly for backup purposes. However, by
using Select All and copying data over one could accomplish this if necessary. The only things that could be improved upon are adding a
Backup/restore for modified files and improving data transfer speed. Is it worth
the $79.95? If you need the extra space -- definitely. This is the perfect springboard for users that want to carry more data on
their Visor.
|
|
| Pros |
Easy to use
Standard size
Very customizable
|
|
| Cons |
Data transfer a little slow
Minor display bug after sorting
External label distorts Visor’s sleek look |
|
