In my business travels during the last week I met and exchanged contact information with many people. We showed off our PDAs, and of course, beamed data back and forth. All of them had Palm computers, either the Palm III of Palm V.  I was the only one in our group with a green Visor Deluxe.  Having been unable to bring along our cradles for the week, I was also the only one with a foolproof method of backing up their PDA.

The Backup Module for the Visor from Handspring is, in a word, cool!   It's one of the reasons that I got the Visor in the first place. With the Backup Module, all  you have to do is insert the module and tap an onscreen button to back up all of your data and apps! It's really that simple. When I say that the backup is foolproof, I really mean it.  When you plug the module in, a window pops up asking you if you want to backup the Visor? In the corner is another button asking if you want to restore data. You just tap the backup button on the screen, and it starts downloading all your data. A status bar moves along to let you know how much time is left, and before you know it, it's all backed up. If you want to restore, you hit the other button.

I have about 2 MB of the available 8 MB used up so far on my Visor. The Backup Module will backup an entire 8 MB machine, but it may take some time.  To do my machine at 2 MB it takes about 1.5 minutes. I would estimate that a 8 MB machine would take considerably longer. All I can tell you is that there is a certain level of relief that comes with having your PDA backed up when you are out of the office for an entire week. So it's worth the wait.

I did some research prior to purchasing my Backup Module.  I contacted someone that set his Visor up, then backed it up with the Backup Module. He then cleared his Visor of everything, and did a restore. His Visor was exactly the same as it was before he deleted all the data.

If there is one negative thing about the Backup Module, it may be that using it causes a bit of battery drain. I checked the level of the Visor batteries before and after, and they lose a good amount of power performing the backup. Also the price may seem high to some, but I think that it's well worth it for the added piece of mind. And if you worry about where to stow it, don't! It's so small, you can stow it just about anywhere.

Overall, if you have a Visor or are thinking of getting one, get the Backup Module. It's one of those things that you hope you will never need, but you want to have anyway. If you work in an office and are handling more than one Visor and Backup Module for others in the company, you may want to label your Backup Modules so you don't put the President's data in the wrong module.

Price:  $39.95

Pros:
Great efficient way to back up all data and apps.
Very compact, can stow it just about anywhere.

Con:
Sucks up battery juice while transferring data.
Some may find it a bit pricey.