Portable Innovation Technology PIT MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor Memory Card Springboard Module

The MemPlug requires no external software or batteries to operate (it runs off the Visor's own power). Also included is gMovie Maker software, which allows you to create gMovie files from movie and animation files. The MemPlug also has its own flash memory for future upgrades.

Product Description
MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor is the first Handspring Springboard module, which uses low cost and flexible removable memory cards for memory expansion. Use SmartMedia memory cards with your Visor handheld for a variety of uses, including viewing digital camera JPEG files and creating gMovie videos. Backup your entire Handspring Visor onto a SmartMedia Card, which can then be removed and stored separately from you handheld. Copy or move files to and from your Visor's internal memory and the onboard SmartMedia Card.MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor is compatible with Handspring Visor Edge, Prism, Platinum, Deluxe and Solo. MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor includes software PiPrefs that does quick or full formatting for the SmartMedia card and manages other preferences, PiMover that handles file management for the SmartMedia card and can create up to 25 levels of sub-directories to manage files on the SmartMedia card, PiBackup that does the backup and restoration of applications and data to and from the SmartMedia card, PiViewer that allows direct decoding and viewing of JPEG images from SmartMedia cards in 16-bit color or 16 gray-scale display, gMovie Player that allows the playback of 16-bit color video, animation or still images stored on the SmartMedia card, as well as CSpotRun and PiVFSMgr.

I now have a Prism with 136mb capacity. I can store thousands of documents, hundreds of pictures, scores of applications and still have 70mb free.

The level of service and communication that I have experienced with PIT is unsurpassed. If you have a problem with the MemPlug, they will solve it, even if it means writing code. It is almost worth the price of the MemPlug just to for the pleasure of experiencing their excellent customer service.

In addition to the additional memory, the MemPlug has a backup app and gMovie, which allows you to run big movies directly from the card. If you have a digital camera, you can take the media out of the camera and slip it in the Prism to look at the pics.

If you are looking to expand the capacity of your Handspring unit, look no further.


Room to grow...   July 17, 2001
mdrd2b (New York State)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful

I highly recommend this product, but not straight out of the box. Out of the box you get a good product. A product that allows you to use smart media (or compart flash with another model) to view docs, photos, and back up you palm (to ease concerns of the dreading the possible hard reset). The programs that come with MemPlug to allow you to do this are more plentiful than any of the other modules in its league that I know of. What these programs are I will not belabor here (go to memplug.com for more details).

The product out of the box, however, does not earn it a 5/5. When PiDirect is purchased (about $10 currently), however, is when MemPlug comes to life. With my 128 smart media card I now run over 20 MB of games and over 80 MB of medical software. PiDirect does this without flaw. Storing programs like SkyScapes Taber's Medical Dictionary, 5-Minute Clinical Consult, and DrDrugs on the smart media card (over 12 MB of info) and running it smoothly has made being a 3rd year medical student a lot easier and my pockets a lot smaller.

One mixed note, the products and software are still growing to address customer concerns/suggestions. This means that there is room for improvement, but Portable Innovations has been quick to address these comments and get updates out to registered users. If they stay true to their initial efforts this product and company will have a bright future. Also PiDirect is not currently compatible with visors running Palm OS 3.1, so visor delux and solo owners are can not take full advantage of MemPlug's potential. This concern, however, I do not believe will be long lived if they pursue OS 3.1 compatibility with the drive that they had to make it work with OS 3.5

I hope everyone enjoys it.


Works great unless you expect more than what was promised   July 16, 2001
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

I have an "old" Visor Deluxe. I ended up giving away my 8MB flash module when I got my MemPlug. I use Launcher III as my application launcher. It automatically recognizes the PRC files in a specific directory on the card. It works seamlessly and flawlessly for programs like games where no databases are involved. In fact, I have over 100 Palm games on a 16MB smart media card. The fact that I might have to move some database files to RAM in order to launch the game is not really an issue. Most of these wouldn't run from my flash module either. I have another card with 32MB of books and Bible translations on it. If I want to look something up, I don't have to wait until I get home to hotsync. I just stick in the card and copy it down.

The card *has* made me rethink how I use modules. It is less like floppy disk that you can read and write to and more like a CD-ROM...capable of huge amounts of data and capable of running directly off the CD in some circumstances. The amount of data I can now carry with me (80MB on 5 cards) is well worth the few seconds it takes to copy some data file down to the Visor Ram. And, as we have already seen, Palm developers are beginning to recognize the possibilities here and program for them. I would definately buy this again.


128 MB Prism!   July 16, 2001
Kenny Song (Penang Malaysia)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

When I first got my MemPlug, I used it mainly to store files and for Backups, which worked very well with MemPlug's PiBackup. I could also run gMovie and read Docs via a special version of CSpotRun. Because of it's limited use, my main module was still the 16MB Hagiwara FlashCard.

However, the MemPlug's usefulness made a major leap when PiDirect was introduced. With it, I could now run almost any application right off a smartmedia card. I can even access any database stored on the card, databases that are many times larger than my internal RAM.

Currently, my TomeRaiders data alone is about 40 MB with the IMDB (12MB) and Encyclopedia (12MB) being the largest. Accessing these data was seamless and felt just a little slower than my 16MB.

This has made my Visor Prism a 128MB monster and with 256 MB cards coming soon...

PiDirect is a bargain at the intro price and compared to the 8MB and 16MB modules currently available. Also with memPlug comes installed application like gMovie 2.0 which supports sound and 4 other Pi software which works great. I have since put aside my 16 MB Hagiwara and is very happy I was an early adopter of this groundbreaking storage solution for the Palm platform.