Actual use
Really, a handheld's worth comes down to its success in the real world. A good idea on paper, or an attractive feature at first glance, might not pan out that well with actual use. I had three weeks to beat on the Edge review sample, and it impressed me. Keep in mind, though, that I'm used to lugging around a much larger Visor Deluxe.

Other handhelds are positively portly by comparison

The Edge's size is really its best feature; it's just so incredibly thin. I didn't entirely appreciate the Edge's diminutive size until I went back to my Visor Deluxe, which just seems portly now. The Edge is small and light enough that you can fit it in your pocket, but strong enough that it didn't seem to mind my 180 lbs sitting on it. Check out how my girlfriend's bum bulges out with the Visor Deluxe (right) as compared with the Edge (left).

Honey, which one makes my butt look bigger?

Yeah, that was a gratuitous bum shot.

Unfortunately, though the metal flip cover certainly looks trick, I felt like I was carrying around a prop from the original Star Trek series every time I whipped the Edge out. That's great for trekkies, I guess, but it seems unnecessarily clumsy to me since you can’t flip the cover all the way over and to the back of the Edge and out of the way.

Beam me up, Scotty

Conclusions
First, I'd just like to thank Handspring for completely ruining my Visor Deluxe for me. The Deluxe feels like a brick in my pocket after carrying around the Edge, and I honestly haven't been using it nearly as much since my standards were raised by the Edge. The Visor Deluxe, and full-sized PDAs in general, just feel far too bulky now.

Handspring has capitalized on all of the strengths of the Palm platform with the Visor Edge; it's light, small, simple, and has great battery life. The Edge also gets Springboard expansion capabilities without all the baggage of an internal Springboard slot. That's not too shabby for a PDA, in my book.

Competition-wise, the Edge faces off against Palm's m500, and Sony's PEG-T415. I’ve only had limited exposure to these devices, but I’m trying to get a couple of samples in house to look at so I can give them a full review.

Handspring's Visor edge is a slim, sexy take on the Palm platform that works as well in the field as it looks in the showroom. It's not cheap, but the price is quite reasonable considering the features and form factor you get with the Edge. If you look at the Edge as a replacement for an existing organizer, be prepared to buy; playing with the Edge may induce feelings of intense dissatisfaction with your current PDA.