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I'm sure ebay will be ass-deep in netbooks for a decade, at least.

Alternately, if I wanted to spend more dough, I could import something like this http://www.dynamism.com/top-notebooks/mengda-md-w8.shtml from Japan.

Panasonic offers also a very high quality business laptops, but they can be pricey.

Check www.dynamism.com.

The Viliv S7 and (soon to be released) S10 Blade are convertible netbooks running Windows. Sadly, both are more expensive than the iPad, however.

The Viliv S7 and (soon to be released) S10 Blade are convertible netbooks running Windows. Sadly, both are more expensive than the iPad, however.

They exist

Until the iPhone can hold a candle to one of these running Xubuntu ( Ubuntu + Xfce ) , then I will just consider it a toy, with its one redeeming feature being multi-touch integrated with a great UI.

See my previous post on this topic : http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=513868&cid=22992830

jdb2

For a while I've been looking for a gadget that integrates cell-phone/pda/computer/web/internet/mp3-player functionality. I thought I had found it with the iPhone but not so. The iPhone's idiotic lack of Flash and Java renders it useless to me as almost all the sites I frequent require Flash and my most visited sites require Java. Add to that a closed and proprietary software architecture and you've got yourself an iBrick. I've thought about purchasing a Linux based Nokia n810 but again it suffers from a dismal web browsing experience. So, the only option left is an ultra tiny sub-notebook ala oqo . Unfortunately, not only are these unavailable in the United States but they cost a sh*tload -- we're talking upwards of $3600. Something tells me they don't cost that much in Japan. Man I wish I had one of these:

http://www.dynamism.com/ux/gallery.shtml

Nuke vista and install your favorite Linux distribution and you've got yourself the holy grail of technology convergence.

jdb2

For a while I've been looking for a gadget that integrates cell-phone/pda/computer/web/internet/mp3-player functionality. I thought I had found it with the iPhone but not so. The iPhone's idiotic lack of Flash and Java renders it useless to me as almost all the sites I frequent require Flash and my most visited sites require Java. Add to that a closed and proprietary software architecture and you've got yourself an iBrick. I've thought about purchasing a Linux based Nokia n810 but again it suffers from a dismal web browsing experience. So, the only option left is an ultra tiny sub-notebook ala oqo . Unfortunately, not only are these unavailable in the United States but they cost a sh*tload -- we're talking upwards of $3600. Something tells me they don't cost that much in Japan. Man I wish I had one of these:

http://www.dynamism.com/ux/gallery.shtml

Nuke vista and install your favorite Linux distribution and you've got yourself the holy grail of technology convergence.

jdb2

There's the Panasonic Viera P905i,
the Raon Everun UMPC,
the Samsung 'Soul' SGH U900,
the NEC ValueStar W,
the Toshiba ApriPoko Robot,
the Sony VAIO G2,
the Fujitsu F705i,
the Aigo USB Dongle,
the NEC LUI,
and the Face Bank

(links provided only to direct sale points or official corporate pages)

And (as I'm sure someone else will point out) "not here" only holds for certain values of "here".

There's the Panasonic Viera P905i,
the Raon Everun UMPC,
the Samsung 'Soul' SGH U900,
the NEC ValueStar W,
the Toshiba ApriPoko Robot,
the Sony VAIO G2,
the Fujitsu F705i,
the Aigo USB Dongle,
the NEC LUI,
and the Face Bank

(links provided only to direct sale points or official corporate pages)

And (as I'm sure someone else will point out) "not here" only holds for certain values of "here".

I agree that I don't understand the super obsession with size (size doesn't matter, right?) but clearly to some people it does. I guess that, as a luxury product, it's just cool and sexy to have something really sleek and thin.

To me, the Thinkpad looks like a better laptop than the Macbook Air, because it's got an optical drive, three USB ports instead of one, built-in ethernet, and a faster processor. But why even compare these two laptops, instead of comparing a Macbook or Macbook Pro to whatever model of competing Thinkpads there are, unless size is one of your primary criteria? If size wasn't a primary consideration, you shouldn't be shopping for or comparing either of these two laptops, because you'd get more laptop for your money in something that isn't aimed specifically at being tiny.

And for those for whom it's all about size, the Apple's graduated to a different league than this Thinkpad. They're about the same footprint, but the Air tapers from .16" to .76", where the Thinkpad tapers from .73" to .92". The Air's thickest part is almost as thin as the Thinkpad's thinnest part. Assuming they're both 9" deep and that the cross-sectional area of these laptops were right trapezoids, which they're not quite, the Macbook's cross sectional area is 4.14 square inches, and the Thinkpad's is 7.43. It's a big difference.

Again, it's a difference that I, and probably most people on Slashdot don't really care about, but apparently some people do, and as I said, why compare ultra-slim notebooks at all if you aren't going to give them points for how ultra-slim they are? If there weren't a lot of people in the US willing to pay a thousand or more dollars extra for something slightly slimmer, Dynamism wouldn't have been around for all these years.

I think the lack of ports on the Air are a huge drawback, but I think it's Apple's attempt to start dragging us into a wireless future, and it's a future I don't think technology's ready for now, but will be in a few years. Once there's a decent wireless peripheral interface with broad support (wireless USB or whatever), and there's wireless charging, and maybe some new batteries that last much longer and last for many more recharging cycles, they can just make 0-port hermetically sealed laptops. That would be a cool future. I'd also want my Wi-Fi integrated such that it's functional at the BIOS level, so one could do OS upgrades and netboot and emergency recovery over WIFI. Apple's trying to nudge us this way, and so to them it's a "feature" that they took nearly all the ports off the computer, although it's a feature that would currently make my world a much more difficult one.

This new Thinkpad isn't trying to be visionary, and it isn't radically thinner. It's just the regular old incremental improvement, not much different in magnitude from the past 10 generations of thin Thinkpads in how much different it is from its predecessors. While I personally prefer its specs over the Air's, I prefer nearly any new Laptop's specs over the Air's, and I'm surprised people consider it news, because it looks to me like the slightly smaller, slightly faster future we're all used to on notebook revisions, while the Air was a much smaller, intentionally low-on-ports different vision of the suture that is sort of newsworthy.

BS you are pulling number out of the air as to retail pricing.

In fact I can go out today buy a Sony TZ91 with a 100GB hard drive for $2,699.00 or I can buy a Sony TZ91 with a 64GB SDD drive for $3,549.00 which is a price difference of $850, Sony's upgrade to SSD is 15% less than Apple's ($850/$999). http://www.dynamism.com/tz90/pricing.shtml

Either you knew ahead of time and were just pumping Apple or you are an idiot and didn't actually "research", pick one.

All of the above, or just use DSL from a USB key. That way when the cops come, nobody will be the wiser as it will be very easy to get rid of/erase/whatever.

They are now so small that they can be anything. You have a lot of lying around? Just dropt it in there and nobody will be the siser.

You can desguise them as almost anything.

And how easy is it to 'loose' this one

And there are many more things where you would not know that they are USB drives.

Since when did a walk through of Dynamism's gadget inventory rate as a story? And not available in the US? WTF? That is exactly what Dynamism does, they are a tech importer for international product lines who also provides specialty tech support of the products that they sell.

Nokia N800 - about $350

Nokia 770 (a little older, slower, cheaper) - about $150

Both run Linux. OK, there are some binary-only driver modules.

Of course, if money is no object, you can always get yourself an $800 Zaurus, too.

Wait a minute. Maybe there's a better name for the thing.

If I remember right, one of Allen's other ventures tried to launch another sub-sub-notebook lookalike some years before. It also was supposed to cost $2000. It also was supposed to run Windows.

Considering that a Sharp Zaurus

http://www.dynamism.com/sl-c3000/main.shtml

costs around $800 in the U.S. and that the Zaurus seems to be similar in form factor and capabilities. It just doesn't run Windows. So with the FlipStart, this is a hefty $1200 premium just to run Windows.

I'd rather prefer to call Allen's latest baby "FlipFlop". ;-)

Walter.

P.S. Some kind of Windows obsession with Paul Allen has to be understood, of course. But then again, he might be doing this kind of projects just to get some tax-deductible expenses.

As usual, the Japanese already have a tidy solution in this camp - the Sharp Zaurus C3200. Unlike North American Zaurii this is a combo swiveltop tablet/laptop that runs linux, has full color 640x480 screen that really is awesome to look at.
64mb ram, 6gb flash drive

http://www.dynamism.com/sl-c3000/main.shtml

I don't sell them, or even have one, but I sure want one :-)

Well, the tech specs are fairly sketchy - no details about CPU type or speed, amount of RAM (apart from flash storage) but unless the "videos" on apple.com are total fraud this thing has way more horsepower than your average smartphone. Looks to be somewhere between a top-end smartphone ($700 unlocked?) and something like the new OQO ($1600+). I'd guess a realistic "unlocked" price could easily top $1000.

Plus, as other people have pointed out, some of the tricks with voicemail and conference calls may have needed support from the mobile operator.

Just hope that when it comes to the UK it has 3G and is on T-Mobile, as they do a half-decent offer on "unlimited" (for a given value of unlimited) 3G internet access.

I've just got a Windows Mobile 5 phone and the iPhone demo makes that look like crap*. They'll sell to early adopters at whatever price.

* Mind you, a 1994 Psion makes WM5 look like a pile of crap with extra features and colour, so that's not sayimg much.

The article does readers a disservice by implying that "gray market" automatically means counterfeit. Gray market products are genuine branded products that were simply not intended for the market in which they are being sold. They are just as good as regular products, with the exception that their warranty is generally invalid in the region where they're sold. Reputable merchants who deal in gray-market products include B&H Photo and Dynamism.com. (And no, I don't work for either of them.)

Or better yet, the GP2X.

Not only can you wath video & listen to music, but you can play games as well.
Supported by any operating system that supports SD cards.
Uses the Linux kernel as the operating system
Uses simple AA batteries, either alkaline(not recommended) or NiCD or NiMH, not some expensive battery system.
Supports TV Out

Also when you purchase this, you are supporting the open source movement, and not the Micro$hit movement as the SP-PMP requires Micro$hit Winblow$

http://www.dynamism.com/gp2x/pricing.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GP2X

All of this for the same price as the SP-PMP 'which by the way is $199, not $149' and will cost less in the long run as changing the batteries just requires to remove the old AA batteries and placing the new ones in there. This also allows for more battery life as someone could take 8 2500 MAh rated AA batteries with them and will last them quite a long time. The SP-PMP uses a Li-Polymer which would be difficult to remove when the battery is no longer capable ofd holding a charge and will cost a hell of a lot more than 2 AA batteries as you must go through Support Plus for any new batteries. You are also tied in to the cradle and Winblow$ to sync the unit. The GP2X uses SD cards that only requires an SD Card reader and can be used in just about any Operating System. At least the ipod can be used with a Macintosh.

I almost bought a Zaurus SL-C3000 a year ago, but then my laptop died and I had to replace it. Review of the new C3200 from 6 days ago: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/Sharp-Zaurus-C3200 .htm Buy it here: http://dynamism.com/sl-c3000/main.shtml

GP was suggesting the clamshell Zaurus models, which Dynamism does indeed sell.

I suspect you went looking under notebooks on their site; most consider the Zauruses in the PDA plus category; here's the link.

I assume you mean this trisoft offering.

Eh, no. That's less than half the product for the same price! (There's a $150 rebate on Pepper Pad if you go to their website. Good until the end of May.)

As for Dynamism, I don't see anything on there that's linux, and nothing less than $1000. (Most are $2000+)

Prove me wrong. Please. I actively want to be wrong here.

That completely defeats the purpose of having a single portable device that you can carry with you.

Having an expandible device gives you options.

My Zaurus has a small built-in keyboard (as well as an on-screen one and handwriting reco for use in PDA mode, but I pretty much always open the clamshell for typing). It's usable for brief typing into the scheduler, or a quick remote login, and still handy to carry around.

If I'm going down to the coffeehouse to do some writing, I pack along a foldable USB keyboard and plug it in. More to carry, but still smaller and lighter than my Vaio notebook.

Pity. They should've used SQL on Rails.

Anyway...image, 'cause nothing else is important on the site. Unless you really want to buy one. Has the pink been getting to you?

Sounds like you want the Vulcan FlipStart PC (runs Windows XP, may be vaporware) or the Sharp Zaurus SL-C3000 (runs Linux on an ARM CPU, shipping now).

Try Panasonic:

http://dynamism.com/r4/main.shtml (very tiny)

http://dynamism.com/y4/main.shtml (what i am typing on now)

Try Panasonic:

http://dynamism.com/r4/main.shtml (very tiny)

http://dynamism.com/y4/main.shtml (what i am typing on now)

However, I recently sold the B&O headphones because I found a similar style set with better sound (the A8s really lacked low-end response). If you can find them, I would highly recommend the Amadana PE-117 headphones (Amadana's a Japanese design company). I recently bought these in Japan (had to go to a few stores to find one that actually had them in stock. Bingo! Comfortable, and absolutely terrific sound! Dynamism has them in stock for $160 or so, but I paid about $110 for them in Japan.

Well, it's got a transmeta cpu, but there's this.

I personally have the JVC 7310 notebook which uses the first generation Centrino ultra-low voltage processors in a tiny notebook which weighs less than 1kg (1.99 pound to be exact). JVC later released the 741 which included a Dothan 1.1Ghz CPU. Yes, they use standard hardware and Linux runs just fine on it. I'm sure JVC will be releasing a Core Duo ultra-low voltage notebook very soon.

By far, the best PDA money can buy is the Sharp Zaurus. I've owned an SL-C860 for two years now, and I still have yet to find another PDA that can rival its functionality. It's not sold in the US, so you'll have to import it from a place like Dynamism, and they cost a pretty penny, but they are very much worth it. Dump the stock ROM and replace it with pdaXrom and use xfce as the windows manager- it's like a full-featured linux desktop in your pocket (Evolution and KDE has been built and running, though they need some optimization until they are fully useful. It will make that Axim look like a toy...

You mean like imitation sushi?

well.. totally off-topic, but I followed an ad from that site to http://www.dynamism.com/ , and from there to http://www.dynamism.com/gp2x/

Sounds like a potentially cute device.. already runs linux, the developers have a wiki, they embrace open source and tinkering.. hmm(!)

well.. totally off-topic, but I followed an ad from that site to http://www.dynamism.com/ , and from there to http://www.dynamism.com/gp2x/

Sounds like a potentially cute device.. already runs linux, the developers have a wiki, they embrace open source and tinkering.. hmm(!)

in the event of men with black overcoats / sunglasses come nocking on your door flush the memory stick down the toilet / bury it in the back garden / swallow it / disguise it as food etc http://www.dynamism.com/solidalliance/pricing.shtm l

Also available from Dynamism. $79/128MB. But see my other post about possibly better (and cheaper!) options.

This is just an ad for Dynamism's USB products.

Compare the items in the article to:
http://www.dynamism.com/solidalliance/pricing.shtm l

Having said that, I will say that the barbie USB port is just freaky. Wow.

Why get a PDA which does some of the functions of a real computer, when you can have a real computer? Things like:
http://www.dynamism.com/u50/
and:
http://www.oqo.com/
Small, fast (compared to a PDA), and plenty of storage. Better screens too.

Plus many of the PDAs are hampered with some shocking design decisions. I've had three PDAs, and all of them lost all data when both batteries go flat (Psion 3C, HP Jornada 620LX and Sony Clié PEG50). Forget to charge for two weeks, and you have - no data. Plain stupid. Flash isn't ruinously expensive, so there's no excuse IMO.

Not only are carbon fibre laptops not knew, neither are carbon fibre Vaios.

Certain Vaio X505 models have carbon fibre models, including the X505/CP, which I am typing on right now. I think it's as much a gimmick as anything else, but it does look good.

You can find out all sorts of 505 info at http://www.siliconpopculture.com/sonytr/viewtopic. php?t=3889&sid=6456be6419d0fc2b769d268570aaeae1 which is an interview with a lot of the designers. The X505 is sort of like what Yamaha did with the NS-1000M monitors way back when -- threw money to make the best/smallest monitors/laptop. I still have no idea how many got shipped but I've not seen more than one or two in use in England.

Some good photos are available at http://www.dynamism.com/x505/index.shtml

Now In Engrish:
Sony Librie - $479

Personally I like this http://www.dynamism.com/sl-c3000/ Sure its less then half the power but its also less then half the price.

No, seriously. I've commented to them and asked a number of times whether it supports Linux; and until it does, I will stick with my Zaurus. (Actually I only have a C860, no 4GB microdrive or whatever, but I don't come close to needing more than the gigs of SD I have.)

Linux is not just a gee whiz thing in the palm. Having all your full-blown apps in your palm is far, far more useful than any stripped-down PDA apps could be. Firefox? Check. Thunderbird? Check. GIMP? Check. Nethack? Doom? ScummVM? Vim? Emacs? GCC? Perl? Python? Ruby? Checkcheckcheckcheck...

Transmeta has one better:
http://store.sharpsystems.com/product.asp?sku=2488 398

compared to:
http://www.dynamism.com/r4/pricing.shtml

The transmeta is smaller (both size and specs-wise) but is significantly cheeper as well ($1200 vs. $2000+)

I KNOW!!!!!

I just wish I could afford a Sony Librie and get my textbooks for it!!! I plunked down $150 for used textbooks for one accounting class this summer.

To me it would have made more sense to get the students $500 imported Sony Libries, than $850 laptops to goof off on...

Here's a preview of what it will look like!

~J.

Yes, this company (at eink.com) has a fairly amazing new product. I would love to invest in them, but they are a privately held company.

It works like a sort of like a high-tech 'etch-a-sketch,' magnetic charged particles stick to the screen in either black or white (negative or positive charge) and STAY there until the image changes. So power is needed only for the image changes. This clock is the first example I have seen here on Slashdot, but Boing Boing recently showed an e-Book reader using this same tech. Sony branded, I believe.

In my opinion, the e-Book use is the IDEAL use for this. I have never seen it in action, but from all reports, it looks and 'acts' like paper, easily readable, just black text on a white page. The sony device looked very interesting.

Here, I found a bunch of pictures. Japan only so far, but what new tech isn't...

GALLERY OF E-BOOK PICTURES

The Rio Karma's gapless playback was awesome... but that device was a little hefty and its boxy shape made it unfriendly to the pocket, which is why I got rid of it. Unfortunately, that's the only MP3 player I know of that supports gapless. Still, there are a slew of nifty 1 GB flash players that can be had for $80 - $150. In addition to the iRiver:

iPod Shuffle (I picked up a used 1GB model for $80):
+ smallest and lightest of the bunch, iTunes integration, high build-quality, excellent sound, well-place controls, doubles as USB flash drive, recharges when plugged in
- no screen, non-replaceable battery, can't transfer music through mounted drive

Creative Muvo N200:
+ FM, AAA battery offers flexibility, voice recorder, line-in
- a little larger than iPod Shuffle, must juggle batteries

Creative Muvo V200 (I got a 1GB model on Ebay for $87 shipped):
Same as N200 but slightly larger and heavier, has integrated USB connector, no line-in

iPod Shuffle Knock-offs :
Not as easy to find, but like the shuffle but with more features (but sans iTunes integration). Mixed reviews as far as build quality goes.

JXD No-name Player :
The JXD is just one of many feature-rich no-name players on Ebay. Build and sound quality unknown; YMMV.

And there are several Rio, Samsung, and Sandisk models at Best Buy... and other more exciting ones at dynamism, like the tasty iRiver T10.

Then there's the iPod Mini, which has Apple's awesome clickwheel in a fairly small package. And the Rio Carbon, which is the most pocketable of the hdd players. Too bad neither of those have a built-in USB connector or FM.

The Japanese market has a number of miniature laptop out there. The big factor is that making the kayboard smaller reduces the market for a given laptop in the US, where SUVs are big trucks are, alas, all too common.

Check out dynamism.com for a bunch of laptops smaller than anything you'll find in the US.