What about...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
the other $199 handheld after rebate? Why no mention of that?
Re:XScale processor?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
XScale is based on the StrongARM whoes technology was bought in when they bought Digital. The StrongARM is basically an ARM with silicon fab improvements to make it go faster than the standard ARMs of the time.
Basically XScale == ARM processor and is as compatible with other ARM processors as much as Intel x86 are compatible with AMD, Cyrix, etc.
The advantage of ARM and StrongARM and XScale is that they are very cheap, fast, and consume little power so are ideal for mobile phones, hand helds, etc, etc.
Linux runs on ARM so Linux should be able to be ported to it.
Re:Obligatory Palm question
by
Junta
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Two things:
1) It's MS. Unfortunately, that in and of itself given equal footing will typically cause many companies to ditch anyone else. They see the computer industry and don't want to end up on the losing end if MS does the same thing in the handheld market.
2) Palm's m68k platform quickly became underpowered after their release. Despite this clear fact, they kept going on it. Only recently with the release of their Tungsten handheld have they made strides toward a more powerful platform (ARM). It may already be too late, but this is the direction Palm has to take to even regain equal footing. That being said, among many managers especially the name Palm carries some weight and they will buy Palm brand PDAs while only comparing the specs to other Palm products...
-- XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Battery life
by
Koos+Baster
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Hmm. Either 1440 mAh (standard) or 3400 mAh (optional) Li-Ion rechargeables; but a back-lit screen, 400MHz XScale, 64MB ram, and a Microsoft OS. Will this thing be usable for more than one hour without an adapter one year after I've bought it, or is this yet another handheld that's supposed to remain at my desktop?
-- In theory there is no difference between practice and theory But in practice there is
Re:Battery life
by
thatguywhoiam
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Will this thing be usable for more than one hour without an adapter one year after I've bought it, or is this yet another handheld that's supposed to remain at my desktop?
Since they don't quote any specifics about battery time on the site, I'd say the latter.
To those of you who are bemoaning Palm/Sony's 'abysmal lagging' in terms of specs, I suggest you put this particular factoid in perspective.
While the Palm hardware platform has not evolved much, the battery life (to my mind) is a gigantic make-or-break feature. Palm's problem is that the first version of what they made worked pretty well, and subsequant versions too well. 5 years worth of appointments, phone numbers, and to-do lists, and the battery goes for weeks and weeks. That's it. That's what it does. It does this really well.
PocketPCs are really just glorified minilaptops. Which is why the Newton failed. The Enterprise people might appreciate them but for most others they simply do not do the job. Sure, more than powerful enough, but what good is all that power if it dies 1 hour into a plane trip? All the l33t specs in the world will not help a dead PocketPC. And a wimpy Palm will keep doing what it says it does.
Colour displays and multimedia are all fine and good, but I'd never ever give up battery life. For what Palm professes to do, it works great. The PocketPC platforms are seriously overdesigned IMHO.
-- If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Actual price of the higher end lower in config???
by
knightwolf
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I was looking and I noticed something that I hope isn't just a wierd thing on Dell's site. When you click to configure the handheld, the price of the higher-end model is 329. Now, $329 - $50 should equal $279, which would be the actual price, NOT $299. So, the nice model is even cheaper than stated, or so it seems.
The other question would be backlighting. I've seen lots of color PDA's, but the problem is always backlighting. The Yopy for example has a nice display, runs Linux, but without backlighting it's hard to read. With backlighting, battery usage goes way up. Dell's site says something about "backlit powerbutton", but I see nothing about a backlit screen. However, either way I wonder how long the thing can continuously run, with or without backlighting. That's another thing missing from this site. Good on price, bad on details. I'll have to wait till a bit more information is out.
Last note - it's hard to compare these to the Compaq iPAQs. Though more expensive, the iPAQs are solid pieces of machine with a good history. It's unknown yet how these perform, and whether these have all the "features" that iPAQs have. This goes back to that backlit question.
Re:Rebate? What-EVER
by
ergo98
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I actually disregard post-rebate prices as in my personal experience I actually receive about 1 out of every 4 promised rebates (which makes sense: Why are so many companies addicated to rebates? Because they don't actually give them out in many cases). Personally I think rebates should be illegal as there is virtually nothing redeeming about them, yet they are the center of a vast swath of problems:
-Overtaxation (you don't get the taxes back for the overpayment that you've made) -Misreported company expenses (overcharging purchases when a rebate is actually received) -Employee theft (employees who send in the rebate under their own name)
etc. Rebates are dirty and it's sad that so many organizations are addicted to them now.
Re:Christ, not this again
by
tmark
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Why was such capitalistic nonsense included in the story writeup? Most of us here don't really care about money;
Well the world would certainly be a better place with more people like you, wouldn't it ?
If you think that most of the people who read this website (read: "us here") aren't interested in prices, then you're nuts. A good part of the story of technology is about how inexpensive it becomes. (And if you really don't care about the money, I wonder why you're not giving away closer to 100% of your salary).
Product Review
by
toupsie
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Its a PDA. It runs Pocket PC 2002. It only works with Windows. It costs $299. Yawn.
This not a new PDA, just a faster retread from a company that never produced a PDA before.
-- Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
Size matters...
by
Viewsonic
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· Score: 5, Insightful
While I dont mine the WINCE OS and the apps etc.. The size of all these things are just too big to carry around. Compared to a totally slim Palm, it's like night and day. I have yet to find a nice slim and AFFORDABLE WINCE handheld...I own a Cassiopia and it's mostly a clock now because it pulls my pants down around my ankles when I put it in my pocket. Belts are for the weak.
Re:Obligatory Palm question
by
Mr.+No+Skills
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I don't know if I'd look at Dell's selection of OS as any indicator of market trends. Dell has been a PC clone manufacturer since Day 1, and doesn't really seem to be doing any R&D on other operating environments other than the obligatory Linux install for a low end server.
I think the reason for attraction to Microsoft is that most hardware manufacturers are looking for fatter margins than $100 PDA's, and their sweet spot seems to be the $700 pocket replacement for a laptop. Palm's price point is more of a personal or consummer device, which maybe is more attractive to a company like Sony that knows how to make money in that space.
-- Sleep is for the Weak
The Answer to *WHY* Is Obvious
by
dbretton
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
If you look at the problem from the correct perspective. That perspective, of course, is corporate computer sales/leases. One of the things which Compaq brings to the negotiations table, when dealing with large computer leases/purchases, is the ability to toss in WinCE PDAs (iPaq's). Many times, the PDA's are sold at a cut rate, or given away to sweeten the deal. This is a nice benefit for companies, and is an area where Dell has been lacking. Now they can offer WinCE PDA's at a significantly cheaper price than the iPaq's. This removes one of the few selling advantages which Compaq held over Dell.
You have to remember that Dell is a pragmatic and logical company. They don't offer things for sale that won't sell. This will sell. Dell's OS choice WON'T hurt their sales amongst the tech community, or at least the tech community that matters. There's plenty of Windows using techies out that you know. The ones who use Linux tend to lack the jobs and income to be able to buy nice things like this to begin with. Besides moron, you could wipe the thing and install Linux on it. That should be enough to get you frothing at the bits.
Last time I checked, PocketPC devices were faster than Palms, had plenty of applications and are gaining in marketshare. I'm a Palm user myself but I see no sense in denying the truth. Fault Palm for dropping the ball for taking so long to come out with a new OS (Palm OS 6 with Be technology). You can't slack when MS is on your tail.
-- Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Product Differentiation
by
PureCreditor
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Has anyone noticed that Dell's A5, like most other PPC devices out there, contains nearly no product differentiation. They only differ by CPU and RAM, and some devices have identical specs.
Product differentiation is key to broad audience acceptance. Sony Clie's are popular because they have regular (T) and clamshell designs (NR/NX). Nokia phones are popular because their designs differ, on top of specs. Notice how most Samsung and LG phones are clamshell design, which immediate removed it's appeal from half the people who prefer candy-bar style phones.
Slashdot Mirror
the other $199 handheld after rebate? Why no mention of that?
XScale is based on the StrongARM whoes technology was bought in when they bought Digital. The StrongARM is basically an ARM with silicon fab improvements to make it go faster than the standard ARMs of the time.
Basically XScale == ARM processor and is as compatible with other ARM processors as much as Intel x86 are compatible with AMD, Cyrix, etc.
The advantage of ARM and StrongARM and XScale is that they are very cheap, fast, and consume little power so are ideal for mobile phones, hand helds, etc, etc.
Linux runs on ARM so Linux should be able to be ported to it.
Two things:
1) It's MS. Unfortunately, that in and of itself given equal footing will typically cause many companies to ditch anyone else. They see the computer industry and don't want to end up on the losing end if MS does the same thing in the handheld market.
2) Palm's m68k platform quickly became underpowered after their release. Despite this clear fact, they kept going on it. Only recently with the release of their Tungsten handheld have they made strides toward a more powerful platform (ARM). It may already be too late, but this is the direction Palm has to take to even regain equal footing. That being said, among many managers especially the name Palm carries some weight and they will buy Palm brand PDAs while only comparing the specs to other Palm products...
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Hmm. Either 1440 mAh (standard) or 3400 mAh (optional) Li-Ion rechargeables; but a back-lit screen, 400MHz XScale, 64MB ram, and a Microsoft OS. Will this thing be usable for more than one hour without an adapter one year after I've bought it, or is this yet another handheld that's supposed to remain at my desktop?
--
In theory there is no difference between practice and theory
But in practice there is
I was looking and I noticed something that I hope isn't just a wierd thing on Dell's site. When you click to configure the handheld, the price of the higher-end model is 329. Now, $329 - $50 should equal $279, which would be the actual price, NOT $299. So, the nice model is even cheaper than stated, or so it seems.
The other question would be backlighting. I've seen lots of color PDA's, but the problem is always backlighting. The Yopy for example has a nice display, runs Linux, but without backlighting it's hard to read. With backlighting, battery usage goes way up. Dell's site says something about "backlit powerbutton", but I see nothing about a backlit screen. However, either way I wonder how long the thing can continuously run, with or without backlighting. That's another thing missing from this site. Good on price, bad on details. I'll have to wait till a bit more information is out.
Last note - it's hard to compare these to the Compaq iPAQs. Though more expensive, the iPAQs are solid pieces of machine with a good history. It's unknown yet how these perform, and whether these have all the "features" that iPAQs have. This goes back to that backlit question.
I actually disregard post-rebate prices as in my personal experience I actually receive about 1 out of every 4 promised rebates (which makes sense: Why are so many companies addicated to rebates? Because they don't actually give them out in many cases). Personally I think rebates should be illegal as there is virtually nothing redeeming about them, yet they are the center of a vast swath of problems:
-Overtaxation (you don't get the taxes back for the overpayment that you've made)
-Misreported company expenses (overcharging purchases when a rebate is actually received)
-Employee theft (employees who send in the rebate under their own name)
etc. Rebates are dirty and it's sad that so many organizations are addicted to them now.
Why was such capitalistic nonsense included in the story writeup? Most of us here don't really care about money;
Well the world would certainly be a better place with more people like you, wouldn't it ?
If you think that most of the people who read this website (read: "us here") aren't interested in prices, then you're nuts. A good part of the story of technology is about how inexpensive it becomes. (And if you really don't care about the money, I wonder why you're not giving away closer to 100% of your salary).
This not a new PDA, just a faster retread from a company that never produced a PDA before.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
While I dont mine the WINCE OS and the apps etc .. The size of all these things are just too big to carry around. Compared to a totally slim Palm, it's like night and day. I have yet to find a nice slim and AFFORDABLE WINCE handheld...I own a Cassiopia and it's mostly a clock now because it pulls my pants down around my ankles when I put it in my pocket. Belts are for the weak.
I don't know if I'd look at Dell's selection of OS as any indicator of market trends. Dell has been a PC clone manufacturer since Day 1, and doesn't really seem to be doing any R&D on other operating environments other than the obligatory Linux install for a low end server.
I think the reason for attraction to Microsoft is that most hardware manufacturers are looking for fatter margins than $100 PDA's, and their sweet spot seems to be the $700 pocket replacement for a laptop. Palm's price point is more of a personal or consummer device, which maybe is more attractive to a company like Sony that knows how to make money in that space.
Sleep is for the Weak
If you look at the problem from the correct perspective.
That perspective, of course, is corporate computer sales/leases.
One of the things which Compaq brings to the negotiations table, when dealing with large computer leases/purchases, is the ability to toss in WinCE PDAs (iPaq's). Many times, the PDA's are sold at a cut rate, or given away to sweeten the deal. This is a nice benefit for companies, and is an area where Dell has been lacking.
Now they can offer WinCE PDA's at a significantly cheaper price than the iPaq's. This removes one of the few selling advantages which Compaq held over Dell.
You have to remember that Dell is a pragmatic and logical company. They don't offer things for sale that won't sell. This will sell. Dell's OS choice WON'T hurt their sales amongst the tech community, or at least the tech community that matters. There's plenty of Windows using techies out that you know. The ones who use Linux tend to lack the jobs and income to be able to buy nice things like this to begin with. Besides moron, you could wipe the thing and install Linux on it. That should be enough to get you frothing at the bits.
Last time I checked, PocketPC devices were faster than Palms, had plenty of applications and are gaining in marketshare. I'm a Palm user myself but I see no sense in denying the truth. Fault Palm for dropping the ball for taking so long to come out with a new OS (Palm OS 6 with Be technology). You can't slack when MS is on your tail.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Product differentiation is key to broad audience acceptance. Sony Clie's are popular because they have regular (T) and clamshell designs (NR/NX). Nokia phones are popular because their designs differ, on top of specs. Notice how most Samsung and LG phones are clamshell design, which immediate removed it's appeal from half the people who prefer candy-bar style phones.