Intel X-Scale Processor at 400MHz/300MHz, 32-64MB SDRAM Memory, 32-48MB Flash. Looks like it could run Linux quite easily. I've got a similar design just next to me here running it quite happily.
For $399 can I get one without a giant red bow? I'm not sure the extra bulge in my pants is necessary.
Is that your Palm in your pants or are you just glad to see me.
Wait a sec. . .
--
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
Available in the UK
by
johnburton
·
· Score: 5, Informative
I emailed dell last week to see if, or when these would be available in the UK. I got back a reply saying they'd passed my message on to the appropriate person but other than that no reply for 3 working days now.
They can't want to sell them very much.
-- Sig is taking a break!
The cheaper one is most interesting
by
uradu
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
This should be the first handheld with TFT color, 32MB RAM and two expansion slots for under $200. Except for the porky-looking dimensions this should beat the pants off Palm or Sony. Maybe Sony will lower the price on the PEG-SJ30 to under $200 in response.
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.
Obligatory Palm question
by
Mr_Silver
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Given that yet another manufacturer has released yet another PPC, can anyone speculate why there is this rash of companies eager to jump on the PPC bandwagon but only Sony who are with Palm?
(yes, I know there is Handera and Handspring, but one has pretty much vanished and the other is doing smartphones)
How did Microsoft manage to attract all these companies and Palm fail rather miserably? What is MS doing that Palm isn't?
-- Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
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.
Re:Obligatory Palm question
by
johnburton
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Basically palm introduced their PDA a few years ago and they were good at the time, but they've gone nowhere since. PPC's are a generation later and are more powerful, have better software, faster, more memory and are more compatible with the software people use on their computers.
Basically the palm you can buy now is identical to the one you could get four years ago except it's in a new box and has a bit more memory maybe.
Because the pocket pc things are "bigger" machines, a lot more of the interesting software has been developed for them.
The new palms look a bit better but they still seem rather outdated compared with their competition. Their new OS6 when it comes out next year looks interesting though.
-- Sig is taking a break!
Re:Obligatory Palm question
by
AKnightCowboy
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
What is MS doing that Palm isn't?
Marketing? I'd much rather have a PPC than a Palm these days. The 802.11b adapter for the Palm sucks, there's no decent web browser and it's nothing but an expensive datebook. The PPC on the other hand has a nice windows media player, pocket internet explorer, pocket office apps, compact flash slots to accomodate 802.11b wireless cards, etc. Yea, we can all pretend to hate Microsoft, but the PPC stuff is just fabulous. Xbox, Pocket PC, mice, keyboards, etc. If only Microsoft could turn a profit in these other areas where they actually DO produce something cool and not lame old Windows and Office it'd be exciting.
Re:Obligatory Palm question
by
tmark
·
· Score: 5, Funny
What is MS doing that Palm isn't? Making money ? (cymbal crash)
Average response around the world to this announcement being passed on by IT department:
Dell do a handheld? - like my desktop and laptop? Is it black? Does it have a nice carry case? Will it 'work with my laptop'? OK I'll have one! Sweet!
Suit gets a new toy IT get something else to support thats likely to break a lot Corp spending rises again
Bingo! Worlds problems solved in a oner! Poor old Palm.
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.
Re:Rebate? What-EVER
by
ergo98
·
· 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
·
· 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).
Size matters...
by
Viewsonic
·
· 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.
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.
How about some reviews...
by
dbretton
·
· Score: 5, Informative
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.
Re:XScale processor?
by
ceswiedler
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I do development on PocketPC, and I can confirm that the Toshiba e740 (which is XScale) does run slower per mhz than other chips. It's several hundred mhz faster than the Casio (MIPS) device we use, but from a user perspective it runs about the same. (For some operations it's much faster.) I've read that Intel requires changes to the PPC kernel to take better advantage of the XScale. When we upgraded the firmware on some of the devices (upgrading the PPC kernel in the process) they did run a little bit faster. Under PPC 2002, they stopped supporting multiple instruction sets (ARM, MIPS, SH4 etc) and standardized on the ARM op set. Whether there's much overhead in doing this on the XScale, I don't know.
Slashdot Mirror
The name is Axim, as in "Axe him", not "Axmin" as in "Axe the admin"... uhm... OK, so there's little difference between the two. Fine.
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
Intel X-Scale Processor at 400MHz/300MHz, 32-64MB SDRAM Memory, 32-48MB Flash. Looks like it could run Linux quite easily. I've got a similar design just next to me here running it quite happily.
For $399 can I get one without a giant red bow? I'm not sure the extra bulge in my pants is necessary.
I emailed dell last week to see if, or when these would be available in the UK. I got back a reply saying they'd passed my message on to the appropriate person but other than that no reply for 3 working days now. They can't want to sell them very much.
Sig is taking a break!
This should be the first handheld with TFT color, 32MB RAM and two expansion slots for under $200. Except for the porky-looking dimensions this should beat the pants off Palm or Sony. Maybe Sony will lower the price on the PEG-SJ30 to under $200 in response.
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.
(yes, I know there is Handera and Handspring, but one has pretty much vanished and the other is doing smartphones)
How did Microsoft manage to attract all these companies and Palm fail rather miserably? What is MS doing that Palm isn't?
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
But what's that red thing on the left topside? Some sort of redtooth antenna?
Wenn ist das Nunstueck git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput.
Average response around the world to this announcement being passed on by IT department:
Dell do a handheld? - like my desktop and laptop? Is it black? Does it have a nice carry case? Will it 'work with my laptop'? OK I'll have one! Sweet!
Suit gets a new toy
IT get something else to support thats likely to break a lot
Corp spending rises again
Bingo! Worlds problems solved in a oner! Poor old Palm.
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 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).
Here's a review from CNET.
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.
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.
here's one
here's another
and another
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.
I do development on PocketPC, and I can confirm that the Toshiba e740 (which is XScale) does run slower per mhz than other chips. It's several hundred mhz faster than the Casio (MIPS) device we use, but from a user perspective it runs about the same. (For some operations it's much faster.) I've read that Intel requires changes to the PPC kernel to take better advantage of the XScale. When we upgraded the firmware on some of the devices (upgrading the PPC kernel in the process) they did run a little bit faster. Under PPC 2002, they stopped supporting multiple instruction sets (ARM, MIPS, SH4 etc) and standardized on the ARM op set. Whether there's much overhead in doing this on the XScale, I don't know.