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Palmtop Nirvana?
cakefool asks: "There seems to be a Slashdot article every day about a new palmtop/subnotebook/digitalwhoojerammy, and without fail people complain it doesn't have what they want. Let's do this the other way around - what do you need in a handheld computing device, seriously? I ummed and ahhed for ages before finally ordering a Psion 5mx, and it does everything I need it to, other than play Doom(1), and is a hell of a lot cheaper than the JVC micronotebook, and smaller than a budget laptop, with a much longer battery life than both." What features do you look for in a handheld/palmtop computing device?
With a 1.2 MP camera, and the ability to play OGG Vorbis, the Palm Zire 72 and my 512 meg SD card will last me for a while. Especially with the new Wi-Fi SDIO cards coming out.
I've always wanted solar power on a pda. The battery requirements would be a little mroe forgiving. Oh, and the ability to firstpost!
Ok, I'm pretty easy to please I suppose. Here is my want-list for my personal 'computing device' 1. Small but high-resolution screen, big enough to work on an Office doc., widescreen to reduce scrolling (10-11", 1280x768ish) 2. Long Battery life, without a 20-cell monster battery -- 6-7 hours of steady office usage 3. 2 Spindles - Needs an integrated DVD player, I can't stand dongles or ouboard things to lug around 4. Connectivity, and lots of it. I would LOVE to have a universal-but-integrated power supply, so I don't require a 10lb brick to go with my 4lb laptop. Also, throw in integrated Modem, Wifi a/b/g, Bluetooth, GRPS(!) and IR for good measure. 5. Blueberry-like Push-Email capability... I would love it if I could stick a SIM card into my notebook and have it automatically update my email, without me having to completely power-up. 6. Light weight -- Less than 4 lbs, With all cables 7. Last but not least, it can't cost more than $2500.... Am I dreaming? Maybee not, the Sony TR3/5 and the Fuji P7010 are very close to what I would like.... Maybee next year.
I don't own one, but I'd buy a Palm III with a USB interface for 10 bucks if someone offered it to me. If I want a camera/mp3 player/etc I'd get a dedicated device.
Sharp Velo 500, but it would be better with a PCMCIA Slot or some other sort of WiFi. IrDA is a joke, and the 115k serial connector is just another wire I don't need.
Make America grate again!
Modularization. I don't care what other peoples' palmtops can do. I want modules. Bluetooth. Storage. WiFi. TriCorder. I want the modules small and hard to break. I want them easy to install. I don't want to wait for drivers. I want open specs and the ability to hack.
Any takers?
http://cincyboys.blogspot.com/ Everything Cincinnati. Including the word 'Finnih'
You know, here, in the US, the subnotebooks never really took off as far as I can tell. I see mostly medium-sized to desktop replacement size notebooks. The only time I've seen a subnotebook was at those chain stores. Are there any Slashdotter's in the US who use or have seen a good number of subnotebooks? Are there Slashdotters from other countries who believe subnotebooks are much more prevalent than they appear to be here?
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
screen big enough with high enough res to watch video
processor that can playback smooth divx at decent framerate
GPS
bluetooth
acts as cellphone with bluetooth headset
wi-fi
rugged, can take a beating including static from my pant
SDIO
ôó
...and my favorite is my Blackberry 7230.
It *brings* me my e-mail, lets me respond from practically anywhere, carries my contacts, calendar and notes, is very lightweight, and plays a good game of Texas Hold'em. And I can usually go a few days without a recharge.
And being a phone doesn't hurt either.
All I usually want are features that invariably get released in the next model a week after I just bought one.
Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au
I want a Newton running on modern hardware.
That said, Fry's does sell both the Sony and Fujitsu subbies...but they certainly don't have the selection you see overseas like in Japan. Wow, there is some killer gear over there... Check out www.dynamism.com, they retro-fit alot of the Japan only models with English OS's.
I would like a no-moving parts (or rarely moving parts, e.g. the iPod hard drive) portable that is:
- no bigger than my Visor Deluxe
- can user a rechargeable lithium polymer battery or AAA
- offers wi-fi, bluetooth, or GPRS connectivity as options - this shouldn't be standard... it should be an inexpensive (less than $50) add-on.
- High-res 5" screen. I don't need color - grayscale, perhaps, but color is extra.
Modularity would be a huge benefit, but could be hard on sales. Big modular item for me: screen. I want to be able to choose between a grayscale and color screen, and replace it when I break it.That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
1. Big, bright screen. Half-VGA at least.
2. Built-in Wi-Fi. Don't care about Bluetooth.
3. Ability to display all types of document formats. PDF, HTML, CHM, and all the rest I forgot. Ability to view in portrait and landscape mode.No document conversion. Document conversion is a pain. Are you LISTENING Palm?
4. NOT a phone. If I wanted to pay per month for the priviledge of using the device I bought, I would buy a phone.
5. Lots of developers churning out neat programs that can download and play with.
6. Tangentially related, I want to be able to right-click on a file and say "Send to handheld", and have it appear there.
7. I don't care about viewing movies on a handheld. I makes no sense to view movies on a screen a couple of square inches.
8. CHEAP I'm talking $200 CDN max.
Well, I can dream, can't I?
beer tap
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
I am the happy owner of a palm tungsten t3. The only things I would change about it is that I would like some sort of mini keyboard, ala the Sharp Zaurus (not sure how on the T3 form factor tho), better battery life and perhaps slightly better resolution. (though it isn't bad as is) I like the digital ink sketchpad, though I'd like it to have better resolution. Bluetooth is essential as far as I'm concerned and a voice recorder is handy. Otherwise the T3 is about exactly what I want. The Sharp Zaurus would be damn good too if it were so expensive and the software was better.
No, the problem I have with most PDAs is the software on the computer side of things. I use Mozilla/Thunderbird for my email but syncing to anything but Outlook/Notes is a painful exercise if it is possible at all. (Yes I've used the Palm sync in Mozilla and it is barely adequate at best, and no I'm not switching email apps as Outlook/Evolution/Eudora/Pine/whatever don't fit my needs) Even when you can sync to a third party app, forget syncing applications besides an address book and maybe calendar. Sunbird still doesn't support any mobile devices and isn't likely to anytime soon. None of the address book applications can talk to each other in any meaningful way. Would it really be so hard to sync to Palm Desktop AND Thunderbird at the same time? And forget trying to keep my palm and phone syncronized along with my address book, (Mobile Master does an ok job but not perfect) I've tried every application out there to do this (Oxygen, Mobile Master, etc) and none of them are more than band-aid fixes.
What I want is for these applications (particularly address books and calendars) to be able to speak to one another. There is no reason I shouldn't be able to sync to 5 different address books, palm desktop, nokia phone editor and my cell phone at the same time.
Mod me off topic, but I don't want a palmtop.
They're inconvenient. I want a wristwatch with:
A cell phone
A fast two-way data connection
A computer with at least 1GB of storage
A GPS
Altimeter, Thermometer, barometer
Being a watch, the interface would be verbal from me to the watch, and a high-resolution screen built into (and superimposed inside the lenses of) a pair of glasses for the interface from the watch to me.
ie, "Watch- what time is my appointment with Bill?"
"Where do I turn to get to the nearest Wendy's, and how far is it?"
"Read me the headlines from Slashdot," etc.
Thus, I will be waiting for several (many?) years.
Can anyone tell me how to set my sig on Slashdot?
Pocket outlook would be great for the exchange server my company uses
Terminal Services would be great for administrating my company's exchange server
Pocket Internet explorer is great for those spur of the moment wikipedia lookups, not to mention slashdot and company.
Pocket Streets would be great if the device had GPS, and even better if I can plot a waypoint when GeoCaching
Windows Media player would be great for MP3s on the SD card, however I think there is a winamp port which would be even cooler but to save memory I'm sure WMP would work just fine.
AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, etc...
Oh yeah, and a phone, that would rock.
Pocket word and excel arent that important, if I recieve an attached document I'm probably not going to edit it on a 2" screen but its nice that its there.
Sure, I've got an eTrex for GPS / GeoCaching, and an iPod for music, and a cellphone for calls, and a pocket pc for email, web, and term svc when needed, but put all those in my pockets, including th cables to link ipaq to phone, and gps to ipaq, not to mention the spiffy white earbuds that are always tangled, and I've completely run out of pocket space.
Basically, what I want to do is have all my toys with me but not need a scott-e-vest (OT: Live long and prosper scotty:)
Now if my company was using open-xchange and I needed VNC not terminal services and any imap client would work fine then forget the MS platform and just give me a Treo 650 with GPS.
PS: My next toy is going to be a Treo 650 anyway, I'll live just fine an imap client and cross my fingers using VNC on a 144kbps sprint pcs data connection. Hows the battery life treo users?
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
The major failing in most PDA's or palmtops is that there's very little you can usefull do with them. Everybody carries cell phones because cell phones are obviously useful. They are compact, simple (well, not so much anymore), and they are VERY useful.
I used to carry around a PDA. I used it to keep track of phone numbers and my calendar. I now have a cell phone which is ideal for the first task, and is passably useful for the second. So why would I carry around another device?
Name me one thing that I can do with a PDA I cannot do with a simple cell phone that makes it worth carrying around. Surf the web? Well it's not really that easy to do it effectively on either device. Watch videos? The displays suck for that, they don't have enough memory, and frankly I can't imagine needing this "on the go".
PDA's are the bad middle ground. They are not as compact as cellphone and they are not as useful as full size laptop. Until somebody comes up with a good reason for people to lug around yet another device, there's not much left to say about it.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
Yeah and they're all ads for handtops.com from CaptainJam. Check out his profile. He's had three handtop submissions accepted in the last two weeks. The Captain has authored all the articles on the main page of handtops.com as well. It's clear to me that handtops.com belongs to the recently registered (UID 802805 and his first post came the day after his first submission.) CaptainJam of Slashdot.org and that his submissions are a way to drive traffic to his new site. Come clean CaptainJam.
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
I'd be happy just getting the electronic equivalent of a notepad and pencil so long as the handwriting recognition's good, and it could sync to computer. In a pretty quick period of time, they'd probably be dirt cheap and I could have a few to use at home and work.
Yes, I could just use a notepad and pencil. But I've seen what happens with prolonged use. My dad's done that for years. And now he's got loose collection of paper and business cards, 3 inches thick, sitting in his breast pocket everyday. Every morning, he transfers this block of paper from yesterdays shirt into today's shirt. He's found stuff in that block that info over 6 years old and completely useless.
I guess really just want digital paper and I'll have to wait 10+ years for it.
Ditto. In terms of form factor I want it to be like the old eMate that ran NewtonOS. Sturdy plastic that you can drop on the floor, a modern processor and OS -- not too modern; a reasonably fast running Arm with PalmOS will do it for me, or some kind of stripped down unix. The option of a greyscale screen -- sure, have color for the higher end model, but give me a low end greyscale screen for $200-400. Basic text editing and internet applications, the ability to create limited office-like applications with easy transfer to MS Office or OpenOffice, ssh, a basic web browser, wifi, about a gig or two of memory; perhaps less; firewire or usb; perhaps a smartcard reader (tho I prefer usb and attach your own). A decent enough screen for reading and writing -- contrast like those sony ebooks I have seen would be nice; true black n white. A keyboard that isn't too small and isn't loud at all (again like the emate). And it should look cool and be about 1-2 lbs. If it comes in different colors and runs a stripped down version of OS X I wouldn't be upset at all either :) Cool thing about the emate was the screen folded out so you could write on it and you could rotate the display so you could look at it from different angles. Perfect for writing, taking notes in lectures, doing limited web and internet work, creating web pages, posting to slashdot, etc. on-the-go. When it's not in use just fold it closed; it should have instant on when I open it up. And some basic calendar and address book software that syncs to my computer would be nice too; again PalmOS has most of what I would need here, though something more modern would be great. An updated NewtonOS would be even nicer, but now I am really dreaming....
Would the kitchen sink be an option?
Two applications make my Clie totally worthwhile: PAdict and MegaWiki. PAdict is a Japanese-English dictionary and MegaWiki lets you take notes in a wiki-like fashion.
Apps like these are great because they're simple and get the job done. You're right, though, stuff like watching videos on this thing, or even looking at photographs, just ain't worth it. Features like that are just novelties. They wear out quick.
Maybe the problem is too many companies figured they could make these things beefier and added more features, but they forgot what made them good in the first place: they were simple easy to use.
It needs to be observant and smart. It should know what I'm thinking and make it's best effort to help me. It needs to be intuitive, buttons should be very pronounced and easy to press. It needs to have some slots to plug things in.
It definitely should weigh under 115 pounds. Also, brunette would be nice.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
Why don't they just make a screen that can change size
I've noticed that all the PDAs in recent sci-fi movies have extensible screens. The ones that spring to mind are from Minority Report and The One.
Obviously, extensible screens are the way to go. How close is the technology? I'm thinking either a roll-up screen made out of active paper, overlapping or collapsed panels, or a "display string" that spins, displaying the image as it goes.
i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
The better question, is who really needs a handheld device anymore? Just the other day there was a slashdot article about how cell-phones are starting to push other consumer devices out of the market. Look at the Sony/Ericcson p910. Is it a cell-phone? Is it a PDA? Is it both? Devices like this are starting to blur the line, while adding new features (for good or ill) such as camera and touch-screen on what would typically just be a cell-phone. Since I got my phone I haven't had use for a PDA.... hell, it has most of the same games as well.
PDAs are Personal Digital Assistants. They're not meant to be personal video players, there are dedicated devices that'll do that, so keep your video-on-the-go wishes, which are anyway far from useful, away from PDAs and let a PDA be what it is!
Here's what I'd like to see in a PDA, and I am a person who depends on them - for my schedule, tasklist, to note down my ideas on them (it is clear from reading the wishes so far that people have no idea or use for a PDA, so please, shut up and let us speak).
1. Data reliability so data is never lost. 2. Hardware reliability and durabiltity so it never crashes and dropping it from a reasonable height does not cause damage. 3. A fast and forgiving data entry interface for those notes. 4. instantly responsive. 5. System and data search capability that'd find the data i need in an instant. 6. Long battery life, I mean long battery life.
Solitare is probably the most low-tech gps you can get.
If you get lost, just start playing and wait for someone to come and give hints on what card goes where over your shoulder.
Then you can ask him for directions.
There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
What the HELL?
200-400 for greyscale? Umm, how about not?
$50 for the low end model tops, $100 for the gee-wiz bang one, MAYBE $125 or so.
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
I can dream, can't I?
No really. If you need a PDA, and you're a Linux geek like me, get one of these.
Yes, the default half-translated rom sucks. It'll at least let you boot the system and see the beautiful 640x480 screen though. An amazing sight to behold at over 200dpi. After you're done drooling, go get pdaXrom, follow the instructions, and get yourself a real desktop. Here's what mine looks like, using ROX as the desktop manager (with a nice .hack//SIGN wallpaper I found someplace). You have a number of choices, but I use (prepackaged) gvim as my editor, and sylpheed for mail (pretty much the same as my actual desktop!). You can use FireFox and Thunderbird for web/email if you really want (check the screenshots for more drooling material). I use the little Dillo browser personally, because it's ultra fast, but the choice is yours.
No, it doesn't have builtin wifi. It does have a CF slot so you can stick your own card in there, and doing so hasn't annoyed me yet. The biggest benefit (besides the amazing screen, keyboard, ability to use X, and general design) is the battery lasts quite awhile. I charged it last Friday (before PAX... where were you?), and it's only just down to 50% with "regular use". (On my old 5500, I'd have to charge it every day or so with the same use, and that's without wifi.)
This makes a killer PDA. It does most things a small Linux laptop would, and it fits in your pocket. If that's what you need, this delivers.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
You want a PDA to bring kayaking? What happened to "roughing it?"
I've got it. Hire some Sherpas. Have them lug your microwave, curling iron, hair dryer, refrigerator, and your PDA to your next stop.
-- No sig for you!
It's true, everyone has something to complain about on their PDA. It's a computer! Particularly in an opensource fanatic/computer geek community, we all expect computers to be able to do EXACTLY what we want, and nothing more. Therein lies the problem. PDAs are shipped with the preset functionality that tries to fit everyone as a whole, and from that you get the Winblows phenomenon.
So then it seems obvious that the way to make the best PDA is to make it as configurable as possible, which means scale it back, open the source, get tons of feedback, and quit being proprietary about your design! That means give people the ability to write their own programs and plug in their own devices.
That sounds far-fetched, because it really is. How can a whole field of technlology stop being proprietary? I think non-proprietary computer software and hardware exists and excels because so many people out there have the ongoing need for affordable computers that just work in precisely the way they want. So if the PDA business is staying so proprietary, if no one is out there openly and freely developing parts and programs for these kinds of handheld systems, doesn't it seem clear that there IS no such ongoing need? That PDAs may be destined to be the same little toys that they have been since day one?
Dell Axim X30 High is you can get one.
;-)
:-) :-) :-) :-)
624mhz, 64 internal. one 256mb SD card.
Plays quake 1, quake 2 (finished quake 1 on the ferry, shareware... awaiting doom 3 port
WiFi and bluetooth - handy for transferring photos from a camera phone.
SD is compatible with my 3.2 mp Optio33LF (99 squids from amazon)
I also have a 400mhz iPaq, which is sexy, and has lush chrome finished and a keyboard.
It reads ebooks and does ogg. Want a reliable linux port and SWT port
I guess is SWT runs on qt, and qt runs on this, it should be a dooable affair??
DVD Shrink pulls down my DVD onto a 256 card, of which I have 3, so I have 8 eps of seinfeld on 1, a movie on anothewr, and I install all my apps on the third (makes hard resets a breeze, esp *if you remember to backup your shortcuts!*)
I don't bother with syncing contacts etc.
Axim 30H. get it.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
Why don't they just make a screen that can change size.. so when you want a tiny pda you have it, and if you wanna look at big spread sheets or watch movies you just have to expand the screen..
You mean, like this??? The T3's been around for almost a year now, it's not like it's new technology!
This isn't trolling, but a serious observation made by me (a Brit who lived in LA for 6/7 months or so).
In the UK, subnotebooks are very popular. I'm not sure why, but they've really caught on with the public over here. They're incredibly convenient (most are smaller/lighter than a hardback book, and 1ghz+ fast), and now boast features that really turn heads. Such as the new Sony Vaio that's under 1cm thick (has a motherboard the size of a minidisc), or the tiny JVCs. I was in a shop on Tottenham Court Road in London (tech centre of London), looking at them. Great stuff.
How about this Vr3 (http://www.softfield.com/vr3.html) cheap at 100$ and runs linux!
It's because people commute on the train. Have you tried getting a fullsized laptop out on a crowded train?
no taxation without representation!
I carry around a dozen DVD-R's full of documents. I can read them anywhere. Even if there were a network connection available where I go in companies they don't let you connect your laptop to their network. And when I can connect to a network, it would take forever to download a lot od documents.
Doug Jensen
Same here. This would be what I would want.
NOTE: This is what I WANT...
Demensions: 3" wide x 6" long x 1" deep.
1. Clamshell design where when it was closed it could be used as a cell phone.
2. Upon opening it, it would reveal a querty keyboard and a 6" x 3" color screen. Possibly with a nipple type mouse in the middle of it or a touch screen with a stylus.
3. Some StrongARM type processor.
4. minimum of 64mb of ram.
5. The following features
a. GPS
b. Tuner capable of AM/FM/Shortwave/Aviation/UHF/VHF
c. wifi / Bluetooth / X10 (basically make it driver programmable)
6. Popout (like the old Xircom enet cards) Enet and phone jack.
7. Removable solid state memory slot.
8. USB and/or Firewire port.
9. Long battery life.
I'd want this thing to run linux, and I'd like to get full SDK so I can develop apps on it.
As a sysadmin, I want something that'll allow me to be anywhere and if someone needs something, I can log into the appropiate machines and get things done. At the sametime, I want a device that'll be functional for stuff like playing games and have enough horsepower for doing MAME type emulations and watching movies, etc.
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
Reefer. Lots of it.
Well, he asked!
Seriously though, a gig wouldn't be necessary, if I could plug in an ipod or other usb/firewire device. Maybe 128M? Either way I would want to be able to access about a gig or so of data with it; text files, Word files, PDFs. If it had a color screen I'd want to be able to look at photos too. Preferably a tool that would let me easily search a large pile of textfiles, code html in some kind of basic text editor, ssh to wherever, have a basic web browser, and super-long battery life (again, like the emate, with its 10-12 hours). That's another reason for the greyscale screen...
I dont know anything about developing for these things but I would want it to be something people were working with and writing software for; I only mention palm because I've used it. I've played with Symbian too which looks easy enough to use, so that would work too.
Oh yeah, did I mention it has to be a chick magnet too? :)