How Small a PC Is Too Small?

Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 25, 2007 @05:15PM from the elven-fingers dept.

Banner~! recommends an article in IBTimes on the search for the ideal size for an ultraportable computer. One device mentioned is Paul Allen's FlipStart, discussed here recently. After watching early users fumble and nearly drop an early version of the FlipStart while trying to perform a three-finger salute, designers ended up including a single key labeled "CtrlAltDel" in the version that will be shipping soon. From the article: "Each device maker... has a different sense of how small an ultra-mobile can get before it becomes impossible to use. For instance, Microsoft thinks the tiniest screen possible measures 7 inches diagonally, but FlipStart Labs settled on 5.6 inches."

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Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues. by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · 2007-03-25 17:53 · Score: 0, Redundant

It's only a hotkey to open the task manager.

How do you login without using ctrl-alt-del? How about unlocking a locked XP session? Face it, this abomination of UI silliness is still neccessary all the time if you're unlucky enough to use windows.

Maybe the control-alt-delete issue is fixed in Vista, but frankly it's one of the things that makes Windows not really ready for the desktop.

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There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Missed Opportunity by gafisher · 2007-03-26 00:28 · Score: 0, Redundant

early adopters might get a kick out of FlipStart's solution: a dedicated key marked "Ctrl Alt Del."
Aw! This should have been the elusive "Any" key!