Microsoft's portable device

[markceltic]

Looking at that thing reminds me of one of these http://buy1.snapon.com/products/diagnostics/family.asp I mean the concept isn't that far off.

[eric2006]

My two cents..

You have to admit: it's a good idea. A 3-hour battery life- not great, but not terrible, a full version of windows (sorta), two USB ports, and a 60 GB hard drive.
Then again, what are you going to do with it?
Word processing? Oh, no you don't! There is no keyboard (except for the touch-screen), and unless you have good vision, that screen is just too small to do productive word processing. (you _could_ get a usb keyboard, but thats a BIG item.. for a "portable" computer)
Sure, it plays music. Thats what iPods do best though (and they don't cost 1000 bucks..)
It plays DVDs. Well, barely. You'll probably run out of battery the last ten minutes of the DVD. Portable DVD players do this, with much longer battery life.

If you want a portable computer, you'd probably be better off getting a laptop. Half the cost, twice the features. Hey, if you like touch screens, get a tablet!

Sure, it's an interesting piece of hardware, but it's a toy at best.

[Qion]

There isn't a market for this. PDA's are respected in the business and private worlds as miniature computing and organizational devices, and laptops are respected as your other computer.

To me, this product is just too cumbersome for what it offers. I would never buy one.

[Trip]

I posted about this on my blog yesterday. CNN has a really nice news story about it, sums it up quite nicely. If you're interested you should check it out at:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/09/tech...ex.htm?cnn=yes