If Apple is going to keep up...

banjo_boy

banjo_boy

Bona Fide Pater Familius
Sony just announced the Vaio PCG-U1.

867MHz TM5800 chip
256MB of memory (128MB x2)
20GB HDD
XGA 6.4" TFT, battery that runs for 4 hours
Firewire port
MemoryStick slot
100Base-TX/10Base-T port
Windows XP Home Edition
Available end of April for about US$1200.

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/PCOM/PCG-U1/

I would LOVE an Apple PDA but at this rate, it's not happening.
 
That thing looks dumb. Too big for a PDA, too small for a laptop. I think someone brought it up before too.

Thing is, if you're gonna spend $1200 on that, you might as well just get a laptop. The little VAIO thing won't fit in your pocket - I think most of us would wonder what exactly the point is. Who exactly would this appeal to?

-the valrus
 
I don't know what you'd call this market (the miniPC? sub-subnotebook?), but it's expected to be the next growth area for the PC industry, and I tend to agree. Although this Vaio looks a little too large, there is another company, staffed by former members of the Apple Titanium Powerbook team, that are developing a full featured, full powered WinXP computer, just slightly bigger than a Palm type device. Here's theURL . They're call OQO, and if the product lives up to the specs and pricing, it could be a landmark device.

Let's face it, Palm type computers are nice, but why shell out $500 for a top of the line Palm or PocketPC device, when it can only do half of what your full PC can. If I could get a full powered PC in a Palm type device, that is going to suit me more than a simpler item that is limited in tasks/storage.

The Palm devices will still fill a need, but the industry sees the real growth in this new market. I tend to agree too...
 
Try typing a multipage report on that thing!

6.4" XGA display? How would you even be able to read what's on the screen?!

-B
 
PDA's are useless anyways. I really dont care about the PDA market. No one needs a laptop that has had its balls cut off. There is nothing too those things.

I dont think Apple should waste their time with stupid crap like that. They have other more important things to work on. They need to worry about keeping up with the Personal computer market.

Thats my two cents.
 
I really question companies that make such things as this Vaio PCG-U1 or the OQO.

Why? Because it's like the cube. It's not solving a problem.

When I want a full-featured device can do as much as a regular PC, I go with a laptop. I don't want something abnormally small that I have to touch-type with my FRICKIN' THUMBS!!! And I don't want to have to strain my eyes to see 5-point type, or have my screen limited to something like 10 lines of text! Furthermore, things like this are limited because of their size, so you can't pack as many features as, say, the PowerBook G4. Get a slot-loading combo drive, an Airport card, a hard drive, 1 gig of memory, a PCMCIA slot, speakers, a large screen and a 5-hour battery in that thing, and then maybe I'll buy it.... oh, wait, then it'll just be like the PowerBook G4.

Seriously, if I want a full-featured PC, I'LL BUY A FRICKIN' LAPTOP! If I want mobility with all the features, I want a LAPTOP, not some weird PDA/Laptop combo that combines the best of both worlds to make a worse product. When you combine the size of a PDA with the power of a PC, you get something that doesn't work.

Conversely, if I want something small that I can put in my pocket but has organizational capabilities and small games and stuff, I'll get a PDA, not this thing! I don't want Windows XP cluttering up my screen when it's totally unnecessary. Seriously, I wonder how much of the screen the Start menu will take up – probably half of it. Even something like the Classic Mac OS or Mac OS X would unnecessarily clutter up a small screen like that. Furthermore, the size limits the feasibility of the keyboard and the trackpad, as well as tossing things like speakers to the wind. It just doesn't make sense to have a full featured operating system on something as small as that.

Seriously, people, would you REALLY need something like that? What, you want to play games on something as small as that? Hahaha, right. Oh, you want to browse the web? Good luck on that small screen. You want to listen to music or watch movies? Heh, I'll stick to my iPod and an iBook/TiBook with its larger screen. If you're going to use it for something like organization, I'll stick to a Visor/Palm/Newton, which can do the same stuff.

I don't get how companies think that they should just follow the trend. When they see laptops getting smaller and smaller and lighter and lighter, companies think that they should just keep making laptops smaller and lighter beyond the feasibility point. Same with things like cell phones and stuff. They keep getting more complicated and add things like instant messaging – I wouldn't instant message on something like a cell phone in my LIFE!

If things like this catch on, I'll be shaking my head. The only thing it will do is make people have to squint more and to hunch over more. Seriously, that's it. Devices like this are so d*** stupid.

End of rant.
 
Yeah, what simX said. :)

Actually, I don't have a laptop, or cell phone, or PDA, I just use my desktop computer. Organization? Meeting times? All written down in my archaic (but still very useful) notepad with pencil.
 
I actually find the AOL Instant Messaging on my cell phone to be kinda useful. Expensive, but useful :D

It's not something I'd use when I'm at home, though. That's what my Power Mac is for. But if I'm outside away from home and need to get intouch with somebody online really fast, it's very convienient.
 
The sony machine is too large for my tastes. The OQO thing is too but it shows a lot of promise.

I think that someday I might be able to fit a usefull machine in my pocket (PDA) that is powerful enough to be a desktop replacement when docked.

Apple will probably wait, watch, and introduce the best of breed after they figure out what people want.

Vanguard
 
Maybe I'm missing something too, but I just don't see these products surviving as they currently stand. But in a few generations they will be the norm. When they eventually attain desktop level power (not miles away now it seems) I think it would be a great option to have a portable unit that simply has plugs for a monitor and peripherals. Right now I carry my Tower home every night until I can afford a better home machine. A Tower! That is nuts. I hate it [lugging it around], but I can't live without it. If there was a little box I could just bring home instead and plug it into my monitor and keyboard, dang, that would be dope. And, if it could do double duty in a pinch as a field unit, all the better.

Right now, as SimX said, I just don't see how anyone can do real work on those things. It would be such a pain in the ass. But then I also think PDAs are useless pieces of junk (unless you're always in the field). Even then a piece of paper can do everything a PDA can do for me (somewhat sarcastic, somewhat serious).

What's funny though is that the monitor on that thing is probably about as big as the original Mac and Classic models, which we all loves and used for years!!! Ironic, wouldn't you say?
 
I had to put this out there for everyone to see. I DON'T want Apple to do something like this, but Apple, IF they are planning a PDA or DA or whatever you want to call it, they have to be taking into consideration the items out AND the items yet to be made. The best part for Apple is that the other companies can't keep their traps shut about in products like this.
 
If I want to write down something important that I need to remember... I use a pen on my arm. It costs like 30 cents for the pen... and a couple bucks for the soap to wash it off. I dont need to spend a couple HUNDRED dollars on those little crap factories.
 
Actually, devices like these will have a market and will be useful, Maybe not to the average home user- but in my industry it will be a godsend.

I work as an electrician in a steel manufacturing plant. The amount of information I need to haul around with me to keep track of equipment status, vendors, maintenance schedules and specs doesn't fit on a standard PDA. They have ruggedized laptops to use in the field, but its not very easy do drag those along with all the tools you need to work with.

There are already specialized PDA's in both palm and winCE format, the majority of which most people wouldn't even know existed unless they worked in this industry (or a similar one). The biggest complaint most have with them is they can't hold all the info you "might" need on a given day.

I don't see these devices coming out now (OQO and Sony) as being suited for heavy industrial use... but if they're not introduced they can't be modified to work in special conditions. There is enough of a market out there in specialized equipment to make it worth while for a company to produce.

Just my 2 cents :)
 
Originally posted by Lessthanmighty
If I want to write down something important that I need to remember... I use a pen on my arm. It costs like 30 cents for the pen... and a couple bucks for the soap to wash it off. I dont need to spend a couple HUNDRED dollars on those little crap factories.
Click to expand...

Hehe. :) Now THAT'S an alternative.

As a writer, I have to tell you that it's none for me, though. I loved the eMate 300 at its time, because I could carry it wherever I liked without having to carry a full notebook with a case around. I still have it - and still use it sometimes, but connectivity issues are making it a bit cumbersome. So nowadays I just have my Nokia Communicator with me all the time - and of course the TiBook for real work.

But the Sony seems to be a nice alternative to me, too. I'd have to test the keyboard, though. I don't mind smaller-than-normal keyboards if I can still keep a decent speed (I'm a very-very-fast writer), which the eMate did let me.

But really, I think Apple won't do a thing like that. The iBook is already a great small notebook, and if they can yet up the battery-time for their 2 notebook lines, I'm happy as can be. As I'm also a graphics designer, the iBook's a bit too low-on-power for me, though.
 
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