Are PDAs' dead?

[Remedy]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: Remedy
UMPC's just aren't ready yet. The only company to actually get it right were OQO with model 02. The rest of the companies, including Sony, haven't figured it out. The other company that is a sleep at the wheel is Microsoft. UMPC needs its own OS backward compatible with the Desktop but not as demanding on the hardware.

Bingo.

Ever since the first time i saw teh OQO i was impressed.
I see now they've got it available w/ Vista.

Awesome little unit; certainly what i'd consider if i ever needed an uber portable system.
I do want to see UMPCs do well though...they just need to somehow get prices down a bit.

The new Samsung Ultra Q1 has Dual-Core ULV processor in it @ 800mhz currently, but unavailable for purchase. The cost behind the hardware is what keeps the price so steep.

Example: the VIA C7-M version of the Samsung Q1 was under $1k or around $899 with rebates. Fully functional and got the job done. Now they add Dual core as if it is a big feature when 9 times out of 10, you can't multi-task on it because it isn't designed to do more than 2 task at a time anyway. Samsung just doesn't get it at all.

Our UX-180 is a pain to use because the screen is 4inches and the keypad is a pain to use and the backing is too bulky to put in your pocket. The OQO model 01+ was good for us because we can put on our hip just like a Pocket PC based PDA and still use it as a fully functional Mobile Desktop.

It's like Rover/BMW sticking a V8 inside of a Mini-Cooper to make it powerful and fast. Realistically, a simple bolt on Supercharger was sufficient without radically changing the design and driving up the cost.

/off soap box

 

[Pwnbroker]

Paper still has some advantages...if you run over a pad of paper, it's still likely usable. Also, you can still use the data on the paper unless somebody hit their brakes or were spinning their tires. Try just dropping your pda/smartphone off a table sometime. How much does it cost to replace?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Pwnbroker
Paper still has some advantages...if you run over a pad of paper, it's still likely usable. Also, you can still use the data on the paper unless somebody hit their brakes or were spinning their tires. Try just dropping your pda/smartphone off a table sometime. How much does it cost to replace?

actually they are quite tough and you can get the addtional "armor plate" covers that protect them pretty well. like i said earler my wife's and my cell phone/pda lasted about 1.5yrs which is pretty good considering they got used and dropped numerous times. it is not they were abused but anything you use that much is going to take a beating, thus they will not be re-sold but given to a friend who wants to try out a ppc, at least 1 of them is still ok to give away.

but i was able to get a newer version, not the newest, but newer than the ones we had for $50 for a pair of them refubed from cingular. at that price you can't beat it - phone, pda, etc. i put in a 2GB mini sd card, have iguidance on it and keep my bt gps with me or my wife all the time since it is so small and heve everthing we need for just about anything. personally i don't surf the internet on them, i will admit screen is too small for that, but if i need that option that is what the laptop is for and that usually goes with us anywhere we go to just in case, and it runs a wireless cingular card so i can always bring up anything within a couple of minutes.

with a pad of paper, i don't think you would get a year and a half usage out of it

 

[corkyg]

Why carry two devices when one will do the job of both?