A few years ago an acquaintance of mine showed up with a very slim notebook-like device. It ran a pocket OS, had a flash drive as its only storage (no hard drive), an a decent-sized screen and keyboard: probably around a 12" screen. The cool think was it was practically instant-on when he opened it up. Anyone ever hear of anything like this? I can't find it on Google no matter how hard I try.
Laptop-like PDA
- Thread starter 6000SUX
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Sounds like the old HPC units that run windows CE. Check out the Intermec and NEC mobilepro units.
Thanks a lot, that's just what I was looking for. It's a shame that there's not more development being done in this area. Imagine a .5" thin Windows CE "laptop" with ten hours of battery life, instant-on, and a nice keyboard for a cheap price. It would be awesome for college.
$1300 for the base unit, YIPES.
Ultraportable may be the right word to search with, and I haven't done that yet. I know back in the 98 days there were MANY tiny portable real PCs with full os (no compatibility or few issues) from HP, Panasonic, etc.
My wife is pretty happy with her old Palm M515 and a very thin but pretty much full size folding keyboard. I am looking at maybe a used Dell 600m for cheap travel computer.
Anybody remember the OLD Radio Shack model 100, many still love those old things, and with a larger screen it could be very practical still.
Ultraportable may be the right word to search with, and I haven't done that yet. I know back in the 98 days there were MANY tiny portable real PCs with full os (no compatibility or few issues) from HP, Panasonic, etc.
My wife is pretty happy with her old Palm M515 and a very thin but pretty much full size folding keyboard. I am looking at maybe a used Dell 600m for cheap travel computer.
Anybody remember the OLD Radio Shack model 100, many still love those old things, and with a larger screen it could be very practical still.
I went to ebay and searched on notebook, the page that comes up has options on the left to narrow the search and I selected screen size 12" to 12.9" and that pretty much hits the ultraportables, lifebooks etc. 3.5 lb and inch thick, which I am sure is still too large for some, but I can't see typing on anything smaller other than a PDA style folding keyboard.
I do own actual PCs that are about half that size, like the old HP SX64 (I think thats it), but I dont' know about current products. They used to be very popular in asia.
I do own actual PCs that are about half that size, like the old HP SX64 (I think thats it), but I dont' know about current products. They used to be very popular in asia.
The HP Jornada was a similar device, as were the older Toshiba librettos, I think. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much happening in the palmtop segment now, but you can come close with sub-notebook stuff like the new Averatec 1000, Fujitsu Lifebook P1500D, or the Toshiba libretto.
The Fujitsu, although a little portly, looks like a good combination of laptop/PDA, as it has a 8.9" covertible screen.
The Fujitsu, although a little portly, looks like a good combination of laptop/PDA, as it has a 8.9" covertible screen.
Thanks for the tips. The old Libretto was really too small to type on IMHO, and the new one seems to be about the same size (although with a wider-aspect screen). It is a tasty little machine, but too small and too expensive.
What I really want is a small, cheap note-taking device. The Jornada 820 seems to fit the bill pretty well, and it looks like I may be able to snap one up on eBay for around $200 in good shape. Otherwise, I may wind up looking at PDAs with folding keyboards.
Or I could just save money and tote my wife's old laptop. Part of me wants to take my Thinkpad with me to school, but there've been a string of muggings in downtown Boston near the campus, and that's got me worried.
To prevent theft when my wife got her first "nice" laptop I went to goodwill and bought her the nastiest looking old Epson luggable case. Plenty of room for other stuff and you could leave it on a car seat with the windows down at a bus station and nobody would touch it.
PDA with a folding keyboard really is a viable solution for touch typers.
Notebook with a 12" screen though opens the door to real functionality, DVD playback, up to 120 GB internal drive, real games not just puzzles and cards.
Jornada sized things seem more suited to special applications written to run on specific devices. (hint hint military used to use a lot of them).
PDA with a folding keyboard really is a viable solution for touch typers.
Notebook with a 12" screen though opens the door to real functionality, DVD playback, up to 120 GB internal drive, real games not just puzzles and cards.
Jornada sized things seem more suited to special applications written to run on specific devices. (hint hint military used to use a lot of them).
The Jornada would be a good way to go, but I think that the Averatec is still worth looking at, especially if you want a few more features for very little money. It's got a 10" screen, a reasonable-looking keyboard, big hard drive, and a DVD burner for ~$1000 USD.
can't live without my P1510D
not cheap. i spent $1700 + $100 to put in my own 512MB. for 1GB of RAM, you are looking at $600. yes, $600 (although it's slowly dropping in price). if you want more info, check out www.leog.net
gets lots of comments/stares for the size; when i spin it around and start writing on it, jaws drop. the form-factor is unbeatable.
not cheap. i spent $1700 + $100 to put in my own 512MB. for 1GB of RAM, you are looking at $600. yes, $600 (although it's slowly dropping in price). if you want more info, check out www.leog.net
gets lots of comments/stares for the size; when i spin it around and start writing on it, jaws drop. the form-factor is unbeatable.
If you're looking for a "handheld" PC that looks like a laptop, check out the IBM Z50. It had like 10" LCD or something, looked like a laptop, had a nice IBM keyboard, and ran Windows CE so it was "instant-on", I think it uses a CF card slot too, I had one a while ago. Good luck with your search!
This and this are probably closes to what you're looking for... but they use XP. I don't know why you would want a Pocket OS.. that would mean you would be limited to that OS software... and those stuff are programmed to be used on screens with resolutions like 320x280 or so.
XP OS is kind of a waste too though. They should make an OS based on Windows PE, although i'm sure that would violated many Windows agreements.
XP OS is kind of a waste too though. They should make an OS based on Windows PE, although i'm sure that would violated many Windows agreements.
Microsoft has released such a plethora of pocket OSes and brand names for them that I can't keep them all straight. One of my wishes is to have an instant-on machine, preferably with very long battery life.
Anything that can hibernate will be instant on, but funky OS is kind of a deal killer to me. XP is a pig though, makes me wonder how far I could go in a modern machine running 98se?
For myself I have given it enough thought to know I will want TWO devices, a PDA and small notebook.
For myself I have given it enough thought to know I will want TWO devices, a PDA and small notebook.
I've seen one of those HP Windows CE notebooks before. Pretty snazzy, IMHO.
Windows CE can actually be used n a variety of resolutions. Even 3.5" screens now are VGA res, and just the other day at Value City Furniture, I saw a Windows CE workstation with on a 17" LCD.
So bottom line is, don't doubt Windows CE. It is a powerful, easy to develop for platform that doesn't get near the credit it deserves. I've used a PocketPC phone for about 4 years now, and couldn't go back to a regular plain old phone myself.
Windows CE can actually be used n a variety of resolutions. Even 3.5" screens now are VGA res, and just the other day at Value City Furniture, I saw a Windows CE workstation with on a 17" LCD.
So bottom line is, don't doubt Windows CE. It is a powerful, easy to develop for platform that doesn't get near the credit it deserves. I've used a PocketPC phone for about 4 years now, and couldn't go back to a regular plain old phone myself.
No way in ... am I going to buy into another MS proprietary OS.
Unless it does something neat, then I am all over it.
Palm is ok, linux ok, CE better be able to bark like a dog.
Unless it does something neat, then I am all over it.
Palm is ok, linux ok, CE better be able to bark like a dog.I am no Microsoft fanboy, but I did have to do a research paper on real-time and embedded operating systems recently. Apparently, a good deal of the factory systems in the world are programmed with Windows CE now. It even has rudimentary real-time support.
Yup, I did some readin last night, for video you pretty much have to have CE 2003 or newer, but the GOOD news was that most of the HP Ipaq line has Linux support.
I wasted lots of time looking over specs and prices on ebay, the fun appears to begin around $150 used, with real power at $300.
OTOH that was mostly dream/drool with no real function I need that an old Palm won't do cheaper.
Watching streaming video on a PDA does get my geek going though.
Really hot selling item looks like the Phone/PDA Ipaq H6315/25, but I bet it has insane thief attraction.
I wasted lots of time looking over specs and prices on ebay, the fun appears to begin around $150 used, with real power at $300.
OTOH that was mostly dream/drool with no real function I need that an old Palm won't do cheaper.
Watching streaming video on a PDA does get my geek going though.
Really hot selling item looks like the Phone/PDA Ipaq H6315/25, but I bet it has insane thief attraction.
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