On Sat Nov 17 18:22:12 CET 2007, Ted Lemon mellon at fugue.com wrote: --------------------------------------------------- >On Sat, 2007-11-17 at 09:29 +0000, Andy Powell wrote: >> If I can manage to push aside the feeling that people should just buy >> something like the Asus EEE PC rather than going this route... > >No bluetooth. No DVI out. Doesn't fit in your pocket, unless you >have a really big pocket.
Also, no $1000.00+++ price tag like those ridiculous UMPC's - the current top model is $400.00; $50 less than Neo1973 GTA02. UMPC's tend to have more raw processing power and more different connections than more compact devices, but make too many compromises and are much to expensive to be attractive as a laptop alternative. Unless you're running at HDTV resolutions (which this hardware will never be able to handle anyway), DVI is completely superfluous. If you want heavy-duty video, you should be looking at real "desktop replacement" laptops anyway, not compact units. The Eee PC *does* have VGA out. A bluetooth dongle is under $10.00 and takes very little space. The only real advantage the Neo has (other than size) is the built-in GPS, but since there won't be a useful navigation application for it for a very long time, that's pretty much moot too. Anyway, bluetooth GPS receivers can be had for under $40.00, USB ones for even less, and I already have one with a serial interface that only needs a USB to serial adapter (which I also already have) connect in order to add that functionality. Even buying that stuff separately you're still coming in at price at or below the Neo1973 GTA02. If you already have a handheld GPSr, most of them can be interfaced with a PC via USB or serial to supply that functionality. Even my 10-year-old Garmin GPS III can do that. The Eee PC is looking more and more attractive all the time. With no hard drive to crash or wear out and 95% of the applications I need already there, not to mention the competitive price, it has a lot going for it. In fact, I may end up with both devices - they could complement each other nicely. Rather than deal with the clunky "kits" to turn the Neo into a pseudo-laptop, just use whichever device is appropriate for the function and usage context. It should be trivial to sync them. I'm waiting for the 8Gb version, but almost certainly am going to get an Eee PC. My interest in the Neo from the the beginning has been the possibility of running Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice on it. All I would need is a compact USB keyboard, which I would hack to be self-powered - and hopefully power the Neo rather than the other way around. I can deal with the small screen size - I've used my Visor with a folding IR keyboard to take minutes at meetings for years, and the Web still works at VGA resolution, even though many Web sites are hopelessly overburdened with space- and bandwidth-wasting junk. The phone aspect is irrelevant to me. With WiFi and bluetooth, I could connect to the Internet as much as I need, and it being a phone is actually a drawback. Phones go out of date quickly these days, and even though my current provider is GSM and therefore compatible (but that 850MHz fiasco is a deal killer for me), what if I want to change to another provider that is CDMA or TDMA? With bluetooth, I could use any bluetooth phone to connect to the 'net regardless of the wireless phone provider's technology, and wouldn't have to worry about that part of the hardware becoming obsolete. A cheap or free basic phone would be perfectly adequate to act as a modem. Ultimately, though, connecting to the Internet through a wireless phone system is a dead end. (Especially when GSM providers charge by the Mb rather than having a flat rate or per-minute charge.) Wi-Fi is much faster, much more reliable and plenty prolific. It's also frequently free. I would be very happy if the Neo would lose the phone transceiver and get back the second speaker. From what I hear, that bizarre and pointless hole in the case coupled with the unfortunate mic location make it almost unusable as a phone in anywhere but the quietest locations anyway... If anybody cares, the Eee PC is also Windows XP compatible, and ships with all the Windows drivers. Can you say, "dual boot"? ;-) _______________________________________________ OpenMoko community mailing list community@lists.openmoko.org http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
