[ubuntu-uk] new arm notebooks

[Liam Proven]

2009/2/24 Matthew Wild <mwild1 at gmail.com>:
> On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 1:09 AM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 2009/2/23 Robert McWilliam <rmcw at allmail.net>:
>>> On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 01:53:19PM +0000, Liam Proven wrote:
>>>> The form-factor the ARM netbooks should be aiming for is that of the
>>>> Psion 5 and 5mx, or a host of broadly-similar Windows-CE powered
>>>> Handheld PCs, such as the HP Jornada 720, the LG Phenom, the NEC
>>>> MobilePro and so on. Pocketable computer power.
>>>
>>> There are some linux devices along those lines. The one I'm currently
>>> waiting for:
>>> http://openpandora.org/
>>
>> I've read of it. Tiny pocket Gameboy thing with an appalling-looking
>> keyboard. Doesn't look interesting to me at all.
>>
>>> ATM I've got a Nokia N810 which isn't a clamshell but is aimed at the
>>> same kind of use pattern (and you can get a clamshell case for them).
>>
>> I have looked at them - interesting gadget, but no PDA functionality
>> and a bit small for the Web, I reckoned.
>>
>> But for me, the big selling point of the Psions was an excellent
>> keyboard. Amongst other things, I write for a living, and I wrote many
>> thousands of words on my Psions. They paid for themselves many times
>> over. Even the Eee doesn't match up.
>>
>
> Aahhhhhh, Psions. Brings back memories. I used them for coding,
> likewise churning out many, many lines of code.
>
> But, now just a distant memory. I'm keeping a keen eye on the Pandora.
> I'm not sure the keyboard will be so bad, but I'm waiting to hear what
> people who receive them say about that. Calling it a "Gameboy" thing
> is fairly misleading. It's simply an ARM machine running an embedded
> Linux distro (with desktop), with a touchscreen. The only specific
> "game" things about it are the 2 control pads above the keyboard, but
> I'm quite sure they'll come in handy for scrolling :)
>
> Only time will tell. It sounds like we're both looking for something
> similar, and I have never managed to replace my old Psion. Can't
> justify the cost vs. size/weight/battery of the "netbooks" which are
> catching on now, which is why I'm hesitant to jump for one of those. I
> prefer something I can fit in my pocket, yet still type on.

Perhaps I'm doing the Pandora an injustice, but it looked to me like a
pocket console. Small, relatively low-res screen, not much storage,
not much expansion, token keyboard, but built-in game controllers: not
so much a Gameboy, to be fair, as an improved GamePark GP2X or
something. Nice toy, but of no interest to me.

But it sounds to me like you and I, like tens - maybe hundreds - of
thousands of other people, really just badly want a modern Psion 5.
Same case & keyboard, fast modern ARM chip, OLPC XO-1 type screen, USB
instead of a serial link, and say a couple of SD slots instead of the
single CF slot and I'd be over the moon. With SDIO one could add
Bluetooth or Wifi or both if one needed it.

Ideally, it would have B/T, Wifi and a UMTS SIM slot onboard, but I
fear that these would all bloat the price and murder the battery
life... But hey, the Qtek 9000 (AKA HTC Universal AKA  O2 xda Exec,
Orange SPV M5000, Dopod 900, T-Mobile MDA Pro, I-mate JasJar, Vodafone
v1640, Vodafone VPA IV, E-Plus PDA IV, etc.) managed all those and
with an extended battery it still had a battery life of 2-3 days or
more.

Also, to be honest, I preferred EPOC to Linux, but I am not so taken
with Symbian, so Linux now would make more sense...

-- 
Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
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