Amiga.org
The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Alternative Operating Systems => Topic started by: the_leander on December 14, 2004, 01:44:19 AM
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Unfortunately there aren't that many machines out there that fit this catagory, indeed the last device I have seen that fitted what I was after, was the Psion Series 7, now discontinued or HP Jordana (also discontinued).
So the question is, are there any current devices that are similar technically to the Series 7? Or failing that, suppliers of second hand Series 7's that are reasonably priced?
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Not really helpful, but eBay is always a good place.
Psion Teklogix still makes a palmtop called the NetBook. IIRC, the Psion 7 was just a little bit smaller than this. There's a good chance that these shan't be reasonably priced, though, and they run WinCE (yuck).
I haven't seen anything in the consumer market, though. Seems as though everybody is migrating to mobile phones for things of that nature.
clark
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NEC has a current HPC called the Mobilepro 900C. Half-VGA screen with xScale 400 mhz processor. See user review at http://www.diverseinfo.com/index.php
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The netbook is actually the same system, but with a different rom over that of the Series 7.
Oh and whereas the S7 was £800 when new (ouch) the netbook is £1100. For that I could buy a bloody iBook.
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I looked at it and it is an interesting system, but to me the inclusion of WinCE is a big turn off, I have a Ericsson MC12 (a rebadged HP handheld) and my experiences with wince put me off entirely from ever using another device that runs it. Shame because the hardware its attached to in my case is really reliable. Sadly the software is barely any better then win98 unpatched.
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There aren't many, but some pretty darn small laptops exist - only a bit larger than a palmtop. Toshiba used to make one in the mid 90s, and I think Sony has one on the market now. You'd have to deal with XP instead of CE, but at least you have the option of installing something else.
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I have looked into these, but in all cases the battery life is the killer - typically about 3 hours if the wind is blowing in the right direction and you're going down a hill during a full moon.
The Series 7 had an effective real world battery life of about 7 hours (its stated as 8.5 which it is if its idling the whole time) and much the same on the Jordana front.
I have quite specific requirements: IT has to be light, portable, extreme battery life, be easy to type with (since it'll be used primarily for writing). Reliable software and hardware.
Currently a subnotebook solid state device offers the sort of battery life I need.
--edit--
Oh and Affordable.
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Too bad Compaq never made a follower to the Aero 8000... :-(
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Maybe Nokias Communicator phones?
Palmtop keyboard, SymbianOS and a 640x200 screen.
But they are expensive.
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An OQO? http://www.oqo.com/
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The OQO's battery life is lame (3 hours tops) and at $1899 its not realy very affordable. It does look nice though.
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The keyboard on the nokias are horrid, much too small for the sort of typing I'd be using it for. But still, a nice little system none the less :-)
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I can't disagree with Turumbar at all in his comments with regard the oqo, it is a technically superb machine, but the battery life is well below the spec I'm after. And the price puts it into the stratosphere for me hehe :-)
Not sure about the keyboard either tbh, I can see cramping becomming a problem with the thickness of the machine in relation to the size of the keys.
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I like the looks of that OQO, There are also small Sony VAIO U Series. It is very similar to the OQO including the price. For longer battery life, we would need to lose the inefficient x86 CPU along with the heavy Windows O.S. (Gee! what a loss.)
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Just an idea, What about one of these ? http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8728350077.html (http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT8728350077.html)
Trooper
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Interesting, but like the oqo, the keyboard would make for much unpleasantness in the long term.
I just wish that someone somewhere that actually did anything anymore, would put some thought into the ergonomics of these things, yes they may be technically superb, look great and everything else, but if they're not comfortable to use, they are in fact, rather pointless...
Damn you Psion for just giving up.
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Maybe a Toshiba Libretto (the CT range)? You can stick a range of operating systems on them.
Trooper
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the libretto is a nice little system which I have tried out before now and found to be very comfortable to use, sadly its battery life isn't that great. But certainly that sort of sized machine.
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Whats wrong with the Psion series 7, What did you mean it not being supported ?. I am personally thinking of getting one myself. I already have a series 5 but find it a bit slow on occations. My Libretto CT100`s battery has just died on me :-( . I do have a Asus 620 ppc a sony clie sj30 and a tough cf-r1 notebook, But the battery life on that isn`t brilliant, 3hrs max.
Just my 2p.
Trooper
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As much as I hate to say it, I think tablet-sized devices (Palm, Zaurus or CE) with accessory folding keyboards are the best/only bet right now.
Some of the MobilePros may be able to take NetBSD or Linux, but you'll need a CF to wedge it on, and so forth.
Upshot is that, "in theory," Bluetooth (or WUSB, or Zigbee, or who knows what at this rate) keyboards might be cheap someday, making that combination a bit more 'ain't it cool?' and a bit less 'hunched over a deck of playing cards.' But you might as well pick up a used Transmeta ultralight while you wait.
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Trooper wrote:
Whats wrong with the Psion series 7, What did you mean it not being supported ?. I am personally thinking of getting one myself. I already have a series 5 but find it a bit slow on occations. My Libretto CT100`s battery has just died on me :-( . I do have a Asus 620 ppc a sony clie sj30 and a tough cf-r1 notebook, But the battery life on that isn`t brilliant, 3hrs max.
Just my 2p.
Trooper
The Series 7, along with all other models was dropped by Psion some years ago, the 7 was their last gasp, they still produce a variant of the series 7, with more memory and ram, running WindowsCE.net for £1100 - which is waaaaay out of my budget.
BTW, does anyone know of anyone who would want to buy a prototype DT300 webpad running BeIA?
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The Series 7, along with all other models was dropped by Psion some years ago, the 7 was their last gasp, they still produce a variant of the series 7, with more memory and ram, running WindowsCE.net for £1100 - which is waaaaay out of my budget.
I could swear the NetBook is available with EPOC (or Symbian) again now, but the cost isn't going to be much better, so I didn't bother mentioning it back there.
There was a bit on TheRegister a while ago (after the collapse and WinCE declarations) about them finally shipping EPOC(bian) drivers for at least one flavor of 802.11b card...
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OT
"Smaller then a laptop, larger then a Palm"
That rhymes well with "Faster than a bullet, terrifying scream", if you know what I'm talking about! :-)