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I don't know that I saw people blasting it completely. I'm sure some people were unimpressed or hated it for one reason or another but, like every community, everyone's needs differ. Here are my thoughts...
When I saw early photos of the device, I was half-hoping that the slidable area would actually slide up to cover the Graffiti area while still keeping the device long, thus creating a nice rest area for your palms for playing games. Of course, it was still cursed by the now-standard center mounted joypad. It turns out that it collapses completely, thus making the device shorter. So, I'll dismiss it as a great gaming device. Now let's talk about the good points...
I agree that smaller can be better (for portability sake), but one of the things I hate is the idea that thinner is always better. This became a trend with laptops. I used to own an old Toshiba Portege. This was one of the original ones that was small but thick. It had a reduced-size keyboard but the keyboard had normal travel. Then everyone started making laptops bigger but thinner resulting in a full-size keyboard (good) and larger screen (good) but reduced keyboard travel (bad) and an overall larger (though thinner) laptop (bad, IMO - good for others I guess). Now let's talk about PDAs...IMO, it's more comfortable to carry around a small but thick PDA than a thin but long PDA. IMO, the CLIEs (even the 665) is too long. The NR70 series is much too long. PPCs, by and large, are also a bit too long. Try this, put a nice thick pager in your front pocket and sit down. Then try the same thing with a thinner but longer PDA.
Nobody wants a brick, so where do you compromise? A longer/wider yet thinner device can have a bigger screen, but will typically compromise on battery life, durability, and expansion (e.g. - for a PPC user this might mean dropping the CF slot in favor of just an SD slot). A shorter/narrower yet thicker device can probably throw more features inside but will have to use a smaller screen.
Back to the Oslo...I think I like it. I like the smaller but thicker aspect since it still provides good resolution (320x320), a fast processor, SDIO, and Bluetooth while being very pocketable. Combined with a Motorola Startac w/Bluetooth running on Verizon (sadly, no such thing exists), I think I might have my perfect combo. Which brings me to another problem...I can't (don't want to) carry a Bluetooth phone and a PDA in my pockets. I want a small, discrete (black Startac style) Bluetooth flip-phone that I can wear in a holster on my belt without looking like a geek.
Scott
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