Asus My Pal A716 Data Sheet

[Jason Dunn]

Curious about the upcoming Asus My Pal A716? A contact I have at ASUS sent me a specifications document that contains most of the pertinant details about the device. The claim of 19 hour battery life seems rather shocking, but I'll withold judgment until I can test the device for myself. Here's the document in it's entirety.<br /><br />"<b>Multi-Purpose: Looks May be deceiving</b><br />The ASUS My Pal A716 is not only a Pocket PC, but this speed demon is also a road navigator, phone, radio, digital camera and presenter in disguise through additional GPS, GPRS, FM, Camera, or VGA card CF or SD modules. With built-in SD and CF card reader, there is no need to worry about how to store data while using certain function at the same time. <br /><br /><b>Get Connected</b><br />With integrated 802.11b Wireless and Bluetooth, the My Pal A716 connects you to all kinds of information without limitation. The A716 is the perfect solution whether you are on the go or simply want to eliminate the clutter of wires. With a hot spot, you may securely surf the Internet, check email, or access corporate data anywhere with ease. No hot spot in sight? Information can still be in your hand simply through a Bluetooth built-in mobile phone. Moreover, with various kinds of Bluetooth supported devices such as earphones and printer, you may enjoy the really unclutter your life!<!><br /><br /><b>Durable &amp; Power Up</b><br />Eliminate fears you Pocket PC will shut down and lose all your precious data! ASUS’ unique Smart Power Saving technology allows the A716 to operate continuously up to 19 hours*. Better yet, with a removable battery, power hungry users can almost double batter life with the 3000mAh extension battery.<br /><br /><b>Unmatchable Multimedia Performance</b><br />With the latest 400MHz Intel PXA255 processor, video at 60 frames per second, and a vivid transflective TFT LCD supporting 65,536 colors, you can be assured that ASUS My Pal A716 does not disappoint multimedia fanatics; supplying stellar speed and performance. The A716 is the perfect mobile solution for gamers and movie enthusiasts.<br /><br /><b>Stylin’: Make them go awe! </b><br />Tired of the same old color? The My Pal A716 distinguishes itself from conventional Pocket PCs with its slight purple-silver tint and smooth, elegant design. <br /><br /><b>The Complete Solution</b><br />The My Pal A716 is perfect inside and out. Equipped with 400MHz Intel PXA255 processor, 64MB Flash and 64MB SDRAM, A716 flawlessly fulfills your demand for further connectivity, performance, and stylish looks. Bundled with Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 software including Pocket Outlook, Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Reader to name a few; along with ASUS’ valuable bonus software, A716 is the most powerful mobile office!<br /><br /><b>SPECIFICATIONS</b><br />• Processor: Intel Latest PXA255 400MHz CPU<br />• Operating System: Microsoft Windows MobileTM 2003<br />• ROM: 64MB Flash ROM<br />• RAM: 64MB SDRAM (55 MB user accessible SDRAM for Western languages; 53 MB user accessible SDRAM for Eastern languages.)<br />• Display: 3.5 inch, 240 x 320 pixels Transflective TFT LCD, 65,536 colors<br />• Card Slot: Dual Slot--- CompactFlash Type II Card Slot (3.3V/5V), SD Card Slot<br />• Infrared: FIR: 4Mbps Max/SIR: 115.2kbps Max<br />• Communication: WLAN 802.11b / Bluetooth<br />• Power: 1500 mAh Lithium Ion Removable Battery (3000 mAh Lithium Ion Removable Battery Optional)<br />• Battery Life: up to 19-hour battery life /Typical<br />(enable ASUS Smart Power Saving)<br />• Audio: One 3.5 mm Earphone Jack and MP3 Stereo<br />• Built-in Microphone, Built-in Speaker, Full Duplex Record and Playback<br />• Size: 135 x 78 x 17.6 mm /Typical<br />• Approximate Weight: 197g /Typical"

[Jeff Song]

cool device.

[sponge]

I know PROPortable are starting to preorder them, you even get 3 PDAMill games if you preorder by e-mailing [email protected]. The pictures I've seen don't make it look so purple. Costs $500.

[Kevin Jackson]

ASUS’ unique Smart Power Saving technology allows the A716 to operate continuously up to 19 hours*.

• Battery Life: up to 19-hour battery life /Typical
(enable ASUS Smart Power Saving)


If Asus' Power Saving technology is anything like that of my e755 then it means scaling the 400MHz processor back to 200MHz in order to acheive the "savings". :roll:

All in all it sounds like a sweet piece of hardware.

[Kati Compton]

I'll be interested to see the price... Er... I'll be interested DEPENDING on the price. ;)

[Air]

It'll be $450. It's definitely a killer price. I am so tempted to buy.

http://www.pocketmatrix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14602&start=15

[Jason Dunn]

If Asus' Power Saving technology is anything like that of my e755 then it means scaling the 400MHz processor back to 200MHz in order to acheive the "savings". :roll:

I just heard from my contact at ASUS that it actually scales it back to 100mhz. But why are you rolling your eyes? That's a legitimate tactic to save power...

[Mitch D]

Hey Jason, any ETA on these units? I need to add one to my collection... might have to take out a loan to get caught up too you though... :wink:

[Jason Dunn]

Hey Jason, any ETA on these units? I need to add one to my collection... might have to take out a loan to get caught up too you though... :wink:

I think end of Feb, but nothing official...

[dilta]

Another issue might be annoying: the battery sucks. If it is baed on the reference design the same as the CASSIOPEIA E-3000, we should be concerned about the battery status report mechanism. I got an E-3000 and the battery status was very unstable. If you use it to play MPEG-4 video files or to execute emulators, the device will soon signals ""Low Battery Alert" and shutdown. But actually it's due to the voltage of the battery going down but not the remained power being exhausted.

[Gerard]

So do I have this straight? It's a tri-band GSM/GPRS phone with web capability, it's an FM radio, it's a camera, it has an optional battery which could bring it over 10 hours (being realistic) of up-time between charges... and it has both CF II and SD slots??? The one and only thing missing from this thing is a VGA screen. It doesn't need anything else to be the most versatile Pocket PC yet made. If Toshiba had offered phone capability built into the e8xx device they'd obviously grab the title, especially with that larger and vastly better screen, but it seems there's a contender here. I could live with QVGA a year or two longer with a device as capable as this Asus, especially at that price.

[Janak Parekh]

So do I have this straight? It's a tri-band GSM/GPRS phone with web capability, it's an FM radio, it's a camera, it has an optional battery which could bring it over 10 hours (being realistic) of up-time between charges... and it has both CF II and SD slots???
This is just marketing, I believe. AFAICT, they're saying that because you have CF and SD slots, you can get GSM/camera/radio/etc. CF cards.

--janak

[Gerard]

Oh, you're right. I missed the word 'modules' in that promotional garbage. Most PPCs offer support for at least some add-ons, so that's hardly spectacular. Oh well, back to the number one spot for the e800 then, with perhaps the Mio 339 pulling off second place (or whatever model it is with the great camera hardware and software, and the SD slot).

[Kevin Daly]

Helpful hint to the Asus guys: they might want to consider getting native speakers of target languages to write localised versions of their promotional material and documentation. 8O

[Kevin Daly]

So do I have this straight? It's a tri-band GSM/GPRS phone with web capability, it's an FM radio, it's a camera, it has an optional battery which could bring it over 10 hours (being realistic) of up-time between charges... and it has both CF II and SD slots???
This is just marketing, I believe. AFAICT, they're saying that because you have CF and SD slots, you can get GSM/camera/radio/etc. CF cards.

--janak

To be honest, while it's legitimate to highlight the advantages of your expansion options, this sort of marketing blurb always makes me a bit queasy. Once the brochure has been half-absorbed by your typical gormless sales drone (for which unfair characterisation, my sincere apologies to the gormless sales drone community), it's a fair bet that unsuspecting not geeky-like-us customers are going to be assured that the device can do all these things, with no mention of the need for add-ons, or the issues with drivers, or the fact that some add-ons required to add such functionality may or may not in fact exist.

[Rickyohead]

yeah, i also don't like bold statements like that. they need to be a little more upfront and realistic when giving an overview of the 716 capabilities.

overall, it sounds like a great deal. this is the PPC i've been waiting for. i've been so curious where asus was going from the 620 models.....