In The Future, What Will You Travel With?

[Pete Paxton]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://gizmodo.com/393815/exclusive-dell-mini-inspiron-their-first-mini-laptop' target='_blank'>http://gizmodo.com/393815/exclusive...rst-mini-laptop</a><br /><br /></div><em>&quot;I bumped into Michael Dell at All Things D after his interview, and he was nice enough to show me this laptop that he was carrying that he said no one's seen before. It's a small form factor notebook, just like the Asus Eee and the HP 2133. He wouldn't tell me what OS it's running, or the pricing, but that it's a low-cost notebook meant for developing countries, and I hope here. Maybe it's Atom-powered. Who knows? But I do see three USB ports, a card reader, VGA out, Ethernet, and that red candy shell. I couldn't tell how big the screen was before it was tucked away into a black sleeve and ushered from the building, but it's small.&quot;<br /><br /></em><img width="369" height="259" border="0" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/spt/auto/1212210955.usr11642.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />Well, Dell has a new mini laptop on the horizon. The Asus Eee has been a huge success and HP has the 2133. According to <a href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080530PD203.html">this</a> article, mini laptop sales are going to really surge this year. I've heard many say that they hate having to lug their laptop around which is why they chose Windows Mobile devices, Blackberries, iPhones, and other such handheld devices. Often times these devices are enough for traveling. Now that the mini laptop is really coming into play I'm just curious what you all think the future of mobile computers will be. With the Touch Diamond, Xperia, Instinct, Bold, E71, and iPhone 2 devices coming soon, will there be a need for laptop or mini laptop style devices? What do you see yourself carrying in the future? A full fledged laptop, mini laptop, or handheld device? Why does one work better than the other for you? One thing is for sure, the choices will be a plenty.<br />

[jeisner]

I travel to and from work with my eeepc 701.. I can read an ebook much easier on this than on my WM6 phone.. Also use it at work (receive email) and at home when sitting on the couch (in front of TV) to browse the web, my 17" laptop (dell 9400) has become my desktop..

[miterb]

I already have the 'laptop' of the future - the HTC X7501 (see the preceeding article on the X7510, its successor). You can't carry a mini-laptop around in a pouch attached to your belt. Phone is built in along with bluetooth, WIFI and GPS. Great battery life and plenty of storage. I hope my 7501 last for a decade! Also hope I last for another decade too...
Brad Miter

[unxmully]

is a 15" MacBook Pro which goes everywhere with me. Without the charger - I have a second in the office - the weight's no problem and being able to have a PDF open side-by-side with a word doc at the same time is just so useful I could never go back to a smaller screen.

[Rob Alexander]

It depends what my travel is about. If I'm going to do work, then I need a laptop as I need to run regular Windows software. In that case, a smaller laptop would be nice for travel, but then I'd have to live with it the rest of the time. (Can't justify having two laptops.) So I'll probably keep doing what I'm doing. When I need regular Windows, I'll just carry my laptop (a Dell 620M, so it's not really that large). If I'm not traveling for work, then I'll just carry my HTC Touch, which does everything else I need.

[subzerohf]

Mobile devices do not replace a notebook computer. The small screen is the single most limiting factor IMO. It's painful to read long documents. And I always have documents over 20 pages long to read. Browsing the web is difficult, if at all possible. I don't care if it is Safari or Opera or WM 6.1. How much zoom-in and zoom-out can your fingles handle before you get tired? It is just not same experience as with a notebook, period.

[Stinger]

Ideally, I would like to carry around a phone with a HDTV-out cable and a (Bluetooth) keyboard. Assuming phone cameras continue to improve in quality and HSDPA becomes ubiquitous, I don't see any reason to carry more. I don't need massive amounts of computing power whilst on holiday.

For work, I'll always need my laptop though.

[bmurphy]

I have a Kohjinsha (that I went to great effort to get sent from Korea!), and an HTC Advantage x7500 and I love them both! they serve different purposes... the Advantage is instant on- to show my pictures and videos (bragging tools for new grandson or young horse working). My 12" Dell stays at home at my chair now, and the Kohjinsha comes into the library (I'm volunteer cataloger for our Island library), and once I'm in there- it's open- on-line and connected to the internal network and ready to work right away! All I'm carrying in is a book-sized laptop that has 120G HD - so is really useful. No heavy computer bags or anything. the screen is a pivot and tablet too, so I've got multi ways to use it. They both go everywhere with me now!
Yea! for Dell to move toward smaller- That is certainly where my focus is! I really like Dell, so I would be cheering for a new small form factor!
I read my e-books on either 12" (chair), or Advantage (that really goes everywhere). and save the Kohjinsha for working situations... actually I read on all three- depending on where I am!
I'm off to Korea in a few days (that new grandson)- and both are coming with me- they are portable enough for me to not need to choose! and battery-wise... I might need both to be able to read the whole trip! Both of them have beautiful leather cases- (flip type) so I don't have to worry about - bulky- padded special cases.

[txa1265]

There were times when I could do a great deal of the work I needed on handhelds - the HP200LX, Newton MP2000, Psion 5mx and HP728 are amongst my favorite devices. None could replace a laptop for me, but so long as I could do stuff productively I was OK.

I'm getting back to that point now - carrying my HP work laptop around from facility to facility for the projects I'm working on is an unnecessary hassle. I just need to access email and basic files 90% of the time. So I have an iPaq 4355 (one with a keyboard), and am awaiting my HP 2133. I am hoping I can use it like like the old PDA's ... or at least like my old Toshiba Libretto ...

[phoenixag]

I will be going on a vacation to Europe soon and the geek in me always travels with almost all of my technology. But for the first time, I am seriously contemplating leaving my 14" laptop behind as it just gets crazily heavy tugging it around everywhere.

I was thinking I'll get by on my HTC Kaiser, and thats ok for mail access and casual browsing, but for any kind of serious work on documents or even mails, I need a proper laptop. Outlook on the desktop just can't be replaced by a mobile version which is there on WM6.

I am very keenly looking on to this "war" between all the hardware makers in this segment. I had my heart set on the Asus 900, but due its general unavailability, I was forced to wait and what a good thing it was too!

Ultraportables from Dell, MSI and Acer on the way! I don't know about you guys, but I had my heart set on the MSI Wind till I saw this Dell one. It looks awesome, so its going to be either the MSI or the Dell.

[Tony Rylow]

I'm reading this on my recently purchased EEE while on my front balcony enjoying the awesome weather. I've had a couple of laptops so far. The first was a 14.1" Dell XPS which lasted a year or so until I decided I wanted a bigger laptop for games and surfing. I came across an Acer 17" that I picked up for about $600. What a mistake that was. From the slow harddrive, the the lack of bluetooth (It has a bluetooth button and description claimed it had bluetooth), it has done more sitting than real use. I took it on a trip, and realized it could barely even handle my new favorite game (City of Heroes). When I found myself going out of town, I didn't want to lug it, but wanted something more than a WM device to check my email on. Then came the EEE 701. Its found its way into my daily life, from surfing on the porch or in front of the tv, to the relatives house, etc.

[Brad Adrian]

You can't carry a mini-laptop around in a pouch attached to your belt.

Dude...

All respects to Dale Coffing (turning toward Albequerque and genuflecting), you shouldn't be wearing ANYthing attached to your belt, according to my teenage kids and other "fashion police." ;)

But, I get your point. Whatever I use when I'm away from my desk HAS to be easily carried, preferrably pocketable.

[kerrins]

In the future, I expect my mobile device to handle everything. A mobile now can have Office (albeit a poor version), GPS, phone. The current problem is that it's Office light, and limited memory maybe 8 gig's with a card in it. What I expect in the future is that the mobile device have the power and storage of a laptop. It should have at least a TB of memory, and handle any OS. The mobile should have a built in projector so that I could point it towards a wall or back of an airplance seat and adjust the size of the display. Hook up a BT keyboard (or use voice to text commands) and then have a fully functional work station with a large screen and real keyboard. The mobile could store all my apps, music, movies, etc. It would have both a small screen on the mobile and the projection screen built in for presentations and watching movies, TV or youtube.

[Brad Adrian]

Are these mini-laptops "instant-on?" I know mosts PCs can come awake quickly from a sleep or hibernation state, but what about from a completely shut-down state?

I don't usually use sleep or hibernation modes because my PC's battery invariably dies before I breathe life back into it. So, a mini-laptop's gotta have some kind of reliable instant-on to get my serious attention.

[Snail]

I use a Vaio UX1 and a Samsung i620 phone... convergence is fantastic, but there are times (still too many) where only a "proper" OS will do. I have the best of both worlds, in very small packages!

[bmurphy]

"Are these mini-laptops "instant-on?" I know mosts PCs can come awake quickly from a sleep or hibernation state, but what about from a completely shut-down state? "

My Kohjinsha does an instant-on... and it works well. I usually shut down overnight and just before I take it with me- I let it come on, under power- update virus-protection, and then just close the lid and go. I've got XP on it so even so it's not slow.
I've really monitored the battery, and if it says I have 2hr59 min, it means it! And I'm using the network to send information - so I'm not just passively reading.
I've just got a Lil Sync travel charger for the plane for my Advantage, and am looking at a kensington for the Kohjinsha!
and since I've got 120Gs HD, I've been thinking of seeing what Linux would be like!

[SassKwatch]

Dude...

All respects to Dale Coffing (turning toward Albequerque and genuflecting), you shouldn't be wearing ANYthing attached to your belt, according to my teenage kids and other "fashion police." ;)

Good to know I'm not *totally* out of step with the younger generation. Belted devices are just a half step from the NERDIEST of nerdy activities....wearing a fanny pack. How gauche! :)

[bmurphy]

I'm now heading off to Korea in a couple of days,so this thread becomes a bit more pertinent to me!
and I'm packing- my Advantage, the Kohjinsha, and my cell phone (for the start and end in Vancouver), my Shuffle clip... that doesn't sound like much- but then you start adding power chargers, and power cords for all involved and it starts turning into a bigger bag. Any suggestions as to how to pack these?
I got the lil'sync mobil power pack - so I can recharge the Advantage on the flight, but finding something that will keep my Kohjinsha going during the flight is hard to find- any one have ideas? I didn't manage to find a flight with power, so I might have to save it for the airports at either end!