[Jafar]

Intermec 6651/Sharp Telios was the device of all devices that should have really taken the handheld pc world by storm.

http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/t...rmec_6651.html

Too bad it's price scared everyone away :? I have one right now that I purchased for $300 and it's amazing what I can do with the device, but the biggest problem is finding MIPS HPC software. Just my 2 cents.

Jafar

[Jafar]

Intermec 6651/Sharp Telios was the device of all devices that should have really taken the handheld pc world by storm.

http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/t...rmec_6651.html

Too bad it's price scared everyone away :? I have one right now that I purchased for $300 and it's amazing what I can do with the device, but the biggest problem is finding MIPS HPC software. Just my 2 cents.

Jafar

[Chris Spera]

Originally Posted by numb

Whats innovative about that form factor..Psion did it years ago! And with a better keyboard (from what you can see in the photo)

So did Casio, HP and a number of others. The form factor was/ is called HPC/ HPC Pro.

Originally Posted by Raphael143

...If it had a built-in phone like my i700, I'd think twice. Otherwise, it's just a nice looking toy.

I agree. One of the reasons why HPC/ HPC Pro's failed was because they were too big. Most people didn't go for the clam shell. they wanted something that they could hold and work with in one hand.


Personally, I liked the HPC Pro. I had a Jornada 680, and thought it was cool. My only problem was that as a touch typist, it was (and still is) hard to touch type on so small a keyboard.

If this device had a phone in it, this could be a serious competitor. However, because it is running Palm OS, I don't see it making too big of a splash.


Kind Regards,


Christopher Spera

[Scott R]

I don't care for the landscape-only format. I also think that the price will be a bit higher than rumored, which is too expensive, IMO. More of my thoughts here:
http://goodthatway.com/news_arc/?id=25

Scott

[Duncan]

Originally Posted by Paul P

I think it's more and more harder to say that MS is crippled. It's like saying SD is crippled when used with iPaq. With intergrated Wifi and bluetooth, there is no need for the memory stick to have any functionality beyond that of storage.

I'm not referring to MS being crippled innately - this device has only a limited ability to use the forms of MS memory that are available (Babelfish Sony's own site and see what it says!). Mind you Clie owners themselves complain about the slowness of MS in general... As for "there is no need for the memory stick to have any functionality beyond that of storage." - you have got to be kidding?!!

As for the keyboard, I'd probably settle for just about any compromise. I've recently started traveling and even the smallest accessories seem cumbersome to carry along. As small as the slim expansion keyboard is, I still feel burdened.

I frequently work on the train using just Calligrapher and Fitaly - if I want to I can add a thumb keyboard (which can stay permanently attached) or use a Stowaway - all Sony are doing is restricting choice...

With it's capabilities, this thing will do just about anything for Palm folks. So I guess we are all carrying toys here.

Don't get me wrong - if this was a full clamshell (not one of these novelty twist things), had a screen size that made sense and could use CF or SD - then I could see it as a useful business tool. Instead all I can see is a collection of gimmicks - which makes it a toy.

[kwjohnson]

I still have a Jornada 690 I fire up once in a while--and I managed to make it my laptop replacement for a major streak of business meetings. It was perfect for long airport waits and tightened security post-9/11. I could easily touch type on it even with big hands, but it was too big to carry all the time.

A e740 with a Belkin keyboard works well because I can take the PocketPC basically everywhere and still hook up the keyboard for bigger text jobs. But with a smaller screen it's no laptop replacement.

With the e740 dead in the water I'm wondering where we'll be in a year when it's time for both a new laptop and new PDA. Not likely anywhere near what I really want--a wifi XP machine with the form factor of my 690. But at least this might nudge PocketPC makers to think outside the box.

[powder2000]

Chris Spera wrote:
So did Casio, HP and a number of others. The form factor was/ is called HPC/ HPC Pro.


Ah, but none of them could fold over on themselves and be used like a tablet. The intermec design was unique in this manner.

[stevenf]

In addition to my PocketPC, I've also owned a Clie NX70V (as well as other PDAs).

Clies are wonderful pieces of hardware, but Palm OS leaves so much to be desired.

NetFront for Palm, for example, can't render entire pages about 80% of the time. (Which is a shame because it does a GREAT JOB of rendering. Curiously, better than NetFront for PPC, because the text remains readable when you zoom out.) Apparently there is some sort of inherent memory limitation in Palm OS (not storage memory, runtime memory) and NetFront just runs out. A dialog pops up that says "Page too large!" and it cuts off the page at however far it got.

It's really useful for browsing the top half of web pages, though.

ClieMail is mostly useless to me because it doesn't support IMAP. It doesn't even pretend to. POP or nothing.

Of course, there are 3rd party alternatives, but now you're spending even more money on shareware... etc.

So, like so many PDAs, this looks great, but I think actually using it would be a different story.

[mar2k]

This is an amazing looking device. I could never buy one due to the fact I have already spent a small fortune on SD and CF flash memory. The price of this thing is going to be in the $600-700 range I am sure. To get a decent sized memory stick to be able to play back movies, 512MB at least you are looking at another $200 or so. I cannot justify spending that kind of money on a PDA of any sort. For that kind of money I can upgrade my main PC.

That said, I like what is happening on the Palm OS front and wish the same kind of innovation would hit the Pocket PC world. Basically all the Pocket PCs are exactly the same, jack of all trades, master of none, same specs etc etc. I love what a company like Tapwave is trying to do, a PalmOS powered gaming machine at a moderate price. I mean, that's fantastic. Why can't we have a Pocket PC with a rumble pack and dual batteries and 3D Acceleration. Then there's Garmin, with a GPS device with PalmOS built in - nice idea. I shrug when I see Microsoft initiatives like Media2Go. Why can't a Pocket PC licensee just step up with a device that specializes in media but runs on top of Windows Mobile for Pocket PC? in other words, why not have all sorts of devices that happen to run Pocket PC OS, why do Pocket PCs have to be devices unto themselves. Isn't that really Microsoft's vision?

[guinness]

It looks ok, but it sounds more like the clamshell Clies, all they did was put the hinge on the long side of the device and put POS 5.2 on it. If the NX80 is $600 and the NZ90 is $800, I would imagine that this would cost somewhere around that price range.

[Foo Fighter]

This truly is a stunning device. But the rumored price of $600 makes it impractical and ill fated, in my opinion. The days of high ticket price handhelds is drawing to a close. For all practical purposes, anything priced above $400 is going to appeal only the the extreme hardcore enthusiast. At $400 it would fly. At $600 it's going to flounder. Especially in the current economic state.

I hope this pricing is just a rumor. If it is, I will jump on it. But as it is, I would say the upcoming Tungsten T2 is more practical in terms of value.