Asus A730 Details Emerge?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.asus.com/news/2004/20040311.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.asus.com/news/2004/20040311.htm</a><br /><br /></div>There's an ASUS PR on upcoming products to be shown at CeBIT, and they have a paragraph on the A730.<br /><br />"Leveraging a high-quality VGA LCD, 1.3 million-pixel camera, Intel 520MHz Xscale CPU and both Bluetooth and IrDA wireless connections, the MyPal A730 is a powerful and multi-functional Pocket PC that significantly trims down carry on baggage on business trips."<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20040313-AsusA730.jpg" /><br /><br />Now, what do I do? I want an MPx <i>and</i> this. All in one. :dilemma: There's no mention of WiFi in the paragraph, but I'm hoping there's also a model that has that.

[jb]

The never ending problem. If it has WF it will not have BT, If it has BT, it will not have WF, if it has SD it will not have CF, if it has CF it will not have SD.

Yeezzzz, when will OEM's get it straight. Let's go over it again. We would like BT, WF, CF & SD with a 4" VGA. That's it, now can someone please create this thing already.

[kanoswrx]

Doesn't really say what type of storage slots it will have, hopefully both CF and SD. But I agree I really hope it has BT and Wireless, just like their new 716 I think. This would be a step backward for them if it did have all that. Plus why do we need more cameras in devices, phones, pda's, whats next tooth brushes. I would much rather have CF,SD,BT and 802.11b then a stupid camera thats low res. I have a Canon G5 to take pictures if I need to. Lets just hope when more details come out it will have CF/SD/BT/802.11b, and if I am lucky no camera, haha.

[JonnoB]

The only thing that would make this deter me away from the MPx is the faster CPU (520Mhz) and perhaps if it had 128mb. Nah, I still think the MPx is the device to have.

[jb]

Plus why do we need more cameras in devices, phones, pda's, whats next tooth brushes.

Toothbruses??? That's great. :lol: Man, why didn't I think of that!!!!!!

:mrgreen:

[Icebaron]

When I click the link all I get is a 404, did asus pull the announcement?

[huangzhinong]

The intel new xscale 520mhz processor has buildin wi-fi, so this one must have wi-fi. From the picture, it looks smaller than a716, I like it.

They use ipaq h4410 form factors, hope they can make it even better.

[MichaelA]

Unlike the previous ASUS devices, it looks like the d-pad and buttons on this one are just as horrible for gaming as the other Pocket PC devices. The device sounds great, but if they changed the layout and it's not good for gaming then I think I'll pass. It's a shame really, because with the A620 and the A716, they made the only modern Pocket PCs that were decent for playing games. Looks like they may be losing their edge. :roll:

[jgoodman]

The intel new xscale 520mhz processor has buildin wi-fi, so this one must have wi-fi. From the picture, it looks smaller than a716, I like it.

They use ipaq h4410 form factors, hope they can make it even better.

I'm wondering about battery life in a package that small though...
If its anything like the 4410, running all those new features will be a wonderful and short-lived experience :?

[kanoswrx]

The chipset has built in wi-fi? you probably still need to incorporate it into the design, some kind of internal antene or something. But I hope you are right anyways. Also I agree about the buttons, needs to be a little more geared towards games. I never really understood why PPC makers don't just design it more for games, I mean business people don't care where the buttons really are. I hope Asus comes through, if not hopefully some other company will, this probably won't be the only new xscale ppc coming out early summer so we will see.

[Will T Smith]

The intel new xscale 520mhz processor has buildin wi-fi, so this one must have wi-fi. From the picture, it looks smaller than a716, I like it.

They use ipaq h4410 form factors, hope they can make it even better.

I'm wondering about battery life in a package that small though...
If its anything like the 4410, running all those new features will be a wonderful and short-lived experience :?

I hope that ASUS hasn't caved into to yet another HPaq design foible.... the INTERNAL battery. Cell phone style batteries (ass-packs) are the way to go. The current crop of H-Paq batteries are pretty puny. The "extended battery" for the 2200 is positively silly.

I do like the short form-factors that makes the device look like it has a larger screen.

Somehow, I wish that H-Paq would bring back most of the Jornada style points to their next (rumored) crop of devices.

* Blinking indicator/alarm kill lamp (where it's a power switch on some newer iPaqs).
* Cell-phone style up/down side arrows (the clie style rolling wheels would work well too)
* rubber side/bottom grips.
* passive (easy insertion (cell-phone style) connectors)
* open battery battery (ass-pack batteries)
* integrated, stylish $.10 plastic flip cover. It shouldn't NEED a case. I'll put it in my simple Nite-Ize Clip-Case holster (http://www.niteize.com/ClipCasePDA.html).

Then add the new bling-bling, fast x-scale, 128MB RAM, CF/SD, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth.

[jkendrick]

Hard to tell from the picture but I hope it has a 4" screen. VGA on less than a 4" screen will be too small to be useful.

[huangzhinong]

Hard to tell from the picture but I hope it has a 4" screen. VGA on less than a 4" screen will be too small to be useful.
'
I do hope it's 3.5" screen. There is no small PDA with 4 inch LCD. No matter how I like e800, it is definitly a brick.

I am the kind of people who believe the screen readablity has nothing to do with resolution. We can't judge from e800 tiny fonts to make the conclusion that VGA is not good for small screen. The VGA in 2.8inch LCD is so clear that nobody say that it's diffocult to read.

Once the OS(WM2003 Patch or WM2004) is tweaked for VGA, I don't think there will be any difference for readablity between VGA and QVGA. You will have the same phsical size font in your VGA screen as in your QVGA screen.

[mmidgley]

The intel new xscale 520mhz processor has buildin wi-fi

I guess Linux on PocketPCs just got a slap. I know a guy that just got a new tablet PC and the first thing to go was the Intel based wifi card. On a tablet or laptop its no big deal to switch to another wifi make--but I'd be unhappy with a wifi card in a PocketPC that I paid for that had built-in wifi that won't work with Linux. I need a second PocketPC for Linux experimentation.

m.

(this mini-rant is based on my laziness to actually lookup details of Intel wifi support included on nextgen xscale cpus)

[Jonathon Watkins]

We would like BT, WF, CF & SD with a 4" VGA.

We certainly would! 8) When will we get one I wonder?

All these announcements make for interesting reading. I wonder why the web page got pulled.....

[beq]

Don't forget quad GSM (iPAQ 6000) and GPS (that Mitac one IIRC). If we slam all these units together hard enough, will we get the desired amalgamation?

[arnage2]

Don't forget quad GSM (iPAQ 6000) and GPS (that Mitac one IIRC). If we slam all these units together hard enough, will we get the desired amalgamation?


Msmobile.com said that the ipaq 6000 is not going to exist any time soon. All of the pix were said to have been fakes. (but maybe a prototype or 2 will surface like the ipaq 5900 sold on ebay)

[bkbroil]

It figures....they come out with a 530mHz 4" VGA PPC a week after I get my e805. :cry:


BTW....the link to http://www.asus.com/news/2004/20040311.htm (http://www.asus.com/news/2004/20040311.htm
) is down...

[maximum360]

Actually give us the MPX form factor with:

128 MB RAM
64 MB ROM
Blue Tooth
WiFi (Though I don't really need it)
GPS
CDMA/GPRS
A 3.5-4" VGA screen
SD
CF
Regular Earphone/Mic Port (using adapters gets annoying after a while when using the i700)
1.3 Megapixel Camera with Flash thrown in as a bonus

And you'll have the greatest PPC ever made.

[kanoswrx]

Actually give us the MPX form factor with:

128 MB RAM
64 MB ROM
Blue Tooth
WiFi (Though I don't really need it)
GPS
CDMA/GPRS
A 3.5-4" VGA screen
SD
CF
Regular Earphone/Mic Port (using adapters gets annoying after a while when using the i700)
1.3 Megapixel Camera with Flash thrown in as a bonus

And you'll have the greatest PPC ever made.

The problem with having to many things is, its gonna be bulky, sort of like the MPx. In my opinion I want something that is slim and as small as it can get, but still be functional. I think adding CDMA/GPRS will make it to big, along with the camera and flash. I think the majority will be happy as long as it has BT/Wi-Fi/SD/CF, without those its not really much better then anything else out there, I mean the Asus 716 already has that, lets see these companies inovate some.

[David C]

Actually give us the MPX form factor with:

128 MB RAM
64 MB ROM
Blue Tooth
WiFi (Though I don't really need it)
GPS
CDMA/GPRS
A 3.5-4" VGA screen
SD
CF
Regular Earphone/Mic Port (using adapters gets annoying after a while when using the i700)
1.3 Megapixel Camera with Flash thrown in as a bonus

And you'll have the greatest PPC ever made.

I would definatly spend good money to own something with that description, especially if it can be thin enough to carry like a regular cell phone.

[Fishie]

It figures....they come out with a 530mHz 4" VGA PPC a week after I get my e805. :cry:


BTW....the link to http://www.asus.com/news/2004/20040311.htm (http://www.asus.com/news/2004/20040311.htm
) is down...

Its still some time off and doesnt change the functionality of yer Toshiba now does it?

By the time these come out ill be still enjoying my toshiba I hope while waiting wich of the new batch of machine tickles my fancy and wich i will buy sometime during the summer, meanwhile my toshiba e800 serves me incredibly well.

The 160mb of useable memory is incredible as well, especially after having used Handheld PCs, PPCs and Palms wich had 32mb or less.

[beq]

Now we're getting somewhere (adding more stuff to our dream feature list)... :)

What would be awesome is if any onboard camera lens is coupled with the ability to shoot, say 320x240 MPEG-4 video (smallest bitrate), so we won't need gadgets like Panasonic's SV-AV series (http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/ewear/sd_av.asp). That would mean some dedicated codec DSP or something. And a built-in 1" or 1.8" HDD might be nice :twisted:

Heck why not throw in 10x optical zoom like the Panasonic D-snap (http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/d_snap/camcorders.asp) instead...

[jkendrick]

All these ideas just point out that everybody has different needs and wants in their PPC. Makes it stay interesting. :)

[Phoenix]

This PPC has nice specs, but it's the MPx for me, hands down.

Nobody even knows yet what kind of processor the MPx will have, what OS it will run for sure, and just exactly how much RAM it will have even though some have reported 64MB.

All I know is that no other PPC will have OS supported portrait AND landscape modes, and a built in keyboard like the MPx.

As far as GPS is concerned, which would be nice to have built in (depending on the implementation), via BT and an external BT-enbled GPS unit, this can already be achieved. The MPx has everything else.

I know "each to his own", but I just can't think of a better device than the MPx. That device is so crammed with technology, I couldn't think of what else it would need to have. And so all these PPC's that are coming out are just boring to me anymore. Although I would like to see dual SD slots, for me, I don't need a CF slot.

MPx for me. :D

[jlp]

Don't forget quad GSM (iPAQ 6000) and GPS (that Mitac one IIRC). If we slam all these units together hard enough, will we get the desired amalgamation?

Sure but I highly doubt they'll still work :lol:

[jlp]

Hard to tell from the picture but I hope it has a 4" screen. VGA on less than a 4" screen will be too small to be useful.
'
I do hope it's 3.5" screen. There is no small PDA with 4 inch LCD. No matter how I like e800, it is definitly a brick.

I am the kind of people who believe the screen readablity has nothing to do with resolution. We can't judge from e800 tiny fonts to make the conclusion that VGA is not good for small screen. The VGA in 2.8inch LCD is so clear that nobody say that it's diffocult to read.

Once the OS(WM2003 Patch or WM2004) is tweaked for VGA, I don't think there will be any difference for readablity between VGA and QVGA. You will have the same phsical size font in your VGA screen as in your QVGA screen.

Whats the purpose to have 4 times the rez just to have the same size font?!

The only reason to have 4 times the rez is to be able to display more info, just take a look at e800 screens that display webpages, images, Office & PDF docs, they don't have the same size fonts or else you wouldn't see more info!!

[jlp]

Actually give us the MPX form factor with:

128 MB RAM
64 MB ROM
Blue Tooth
WiFi (Though I don't really need it)
GPS
CDMA/GPRS
A 3.5-4" VGA screen
SD
CF
Regular Earphone/Mic Port (using adapters gets annoying after a while when using the i700)
1.3 Megapixel Camera with Flash thrown in as a bonus

And you'll have the greatest PPC ever made.

Do you really think one can fit a 4" screen in an MPx form factor?!

Let's be real, the only reason M chose to put a 2.8" screen instead of the more common 3.5 was because of available space!!

Besides, a 4" screen is certainly bigger than the overall MPx footprint!!

The only way to do that kind of trick is to make a foldable screen, but that's still a few years away. At least for the color ones; Philips recently showed a prototype of a paper thin mono screen. But a) it has yet to be used in a real shrink wrapped PPC b) more surely they'll have to make a color version, coz only PalmOS devices come in mono these days...

[huangzhinong]

Whats the purpose to have 4 times the rez just to have the same size font?!

The only reason to have 4 times the rez is to be able to display more info, just take a look at e800 screens that display webpages, images, Office & PDF docs, they don't have the same size fonts or else you wouldn't see more info!!

If you look at the T3 and Palm Zire, you will know they have the same physical font size, in other words, most of time it won't display more infomation, just clearer. But for picture, movie and maps, the hi-res clearer advantage is totally amazing.

e800 is not supported by wm2003 yet, so its font is only 1/4th of the regular PPC, too small for most people.

[alex_kac]

Whats the purpose to have 4 times the rez just to have the same size font?!

The only reason to have 4 times the rez is to be able to display more info, just take a look at e800 screens that display webpages, images, Office & PDF docs, they don't have the same size fonts or else you wouldn't see more info!!

If you look at the T3 and Palm Zire, you will know they have the same physical font size, in other words, most of time it won't display more infomation, just clearer. But for picture, movie and maps, the hi-res clearer advantage is totally amazing.

e800 is not supported by wm2003 yet, so its font is only 1/4th of the regular PPC, too small for most people.

and it starts...

[huangzhinong]

and it starts...

:?: start what?

By the way, alex, any date for release PI 5.02? thanks

[Take1]

[quote=jlp]

If you look at the T3 and Palm Zire, you will know they have the same physical font size, in other words, most of time it won't display more infomation, just clearer. But for picture, movie and maps, the hi-res clearer advantage is totally amazing.

e800 is not supported by wm2003 yet, so its font is only 1/4th of the regular PPC, too small for most people.

Absolutely correct. It's like when Sony used their hi-res+ screeens before OS 5 came out. while they could subtitute the low res fonts with hi-res ones, the graphics were shrunk down becasue they still had to be rendered at 160 x 160 on a screen that was 320 x 320 or 320 x 480.

If PPC were to natively implement VGA resolutions, the size of everything would remain the same as on current WM2003 devices, it would simply be much more sharp and clear. The patches implimented on the e800 change the perspective distance and not the actual resolution of the screen.

[jpjehu]

I can't agree more - I want better resolution in the standard stuff, with significant enhances in picture, video, web-surfing, etc. The all-or-nothing of the 805 isn't that great. I keep mine in qvga most of the time.

[Fishie]

I can't agree more - I want better resolution in the standard stuff, with significant enhances in picture, video, web-surfing, etc. The all-or-nothing of the 805 isn't that great. I keep mine in qvga most of the time.


I like it quite a lot actually and it isnt exactly all or nothing as most programs do allow font scaling and what not.
Palm reader for PPC amongst others is surprisingly versatile in VGA mode and some of the art and drawing programs are incredible as well and showing of pics people told me it was like looking at a real print photo(I wouldnt go anywhere near that far but it does look incredible)

[Will T Smith]

Hard to tell from the picture but I hope it has a 4" screen. VGA on less than a 4" screen will be too small to be useful.
'
I do hope it's 3.5" screen. There is no small PDA with 4 inch LCD. No matter how I like e800, it is definitly a brick.

I am the kind of people who believe the screen readablity has nothing to do with resolution. We can't judge from e800 tiny fonts to make the conclusion that VGA is not good for small screen. The VGA in 2.8inch LCD is so clear that nobody say that it's diffocult to read.

Once the OS(WM2003 Patch or WM2004) is tweaked for VGA, I don't think there will be any difference for readablity between VGA and QVGA. You will have the same phsical size font in your VGA screen as in your QVGA screen.

Whats the point of having a VGA screen that is so small you cannot USE it.

I took a gander at the e800 at Circuit City the other day. I have to echo the comments of others. The resolution seriously outperforms the size of the screen. You can effectively render fonts that are WAAAY too small to read.

VGA form factors really need a larger screen in order to take advantage of all the pixels. Otherwise, it's just a waste. I think the Genio screen size would probably be perfect. Looking at the form factor, they've definitely cut down on all the extraneous plastic. I imagine this device will be VERY usable.

Finally, let's remember what we're talking about when we say BRICK. We really are shooting at a moving target. 3 years ago, the bricks were iPaqs with cf packs. The casio color units really stick out as "bricks". Even the e800 unit has rounded corners and is definitely NOT a brick.

Of course, I suppose that depends on the size of your hands. It's like all those folks who said the XBOX controlers were too big. I have big hands, for me, they were PERFECT!!!!

Perhaps future PDAs will be sized according to the user like wristwatches. Kids and Women's PDAs will look like the 1910. Men's PDAs will look more like the Compaq 5000/Toshiba e800 sizes.

[Will T Smith]

Actually give us the MPX form factor with:

128 MB RAM
64 MB ROM
Blue Tooth
WiFi (Though I don't really need it)
GPS
CDMA/GPRS
A 3.5-4" VGA screen
SD
CF
Regular Earphone/Mic Port (using adapters gets annoying after a while when using the i700)
1.3 Megapixel Camera with Flash thrown in as a bonus

And you'll have the greatest PPC ever made.

The problem with having to many things is, its gonna be bulky, sort of like the MPx. In my opinion I want something that is slim and as small as it can get, but still be functional. I think adding CDMA/GPRS will make it to big, along with the camera and flash. I think the majority will be happy as long as it has BT/Wi-Fi/SD/CF, without those its not really much better then anything else out there, I mean the Asus 716 already has that, lets see these companies inovate some.

Honestly, radios really don't bulk up a unit. The silicon can all be shrunk pretty small. The things that keep a unit bulky are ...

1) CF slots - have you seen the size for their connectors ?????
2) Decent battery life - Sorry but a bigger battery IS better.
3) Larger screen - No choice. A bigger screen means a bigger unit.

Finally, GSM/GPRS are long range radios requiring more battery power. More power requires MORE battery bulk.

[Will T Smith]

...
All I know is that no other PPC will have OS supported portrait AND landscape modes, and a built in keyboard like the MPx.

:D

Well, since the next version of PocketPC will support landscape/portrait, it WILL NOT be the only one.

If it's native, all the new PocketPCs should support the landscape/portrait switching.

Though, the MPx does look incredibly impressive.