Loox 710 and 720 Available for Order

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.firstloox.org/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=50' target='_blank'>http://www.firstloox.org/index.php?...p2_articleid=50</a><br /><br /></div>Interested in buying a <a href="http://www.clove.co.uk/products/products.asp?strAreaNo=400_1_10&intElement=12309">Loox 710</a> or <a href="http://www.clove.co.uk/products/products.asp?strAreaNo=400_1_10&intElement=529">Loox 720</a>? Well Clove Technology have the 710 at £339.58 (inc. VAT), while the 720 is £398.33 (inc VAT). If you're interested in getting a LOOX from Clove, be sure to pop over to <a href="http://www.firstloox.org/">First Loox</a> to get details of an addition £10 discount. This UK company also ships PPCs worldwide, a situation I find slightly odd. :) Isn't it usually us Europeans importing US and Japanese PPCs, rather than vice versa? In case you were wondering, they have thought of the important issues:<br /><br />"<b>Q:</b> If I buy a Loox 710 or 720 from Clove (or any other UK store) will the power supply work in the US, will the operating system be a US one, will the warranty work in the US? <br /><b>A:</b> Yes to all. There is only one English OS for all of us - American, Canadian, British, Australian etc. Clove have confirmed to us that the Loox 710 and 720 do indeed carry a full international warranty. The Loox 700 range has a dual voltage power supply and so will work just fine in the USA. Clove are checking whether a US adaptor will ship in the box - if not you will simply need a cheap plug adaptor."

[Doug Raeburn]

Well, you convinced me... I just submitted my order. In the case that a US AC adapter isn't shipped, do you know what style of UK connector is used on the adapter provided, so I can get the necessary plug converter?

Update - Never mind... I just found out thru the pictures on the Firstloox site... it's the big ol' 3-pronger.

Now if we can just find out if they are including a US adapter... :?: :D

[jonathanchoo]

Expansys has the 710 for GBP337 and the 720 for GBP442 8O But they do have a low price promise policy which is good.

Interestingly they seem to have the 720 soon in stock. The estimate availability is one day and Expansys are usually accurate in their stock info.

400quid for the 720 is pretty good for a new high end PDA. I remember that the h4150 debuted at 450. It took a good six months before it went down to 250 and that is my target price for the next gen PPC.

[acetuk]

Something to add about Expansys - I already have a pre-order on with them for the hx4700 but did see Loox available in one day.

So I called them up today to see if they had any news about 'my' hx4700 (when I ordered it last week I was told stock was expected to arrive to them on 15th September, delivery to me the day after). I was told point blank that no delivery date was available and there was basically no way I could have been told that I would have it next week.

I was also told that the Loox is expected any day now but they don't know exactly when.

I then called Clove and was told that the Loox is available Tuesday next week and the hx4700 in two weeks time. The man at Clove was very helpful... so much so that I am now about to cancel my Expansys order and place an order with Clove.

I just don't know if it will be for the HP or the Loox!?!

[kaitanium]

so 339 (i assume thats pounds right?) is roughly about $602 USD here? thats quite hefty if its true...ill wait for the dell x50

[mvv_hyd]

If I'm ordering from US...... I think I don't have to pay VAT... am I right? Then the price would come down to £339 which is about $600........ better than HP4700......

[Doug Raeburn]

I was actually waiting for the Asus A730w which is supposed to be out by the end of October. I hadn't looked at the LOOX very closely until I saw this news story. After I checked it out, I decided to go with it, largely because 1) it's available now (hopefully that won't change) and 2) it's very close in size to my iPAQ 2215, while the Asus is quite a bit thicker.

The only concern that I've since developed is that it seems that many of the aftermarket vendors that I usually use for accessories and the like don't seem to have supported any models of LOOX in the past. I've already checked PDA Panache and EB Cases, and neither of them have anything for any model of LOOX. So I may have to settle for different accessories.

BTW, my order showed VAT, but they didn't do the conversion from pounds to US dollars yet, so maybe they take it off when they do so.

Update - I checked again and I was wrong... when I specified USA as the region, the VAT dropped off. The additional figure was the shipping charge, not VAT. Anyway, it came to £363 with shipping, which converts to $646 at today's exchange rate.

[arnage2]

600 seems steep. ill wait for a asus a730w or x50

[Doug Raeburn]

x50 price is unknown at this time. A730w is expected to be at least $600, as is 4705. If you want the full boat unit with VGA, lots of memory and both forms of wireless, I think that's the ballpark you're going to be in, unless Dell decides to undercut everyone else. You can probably wait for the unit that does what you'd like, but I doubt that the prices will be much different even if you do.

Frankly, I wish Fujitsu and Asus would can the camera and drop the price. I already have a cell phone that takes mediocre pictures... I don't need another device to do the same. Since I'm big into photography, I doubt that any of these little add-in cameras will be useful enough for anything other than the occasional "emergency" picture. For regular use, no way.

[newst]

I work for an employer that forbids cameras for security reasons, and I've read that the number of companies adopting that policy is increasing. Since I wouldn't pay $100 for a PPC that I couldn't bring to work, let alone $600, a number of PPC manufacturers are "golly gee" featuring me, and many others, right out of their customer lists.

Besides, I have an excellent Casio Exilim 4mp camera that's less than half the size of my PPC. Why would I want to pay more for a PPC that takes bad pictures?

[jaydoc05]

I cancelled my HX4700 order from CDW and ordered the Loox 720 last week from Clove.

A typhoon delayed the delivery by 1 week. It was supposed to be in stock tomorrow. Now it is next Tuesday. That is much better than "comming this fall" from IPAQ.com


I am truly happy with the switch.

[seaflipper]

Anybody know how the "worldwide" warranty works? Since Fujitsu Siemens doens't have a US service center since they don't sell these here, do you have to ship it back to the EU for service? Any clue how that works and how much of a pain would it be?

[kaitanium]

i guess im not going to get this because Doug Raeburn brings up a good point that there may be very limited (if any at all) amounts of accessories for the loox700s in the U.S. but nevertheless its quite a great unit...x50 or a730 for me

[hollis_f]

The estimate availability is one day and Expansys are usually accurate in their stock info.

Expansys are famous for their availabilty estimates being complete and utter balderdash.

[Doug Raeburn]

Anybody know how the "worldwide" warranty works? Since Fujitsu Siemens doens't have a US service center since they don't sell these here, do you have to ship it back to the EU for service? Any clue how that works and how much of a pain would it be?

This is just speculation, but their server products use US service centers for affiliate companies such as Fujitsu and Fujitsu Technology Solutions. Perhaps that's the route they'd use for Pocket PCs as well.

[Doug Raeburn]

Forgot to mention about the firstloox discount, since I spaced on it before I placed my order. :duh: As Jonathon mentioned, it takes off another £10 from the price, bringing the price to £329, which converts to about $585. Every little bit helps... :wink:

You're supposed to include the discount code at order time, but I sent a message to Clove asking about it, and they applied it with no problem. They seem like very nice folks.

[Duncan]

The Loox 720 uses the same serial port as the Loox 600 and 610 - just reversed. Any accessory (except the folding keyboard) that worked fpr one of the earlier models will also work for the 720. That means serial GPS, sync'n'charge etc. (Boxwave do a Loox one). There are quite a few US online shops that do Loox stuff.

As for cases - all the major case people do Loox cases - Piel Frama's 720 case is already ready - and it is beautiful (I have one in my hands right now).

[Doug Raeburn]

The Loox 720 uses the same serial port as the Loox 600 and 610 - just reversed. Any accessory (except the folding keyboard) that worked fpr one of the earlier models will also work for the 720. That means serial GPS, sync'n'charge etc. (Boxwave do a Loox one). There are quite a few US online shops that do Loox stuff.

As for cases - all the major case people do Loox cases - Piel Frama's 720 case is already ready - and it is beautiful (I have one in my hands right now).

Thanks for the info about the Boxwave cable... I sent them an inquiry about it yesterday but haven't heard back from them yet. I also asked them about their screen protectors.

Any sources for replacement styli, since PDA Panache doesn't cover the LOOX?

As for cases, I tend towards the EB Slipper case, but they don't make LOOX cases. As good as the quality of the Piel Frama cases is, they're just too bulky. Seems a bit self-defeating when you're buying a PDA for its trim size.

[Duncan]

Any sources for replacement styli, since PDA Panache doesn't cover the LOOX?

Not something I've ever been interested in personally - but will PDA Pnache not produce one if asked?

As for cases, I tend towards the EB Slipper case, but they don't make LOOX cases. As good as the quality of the Piel Frama cases is, they're just too bulky. Seems a bit self-defeating when you're buying a PDA for its trim size.

EB seem to be the only major case maker that don't do Loox cases. Not sure why they should be the odd ones out. As for the Piel Frama case - it seems thinnner than the older cases. I can't test my review case with the Loox inside as my Loox 720 is delayed by this blasted Taiwan typhoon business...! :(

[Doug Raeburn]

As for the Piel Frama case - it seems thinnner than the older cases. I can't test my review case with the Loox inside as my Loox 720 is delayed by this blasted Taiwan typhoon business...! :(

I'll be interested to see your opinions of that case. When the 2215 first came out, Piel Frama was one of the first "premium" case manufacturers to release a case for it, so I bought one. It arrived and, to my dismay, I found that the thing was friggin' huge! My intent was NOT to have a case convert the svelte 2215 to the size of a Casio E-125. Fortunately, the EB case was released a few days later, so I sold the PF case right away without using it.

Also, I prefer magnetic closures to snap closures. Doesn't the PF case have a snap closure?

[Duncan]

I'll be interested to see your opinions of that case. When the 2215 first came out, Piel Frama was one of the first "premium" case manufacturers to release a case for it, so I bought one. It arrived and, to my dismay, I found that the thing was friggin' huge! My intent was NOT to have a case convert the svelte 2215 to the size of a Casio E-125. Fortunately, the EB case was released a few days later, so I sold the PF case right away without using it.

Also, I prefer magnetic closures to snap closures. Doesn't the PF case have a snap closure?

The case is thinner than the Loox 600 case was - but I don't yet know how it will look actually on the 720 (due to the delay in the 720 distribution). The closure is magnetic.

I'll due a preview of the case shortly (to be posted at FirstLoox) - with pictures - but obviously the review will need to wait...!