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Sony announces ultra portable computer.


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Sony announces ultra portable computer.
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Quagmire
meh
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-07-08, 17:15

The ultra portable computer is as small a pda. The computer will sport a 900 Mhz celeron processor with 256 mb of ram or a Pentuim m 1 Ghz with 512 MB of ram. Both have a 20 gig HD. The screen is a 5" tft touchscreen.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5371466/

giggity
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Crusader
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Westminster, MD
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2004-07-08, 19:07

Sounds steal-able...

However, I don't think I could use a screen that small.
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dfiler
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Pittsburgh
 
2004-07-09, 07:31

I don't think any company has ever made a profit on consumer computers which are larger than a PDA yet smaller than a laptop. Yet... they still keep making them. Strange aye?

It's not that the devices are somehow limited by technology so much as that there is only a small niche of users for which this form factor is optimal.
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Escher
Sub-PowerBook Lobbyist
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Washington, DC
 
2004-07-09, 07:50

I think Apple would enter and revolutionize the existing 3 lbs subnotebook market before it would attempt to create a 1 lbs tablet uber-PDA under-notebook ultraportable market.

We discussed the idea of very light keyboard-less devices (a tablet by any other name) over and over at .COM. I still don't see the usefullness of a device that runs a desktop OS but lacks a real keyboard for input. If a device is going to lack a full-size keyboard for input, you might as well get a Treo 600, Blackberry, or other smartphone device.

Why bother running Windows XP Pro on an 800x600 touchscreen? That's why Microsoft created Pocket PC. That's why we have the Palm OS and Symbian. Heck, even the Newton OS!

Escher

I've been waiting for a true sub-PowerBook for more than 10 years. The 11-inch MacBook Air finally delivers on all counts! It beats the hell out of both my PowerBook 2400c and my 12-inch PowerBook G4 -- no contest whatsoever.
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Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-07-09, 11:14

I can see where an ultra portable notebook would be useful for someone in my position. A student needing something light to carry, without optical and such, between classes for notes. This is also true for traveling businessmen etc. Small, but just big enough to sport a full-size keyboard, lacking optical, and the specs would not need to be, nor be expected to be, up to notebook standards. I mean how many businessmen actually install things or use the optical while they are away from their desk. I think the market for what Escher suggests is bigger than most individuals care to see. I would definitely pick up a sub-PowerBook if it at all was released.

User formally known as Sh0eWax
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Spart
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Iowa
 
2004-07-09, 15:17

Quote:
Originally Posted by Escher
I think Apple would enter and revolutionize the existing 3 lbs subnotebook market before it would attempt to create a 1 lbs tablet uber-PDA under-notebook ultraportable market.
It's probably true that Apple would do that first, but I think that it's also true that Apple would do neither.

Apple likes computers to be actual computers, not severely handicapped resemblances of computers (their neutering of the iMac, iBook, etc. notwithstanding.) I don't think they would ever introduce a device that, by itself, lacked a big battery and optical drive. Even if those features were part of a "dock." I've always found the dock concept to be borderline-retarded.
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Bones3D
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Nerv, Tokyo 3, Japan
 
2004-07-09, 17:01

I would love to eventually see PDA sized devices that can run the same applications as our desktop computers. So far, the closest to this experience I could get was running System 7.1 on a Sharp Zaurus PDA:


8==8 Bones 8==8
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GreggWSmith@comcast.net
 
 
2004-07-09, 23:24

Go to Dynamism.com and check it out. They are already shipping them.
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