OESF Portables Forum
General Forums => Off Topic forum => Topic started by: nathanwms on February 17, 2004, 11:30:05 am
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http://minipc.vulcan.com/default.asp (http://minipc.vulcan.com/default.asp)
The specs of this mini-pc are awesome and should be able to run any Full Linux distro.
What are your thoughts??
Nate
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That is pretty nice..
wireless and bluetooth is a definite plus!
that 30GB hard drive is good for movies, etc...
I wonder how much.. and when will it be available..
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It is strange: never say the manufacturer of the microprocessos, only say \"1GHz\"
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Looks interesting. With WinXP it is most likely running one of the x86 chips. Perhaps a Transmeta chip.
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I didn\'t see anything mentioning a touch screen display or memory cards
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Transmeta have been working on Crusoe chips around about the 1GHz mark within the last 12 months, but focusing on taking the power requirements even lower. I for one wouldn\'t be surprised if it did have a Transmeta Crusoe CPU.
I used to be the owner of a Sony VAIO C1VE with a 600MHz TC CPU, and it was slow as pants. I predict this new FlipStart PC will have the performance of a P3 600 which is adequate for office, divx etc.
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Wow. I want one
The price is going to be out of my range though. My guess is that you could buy a C760 and a brand new lowend laptop with better specs than that for the same price.
edit:
I didn\'t see anything mentioning a touch screen display or memory cards
Good catch... with a 30gb HD I don\'t care much about the memory cards, but the lack of a touch screen would be a big deal.
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There is a bit more info at http://www.i4u.com/article1155.html (http://www.i4u.com/article1155.html)
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Actually, with a USB port, you don\'t need memory cards -- you just need a good, inexpensive USB flash drive.
Also, any chance of this thing running something better... like, oh, Linux?
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That is extremely cool! I really, really want one. And I just got a dell laptop for v-day... bummer now I have no excuse to get this thing...
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http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/sto...l?tag=zdfd.left (http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/New_products_from_Demo_2004.html?tag=zdfd.left)
Additional info from ZDNET.
Appears price will be around $1200-1500 with an end-of-year scheduled release.
I still think the SL-CXXX form factor is the best trade-off of features/functionality and price. Add to this built in 802-11, BT and the same 4\" screen in the SL-6000 and you have the most complete handheld multi-media device to date.
Nate.
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Well I\'ve been stashing money away for a \"rainy day\" looks like I know what I can spend it on now!
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$1500!!!
You gotta be kidding. I\'ll keep my C760 thank you.
Maybe Apple will come out with something better.
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And from Billy Goats evil twin Paul Allen!
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$1500 isn\'t a bad price for this sort of device. linux would be better though.
the chip HAS to be a transmeta.
i\'ve heard good things about these:
http://info.lindows.com/mobilepc/mobilepc.htm (http://info.lindows.com/mobilepc/mobilepc.htm)
not quite as teeny, but pretty small and runs \'nix.
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I noticed on the vulcan website that several of the \"how i use it\" vignettes mention it replaces a cell phone. I have a samsung i330 smartphone and a 5600. I could see the potential of having a phone that does not crash as often as the current generation of smartphones (losing all the contact data until resyncing with laptop 1x/week). Some variant of the 860 that included samsung-like smartphone functionality and linux could still storm the market. They have a linux samsung smartphone in china but without the killer screen and all important, keyboard.
Maybe we need to play to current paranoia. If the chinese \"get linux\" first soon they will have superior smartphones and computers to america. They may even get to mars before us. There will be a \" smartphone / PC gap\" (please don\'t flame, i\'m just kidding).
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I didn\'t see anything mentioning a touch screen display or memory cards
It does not have a touch screen
http://www.brighthand.com/article/FlipStar...p_Half_Handheld (http://www.brighthand.com/article/FlipStart_Is_Half_Laptop_Half_Handheld)
comes with a digital camera though, I didnt see that mentioned anywhere - though, to me, its of no use.
and with a 30GB HDD inside, memory cards are not so much an issue (except for swapping data on the fly).
hope this does not turn out to be another vaporware - considering the unknown Flipstart name.
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considering the unknown Flipstart name.
Does anyone know who (big name companies) is behind this? That would be good to know from a philosophy point of view (support, dedication to product, user community, etc). We all have had some bad experience with that
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The trackpad is an ok idea, but touch screens are so intuitive that I find fingerprint marks on my 21\" monitor.
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considering the unknown Flipstart name.
Does anyone know who (big name companies) is behind this? That would be good to know from a philosophy point of view (support, dedication to product, user community, etc). We all have had some bad experience with that
Here\'s your answer!
http://minipc.vulcan.com/vision.asp (http://minipc.vulcan.com/vision.asp)
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Here\'s your answer!
http://minipc.vulcan.com/vision.asp (http://minipc.vulcan.com/vision.asp)
Thanks! Easy enough to find... call me lazy
I guess to say that this\'ll be Windoze-friendly is an understatement!
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I\'d rather stay away since it has no touch screen, no swivel design. I\'m wondering if we can squeeze a native ~x86 miniPC into a 760/860 type clamshell in the near future. That\'s my dreaming PMT. ;-)
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one more point, adding camera into that is a stupid design unless the camera takes negligible space in there.
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this mini-pc doesn\'t look that pomising...
only 2 hours operating time at battery (up to 6h with extended battery), just 2 days in standby mode ... thats a joke!
I don\'t want to wait everytime to let this thing boot, if I just want to enter one entry in my calendar ... or a note to the notebook ...
if the cpu is an transmeta it would perform like a 400Mhz P3, i know my Sony C1VE with 600MHz this doesnt even perform like an P3 300MHz ...
and the FPU is crappy ;-)
but the nice thing is this cpu nearly doesn\'t produce any heat at all :-)
but the cpu could also be an VIA C3 or so ...
a hard disk in such an device means these things arn\'t really shock-resistant ...
with 8MB of graphicsmemory you cant expect much 3D Features ... so you cant at least play 3D games even if they are 4 years old ... (the same on my sony) the grafic chip might be the same ATI chip like in the sony
Digital camera with 1.3Megapixel =] pictures with resolution approximately 600x600 pixel ... its unusable for good pictures ;-)
Who cares about buildin WiFi or bluetooth if there are expansion cards with such features..
onay the keyboard and the screen would be nice ;-)
in other words, I have my doubts about that device ... its some weird hybrid between a notebook and an PDA, but it unifies mostly the bad features ...
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<Quote>Maybe Apple will come out with something better.</Quote>
but if they do it won\'t even be cheaper than 1.500 $ I would bet.
Regards
Peter
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in other words, I have my doubts about that device ... its some weird hybrid between a notebook and an PDA, but it unifies mostly the bad features ...
I think I\'ll just keep saving for a 760 or 860. By the time I can afford one, 30G SD cards should be available 8) .
V-Man
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All this confirms one thing: The C760/C860 is the best bargain for your money! The oh-so-perfect PDA!
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It\'s an arm7. I know people working on it. I wouldn\'t pay much attention to the release date either.
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Transflective screen for outdoor use would make it perfect
All this confirms one thing: The C760/C860 is the best bargain for your money! The oh-so-perfect PDA!
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I\'m about to upgrade from 5500 to a 860, this thing looks good on the surface.
I imagine it would suit \'gadget-aquisition teen-freaks\' who would but it, use it for two weeks and add it to the pile, I find the possibility of XP in my pocket as vile and a stomach churning as PocketPC. :evil:
It could be amusing having a pocketable device that can crash and foul-up just like a desktop XP machine, but I\'d rather cast my lot with the Zaurus. As for running Linux on it, yes but I can see no point, it will cost too much, unless I had more money than sense and had a specific requirement to run a specific distro?!?!
A laptop replacement maybe, but my 5500 obliterated any need I could ever have for a laptop (my last laptop was GIVEN away).
For me, personally, and I hope for many Z lovers the newer C7x0 and 860 ARE laptop replacements and to think I can have a 32bit RISC powered UNIX WORKSTATION (let\'s be clear here chaps, it\'s not a PDA) in my pocket (!?!) is a humbling experience and keeps me constantly in awe. :shock:
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The thing I find most intriguing about this is that if it is possible to run a bloated, inefficient OS like XP on something this size, we can\'t be too far from seeing someone (Sharp?) producing a handheld capable of running a full linux distro.
Processing power and screen resolutions have increased enough to make it possible, the only real issue is can it be done affordably.
The SL-CXXX form factor with the SL-6000 screen, built-in wifi & BT and an internal mini hard drive (4GB) could possibly be the perfect combination of features for a pocketable laptop device. Ya think?
Nate
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hmmm...seems there is already a fan site for it http://www.mini411.com/ (http://www.mini411.com/) and it does in fact appear to be powered by a Crusoe TM5800 processor per this article http://www.mini411.com/show/news/5/0/FlipS..._in_detail.html (http://www.mini411.com/show/news/5/0/FlipStart_PC_in_detail.html)
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Just one little thing i see, its running bloody <windows!>..
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I\'m still looking forward to the release of this, I do plan on getting one of these pending how available they are. First thing I will do is wipe Windoze and install some form of Linux.
I don\'t want touch screen never much cared for it except on a pda and I don\'t plan on this being a pda. Perfect size HD for what I want. Best part I can toss in in my pocket still.
I will never give up my Z I am way to attached but I think the two could compliment each other well.
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I\'m still looking forward to the release of this, I do plan on getting one of these pending how available they are. First thing I will do is wipe Windoze and install some form of Linux.
I don\'t want touch screen never much cared for it except on a pda and I don\'t plan on this being a pda. Perfect size HD for what I want. Best part I can toss in in my pocket still.
I will never give up my Z I am way to attached but I think the two could compliment each other well.
Why buy it if it isn\'t designed specifically for linux. you know where you stand with sharp!.
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Wow $1500... that\'s a ton of money... but it\'s still less than I would have expected. I was thinking it would be around $2000-$3000. Is the $1500 fully loaded, or is it just the basics?
I actually looked at this before I bought my SL-C860, but I decided to go with the SL-C860 anyways because it\'s smaller. ...I REALLY wanted my next work laptop to fit in my pocket, and although this mini-PC is very small... you can\'t fit it in your pocket.
I was tired of lugging around laptops in large laptop bags. Instead my SL-C860 (and ALL of its acceseries) fit in a small rectangle camera bag that\'s attached to my belt. Extra geeky... and I love it!
Besides... XP is a big turn-off. We work in a Windows-only environment and some of us have\"upgraded\" our WindowsXP machines to Windows98... since Windows98 is the last OS that Microsoft put out that was good. Since then it has only gone downhill.
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you know where you stand with sharp!.
Yup, nowhere. (I\'m not an \"enterprise\" customer)
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you know where you stand with sharp!.
Yup, nowhere. (I\'m not an \"enterprise\" customer)
My thoughts exactly, I love my Zaurus don\'t get me wrong.
But I would like to see a \"little\" more backing from Sharp to the entire population.
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\"some of us have\"upgraded\" our WindowsXP machines to Windows98\"
LOL
98 better than xp?
you like invalid page faults??
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THose page faults are a minor annoyance, true (they happen less when I don\'t do anything, or install anything, destructive to the system), but it\'s less annoying than WindowsXP freezing the computer for 20 seconds every few minutes while it \"considers your request\". *Gag*. WindowsXP treats the user more like a baby, and gives them less controll, than Windows98. ...and then there\'s Linux which may prove to beat them all... I just need to learn it first...
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Even with all the memory and stuff in this flipstart thing I\'d probably buy the \"TELIOS\" from a trusted company called sharp of course it has digital cameras and it runs windows mobile pc although it has low memory... more like the zaurus but wiht more things able to do...
heres the page in japanese...
http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/hcvj1c/text/index.html (http://www.sharp.co.jp/sc/eihon/hcvj1c/text/index.html)
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Everyone talking about the http://minipc.vulcan.com (http://minipc.vulcan.com)
I found something else: http://www.dialogue.com.tw/english/product...cts/flybook.htm (http://www.dialogue.com.tw/english/products/flybook.htm)
Have everything you could think about out of the box. But again, A5 format won\'t fit in my pocket as my 760 does.
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Why buy it if it isn\'t designed specifically for linux. you know where you stand with sharp!.
Mentat my friend, you\'re fighting a loosing battle, there are a number of people, they know who they are, who are just itching to find something else, not everyone has the outlook on these devices that I know we share, so let them be, hopefully they will go there way and find something else to lust after for 5 mins, find faults and repeat the bitching ad-nauseum, ad-infinitum. You and I were both witness to the decline of a PDA we liked, it started with people lusting after other things, they obviously think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, let them be. You will only become disheartened. Take my advice, pretend the off-topic forum doesn\'t exist, I\'m coming round to that way of thinking myself.
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To mentat_bashar
The thing is, if you are loyal and love your Z, all this side crap is meaningless, but the point is valid, you always get people (usually in the country with the greatest consumer fanatics) that love to buy-buy-buy and are never happy, maybe they should chill and take a more buddhist view of life, who knows, but to vex one\'s self over these side issues?, they are meaningless... and some people can never be satisfied with what they have, it\'s not in their world-view at all.
Notice a posting above from a chap, I\'ve ran into on more than one occasion, most of his postings are regarding other hardware, always looking for something else, and always will be, caught in a endless loop of buying, entering PIM data, bitching/fault finding and wanting more.
I expect to be using my Z five years from now, and if I can get as many years from the Z as I did my 200LX (the best part of a decade) I will. I\'d consider a new Z in a few years if it was really worth it. The quiet majority of Z lovers will do the same. I wanted this kind of machine for the last 10 years, I won\'t give it up just yet.
Chill mentat_bashah. I mean, this piece of bloated crap runs XP! If this had Linux and loaded my book reader in a second or my word processor within a second, I\'d look at it again, but it\'s a PC, with all the warts, a laptop running XP, let the lemmings go chasing it, off a cliff...
Some people just do not get it (like some people who cannot understand why Sharp don\'t sell/support the Z globally - not difficult to understand), at all, many buy a LINUX pda because we hate f***ing Microsoft and their stupid XP stuff, grrr. But if that\'s not an issue, please, please sell your Z\'s and move on.
Who\'s idea was it for an off-topic forum? ;-) O.R.G?? :-)
(Can\'t believe this has run over three pages now, I am bailing...)
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Talking about MS device. I found one very funny with surprising design.
With screenshots:
http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/forum/showt...d=40551&ksp=747 (http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=40551&ksp=747)
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See what I mean, can\'t stop looking, always, always seeking and never finding. I feel pity. Sell your Z.
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padishah_emperor,
200LX! Yehaa! I loved my 200LX. That was the last great x86 PDA... None of the PDAs since then had an Intel x86 CPU running a high-resolution screen (640x200) that was the same size. ...until I bought my Zaurus 860. 640x480, and if I can only get the Bochs running on it I will finally feel that I have a true replacement for my old 200LX... may she rest in peace. ...it only took the market 10 years to come a full circle with VGA screens that fit in your pocket...
...but thanks for the nastalgia.
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padishah_emperor,
200LX! Yehaa! I loved my 200LX. That was the last great x86 PDA... None of the PDAs since then had an Intel x86 CPU running a high-resolution screen (640x200) that was the same size. ...until I bought my Zaurus 860. 640x480, and if I can only get the Bochs running on it I will finally feel that I have a true replacement for my old 200LX... may she rest in peace. ...it only took the market 10 years to come a full circle with VGA screens that fit in your pocket...
...but thanks for the nastalgia.
You are among friends
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The biggest limitation in this device is no digitizer-touchscreen capability. I think this is a fatal limitation
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The biggest limitation in this device is no digitizer-touchscreen capability. I think this is a fatal limitation
I think the biggest limitation is it\'s os!
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Advantage: runs *nix.
BIG disadvantage: no touchscreen, nor one planned.
Not for me.
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If you read all those device feature and price, you understand that the Zaurus is still the best choice. No doubt.
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Common! One day something with a better hardware than the Z will come out... But does it also mean, you would buy it?
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If the OS is Linux and if the device really fill my needs then yes.
I\'m loyal with my friends and I expect that they are loyal with me. A commercial company has no friend. The bond between a company and its curstomers is based on exchange of money services and products. There\'s no love nor loyalty (and US is certainly where this is the most strongly true).
I hope that I answer to your question. I\'m sure that it\'s exactly what you wanted to here from me.
Amazing game, isn\'t it?
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A commercial company has no friend. The bond between a company and its curstomers is based on exchange of money services and products. There\'s no love nor loyalty
Well said. Let\'s not make these things so personal, OK? The Zaurus is a nice product. Someday there might be a better one from a competitor. What\'s the point of \"loyalty\"?
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Some people do or can have loyalty depending on certain things, it can also depend on one\'s own tradition/culture/world-view, likes or dislikes. I\'ve just been trying to define my loyalty on another thread, so I won\'t cross-post here.