Help deciding on ultra portable email/web/pda device

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MrGlobe

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Jul 10, 2006
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I am looking for a (very) portable device that will allow me to easily (and comfortably) surf the web, send and recieve email, and possibly access video websites (youtube, etc). I have looked at the ipod touch, which seems like the web browser may be a little bit skimpy, however i think it is the smallest device that can web browse and watch videos on youtube. I am skeptical as the whether it will be able to email. I currently own an HP Ipaq 4350, which i love for it's keyboard, wifi, and email, however the web surfing experience of a PPC isn't that great. I have also looked at the asus eee pc, and similar ultra portable, cheap laptops. I think this is the option that takes the cake for me, as it would provide the most whole internet experience out of the bunch, at a price less than the others. The only problem with this is the unknown release date.

Other options i have considered:

-Nokia 770 or 800 internet tablets
-palm tungsten c (bigger screen res compared to 4350)
-a refurbished dell 400m, second choice ATM
-palm foleo, kinda expensive

I am just looking for suggestions/comments

Thanks

Globe
 
one of the UMPCs perhaps? There are several but they are in the 1200-2k range new. Bigger screens, some have keyboards, etc.

As far as keyboard AND a bigger screen, that might be the smalllest option. The problem with going smaller is you start getting windows mobile rather than XP or vista. And while WM6 is capable for a phone, the inability to run desktop software kind've makes for a crappy browser.
 
Not sure how big is too big, but I recently scored a dell latitude x1 on ebay for cheap, awesome system. Powerful enough for nearly everything, 2.5lbs, runs for 6+hrs. I love it.
 
I would like to keep the device between $200-$500 usd.

A few more options i have been looking at are:

-IBM X31 ultra portable
-Dell d400 ultra portable (owned one of these and liked it, however it is slightly bigger than i would like)
-dell x300

All of the ultra portables are still slightly larger than i would truly like.

I think the eee pc is what i want, i just wish there was a date for its release
 
I'm giving serious thought to picking up one of those little IBM X31 babies on eBay. The price is tempting. I'm deciding if there's really that much more I can do with an X31 that I can't already do on my Blackberry 8800.
 
Just go for a small 10 - 12 inch laptop. That is seriously the way to go. I've owned several PPC's, and I considered a UMPC. After using the UMPC, it is just way too small and ackward.

God forbid someone mentions the new Apple iPod touch or whatever it is. You are constantly tapping and trying to zoom around on the screen to read the text. Its terrible. Sometimes when you try to zoom it accidentally does the flip back/forward function and you lose your website you are looking at. Clicking links is very troublesome as well. Let me describe the way it feels trying to navigate the device. Imagine you are an ape with huge ass fingers and you're trying to accurately touch a 3x3 pixel region. It just doesn't work.

Go with the smallest laptop you can and be happy. Even look at some tablet PC's. Those are great too.
 
Shark-MegaByte said:
HTC 8525?

Emails/PDA good.. web has typical mobile issues with some sites not scaling well.
Click to expand...

I have that.. and it is the same as any other PPC. It is decent for the web, but the OP already said he had an iPAQ and wanted something else better.
 
Until the Asus Eee PC701 comes out, maybe check out the Nokia 800... I hear good things. I own a 770 and it's a bit sluggish... It's kindof a pain to use, overall.

I have a palm treo 700p that is working well for a phone/mobile web-type device... Though you can only do mobile websites easily (as well as m.youtube.com), it's perfect for email, instant messaging, and RSS.....

Me, I'm banking on the PC701, once they're finally available.

dep
 
Well, i am typing this from the keyboard of a Gateway ML3109. I just got back from bestbuy, I broke down and bought it.

Although it is not NEARLY as small as i would like it to be (i was hoping for EEE pc size at biggest) I was unable to find anything that gave me enough power to comfortably browse the web, yet still be portable. I figure that even though this is going to suck to carry around compared to a palm or something of that size, I will have enough power now to do just about anything.

I would say however, that 1gb of RAM is almost a must for this machine, even once the majority of the bloatware that comes with the machine is stripped out, it is still on the slow side.

The total came to $370 out the door for specs that aren't impressive by any means, but with be more than enough for music/movies/web/email on the go.

If anyone can come up with a better alternative that this machine in the next 30 days, im all ears. I have no problem returning this if i can find something that better fits the bill. (Cmon asus!)

Thanks

Globe
 
I picked up an older Thinkpad X23 ultraportable last week from a friend of mine for $100, Plus a Netgear WAG511v2 PCMCIA card.

As someone who's pretty much a noob when it comes to all things wireless, I'm a bit in the dark so far as how to connect to an AP, at least outside of what I've got set up at my apartment.

Say, I wanted to connect to a hotspot at a Starbucks, or similar place, that has an open wifi AP...Would I be able to connect to it using something like Linux, or is that something that's dependent on some sort of software that is (likely) Windows-dominated or Windows-only?

Or does it require some sort of phone service (tmobile or other similar provider) with a data plan?

Sorry if this is a bit rambling and disjointed, but as I said, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to things such as this.

Would I be better served going over to forums such as Howardforums (or other suggested site) instead?

Thnx
 
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