Still, I wish it had the UX’s core solo instead of this old 800Mhz intel A1010

OQO proved that the technology can be small enough to be pocket size. What is needed is the first ever jacket pocket touch type keyboard UMPC. This is the first time technology has the ability to enable full windows in that small form factor. There millions of laptop users that would sacrafice if they could a pocket touch type keyboard over their bulky notebook.

Remember the Psion 5mx? They proved that a touch type keyboard can be easy to input if designed correctly. Pocket size does not mean pocket pc size but rather as large as you can given the limitations of typical jacket pockets so the keyboard can be easy to use and the screen maximized yet truely mobile. Most jackets can handle something up to 4.25″ wide and about 7.5″ long.

In 1998/1999 devices similar to the Psion totalled more than 2.3 million each year in sales with good growth before MS dropped the OS and changed it to Pocket PC. You combine that form factor yet now enable it to run full windows and you have a viable mainstream device. The ability to load any desktop application opens up huge markets for business users wanting a simple laptop in their pocket.

I am also a very portable user, and agree that the keyboard on the UX is a little tough, especially for someone with small hands and who can give enough room for the vent on the left side. With the folding keyboard/mouse etc, it’s kind of tricky.

What I found while using it exclusively on a week business trip was that with it tethered to the keyboard and mouse setup in the hotel room, I had to lean over quite a bit to read the screen, and that’s with very good vision. After a week of that, my back and neck were very sore. However, this could be due to expectation of the work environment; I’m used to sitting at the computer for hours working on specific things, and on travel, perhaps that isn’t the model I should be expecting. The UX works very well for everything but hours and hours before it. Typing a lot of text, though, seems alright, as I can type long documents without very many errors.

The real kicker for the unit is at airports. Now that airlines have become rabid about how many carryon bags one can tote on board, choosing between my emergency set of clothing, my purse and a laptop bag was a worrying thing. However, now the UX just slips into my purse, eliminating the one-carryon-sized laptop bag. Voila, it’s a real hassle saver in that way.

I was tempted to get the SH6, but am staying with my UX. It was encouraging to hear another commenter say that the keyboard built into the unit improves with practice, so I’ll be patient with that and probably be a very happy camper. Thanks for the enlightening articl and comments!

For the past three days, I’ve been on vacation with the family. My wife brought her laptop and PDA with her to get some work done and to take advantage of the PDA’s built-in GPS hardware and software. I brought along my UX and my “mobile desk” case. Both of us used our computers in the hotel room, connected to the Internet via WiFi. The UX mobile desktop was identical in size to my wife’s laptop case. The screens and keyboards were about the same size and their performance was nearly identical. Naturally, my wife’s laptop stayed in the hotel room, as did my portable desk, but my UX and my wife’s PDA traveled along with us to the day’s points of interest. From a dead start, the PDA took at least three minutes (and often as much as seven) to link up with the GPS satellites. My UX (with a Bluetooth GPS unit) consistently took less than one. That’s hardware related. When it comes to software, Streets & Trips and iGuidance were consistently able to pull out points of interest, restaurants, gas stations, etc. faster than the PDA’s TomTom software. (The PC software had more depth, speed, and ease of use.) To further differentiate, while waiting at the zoo for my wife and daughter, I also located several geocaches in the immediate area and searched a few of them out. That involved a cellular connection to the Internet and the use of a fully functional browser.

This is a rather long-winded way of showing that my UX qualifies “small enough to change the way I use it.” There’s just no way I would have taken a laptop along for the day trips (due to size and weight), but the things I was able to do would have taken much, much more time if they were even possible on a PDA.

I got into handtops for this very reason. I wanted the power, flexibility, and depth of desktop/laptop software and hardware, but I wanted to have it with me almost all of the time.

Of course, I spend a lot of time in datacenters and server rooms, so a handheld computer with a decent keyboard makes SSH, RDP, and serial console access a cinch. It’s much harder to save the day with anything larger than a UMPC.

You have to remember, I made that sacrifice when UMPCs weren’t even in Microsoft’s mind, and some Toshiba-authorized Repair Depots turned me away because they “didn’t cover Windows CE devices.” I do fully accept, mind you, that I do not represent any sort of “typical use case,” but really, what’s typical in this niche market?

Now, going back in time, my first ultraportable was a Toshiba Libretto 110CT. The SH6 isn’t too far off from that. Both can run the appropriate OS of their respective era. Both can run all the Windows apps of their era, and have appropriate expansion options (The SH6 comes with all sorts of radios and USB ports, the Libby had a small port replicator and two CardBus slots.)

Neither was known for screaming fast performance or a phenomenally high RAM ceiling, and there were certainly better performers for much more.

What they both have going for them, however, is size. The Libretto lent itself to a phenomenon known as one-handed touch typing. Remarkably enough, I could get by on the Libretto keyboard with minimal difficulty, since it had normal-style keys, just shrunken down to the point that two hands wouldn’t work comfortably. The SA1 (and possibly, the SH6) have similar sized keyboards, but they don’t seem to be as usable.

So, why did I love my Libretto so much, if it was this giant, unpocketable system?

Ubiquity. Without adding additional volume, I got 4 hours of battery life out of a device roughly the size of any modern UMPC, with the same resolution and screen size. It would work whenever I’d need it, and took up so little space that I’d always take it with me. With a CDPD card, WiFi card, and an Ethernet card, I could pick and choose my connectivity options at will. I could hold this device in one hand, and type with the other. By comparison to the Sony UX, I could set up shop at a desk by flipping the lid and hitting the power button. If I wanted to work standing up, I’d just tilt the screen back and carry it.

The UX, on the other hand, is a better handheld PC, but a worse mobile office PC. I can work in standing room only, sure, but when I sit down, I need to pop open the stand, pull out a BT keyboard and mouse, and set up a massively oversized sea of accessories.

One lets you work while standing. One lets you work *quickly* at any desk. On the other hand, no true laptop, which includes anything with a 10″ screen, lets you work on the go as well. You NEED a lap, at the very least.

In the end, there’s a bunch of different markets at play here.

1) Subnotebooks. When you can wait to work from a Starbucks, this is the way to go. Sure you need a table, but it’s the most power you’ll get without looking at a desktop-replacement laptop.
2) Origami-style UMPCs. When you don’t have enough room for an ultraportable, and need something that may have to cut corners, but still does the job.
3) MIDs. When you need baseline functionality at ALL costs. These have to be pocketable above all else, and as such, may run Linux, Symbian, or Windows Mobile just to keep the size down.
4) Micro PCs. When the call of the day is MORE MORE MORE, in the smallest packaging possible. It doesn’t matter what compromises you have to make in the UI, so long as you have gobs of RAM, a blistering fast CPU, and a decent chunk of disk space. Performance and portability come first, with peripherals a close third, and price as a distant fourth.

I can see a valid point for most of these. Many days, an ultraportable would be the most comfortable system to work on. When I’ve got a lot of work to do at multiple offices, but no room for gear, I’d step down to a convertible Origami device. When I’m on my feet most of the time, it’s time for the micro PC. Finally, when I need to get by for a couple of hours on receiving information, but not sending very much (or running any oddball corporate apps,) I can live on a MID.

The problem is, as always, one of data. I can justify all of these AND a home workstation, but it would be exceedingly difficult to keep all of my information accessible to all of these without keeping them running all the time with a synchronization process.

As a result, I picked the most obvious middle ground, and went for the micro PC. It’s not much bigger than a MID, and with the right peripherals, can just about match an Origami device or a subnote for ergonomics. I can carry as little or as much as I think I need, and generally get through the day accordingly.

90% of the time these figured are incorrectly, but Sony says the TZ should get 4 to 7.5 hours of battery life on the standard battery, or 6 to 11.5 hours with the large capacity battery. How much is the Kohjinsha supposed to get vs. what it actually gets?