Submitted by PCMag reviews the first Origami PC by Samsung, and concludes: “Samsung plans on avoiding retail shelves with the pricey Q1 and selling at BestBuy online and CDW only. I appreciate the design, and the technologies that can be had in such a small unit, but the practicality of this device escapes me. For $1099, you’re better off with a more capable – and keyboard-equipped-convertible tablet.”
…but too early to invest in one yet imo.
When the technology gets time to mature, and the units become available with Vista, I think there’s a high risk I might be spending money on one of the babies.
Slate PCs == awesomeness
I’ve never understood why there is a need to cram so much high performance hardware into a mobile unit like this if the interface and battery power isn’t up to it yet.
I would much rather see something based on absolute low power components. It doesn’t matter if it’s slow, but it should be able to do handwriting recognition properly, show text properly at a fair resolution with a good display optimized for text in most lighting conditions, not for Doom 3 at 100 FPS. It should have a fair amount of memory to hold multiple books and dictionaries. Most importantly it should have battery life for more than 2-3 full days of operation.
Something the size of an A4 or A5 sheet with a very simple interface, not with a WindowsXP interface.
It probably exists (I bet someone in this thread will link to it), but why is there no focus on that instead of this… brick?
I love being able to take my old Palm IIIc out of my pocket, turn it on and tap on the screen a couple of times to bring a phone number up and turn it off again in a few seconds. No boot or shutdown times. The screen is just a tad small.
…for Apple’s entry into this market.
*rubs hands together*
Problem: New processors and GPU too hot and battery draining for laptops = forever crippling/no performance advancement possible any longer. Thus new “mini-laptop” PC’s appearing for limited portable use with heavy lifting done back at the desktop.
Can you say Nano 12″ notebooks? Hard driveless, optical drive less, with a cute slot to stick in a iPod nano.
that no one needs and serves no purpose in life. Maybe they should get some Star Trek actor to show in ads.
…piece of equipment that nobody really needs.
…piece of equipment that nobody really needs.
I really, really need it. I will put a mapping soft in it and put it in my car.
Good GPS units easily cost $600. If prices for Origami devices fall to something like they promised ($800) – Origami becomes the best deal in town for an automotive computer:
– cheap GPS/Mapping
– browsing through GPRS/CDMA
– mp3 playing (with voice control)
– contact management (with bluetooth you get cellphone dialing)
Whoever is saying you don’t need it is stuck in the narrow realms of unimaginative mind.
Yeah, but for over a grand? Isn’t hardware supposed to get cheaper over time as more efficient methods are found for production, and miniaturization improves?
Buy a base mini and a GPS receiver and program one.
(Not trying to sound contrary, it’s just that this just doesn’t seem like a bargain to me – oh, and thanks for the personal touch in your reply “stuck in the narrow realms” and “unimaginative”. Made my day.)
I had a Sega Game Gear.
Three hours wasn’t worth extra power then, and it isn’t now, either. If it’s going to be that bad, it needs a hand crank or foot pedal for charging (or jumper cables for car batteries, because that would be funnier).
This is a toy, and Negroponte’s laptop is vaporware–<Dr. Smith>oh, the pain, the pain of it all!</Dr. Smith>
OT: the preview is broken. Interesting…