Mmmm 1yr on

[wanman]

Just thought I'd keep an eye on the Netbook Pro forums as I find myself using my 7book more and more and am starting to find the lack of multimedia support and poor web browsing increasingly annoying.

Having reviewed the alternatives....the Pocket PC comes with everything I need.....apart from a decent operating system, screen and keyboard. That leaves me back at the Netbook Pro which does not come with the office apps I need or the army of dedicated sharewhere developers specifically creating software for this seemingly great keyboard / large screen device. I am still not sure whether Windows CE.Net is for me either as I find my pal's PPC2003 quite appauling as it just leaves apps open and running in the background when you really want them closed.

So what is new in the NetbookPro market place?

1) I see that Microsoft are not far off releasing Windows CE.net 5.0 although whether this will ever make it to the NB Pro is anyone's guess.
2) There were rumours that a PPC2003 version of NB Pro might appear with all the office and user friendly apps present and correct?
3) Has it really gone all quiet on the Symbian version of NB Pro front?
4) Will Psion ever return to the home user PDA/sub notebook market?
5) Surely as telecommunication, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, multimedia, web technologies continue to advance, how long have we really got with our trusty 7/7Book/netBook's ?
6) Will we ever get all/most of the current laptop funcitonality and performance in a instant on netBook sized package?

....ok maybe a little bored at work today....and in serious need of some gadget related purchases;)

[stolkjo]

Wanman,

I was at the same spot about a year ago when I got the "Pro". After creating the comparison and struggling with CE I gave up.
I did own at soem point a LX320 with CE on it and was happier with that than with the "Pro". It was simply to many problems.
Even the so-called multimedia capability was not really there. The exact same files played (other than 256 on the netBook) pretty much equal. Increase the movie clip size in the "Pro" and it gets very very choppy. The same file played fine in the java player on the netBook. I have found that it can run higher resolution and larger size movies than initially thought. Needless to say after more hard resets on the "Pro" within a month of use than I ever did on my netBook, malayBook, 5MX and 5MX Pro combined the "Pro" went back where it came from. I know the netBook is not the latest product but still does the job perfectly.

John

[wanman]

But whyyyyyyyyy ;)

Surely there must be a manufacturer out there who can come up with an instant on device the size of a netBook but the power of a PC....

Having said all this I have just found the Sony T-Series

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asp/product.asp?recorprod=1&product=163&cat=75&ph=&keywords=&recor=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=

Although it is only slightly bigger than the netBook it packs a full PC capabaility (XP Pro)...so ok no instant on....but full 10.6 widescreen tft, 40gb HD and a DVD+RW....I am seriously tempted as it is pretty much the same price as the netBook pro and 5hrs+ battery life....mmm

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by wanman

Having said all this I have just found the Sony T-Series... Si

I've got one of these - I bought it just over a year ago after checking out the Nb Pro and deciding the Vaio had more to offer for my particular needs. I love it - it's only slightly wider than my nB, and fits in the same case, so now they fight over it!

Mine is a TR model, with the video cam and microphone at the top of the screen. Take a look at the "TR Series Virtual Tour" in your link to see the exact one I have.

Feel free to fire any questions at me if there's anything you want to know whilst you're deciding. :cool:

Julie

[wanman]

Hi Julie,

I am looking at the VGN-T1XP/L which is similar to yours but a bit thinner, no integrated camera and up to 5hrs battery. My questions are many as I am so torn with this.

For:
It is almost the same size as a netBook but with infinitely more power.
Battery life is comparable
It is well sexy (ok for a gadget freak like me)
Bluetooth
Memory stick compliance (for my Aibo)

Against:
Loose instant on (big down point)
It is a PC and not a PDA
errrrr....cost....sort of

Anyway, the instant on thing is a bit of a prob as I love that about my 7Book and I love the simplicity and reliability of the OS.

So Questions:
1) Do you use it more than your netBook?
2) Do you still use your netBook? if so why?
3) What is the best bit about your Sony?
4) What is the screen like?
5) This is a well low powered device....how does it cope with XP? 6) Is the performance up there with a fairly good pc?
7) Can this device really replace a netBook
8) If I get it....will there be a proper Netbook Pro with symbian 7 or Windows CE.Net but with Pocket PC apps (office)

Soooo many questions !!

Cheers Julie and chat soon.

Regards

Si

[netBookBabe]

Hi Si, I shall endeavour to answer all your questions, but firstly an apology to anyone who thinks this is going off-topic. Nevertheless, I do think we need to address the dilemma of everyone facing end-of-life with the ER5 netBook on whether a Netbook Pro could replace it, or whether something else could be a better choice.

Regarding your points in favour, yes the size and weight of the Vaio is fine, battery life is very acceptable, and sexy - yes! Bluetooth is great and memory stick compatibility with my P800 is very handy.

As for the "againsts", lack of instant-on is a considerable frustration, although hibernation mode can alleviate that somewhat. Lack of PDA features is a pain, and yes, the machine was expensive.

To the questions:

1) Do you use it more than your netBook?In my working life now, yes, mainly because I need to run DVD demos, and also have first class display for still photos. Unfortunately neither breed of netBook can manage that.

2) Do you still use your netBook? if so why?Yes, of course I do! And do you need to ask why? Fabulous keyboard, the Vaio can't come close. Instant-on, fantastic for a fast e-mail check, and brilliant for net surfing over WiFi. The form factor is just easier to handle, sturdier - the Vaio feels rather delicate by comparison.

3) What is the best bit about your Sony?Without question, the screen, but also Bluetooth connectivity with my P800.

4) What is the screen like?Fantastic - if I tell you I used it outdoors in Mallorca on a scorching day in August you will understand!

5) This is a well low powered device....how does it cope with XP?Mine is a slightly slower processor than the more recent models of the TR series, but I find it quite acceptable on XP Pro. Having said that, my desktop PC is a little geriatric, so I'm maybe not the best judge on this one.

6) Is the performance up there with a fairly good pc?See above answer. That said, I think personally I tend to keep a mobile device rather "leaner" than I do a desktop PC - only install what I absolutely need, rather than throwing everything at it So it probably runs better because of that.

7) Can this device really replace a netBookThat's the toughest question, Si. At the end of the day, it's a PC in an (almost) netBook form factor. It's equally portable and only fractionally heavier, which was a major part of the decision for me. I have to be able to carry it with me every day, anywhere, and like the netBook, with this I can.

8) If I get it....will there be a proper Netbook Pro with symbian 7 or Windows CE.Net but with Pocket PC apps (office)Most definitely! This will come to pass the very day after you purchase your netBook replacement, whatever it may be, so I (and most of us here) think you should just get on with it ASAP! lol

Not sure if any of the above will help your dilemma, Si. :(

Julie

[donkeyontheedge]

Hmmm... I am looking at small form factor tablet pcs-cum-laptops just so I have the touch screen capability too.

Anyone know of any small, thin, sexy, tablet laptops with battery life > 4 hours??

John

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by donkeyontheedge
Hmmm... I am looking at small form factor tablet pcs-cum-laptops just so I have the touch screen capability too Strangely enough, that's something I now realise I didn't touch on (no pun intended!) in my above comments, and it's probably because I haven't actually missed having a touch screen on my little Vaio. I think it's because it's a Windows device so I don't *expect* it to have that capability! :eek:

I guess it's a personal thing though - I did consider the tablet devices when buying mine, but found them generally to be much heavier and more bulky than the Vaio I eventually chose.

Julie

[wanman]

Hi Julie and thanks for the very honest answers. I too have been looking at tablet offerings and the ones with keyboards do tend to be a bit more bulky....and I definitely need a keyboard.

This is such a difficult choice as I use my netBook every day for 2-3hrs and any replacement will need to offer me the same flexibility..........damn you Psion........wwwwwhhhhhyyyyyy !!!! ;)

I need to head into town and check out the vaio in a bit more detail.

Cheers again for all you help.....and no this was not off topic as I already suspected that the netBook Pro was never going to give me the alternative I needed. After all it is pretty much a similar price to the Vaio....and that has a DVD Writer !!!

[donkeyontheedge]

Originally posted by netBookBabe
...and it's probably because I haven't actually missed having a touch screen on my little Vaio. I think it's because it's a Windows device so I don't *expect* it to have that capability!

I do PC support for a living, and even though I use a lot of laptops I still find myself poking the screen on an OK prompt and wondering why it isn't doing anything :rolleyes:

I like the idea of what Chris Handley did with his tablet so still want to go down that route... eventually!

John

[wanman]

Lol. I do the same with my lappy !! lol

Heah Jules, have another question. I have just read a review of the T Series and some people posted up that Sony do not supply a windows disk and they partition the hard drive to use Sony's proprietory backup software. Apparently if you reconfigure all this, it invalidates the warranty? The first thing I am going to do if I buy this thing is insert an extra 512mb of ram and then completely re-format / partition the drive 50/50.

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by donkeyontheedge
I do PC support for a living, and even though I use a lot of laptops I still find myself poking the screen on an OK prompt and wondering why it isn't doing anything :rolleyes: Strangely enough, I don't, but then I use the keyboard quite a lot on the netBook anyway, so I guess I'm not a very touch-screen dependent person.

I like the idea of what Chris Handley did with his tablet so still want to go down that route... eventually!I've had the privilege of seeing that in action, and very impressive it is too!

Julie

[wanman]

I am intrigued by this Chris Handley set up now ;)

[netBookBabe]

Si

I'm sure you will have read a while back about Chris's exploits running everything within the netBook emulator on his tablet PC, but here's a reminder link to the thread that documented it:

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums//showthread.php?s=&threadid=18182

Julie

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by wanman
Heah Jules, have another question. I have just read a review of the T Series and some people posted up that Sony do not supply a windows disk and they partition the hard drive to use Sony's proprietory backup software. It's true there is no individual WinXP disk, just a single DVD that contains everything to restore the system to its out-of-the box state if necessary. I think this is pretty standard practice with Sony machines, I don't know about other manufacturers.

This hasn't been a problem to me - my HDD was partitioned 50/50, so that was fine. I've done a fresh install a couple of times and actually found it a convenient method of getting back to normal in minimal time. For backups I tend just to dump files to CD, so I haven't used any Sony software. I guess if you like a different routine that could be a problem, I don't know.

Are you saying you would want to install the OS manually? I wonder if you might run into problems with the designated keys used for certain functions - for example "Fn+F5" controls screen brightness, bringing up an on-screen indicator. I don't know any other way of controlling such things.

In any case, if you were to reconfigure, then presumably unless you had a very serious failure you could restore to original state and get around the warranty issue that way?

The Club Vaio forums are quite helpful on this kind of thing, though I haven't used them in a while and can't remember whether you have to be a registered owner to access - I'll look that up and report back.

Julie

[wanman]

The fn buttons are hardware assigned so no matter what OS you install and no matter how you install it, they would work fine. There may be problems with the extra dvd controlling buttons....but I doubt this would cause too much hassle. As long as all the drivers and applications come on the disk then that would be enough.

One final question before I head over to the vaio forums. I really hate the touchpad on laptops as they get in the way when I am typing. On my Dell laptop, if I have a mouse plugged in, it disables the touchpad. Is there a way of doing the same on the Sony? i.e. touchpad disabled if usb/bt mouse connected?

Ooh and general BT query, can you have more than one bt device connected at once? e.g. mouse and gprs phone?

Cheers for help

Si

[Beakynet]

Originally posted by wanman


Ooh and general BT query, can you have more than one bt device connected at once? e.g. mouse and gprs phone?

Cheers for help

Si

Yes you can.
:)

[netBookBabe]

Aaargh! I did reply to your last post yesterday, Si, but it seems to have vanished into the ether - weird stuff was happening yesterday on the forums, some posts duplicating and triplicating, and others disappearing, it seems!

I've got a note of it on my main PC - will repost again a bit later.

Julie

[wanman]

No worries Julie ;)

Btw just popped over to the Vaio forums and they won't let me in without buying and registering a laptop...doh :D

[busted5mx]

On the subject of netbook replacements, I have several suggestions, all of which have their disadvantages.

The OQO. Very small, pretty expensive for what it is, touch screen with thumboard, runs windows. Has bluetooth/802.11b. It's been several years in development, so we'll see if it ever actually appears. I personally find it a little underwhelming for the price.

12" Apple Powerbook. Yeah, it's a regular full feature laptop. But it's only 10.9x8.6x1.18, 4.6 pounds, and it's best feature is that it doesn't use Windows ;) (unless you want it to, via virtualPC). Powerbooks have tended to have good battery life, but of course never what they claim ;)

A good place to look for stuff like this is at www.dynamism.com. They have a variety of sub-notebooks.

Unfortunately no option has the crucial features of a netbook (instant on, non-Microsoft OS, long battery life etc.), but as long as you were considering a Vaio and were willing to spend Netbook Pro prices...