Pro Foleo

You've probably seen the lustworthy pictures of HP's rumoured Eee-like UMPC. This system, if true, seems to fix a lot of what is wrong with the Eee, namely the cramped, rattletrap keyboard. The 2133 has a keyboard that is 95% of full size, with a display that measures 8.9". The processor will be a low-cost, low-power Via chip. According to Cnet's Crave blog, sources at HP say the 2133 will have much better battery life than any previous UMPC and will be priced very competitively. One HP staff said, "You won't even need to consider this purchase. You'll buy it like a handphone without a thought".

Hmmm… Very tempting. So Foleo-like. Let's hope HP decides that the system needs to be functionally mobile in addition to physically mobile. No Windows Vista! Or at least offer a version with a lightweight OS that can be up and running in a couple of seconds.

Oh, and you have to read this article by Erica Ogg over at Cnet, titled "Palm Foleo: Not such a dumb concept afterall." It is ironic that Palm was first to this new market, and yet is reaping none of the benefits. It's also puzzling how so many Foleo-critics now love the Eee and Eee-inspired laptops.

I still have hope that once Palm OS II is finished, we will indeed see a Foleo-like device from Palm. The way the market has changed, they'd be silly not to. (I'll probably have to find a new blog name, though. I can't imagine they'd use the Foleo name again.)

Packard Bell just announced its new EasyNote XS (left), a 7-inch laptop based on Via's Nanobook Ultra Mobile Device reference device. The EasyNote XS is essentially a regular Windows laptop in a very small (and kind of odd-looking) form factor. The machine offers:

…built-in Wi-Fi, a VGA webcam, 4-in-1 memory card reader, two USB ports and stereo speakers. There's up to 1024MB of RAM and 30GB hard drive. It runs the same full version of Windows XP Home Edition as a desktop PC does. The ultra-low power consumption of VIA Ultra Mobile Platform claims to give the XS extra-long battery life–more than 3 hours with Wi-Fi on.

While a lot of folks have said that the Nanobook design will "kill off" the Foleo once and for all, I don't really see how this is any different than any other UMPC out there, except this one has a keyboard. (And the price may be better, too.) But otherwise the EasyNote seems like it'll be plagued by the same things everyone hates about a regular laptop–bloat, boot time and bad battery life, to name a few.

The EasyNote XS will certainly do more stuff than a Foleo, but with it's low-power CPU and tiny display, it doesn't seem like it will do any of those extra things very well. Photo editing? Games? No thanks.

I suspect most people will use these Nanobooks for e-mail, Internet and working on office documents. Sounds like another machine I know about.

When searching for alternatives to the Foleo, one cannot avoid at least a quick look at the Asus Eee PC, another low-cost, Linux-based laptop alternative. One of the strongest initial criticisms of the Foleo was that it didn't have enough functionality for the price. So when the more powerful Eee PC was announced at $199–less than half the price of the Foleo–the blogosphere firmly declared Palm's device DOA.

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It amuses me to no end when I stumble across these blog entries declaring the Palm Foleo DOA because some other cool gadget has come out that is so much way more awesomer n' stuff. This time around, Aaron at the Morning Paper has a round up of reviews for the HTC Advantage:

…at roughly $900, the Advantage seems to be far ahead on connectivity, usefulness, installed applications and overall positive reactions. The fact it already has phone connectivity would put this as the real competition to the Foleo in my opinion.

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