Clio NXT pushed back to fall
By Marc Perton 
posted July 11th 2005 1:20PM
posted July 11th 2005 1:20PM
Looks like those
rumors of a delayed launch for the Clio NXT were right,
after all. The long-awaited successor to the cult Windows CE-based laptop/tablet was due out in April, but manufacturer
Data Evolution now says the NXT won't be available until the fall, due to engineering delays. Specs seem basically
unchanged from earlier announcements: 400 MHz Intel PXA255, WiFi, an 800x600 display, SD, CF and PC Card slots, and a
list price of $999. And yeah, we still kind of want one even though with that neither-PDA-nor-laptop design we're not
quite sure what we'd actually use it for.
800x600 display... gross.
800x600 is actually pretty nice for an in-between PDA/Laptop.
BTW, Engadget (or Weblogs, Inc.) what's with no favicon.ico? The 4 Weblogs blogs on my Firefox toolbar are bare, every other site has 'em.
I used to have the Sharp TriPad (which the Clio Vadem cloned). The specs at the time were pretty good (although terrible by today's standards).
An 800x600 display would be nice, especially if you only ever used this device as a remote terminal for your server (think Remote Desktop'ing). I still own my Mobilepro 780 (with a mandatory bluetooth and wifi upgrade) and I use it to remotely control my server when I'm out and about.
These kinds of devices might not have as big of a place in the computer market as laptops do, but they have a place nonetheless.
for that kind of price, i would add 300$ and take mebius muramasa from icube.us
I own a laptop that I purchased soley for reading web pages via wi-fi networks. I use it around the house, at the coffee shops for lunch, etc.. I'd gladly trade the full power of a laptop for the limited power of a CE machine just to gain the instant-on and lighter weight.
I'd grab one if it ran Symbian instead of CE. Oh well...
Needs a touchscreen.. Those weird hinges look like you can flip the screen backwards and use it as a touchscreen, but the article says that it only has a trackpad.
These are cool, I have one of the originals on my self. But I never use it because it is so limited. In fact, I only have it because my boss bought it and never used it as well. Then he gave it to me.
These would be a lot more reasonable at maybe half the price, but come on, $1k for that!? Get an iBook. Then you could watch movies and listen to music.
It IS a touchscreen. That is half the appeal. If you've ever seen the original, you would see that there simply isn't room for a trackpad. The keyboard takes up all available space on the bottom slice.
We (the handheld pc community) have been waiting for this thing to come out since the dawn of time.. I'm just about giving up on it.
Looks like my Mobilepro 790 is going to have to keep doing what it does best :D
It's true they're having problems getting this product out. I'm on the inside though and know it is not really the fault of Data Evolution (the company making the Clio NXT).
The reality is that Clio was a great product before and should be again. The updates may need to be updated again though, if it doesn't come out soon.
Dale
Beware! Just about everyone that had the Clio 1050 got screwed as the company that repaired them ran out of parts (Compusult), and their service was terrible! They sure look cool, but the fact is they are horribly unreliable past 1yr of use.
They make no mention of their warranty, and will probably not offer an advance replacement or extended warranty. A similar product would be the P1000 series from Fujitsu that for about $300-500 more you get a real pen notebook from a real company with a real hard drive and a real warranty that can be extended up to 3 years. Even an onsite option. We have replaced a few Clios with these and it is night and day. A new model P1500 coming out this month (you can actually get one this month) will have a swivel screen like a tablet PC.
The Clio was first owned by Vadem, then Mainstreet, then The Pinax Group, now DataEvolution. No financials on this current company so who knows till the next name. They were taking pre-orders all year for a February release and not until July 11, 2005 did they announce the delay until fall? I predict some serious problems with the design is causing this huge delay.
Buy this cool looking computer at your own risk if they are ever available. Appearance can be very deceiving! If you consider this disposable, then go for it!
Lets give the Clio the rest it deserves and put it out of it's misery. There are other much better products out there from much bigger and more stable companies with a warranty to stand behind it. Clio..RIP.
It looks like we have two tribes here; the "get a real notebook" crowd, and the rest of us. If you want a small, but real, notebook, this ain't the place to be. The Clio doesn't do everything poorly, it doees a few things masterfully. I have a Tri-pad, and have pulled it out of the PDA museum (my bookshelves) for an occasional use as recent as this week. There is NOTHING that beats the Clio for writing on an airplane, period. The swivel screen can accomodate any degree of recline the person in front of you chooses. The instant-on is also very welcome before, durring, and after a flight. The reason my Tri-pad doesn't have a fulltime job is it's lack of wireless. If DataEvolution survives Katrina and can release this before it's outdated again, I will probably buy one. Then again, in this industry, a lot can happen in a week.
Long Live Clio!