Recent Comments:
"Bionic" goose happy to have new leg, disappointed by lack of retractable laser cannon {Engadget}
Jul 12th 2009 11:11AM If I ever have a problem I want to be treated at TiggyWinkles Wildlife Hospital.
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXIII: VAIO W netbook clone handily beats Sony to market {Engadget}
Jul 12th 2009 10:31AM 1) this article is about a fake VAIO-branded product, not made by Sony
2) nowhere does it speak negative of Sony (if you feel it does, please mention where)
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXIII: VAIO W netbook clone handily beats Sony to market {Engadget}
Jul 12th 2009 10:27AM What the Chinese don't know is that I'd be more satisfied without the VAIO branding (or any branding) as long as the quality is there. If companies want to pay me to advertise their stuff, that is another thing...
Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXII: Looks like "WeFound" a total Kindle ripoff {Engadget}
Jul 12th 2009 10:21AM Kindle still doesn't do native PDF, right?
Kindle still has that horrible keyboard (as opposed to just bad keyboard and button placement of its predecessor, right?)
Is WEFOUND the joke here? Hmm, I don't know, but I do know one thing:
They should have come up with their own exterior... but then again they probably wouldn't be getting this free publicity on Engadget :) People like to associate with familiar things... I guess it would make the purchase easier for them if they can say it's "just like the Kindle...".
Doesn't seem too much cheaper, but I am willing to bet it is PDF-friendly.
How would you change Sony's OLED Walkman? {Engadget}
Jul 12th 2009 9:49AM http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/05/sony-oled-walkman-impressions/
I just re-read this review.
Today's portable market is a mixed bag - a bag that I will be unwilling to pay for. But let's not talk in generalities, let's just see what this product offers while being as fair and consistent as I can:
+ I love that videos are portable in today's market. It's great.
- I hate that in this device "...Sony has inexplicably crippled the video mode to handle 320 x 240 clips at a maximum in most scenarios" to quote the review. How 'bout improving the most basic things possible here?
+ I love that the 3 inch OLED is supposedly nicer (though I have no direct experience with it yet)
- how is the longevity of that OLED screen? Seems to be an unknown nobody talks about, despite the fact that OLED and longevity discussions are far from over.
+ I love solid build quality
- What good is solid build quality when you have a design with a non-removable rechargeable battery which cannot be replaced by the user after 300-500 charges and no longer holds a suitable usable charge? What is the good of a solid build; presumably it is so a device lasts a long time without breaking, right? How does it matter when consumables are integrated and you can't replace them without surgery? How much is a replacement battery? Does anyone ask Sony? Does anyone put any pressure on Sony to be forthcoming with the answer like they do Apple? Do people even ask why the battery is non-removable?
http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/battery/
It seems the answer is NO, we don't want to think about these things. We'll happily pay 400 bucks (!) for a disposable device.
+ I love that this device supposedly has great sound quality
- What good is great sound if you are stuck with listening to AAC and MP3? What good is lossless when it's WAV which cannot be tagged and takes up huge space on a fixed storage device? The focus on sound is sub-par without a lossless codec. Simple as that. FLAC is royalty-free for Sony to implement (just like Sandisk, Cowon, Archos and others did), yet we want to reward their absolute laziness and insistence that it's all about the sound by buying this supposedly premium product?
+ I hate running out of power
- This device has no removable battery, again. Who can use this for trips away from power. Who can use this device with no fear when leaving the house half or a quarter charged?
+ I love having lots of space. Modern devices carry more and more.
- This device is hampered by fixed storage with no ability to expand it as time goes on and/or your needs change and/or the flash storage fails. Flash media halves in price (or doubles in capacity) every 12-18 months and these guys like to take advantage of the market by fitting this with non-removable flash. Even without mentioning that flash media has a limited write life and fails like anything else (without the option for replacement), who wants to be stuck with the same storage a year or two from now - assuming the device is still working then? All the new devices will take advantage of the gains in flash storage and drops in price, while you can't. Designed for disposal.
+ I love a good browser.
- Unfortunately, Sony know this is not their strong suit and the pre-production version Engadget tested conveniently didn't allow for testing of it.. ;) Plus how useful will it be without QWERTY, seriously? PSP-level functionality? - which incidentally is cheaper, has a bigger screen and can play your games AND has great audio (supply your own headphones, though). Sure, no OLED, but not 400 USD either.
+ I love native OS drag n drop
- This Sony seemingly has USB Mass Storage (?) but the comments on this post (WMP, etc) have got me second-guessing the implementations. Answers?
+ I love good navigation, but more than that, physical buttons and remotes, so I don't have to take it out or fumble with the top buttons in my pocket when listening to music.
- This product sort of tries, but it comes with no remote like old-school CD Walkmans or MiniDisc (or modern Hi-MD). 400 bucks?
+ I love the ability to use an AC adaptor at home
- No go on 99% of modern devices, it seems - including this one.
+ I love high-powered headphone outputs, to drive more 'difficult' bigger headphones to adequate volumes.
- I'm lead to believe this device still has 5mW+ 5mW (into 16 ohm) headphone outputs, like all the rest of their Walkmans and PSPs, which is par for the course, but still sub-par in 2009 on a device that claims a premium price, yes? Especially when their competitors often come with half-decent headphone amps (and their older stuff did), and their own PCM-D50 (totally unrelated awesome recording device) comes with a superb headphone amplifier with incredible sound!
$400?
No royalty-free FLAC.
No royalty-free Ogg Vorbis.
No removable battery.
No removable storage.
No wired remote.
Video size constraints (??)
No battery replacement cost policy even mentioned on their website like their main competitor (which is a bare minimum for designed-for-disposal devices, I think).
Sub-par browser (or at best a rudimentary one), if comments are anything to go by?
$400 (?)
Translucent XCM Eye Candy case encourages licking of DSi {Engadget}
Jul 10th 2009 1:43AM I would prefer my sensitive electronic workhorse gaming devices to be shielded from the sun and cheap fluorescent and incandescent light, the poor precious things.
Also, at my last meeting with the components, we expressed strong desire to avoid hideous appearances and also expressed our reservations about the quality of third-party shells. We reached a unanimous agreement that Ma & Pa (ie. Nintendo) knows best.
Researchers use Bluetooth to track festival goers, make fun of their 'hippie dancing' {Engadget}
Jul 4th 2009 4:37AM unneeded; we already give our personal information, interest, desires and life stories plainly and freely on social networks and blogs ;)
How would you change the Palm Pre? {Engadget}
Jul 4th 2009 4:26AM As a non-user of large, unpocketable-without-discomfort phones, I would like to give this phone the opportunity to be smaller.
Far smaller.
I suggest:
* half the screen size with normal, unslidey, in-your-face QWERTY.
* Speaking of face, I would like no Facebook and/or other social network nonsense on my phone; I don't care for it, and naturally, neither should they because the earth revolves around my needs :) When I see small great phones with great sound quality, reception and battery life, then I know there is a god.
* Speaking of god, (s)he approves of MicroSD, but Palm doesn't - and makes lame excuses for its non-inclusion:
http://www.precentral.net/palm-product-manager-comments-why-no-microsd-palm-pre
Therefore it's only logical to conclude that Palm may be considered un-god-like.
Usability:
I'm sure I'd have a lot of nit-picks but I haven't played with such a device yet. Make GSM version which is small, has great battery life, allows navigation with real buttons and d-pads and rock-solid reliability with no social network and internet distractions, thank you :)
Men of yesteryear had it right without this touchy slidey nonsense :)
With all due respect, congratulations on the removable battery.
Researchers use Bluetooth to track festival goers, make fun of their 'hippie dancing' {Engadget}
Jul 4th 2009 4:10AM cameraless, bluetoothless, anti-establishment (?) phones FTW.
Windows 7 release to manufacturing reportedly on track for July 13th {Engadget}
Jul 4th 2009 3:59AM Everyone knows Windows 2000 and Windows XP cannot be killed.
No matter how hard you try to convince the masses, and no matter how much weight and cushy deals you have with hardware manufacturers, and no matter how much you speak about DirectX, Internet Explorer, collaboration, 3D shenanigans, translucent windows, time-savings and productivity of the 'knowledge worker'.
See you in 2012 with Windows XP and Windows 2000. Har.
Regards,
Seen-It-All-Before
