Recent Comments:
Fujitsu's LifeBook P8010 now available for purchase {Engadget}
Feb 13th 2008 2:26PM Wrong direction, Fujitsu! My P7120 is 10.28" x 7.83" x 1.26" - about the size of a hardcover book. If I read the specs on the P8010 correctly, its 11.2" x 8.26" x 1.37", close to the size of a standard sheet of paper.
I greatly prefer the "thicker but small" form factor over the "flat and wide" dimensions of the Macbook Air. I'm quite disappointed that the P series is getting wider, the display on mine is just about perfect. I wouldn't mind a smaller bezel and more pixels, but if increasing the screen requires growing the whole beast, I'll pass.
Black Friday Giveaways (part 12): Sony PSP {Engadget}
Nov 24th 2007 12:24PM insert insightful comment here
Black Friday Giveaways (part 13): Slingbox Pro + HD Connect Cable {Engadget HD}
Nov 24th 2007 12:22PM insert insightful comment here
Black Friday Giveaways (part 18): Neuros OSD + 160GB drive {Engadget}
Nov 24th 2007 12:19PM insert insightful comment here
Black Friday Giveaways (part 19): Wii + Metroid Prime 3 and more {Engadget}
Nov 24th 2007 12:17PM insert insightful comment here
Pure Digital reveals YouTube-friendly Flip Video Ultra camcorder {Engadget}
Sep 12th 2007 3:35PM I bought an older version of the 2Gb PureDigital to use for recording motorcycle rides. The price makes it basically disposable (compared to a digital camcorder or my Archos PMA430+bulletcam).
The down sides of the old one: the form factor makes it hard to mount, and the battery life is basically barely long enough to record continuously for 30 minutes.
I'm probably going to see if I can hack it to run off bike power.
Quality is reasonable, the biggest issue was that it was lousy with variable light levels, blooming out or going dark too often.
Sony's new VAIO TX2 line of ultra-portables {Engadget}
Jan 17th 2006 10:59AM Lets hope its better than the TX. I used to have a TR3, which I loved to death. When I got the TX as its replacement, it was like they had gone out of their way to screw up everything I loved. Sure, the screen was gorgeous, the form factor perfect. But the keyboard? Slippery "flat" keys, horrible for typing quickly. They moved the whole key grid down closer to the bottom edge, so my fingers ended up uncomfortably curled up if I had the heel of my hand on the edge. Some people complained it felt flimsy, which it did, but that seems like the tradeoff for the form factor. The external antenna was kind of annoying as well.
The kicker, however, was its power management. At both "max power savings" and "max performance", the fan would wibble on and off, every 5-10 seconds, with just enough delay that you'd be anticipating it. It was like water torture. On some of the forums people were like "what are you talking about? The fan is quiet!" Maybe if you're in a room, with music blaring, or in the store. But not in a quiet room where you're trying to get work done. I've been working on compiler code for work, head-meltingly hard stuff, and when the tool you're using is distracting you, its time for it to go. Oh yes, did I mention that I actually use these things to do work? Yes. You can do that with this form factor. The secret is to load them to the gills with memory, and turn off swapping. A full compile of the product I work on is about 2 minutes on the laptop, compared to 1 minute on a 3ghz desktop. Not too shabby.
So anywho, I ended up replacing the TX with a Fujitsu Lifebook P7120D. Same screen as the older Vaio TR3, but with a very usable keyboard, and NO FAN. NONE AT ALL. Gotta love it.
Oh, and Fujitsu sales/tech support is ADORABLE... they're based in Ottawa, and they're so freekin' friendly and accomodating its ridiculous. They're like the anti-Sony.
