Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet UMPC Reviewed (Verdict: Needs EV-DO)
Laptop magazine has a pair of interesting reviews online today, one of the miniscule Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet UMPC (which, if it had built-in EV-DO, would probably be mine); and a spin with the production model of the One Laptop Per Child XO laptop.
From the U810 review:
The small keyboard takes some getting used to. It's too small for regular typing but too big for thumb typing, which means you need to set the system down and peck with your pointers. We don't mind that for quick e-mails, but we certainly didn't have the patience to type this review on it. The small keyboard is to be expected, but packing as many as three functions on a key is too much. Also, the Tab key is combined with the too-small space bar, and there's no right-Shift key. The function commands are combined with the number keys, and--our biggest gripe--the arrow keys require the function command to work, since they're combined with the period and backslash keys.I bet I could touch type on it. I can even sort of touch type on the OLPC XO and it has the worst keyboard in modern laptop history. It is my only technical gift.
(Also, Laptop, my friends. Any ad where guitar players jump out of the side of the screen and walk all over the type is bad ad. Please make those go away so I may continue to look to your content.)
Fujitsu LifeBook U810 Tablet PC [LaptopMag.com]
Hands-On with One Laptop Per Child's XO Laptop [LaptopMag.com]
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I was actually interested in this product, but the Verizon ad that popped up over the first paragraph and, near as I could tell, couldn't actually be dismissed, means I didn't read the review, won't be back to laptop magazine, and am one step closer to dropping Verizon as a carrier, which I'd been considering anyway thanks to their recent lawsuit over the 700 band auction.
In case anyone else from foreignistan is wondering, like I did, what the hey EV-DO is: It's something along the lines of UMTS (WCDMA) and HSDPA, but for the US (and parts of Asia, apparently). I.e. it's what Joel would need for 3G data connections.
Interesting, it uses a lithium iron phosphate (LiFeP) battery, which is a variation on the usual Li-ion (normally Li-ions use a different anode).
"Any ad where guitar players jump out of the side of the screen and walk all over the type is bad ad. "
I agree completely - and this is what the Firefox extensions Adblock Plus (with the Filterset G Updater) and Flashblock were invented for. Bad ads = blocked ads. (I had no such trouble at the site, due to the above).
The keyboard looks to be only slightly smaller than that of my Vaio U101, which has a lot more keys. And I'm touch-typing on that right now.
Suffering through the verizon ad and idiotic guitar player was bad enough the first time, but since Laptop (seemingly intentionally) parsed the review to no less than 9 pages (each with only 2-3 paragraphs) I was forced to suffer through it over and over again. First and last time I will be visiting that site.