Thursday, October 26, 2006

Raon Digital Vega in Australia

If you’re anything like me – and I know a few of you are – the smell of freshly pressed Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is considered an absolute turn-on. So when Tegatech Australia, Master Distributors of the Raon Digital Vega, released photos of Australia’s first Vega shipment I couldn’t help but post them on the UberTablet Blog.

What I found to be the highlight, other than the device, was the sexy packaging! It surely looks like OEM’s are getting their act together and releasing shit hot Retailable products – either that or ex-Apple Marketing Execs are getting paid more money (and dealing with less headaches away from Steve J) by getting involved in the UMPC/UPPC market.

Check out one of the batches on its way out here:

matte black boxes - minimilistic

User Manual - in English (how novel)

It only gets better inside - smells like retail

Finally...we have Vega

Since I’ve owned my Vega I proudly reported that I completely avoided the need to buy an iPod. Not that I hate iPod, I do believe that there is little that could ever compete with the look, however, without an Operating System I can’t see the point. The Vega now sits in my car and plays my VLOGS and BLOGS happily, and even simultaneously, and I only need to charge it once a day due to its 5.5hrs batter life (7hrs + if I turn of the screen via hotkeys) ...Apple meet iVega!

SO perhaps Neil was right, these products should be in Retail.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the white tiles for the background. Good creative, cheap, solution.

Gives great contrast to the boxes.

Oh what are generous soul your wife must be ... 8-)

Anonymous said...

Good call. I must say the "retail-ly" packaging can only help.

From the shots tho' it seems as though WinXP Home is packaged with the box... Isn't the whole idea of UMPC to allow the tablet-ey experience?

I must say however 5+ hours is very cool. I have the Pioneer H70 (rebranded EO I think - which I think is rebranded ECS) and I get 2 hours.

Perhaps an upgrade is the answer.

jt

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Samiuela,

Contrast, tiles and boxes are all a coincidence more than a setup. My wife, bless her soul, puts up with too much from me - being non-stop Mr.Tablet Guy and all!

Hi JT,

You reckon the OEMs would at least put XP Pro. I asked Raon Digital about the Tablet OS and they said that they preferred not to place it on there for the moment due to the touch screen being “not acceptable.” By that they meant too sensitive for the pen. So rather than ship a second rate device they chose to play it safe. Good call I think at this stage.

By the way, the Vega is considered a Ultra Portable PC (UPPC) and not a Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) which is an official moniker of the Microsoft Origami inspired project – it’s all about the User License agreement. LOL

Anonymous said...

Wow, great photos. Makes me want to have one of these.

Did you ever use an OQO? I wonder how these compare to the OQO, speed-wise and also battery-wise...

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hu Helge,

I haven't used an OQO personally but I do hear good things. I would be interested in trying one in order to compare it - having said that I am finding hard to pass the day without my Vega...love it!

If I get my hands on a OqO the Blog will be the first to know.

Anonymous said...

For the Vega, do you consider it fast enough for everyday use like internet access (opera as a browser probably), light office work and video playback (I do have doubts that the Geode is really able to play Xvid videos or DVDs)?

I'm currently trying to decide whether my next mobile computer will be the Vega, an OQO, or an older Sony U-series (U750p/U71)...

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Helge,

I cannot say how it compares to the others. Regrettably! What I can say is that I have fielded emails from people that received their first shipment of Vega's and the feedback has been tremendous.

In my household the Vega is used as a VLOG viewer, as Music/Media catcher for playback in the car. I have installed office on there and it works fine.

I am a true believer that the device has lots of merits - as long as you're not trying to replace a desktop with it.

I'll post a video soon.

Anonymous said...

I am one of the lucky ones to receive the Vega on friday. first impressions are good. with fantastic screen.
Would love a bigger hard drive and built in Hi fi.
Fast enough for Microsoft Outlook. Also able to play a full mpg video Using Mplayer classic without a hitch.
Have also Stored alot Of home movies and photos all of which show beautifully on this screen.
(used ritepen to write this)

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Gus,

How cool - even ritepen works on the touch Screen. Cool!

Love the device and the packaging rocks! Keeps us posted.

Anonymous said...

how do you use it as a audio center in your car? can you hook it up to the car entertainment system?

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Anonymous,

I went into my local Consumer Electronics Store and looked at the iPod styled radio tuners and ended up settling on the old fashioned cassette tape with speaker cable jobbie!

It was next to nothing in cost and works a charm. Given the battery life of the Vega I don't need a car charger as I get up to 7hrs when I turn off the LCD. So Car is easy, and effective.

Good question.

Anonymous said...

plan to buy the vega as my travel pc,internetsurf, email, audio and video player, car gps, external hdd....all in one super gadget.
anything of the above it would not do resonably well? can it replace eg a creative zen to download and watch movies?

Highly appreciate your input!

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Anonymous,

The Vega "is" the iPod, Creative, killer. Since owning one I've spent many happy hours in bed, longe room and office just streaming media and music. The only thing we need to know is that Vega is not a notebook killer - it is a media unit with heaps more.

Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

thanks for your feedback, it's definitely helpfull! so far was travelling with a 3G cell phone, a blackberry, mp3 player, a subnotebook and sometimes an aftermarket gps unit. Will order the Vega today to replace all of the above, except for the cellphone!

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Ha, that was almost too easy. Let me know how you go and what you think. The best bit about Vega is the batter life and screen quality, i.e. 5.5hrs battery life and a screen brightness to combat any media player on the market.

Glad I did help and welcome back again and again - anonymous.

Anonymous said...

as promised ordered my Vega two days ago from dynamism and got it yesterday (great service), looks and feels great, phantastic screen, installed office pro 2003-works fine, webbrowsing via wifi fast and easy, great as music player-even built in speakers are of a reasonable quality, downloaded videos from laptop, but had problems to play them, try to find the ideal GPS solution (software and bluetooth receiver-any good ideas?
Your advice is highly appreciated.

Eko Endarto said...

dear hugo,
i had raon vega too, but loosing the vga adapter.
is that true that the adapter is the same as the mac adapter ?

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Mate I don't know!!! So sorry. I never heard, or bothered trying. Sorry mate!