OQO it is!

I could not resist. After much consideration over 72 hours I have decided to head back to the OQO. I could not resist its sexy looks, its pocketable design, its Active Digitizer screen, its effortless keyboard, and more. With so many devices to choose from I still could not find a way to replace my OQO...and believe me I tried!

I looked high and low for a device that suits all my needs and narrowed it down to the Shift (still not out) and the OQO. I can honestly say however that the OQO is still as appealing to me as the day I first received it and for that reason I am back! In fact I am so back that I have ordered the 1.6GHz e2 with 32GB SSD! When it arrives you can definitely expect more camera action from me.

In the mean time the trusty Toshiba R400 is packed up with its dock, its extended battery and accessories, and sits idly under my desk playing second fiddle to a device a tenth of its size.

Too funny.

Are you in Queensland?

If you’re in Queensland Australia next Tuesday the 27th of November then you may want to come along to the Microsoft building for a UMPC geek out! If you happen to be around then you are most welcome to attend the Brisbane SBS UG held at the Microsoft building between the hours of 17:30 and 20:00.

The Microsoft inspired User Groups are some of the most fun gathering you will attend all year. They are an opportunity to meet with some real life experts and come face-to-face with like minded folks from all walk’s of life.

I will be presenting (no surprise) on UMPC trends and will have a swag full of gear including the Sahara i440D, the SunPad, the OQO e2, the Q1U, the Shift, the EVERUN and more... One of my good mates, and all round fanatic, Wayne Small will also be there. If you have never heard Wayne speak on SBS then you have not heard anything!

So if you’re in town, or want to fly in for the evening then be sure to come up and say hello.

Here are the details:

This is your final reminder for next weeks Brisbane SBS UG meeting (Tues 27th Nov), which is our last formal SBS focused meeting for 2007, so please try and join us.

It will be a jam packed night, as we have three great presentations....
1. Sydney SBS-MVP - Wayne Small, will show us the new Trend Micro Worry Free Remote Manager 2. Sydney Mobility-MVP - Hugo Ortega - will share with us his infinite wisdom on the latest UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) devices.
and
3. Acronis and Datastor (www.datastor.com.au) will talk to us about the new Acronis "Echo", which is the replacement for the current True Image Server 9 product.

So, lot's of cool *NEW TECHNICAL* stuff.

I will create a Poll for your RSVP's, so please keep an eye open for the email soon.

Thanks, hope to see you next week.

Stu

Meeting Information:
Date: Tuesday 27th Nov 2007
Time: 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Cost: Admission and refreshments are FREE!
Location: Microsoft Brisbane
Building: Level 9, Waterfront Place, 1 Eagle Street, Brisbane Qld 4000
Room: Follow the signs when you leave the lift.

Note: Arrive at 5:30pm for Pizza, then a 6:00pm start
*Please arrive before 6pm as the lift security activates automatically.
*Should you arrive after 6pm, call Stuart Applegate's mobile

Contact: Stuart Applegate (stuart at businesscomputing dot com dot au)

Which device...next?

So I’m finally home and after shaking some heavy jetlag and I must admit I am glad. Not only was I greeted by the reality that the holiday was over, but as consolation I now have a plethora of UMPC to deal with! Admittedly the one UMPC I was most happy to see was the Fujitsu U1010. I don’t know why but it just seems to have this certain magnetism about it. Maybe it is the white coloured shell, or maybe the all-in-one design; either way it was a pleasant surprise. The second device which caught my attention was the TufTab. This unit was a little quirky at first sight but now it just seems to make a lot of sense. In a world full of pace and often full of mishaps, the semi rugged case just seemed to make new sense.

As I sit here staring down the barrel of the gun I realise I am facing a new game of Russian roulette. Now that I have returned from abroad I feel it time to change machines...again. As many of you know it was the Toshiba R400 that was my companion for the last several months. There were several reasons why I chose this unit, i.e. large screen resolution, bright display, nice keyboard, lightweight design, great extended battery option, and great tablet PC experience in pen mode. The fact remains however that the predominant reason for taking this device overseas was that it provided the best desktop replacement experience.

Now that I am back I no longer need the desktop replacement experience as I have monitors and large keyboards that I can use from any room in my home or office so (happily) the need to replace a desktop, while on the road, is no longer there. So here is my new dilemma. Which unit next???

Ultimately I have decided to sell the 3-month old Toshiba R400, with extended battery, with 4GB of RAM and with docking station. It is sad to see it go but three months is long enough. LOL. Faced with the decision of finding a replacement device I am however still struggling. What I would like to know from you is if money were no option, which device, out of the current assortment available in the world, would you go for?

I’m thinking the following:

• Shift: great mobile unit with 3G embedded. Big plus. (crap battery life)
• Q1U: great device overall with the organiser pack and nice extended battery options (poor pen features and bulky when fully accessorised.)
• OQO e2 SSD: this sounds like a great unit with lots of positive features. The big plus is I get to use a lot of existing accessories. (Tiny screen when on the road)
• EVERUN: The Docking station is great and battery life is unbeatable. (specifications are the killer here.)
  

What do you guys/gals think? I will try the HUGOMETER out on myself and let you kow the results.

PS. If you are interested in buying the R400 with all its gear then (email: hugo at Tegatech dot com dot au). The price is $2500 AUD for the lot ($2,200 USD) + freight.

When three devices are not enough

Geekish smiles over free WiFi and a couple of Tablets!

Coming back from Europe was a little sad. We had such a great time that the journey back was filled with ambiguous feelings. Ironically, and to seemingly make it worse still, we ended up having cancelled flights and extended transits. The first hiccup was in Vienna where we had a cancelled flight on the way to Dubai. The flight was cancelled as we were boarding the plane and came after 180 minutes of delays. Luckily in my bag I had three Tablets, i.e. the Toshiba R400, the OQO 02, and the Samsung Q1U.

As I looked around the terminal earlier that evening there were many faces now starting to look familiar. These were the burdened faces of passengers on our same flight; all gloomy with the look of boredom and disappointment. Amongst this group I ended up pumping into an Indian Businessman from Madras who was having issues with his Dell. Interestingly he was a Mobility Expert who was focused purely on phones and PDAs so when I offered him the Q1U to check his emails (to kill his woes) the look on his face was priceless.

The first look was one of inquisitiveness; the second was one of excitement, and the last look was one of relief that such a device existed. We ended up sharing stories and chatting for well over 90 minutes. The only interruption to our geekish bliss was the fact that my son, Leon, wanted the Q1U back!!!! HAHAHA.

Sprekensi deutch?

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

(Sorry about the spelling in my title. It was due to a really lame Google search on my behalf. LOL)

I’m slowly making my way back to the blog and I must admit I am as pumped as ever. I have so many exciting things to talk about and look forward to posting a video soon enough. On this occasion I am writing to you however from Sydney, but bring news from Europe.

Over the years the blog as been very good to me (and I have been good to the blog). I have made many friends, albeit mostly virtual, and am always pleasantly surprised to learn of their location in the Globe, and their orientation in life. Today I am posting an excerpt from one of the uberTablet family who actually lives in Germany. He is a keen Sailor and Gadgeteer also; he writes articles regarding both his passions and publishes them in his native language...Deutch.

His name is Manfred and on this occasion he has included some UMPC tails too. So for those of you that can speak German head on over to his website and download the PDF. For those of you that cannot (like me) then here is a brief description by Manfred of what he wrote:

please follow the link below and click on FoolproofXV it will open a pdf-file and on the following pages you will find yourself as image or text.

Pages:

45 - I'm telling, that you've lost your camcorder by theft and that you had to stop your podcasts for a while

76 - showing that you're dancing on all wedding partys ( a German saying, if you can find somebody in all places )

132 - telling that you got all the wow news

Download the PDF here

Have fun.

Kindest regards
Manfred

Rugged gets UMPC

A friend of mine and his father are planning to walk the Kokoda Trail next year in July to raise some money and awareness for Camp Quality. As admirable as this may sound it is not till there is mention of a Tablet PC that my ears spike up! LOL.

James (one of my favourite travel companions) will walk the Kokoda Trail and will include a UMPC or Tablet on his journey. I know he is hunting for something with good battery life, and some rugged features, i.e. something like the Nova SunPad or the EO TufTab.
This is a truly admirable course of action he has taken and if any of you are interested you can sponsor James and his father or just post him some words or encouragement on his blog.

Has anyone been there? Is it tough?

PS. I'm still on holidays so regular reporting will recommence soon.