pocketables

A reader named Jahayra is considering the UX180P as an overpriced replacement for her Sony Clie. She emailed to ask whether the device has been a worthwhile purchase for me.

It's been 7 weeks since the UX first appeared at my door and I honestly haven't spent a single second regretting the purchase. Before placing the order, I spent a week or two digging up info to decide whether it was better suited for me than the Samsung Q1 (which I still intend to buy one of these days). I even went so far as to make paper mockups of both devices. Yes, that's how far my obsessions can take me.

What it came down to was determining why exactly I "needed" it and what I wanted to do with it. I was well aware that for the price, I could easily get a pretty high-end laptop or desktop with superior specs; thus, my decision wasn't based on what offered the most bang for the buck.

I couldn't come up with a single reason why my life depended on the UX. I mean, in truth, no one really needs new gadgets - they're just fun and more convenient than older technology. I came to the conclusion, then, that the only reason to buy the UX was because I wanted it. Plain and simple. The more gadgets shrink, the more I want them. I'm addicted to portable consumer electronics, remember?

A reader by the name of "drvg" recently emailed to find out about UX180P startup times.

I ran the clock from switching on the unit's power to being able to interact with the system normally (opening applications, typing, clicking icons and links, and so on). These aren't absolute numbers, as everyone's times will vary slightly according to startup options and installed software (e.g., anti-virus programs aren't too snappy and usually bog things down a bit). I haven't reconfigured anything in terms of what Windows automatically loads or doesn't load, but disabling certain startup items will likely shave off a few extra seconds.

From standby: 6 seconds
From hibernation: 15 seconds
From cold boot to login screen: 49 seconds
From accepted login: 58 seconds

My UX is set to resume from standby/hibernation without a password prompt, so startup will of course be slower if you need to login first (vice versa for the cold boot scenario).

And since I'll do anything to maintain my longwinded reputation, I also tested the times in reverse.

To standby: 12 seconds
To hibernation: 19 seconds
To complete shut down: 26 seconds

The comments to my last post about viewing comics on the UX180P revealed that I have been completely unaware of a very basic setting in Internet Explorer: automatic image resizing. Since I hope I wasn't the last person on earth to learn about this, I thought I'd pass it along.

The two browsers I use most often are Internet Explorer and Safari. I'm accustomed to web pages and other documents appearing slightly differently on each, so I didn't question anything when the fully loaded images from my last post looked like this on Safari:

and this on Internet Explorer:

I figured it was just one of those things and concluded that without the screen rotation feature on the UX, viewing comics was next to impossible.

Boy, was I wrong (not to mention embarrassed)! Good thing this isn't a site dedicated to Internet Explorer!

UK reader Dominik asked about how well suited the UX180P is for viewing comic book pages. I'm glad he included a few links to check out because I probably would've ended up at a My Little Pony cartoon site on my own. Imagine my surprise when the first link I clicked on began with something about burning flesh. Hmm. Not exactly a comic about rainbows, I guess.

UX in landscape mode
While the images were loading, they looked very promising. I was certain that viewing comics on the UX, even when in landscape mode, would be an enjoyable experience.

But then the images finished loading.

In the next few weeks, I'll be introducing a new series called "Quick Takes," which will be reviews based on short-term usage (1-2 weeks) of recently released gadgets. These will be products that I have out on loan from the lovely folks at Dynamism, who have generously offered to send me all sorts of goodies to write about. Quick Takes will be a supplementary review series that will not replace any of my usual stuff. I don't have all the details worked out yet, but I'm thinking of dividing each QT review into several parts so that I can cover as much as possible within the given timeframe. How many parts will depend on the type of product, as there is more to explore on a UMPC than, say, an mp3 player. Some of the gadgets I hope to review in the coming months are the OQO 01+, Samsung Q1, TabletKiosk eo, Sharp Zaurus SL-C3200, and Toshiba Gigabeat S30.

I'll also be working on a "Reader Requests" series to answer questions that can't fully be addressed via email or in the post comments section. So if you haven't received a response to one of your questions yet, rest assured that I'm not ignoring you!

You can also soon expect to see extended coverage of the Nokia Nseries smartphones. I'm getting the entry-level model, the N70, later this week and will eventually get other models from the series. My primary interest in the devices derived from the fact that the Nseries is being advertised not as phones, but as multimedia computers. We'll just have to see about that.