Earlier this month, I posted a big chart comparing the lowest priced UMPCs. I promised to do individual comparisons and this is the first of those comparisons. I was inspired by last week by a great article about where Palm went wrong with the Foleo and I'd like to take this opportunity to go into a few details about how the VIA NanoBook stacks up against the Palm Foleo.
Full VIA NanoBook / Palm Foleo comparison after the jump.
The first thing to be noticed between these two devices is that they are very different in terms of size. The NanoBook sports a 7" screen, while the Foleo has a large 10.2" display. With the size difference comes a weight difference, the Foleo is about 30% heavier than the NanoBook. Couple the increased weight with the larger footprint and the Foleo starts to look a lot less like a ultra mobile solution and more like an ultra portable notebook.
The display on the Foleo will definitely be more readable with a higher resolution of 1024x600 and larger area. But you may find it hard to fill all that screen real estate because the Foleo only runs Linux. While I'm sure Palm's applications will run perfectly well on the Foleo and connectivity with your smartphone will be seamless, you won't be doing much else on it. The NanoBook on the other hand will run Windows and all the applications that you've become accustomed to using. And if you desire, you can load Linux on the NanoBook and take advantage of many of the new mobile applications being developed on that platform.
One of the shining points of the Foleo is that it does have instant-on, if you've watched Palm's video, it's quite impressive to see. I have heard that it only opens up to one application however, but I haven't had any confirmation of that yet. The Foleo uses SSD to store data which means lightning fast access, but with only 256MB of space you may find yourself running out of space, especially if you take many photos with your smartphone. The NanoBook's 30GB hard drive may seem slow by comparison, but you'll be able to store plenty of music, photos, and movies on it.
Finally we get down to the price, when you do go to the store to pick up your shiny new Foleo or NanoBook you'll be writing a check for $599.99 plus tax regardless of which one you pick up. The Foleo does come with a $100 mail-in rebate, so you may want to take that into consideration when considering the price. In the end, these are two ultra mobile devices with two very different purposes: the Foleo is a smartphone companion, while the NanoBook is a fully fledged computer.
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Visitor
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Quick comments:
1. A 256 MB SSD is not a hard drive, it's not even enough for the SD card in my camera.
2. The Folio needs to be teathered to a "smartphone" for communications. Not exactly mobile.
Quick question:
What would it take to put in the swivel hinge and make the nanobook into a slate pc (no touch screen needed)
Visitor
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
The Asus EeePC 701 seems a better match - $250 for the 8GB Version...
Visitor
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
UML, a UMPS site, is NOT UMPC friendly, I'm afraid:
- first it does NOT automatically adapt to the native UMPC screen resolution (800x480): one has to constantly scroll left and right to see the full text and menus,
- second, fonts are much too small for most normal eyesights
- but WORST: it's totally impossible to change font size!!! The related specific browser option makes ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE changing it and there are NO such option integrated into the page itself, as found on some websites!!!
- equally as surprising, there are NO Contact button/page to be found, hence my writing this message here!!
Bjorn Stromberg
Thursday, 19 July 2007
I don't think the design of the NanoBook lends well to the convertible tablet format, but there is another UMPC in development based on the same VIA Ultra Mobility Platform that is a convertible tablet. Take a look at the ASUS T83, it may be closer to what you're looking for.
I will do a comparison between the VIA NanoBook and the eeePC a bit later.
Visitor
Sunday, 22 July 2007
As a neutral, I don't know anything about the NanoBook, and every other laptop I have ever tried including my own Toshiba Libretto U100 has a number of problems.
Regarding the 7'' screen on the NanoBook which would be similar in size to my Libretto, I cannot recommend it.
When sitting in a cafe typing at a distance from the screen, it is very difficult to read. And my libretto keyboard is just a bit too small to type comfortably with.
The usual windows bloat and speed means that my Libretto stays at home gathering dust while I do real work with a larger heavier laptop on the road.
BTW, as far as I can tell from the mini reviews on the web, the main memory on the Foleo is designed to be expanded by the compact flash compartment situated on the underside of the device. Which means memory will be measured by the size of the CF inserted.
I believe this would have been an important point to mention in a more balanced perspective.
However, the device is not available yet for in depth tests, and may turn out to be limited in its first incarnation.
The current Palm Treo, and current Palm Tx are both a world away from the very first devices.
UMPC devices are looking better than the initial roll-outs and there are more manufacturers.
That said, a UMPC device is something I will never buy since the whole form factor is useless for any of my needs.
Visitor
Monday, 23 July 2007
user experience != feature list
not yet convinced of foleo, but much, much more hopeful that it will deliver the user experience than nanobook
Visitor
Sunday, 02 September 2007
I used a Libretto for a couple of years, I now have an OQO Model 2. Both machines are functional The Libretto was fast enough to run all the software I needed to use at the time as is the OQO now. However neither machine fantastic as they are for a casual email, surf or even a game (Doom is superfast on the OQO) they are useless for doing an hours work. Your Eyes, fingers, and wrists just can't hack it. You can resolve this to some extent by plugging in a mouse and keyboard (Keysonic ACK-3400U) and proping the thing up but stan hour feels like 2 or 3 on a 800 x 480 screen. In conclusion don't expect to produce any new work comfortably, editing an existing document is fine sending a short email, or looking up some info from a web page. Also if your doing somthing with a checklist it's tricky to look away from a small screen and come back to it and find your place. Hope my advice helps.
Visitor
Saturday, 17 November 2007
I think the Nanobook's design is real outstanding, plus the fact that the Nanobook has more memory, and it has lighter weight. I just have one question where and when will the Nanobook available in the USA.