770 Competition?

[rr0123]

I found these two interesting. Both have wifi and high-res 640x480 screens. Not up to the 770's 800x480, but still not bad.

http://www.phoneyworld.com/handsets/overview.aspx?phone=tmobile_mda_iv

http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/12/fujitsu-siemens-pocket-loox-roadmap-smartphones-gps-vga/

[Milhouse]

PocketPC's with VGA screens - speaking as the owner of a VGA iPAQ hx4700, most PocketPC apps aren't VGA native so you won't find much software that uses the screen as it should be used (Minimo and NetFront 3.3 [still beta] being recent exceptions). Quite frankly, VGA is wasted on PocketPC devices unless you employ third-party tricks to force apps into VGA mode (tricks that I bet most non-geek owners know nothing about) and can live with the consequent side effects (tiny and unreadable text/buttons etc.)

So not only is the VGA screen not as good as 800x480, but most of the time it will be running in 320x240 pixel-doubled mode as well!

[adrianeaton]

Another alternative is the The Dell Axim X51v which has a vga screen and wifi. About £325 but not as good as the nokia 770, lower res and 11b wireless not 11g.

[orbitalcomp]

The 770 has no true competitor, but like it was mentioned, the Pocket PC devices with 640x480 are probably the closest. But when you compare web browsing, the gap between the two widens even more in the 770's favor.

Now if Sony had just put a touchscreen on the PSP, then they would have the whole package: games, web browsing, high-res, etc...

[cis4life]

orbital is right,

I don't feel "Right Now" there is any competition for the 770. Even with devices like the OQO, Price now becomes a huge factor. Nokia has really caught a market that could blow up if they just market it better. I have yet to see any commericals or heavy advertising??? :(

[andymulhearn]

IMHO, VGA screens on Pocket PC are as much use as a bad headache.

Yes you can switch into VGA mode from QVGA and yes some applications work reasonable - IE and eReader were the ones I tested on my 4700 - but at 640*480 the rest of the UI is so badly broken that the device is effectively unusable.

I agree almost completely with orbitalcomp, if the PSP had a touchscreen it would be close to perfect. Shame it's produced by Sony.

[wendo]

I have to agree that at the moment there is no true competitor to the Nokia. While the OQO is a device I'd like to have, it's just not possible due to its prohibitive cost.

As Nokia improves the 770 I see it continuing to become a stronger device.

As many have noted, I wish it had a scroll wheel. Hardware version two needs it, imo.

[RogerS]

The problem people are describing here stems from the PocketPC's locking in on one resolution -- 240 x 320 -- which must have simplified a lot of coordination, design and programming solutions way back when (6 years ago?).

The Nokia 770 has, of course, the same issue to deal with. Hildon widgets will have to accommodate other resolutions -- and the programs too -- if future internet tablets are to avoid this. And I bet this will come up a lot sooner than 5-6 years down the road.

Btw, I have to agree that a 640-pixel-wide screen can't compete with an 800-pixel-wide screen. Horizontal scrolling is the pits.

[orbitalcomp]

One other device that I didn't even think of earlier that is similar to the 770 is the Sharp Zaurus SL-series...the main difference is the screen is vertically oriented, like a Pocket PC or Palm. They also have a slide-down keyboard that is extremely handy, and they have an option to rotate the screen 90 deg. like PPC's. As a matter of fact, the first time I installed an app (package) on my 770, it was like deja vu, because the SL-series installs apps the exact same way.

I still have my SL-5500 which was the original device in this lineup. 206mhz ARM, runs Linux, only 240x320, also uses Opera as it's web browser. It doesn't have built-in wifi or Bluetooth, but it does have both an SD and a CF slot to add memory or wireless cards. Battery life was only about an hour with a wireless card, so the 770 has been highly optimized in this regard.

Sharp has since discontinued these devices, but they live on because of the Linux community. The last model (SL-6000, I believe), had the same form factor, but had a 480x640 screen, 400 Mhz processor, and built-in wireless.

[Mike Cane]

Live via 770 tap-tap:

Why all this talk of other devices? Someone not satisfied?

[orbitalcomp]

Live via 770 tap-tap:

Why all this talk of other devices? Someone not satisfied?

Not me...I am very satisfied with my 770...I wish this device had come out years ago, I could have saved myself the $$ I spent on Pocket PC's and Palms...

We must be suffereing from the "grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome...hehehe ;-)