Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Proporta offer a Guy Fawkes 15% discount promotion
Proporta like to celebrate in style, and Bonfire Night is no exception. Celebrate on them with a 15% discount off all Proporta branded products with the promotion code FAWKES. Simply enter it at the cart page when you order to receive your discount. I'm not sure if this is a day only promotion but a great deal none the less!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Proporta supporting the new iPods
If there is one company that you can be sure of to support a mobile device then it is Proporta. On my quest to see if the new Touch can work as a PDA replacement, I discovered that Proporta have a slew of new products for this latest iPod release including the usual large selection of cases. More details can be found at the Proporta website. Hopefully a review or two will appear here shortly.
iPod touch as a PDA
Lately I have been experimenting with the iPod Touch as a replacement for my Windows Mobile Pocket PC. I am now at a place where my Pocket PC does all I need but I fear for the future of the Pocket PC platform as focus is put more on smartphones. I also really like the interface of the Touch and think it has the makings of a very good PDA. Of course such a transition is unlikely to go smoothly and while a lot of the big players from the Windows Mobile arena are starting to develop their products for the iPhone / Touch, there are still a lot of inevitable gaps. My three must haves for my PDA are Calendar, Contacts and a password repository. The first two are catered for out of the box and thankfully my favourite wallet application - eWallet, is now available with ListPro to follow which is another great application. Where things are not so rosy however concern the calendar and alarms; both functional but the current calendar application lacks a search function which I consider a big omission. Alarms do the job but it seems there is no auto off so I'm unsure as of yet if a missed alarm will continue to sound until the battery dies - I suspect it will unfortunately. Pocket Informant is in the works which is a fantastic application but due to me not mixing business data on my personal device, it is simply overkill for my needs. I'm hopeful someone will release a search solution for the calendar which will greatly increase its appeal as a PDA replacement.
Now don't get me started on the lack of demo software in iTunes....
Now don't get me started on the lack of demo software in iTunes....
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Many netbooks showing up at Computex
The web has been bursting with news over the past couple of days about the many new netbooks that are being released to compete with the highly popular Asus eeePC. The two I would recommend to keep an eye on are the MSI Wind and Medion Akoya Mini - both of which are essentially the same device with similar specifications. Both machines feature the new Intel Atom processor @ 1.6GHz, a 10" screen and a very usable near full size keyboard. These machines will be showing up at in the retail chain very shortly.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
MSI Wind
In June 2008 MSI will release the MSI Wind Notebook that weighs approximately 1 kilogram, this makes it ideal for outdoor use. Not only does this make it one of the true eee PC competitors out there with its almost identical specification but also one well placed to replace the Asus as the must have ultra portable notebook for the masses.
MSI say the Wind Notebook will provide an 8.9” or 10” wide LCD display solution. The embedded LED power-saving backlight technology will provide better colour richness and brightness. The 1024 x 600 resolution delivers full display of Web Pages while browsing, this gives users more freedom when exploring the internet. The MSI Wind notebook uses the same ergonomic keyboard as MSI’s larger notebooks. The keyboard not only has great texture, it also has increased space between the keys, allowing for a comfortable typing experience.
Unlike other competitors that have compromised memory capacity (read Asus eee PC), the MSI Wind Notebook is equipped with the 2.5 inch standard 80GB hard drive. This means that despite its size the MSI Wind Notebook can operate without the worry of insufficient storage capacity.
I have been speaking with someone from MSI and this certainly seems like a very interesting product. Early pricing indicates between £200 - £300 depending on the specification but the claims of a full sized notebook keyboard and 3.5 hours of life under average use from the standard battery puts this ahead of the eee PC if these claims are accurate. If MSI can obtain this battery life with a standard 2.5" hard drive then I think a lot of people will be pulling out their credit cards in June. Look for the white model at launch with black and pink to follow.
MSI say the Wind Notebook will provide an 8.9” or 10” wide LCD display solution. The embedded LED power-saving backlight technology will provide better colour richness and brightness. The 1024 x 600 resolution delivers full display of Web Pages while browsing, this gives users more freedom when exploring the internet. The MSI Wind notebook uses the same ergonomic keyboard as MSI’s larger notebooks. The keyboard not only has great texture, it also has increased space between the keys, allowing for a comfortable typing experience.
Unlike other competitors that have compromised memory capacity (read Asus eee PC), the MSI Wind Notebook is equipped with the 2.5 inch standard 80GB hard drive. This means that despite its size the MSI Wind Notebook can operate without the worry of insufficient storage capacity.
I have been speaking with someone from MSI and this certainly seems like a very interesting product. Early pricing indicates between £200 - £300 depending on the specification but the claims of a full sized notebook keyboard and 3.5 hours of life under average use from the standard battery puts this ahead of the eee PC if these claims are accurate. If MSI can obtain this battery life with a standard 2.5" hard drive then I think a lot of people will be pulling out their credit cards in June. Look for the white model at launch with black and pink to follow.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Proporta Asus eee PC Gadget Bag mini review
Proporta kindly sent me one of their eee PC Gadget Bags to take a look at. Chances are if you are looking for a notebook bag to snugly wrap around your new Asus, the majority of usual suspects will not be able to help you owing to the fact the eee PC is much smaller than your average notebook. Proporta, keen to cover all aspects of mobile computing, have come up with a modular and functional design to hopefully suit your needs.
The first thing I will point out with this design is the modular aspect of it. The bulk of the case is made up of a main compartment and two add on compartments to complement this. The main section, which is tailored to the same dimension of this tiny notebook, takes up half the depth of the whole bag and the further two sections take up a quarter each. The two smaller compartments are attached to the main section using a zip and are tethered together with a small strap and buckle. This design lets you remove one or both of these extra sections depending on how much storage space you need!
The main notebook section takes the eee PC with little room to spare although you can dress it up in the neoprene sleeve before squeezing it in, ensuring an even snugger fit. While this was originally designated for the 700 series, my 900 series also fits in when wearing it's slip case... just. Inside this main section is a further small pouch which uses velcro to stay closed and also to attach inside the case. I'm not quite sure of the purpose of this pouch as it makes sense to remove it when the notebook is in place and I also think the use of velcro to attach this inside is a small design flaw; more on that later. There is also an elastic retainer however it is the wrong size and in the wrong location to be used for the main unit so again it seems oddly designed.
The two smaller compartments are ideal for accessories and will easily carry the power charger, mouse, cables and an external hard drive, perhaps more. I would have liked to have seen an internal pocket for storing memory cards or pen drives and I did wonder if this is what the pouch was intended for but if it was, it was poorly realised.
Protection is one of the fundamental aspects of a notebook bag and this model does quite well here. While it is not up to the standard of top end notebook bags, the three main sections have a good amount of padding and are encased in a tough, hard wearing and splash proof material. The only down side to the padding is it does not go round the edge of the compartments. The inside uses a very soft material to protect the contents from scratches which brings me back to the small pouch that is attached inside the notebook section. The velcro used to attach this leaves the rough, hook side on the inside of this compartment and therefore, by design, is very likely to scratch the notebook. This goes against the point of using a soft lining and I'm still unsure why it was designed in this fashion! Thankfully it is easily resolved by using a strip of parcel tape to cover the offending velcro.
Accessibility is very good with zip closures all round and the main section can flip open almost flat if needed to ensure easy access. Also included in all compartments is a rubberised headphone port so you can pass though a cable or even a thin power cord if needed - a handy addition and especially welcome on all sections!
Included with this bag is a detachable shoulder strap that, while not the last word in comfort, is perfectly adequate although surprisingly for a notebook bag, there is no hand strap. While this is not most likely a deal breaker for most, it would still have been a good addition to give the user more options.
So is there anything else I need to point out about this case? Well because the two outer compartments attach to the main section using a zip, with these removed it leaves a zip edge running around the case. I think this looks untidy and I would have preferred these 2 sections to attach using velcro, soft side on the main section of course, and perhaps a strap and buckle to further secure them.
As much as I had some negative points, all in, this is a simple but reasonably well specified, practical bag that is ideally tailored to the diminutive dimensions of the Asus eee PC. A few small design flaws aside, this bag should meet the requirements of the majority of users looking for a small but full featured bag for storage and travelling.
More details can be found at Proporta's website.
The first thing I will point out with this design is the modular aspect of it. The bulk of the case is made up of a main compartment and two add on compartments to complement this. The main section, which is tailored to the same dimension of this tiny notebook, takes up half the depth of the whole bag and the further two sections take up a quarter each. The two smaller compartments are attached to the main section using a zip and are tethered together with a small strap and buckle. This design lets you remove one or both of these extra sections depending on how much storage space you need!
The main notebook section takes the eee PC with little room to spare although you can dress it up in the neoprene sleeve before squeezing it in, ensuring an even snugger fit. While this was originally designated for the 700 series, my 900 series also fits in when wearing it's slip case... just. Inside this main section is a further small pouch which uses velcro to stay closed and also to attach inside the case. I'm not quite sure of the purpose of this pouch as it makes sense to remove it when the notebook is in place and I also think the use of velcro to attach this inside is a small design flaw; more on that later. There is also an elastic retainer however it is the wrong size and in the wrong location to be used for the main unit so again it seems oddly designed.
The two smaller compartments are ideal for accessories and will easily carry the power charger, mouse, cables and an external hard drive, perhaps more. I would have liked to have seen an internal pocket for storing memory cards or pen drives and I did wonder if this is what the pouch was intended for but if it was, it was poorly realised.
Protection is one of the fundamental aspects of a notebook bag and this model does quite well here. While it is not up to the standard of top end notebook bags, the three main sections have a good amount of padding and are encased in a tough, hard wearing and splash proof material. The only down side to the padding is it does not go round the edge of the compartments. The inside uses a very soft material to protect the contents from scratches which brings me back to the small pouch that is attached inside the notebook section. The velcro used to attach this leaves the rough, hook side on the inside of this compartment and therefore, by design, is very likely to scratch the notebook. This goes against the point of using a soft lining and I'm still unsure why it was designed in this fashion! Thankfully it is easily resolved by using a strip of parcel tape to cover the offending velcro.
Accessibility is very good with zip closures all round and the main section can flip open almost flat if needed to ensure easy access. Also included in all compartments is a rubberised headphone port so you can pass though a cable or even a thin power cord if needed - a handy addition and especially welcome on all sections!
Included with this bag is a detachable shoulder strap that, while not the last word in comfort, is perfectly adequate although surprisingly for a notebook bag, there is no hand strap. While this is not most likely a deal breaker for most, it would still have been a good addition to give the user more options.
So is there anything else I need to point out about this case? Well because the two outer compartments attach to the main section using a zip, with these removed it leaves a zip edge running around the case. I think this looks untidy and I would have preferred these 2 sections to attach using velcro, soft side on the main section of course, and perhaps a strap and buckle to further secure them.
As much as I had some negative points, all in, this is a simple but reasonably well specified, practical bag that is ideally tailored to the diminutive dimensions of the Asus eee PC. A few small design flaws aside, this bag should meet the requirements of the majority of users looking for a small but full featured bag for storage and travelling.
More details can be found at Proporta's website.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Asus eee PC 900
Well I managed to get a hold of an Asus eee PC 900 and straight away I am impressed. While the desire to have a larger screen than the 701 was the biggest draw, I was surprised at just how much it improves. I'll document my thoughts here as I try it out and also incorporate it into the reviews I am currently writing on some cases designed for the eee PC.
