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RBMODS REVIEWS |
Date 2006-10-22
Author: Niko Lupala
Editor: Amber Lupala
Will the Small Entertainment Centers or Handheld Computers ever replace Laptops?
I was surfing the net and looking into some new products on Creative’s website, that’s when the question hit me; will the small MP3 entertainment systems or handheld computers be able to replace the “bulky” laptops? Yes the laptops are getting quite a bit smaller every day that goes by as the manufacturers are able to squeeze all this new technology into smaller and smaller cases, but comparing a laptop to a handheld of any kind is still like comparing a laptop vs a stationary computer.
There are a few different main points that we are going to look into during this review. A few of them are: battery time, and functions as an example since they all hold loads of different features that are useful. This is necessary with today’s fast pace because mobility is an important thing people look for. Dell for example has a chart that actually shows which types of their laptops are most mobile and which are most powerful when you configure a laptop.
That really shows that mobility is one of the main things when people look for a mobile computer of any kind. We see this also when we look at the small handheld computers and mediacenters that hold more and more functions and also at the same time get smaller; the question is though is smaller always better?
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Tip of the day!!
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Let’s start out with one of the main things:
Mobility:
If you look back a couple of years at the laptops you had ones that weighed around 4 kg (a little over 8 pounds), today you have powerful smaller laptops that hold more features and weigh around 2 kg or even less (about 4 pounds). This makes the laptop very mobile as the sizes of them also shrink at the same time. They are customizable to have a small 12 inch screen or even a 17 inch widescreen; of course you lose the mobility with a 17 inch screen though. Handhelds on the other hand weigh about 400 grams and hold almost the same features as a laptop does, as you have built in wifi and Bluetooth that some laptops don’t even have so on this point it does beat the laptops.
Mobile entertainement centers or mp3 players as they also are called on the other hand are a bit bigger than handheld computers but they usually are able to store more data as they have harddrives that hold 40gb or even more data. You have a lot of the features from both the laptop and handhelds but they are still focused mainly on media like, mp3 , video, pictures, and maybe some internet usage.
Battery time:
The battery time is important for today’s business people as they travel a lot and work everywhere they can so they don’t want a laptop that quickly dies on them. With laptops you get around 3 hours with a standard battery and around 4 hours with a heavy duty battery, I don’t feel that the battery time has moved forward as fast as everything else on laptops and that really holds them back still.
Handhelds have the same problem, even though they have to squeeze in more battery time into a small battery which is a bit harder. You can get heavy duty battery to a handheld but it makes the handheld more bulky and harder to use and I guess it loses its point then right?!
Mobile entertainment centers though have gone forward in battery time, just take Creatives Vision W as an example, you have 4.5 hours of video watching and around 13 hours of music on just one charge, that is quite amazing.
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Functions:
The laptop has the same functions as a stationary computer and the handheld has close to the same functions these days. The main problem however, is that the handheld is missing a keyboard and you have to tap on the screen to type which means it’s a lot slower than standard typing.
Small media centers don’t hold the same functions as a laptop nor a handheld computer. They on the other hand focus on media which is plenty for a lot of people
Price:
A laptop offers a lot of functions but it’s also A LOT more expensive than the others.
You can get cheap laptops for around 500$ USD and all the way up to 3,000$. The point here is that the cheap 500$ laptop does offer the same functions as the more expensive ones. All you usually lose is 512 mb ram and some other minor hardware changes.
Compared to a handheld or a mediacenter you will have more functions than both of them even with a cheap laptop.
Handhelds sell for around 150$ to 400$USD depending on what speeds you want on them. They still stay the same size and offer almost the same functions. The main thing with the handhelds is that you get a slower one for less money.
The small mp3/mediacenters cost around 250$ depending on the size of the harddrive.
You get a lot of storage space and have several nice functions even with the cheaper ones.
Time to conclude the review >>>>> Page 2
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