Will there be another HPC ever?

I recently acquired a nice Palm OS PDA, and new ultra light and powerful laptop which has resulted in my Jornada 720 coming to the end of its rope. I am not sure if I should hang it just yet. I really wish they would make a Palmtop like the 200LX, except allowing it to run real Windows. This machine was light, and very powerful. The jornada 720 seems like a cute toy, but its way too bulky for a PDA.

Is there any plans on a new HPC in development? I really think that a 200LX like HPC would sell very well, if it were priced correctly. Its much smaller than the Jornada 720, and in some ways more powerful.



Max

I believe this information was posted before:

http://www.oqo.com/
http://www.pdastreet.com/articles/2004/5/2004-5-10-Sony-to-Release.html
http://www.flipstartpc.com/

Not exactly handhelds like the J720 or the MP900, with a touch-typeable keyboard though.

The soon to be released HTC Universal Communicator might interests you. Runs Magneto I think, 3G capability, has a flip type screen and a keyboard. Don't know whether its touch typable though.

The Nokia 9500 is also a possibility, or the 9300. But they're a bit pricey, and the keyboard needs some getting used to. I make no secret the 9500 is the device I want to get.. but rumour has it the the 3G,EDGE version is coming out at the end of the year, so I shall wait and see.

Ahh - the ever elusive, ever changing, perfect Handheld PC.

Yes - there will probably be another Handheld PC, but it will never be the one that we want because what we want changes ever year, month, week, hour and minute! Just read this forum....everybody has a different opinion on what would make the perfect Handheld PC !

For some, it's all about the search......


Max - I think that the nice Palm OS PDA is the way to go.....time to hang up that (J720) - cute toy !

200LX is nice, though i've seen a 95LX and it's smaller but it still wouldn't fit in my pocket so no real difference for me
at that time putting the current desktop OS on a pda could easily be achieved, but nowadays?

nokia 9500 is buggy and slow, but it would be the perfect device otherwise...
the HTC universal will be much better in every aspect except maybe the screen (i don't like that it's going to be only 3,5" or 3,7". their keyboards are almost the same, i've seen comparisons (photos). the HTC universal will have just less keys.

Hurricane John, it's true, that our preferences change, for one i wanted a laptop (a more powerful one than the current one) for a while but i realized recently that i don't need it any more. however, i can imagine circumstances where i would make good use of a laptop, but for now i don't need any, just my 728
what would be the perfect hpc for you? i thought there was more agreement than disagreement on this.

I'm not so sure about that. I have seen a 95LX in person, and it didn't look much smaller. And here's a picture of 200LX and 720:
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/hp720-review.html

However, if small is your thing, then I can recommend the Samsung Nexio S160, which runs CE .Net 4.1. Originally sold only in Hong Kong, and fortunately has an English interface. They are still selling at rather high prices on eBay. Or you can wait for the next generation, which isn't out yet and will run CE 5. Arguably the Nexio series isn't really HPC, but close enough. So there's the answer to your question.

I'm surprised a certain "active" member didn't mention it already. Sharp makes clamshell PDAs, known as Zaurus. They are even smaller than the Nexio but runs Linux instead. However they are only sold in Japan, with a Japanese interface. Certain importers "convert" these to English, but I'm not sure how effectively, and at a price too.

If you don't really need small, but wanted to run Windows XP in the smallest notebook, then you should look at the new Toshiba Libretto. I don't know what kind of laptop you got, but I'm quite sure there's nothing on the market that's smaller than the Libretto. I have seen it (both the Japanese and American versions). However be prepared for the pricing:
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cfam.to?seg=HHO&coid=-29330&sel=0&rcid=-26367&ccid=1291021

As much as I (and many here) wish for a new real HPC, I think the current alternatives are plenty. All we need is MS to bring back a platform standard for this formfactor.