My first week the U810 has gone quite well. First, I have to say that I get a lot of comments on it. Most people ask "what is that?" Not looking just for the brand but what the device even is. This is of course fun (though it can get old after a while) but it also serves one of the purposes of the device - to not look like I'm working and checking email on my computer. So far it serves that job quite well.
One thing that the U810 (and the U1010, which is the Asian equivalent) have been criticized for is a very high DPI. The 1024x600 screen is certainly very high density at only 5.6", but I wouldn't want any lower resolution. This resolution permits the use of almost any application. Lowering the horizontal resolution to 800 pixels just wouldn't work.
I'm getting pretty decent on the keyboard (though this is being tapped out on my full-sized MacbookPro keyboard). For most tasks that I use it for (email, light document editing, note taking) it is entirely sufficient. My inking skills are also improving, as most quick one-line responses are easier to write out than open the keyboard for.
The fan whines a bit, but that is really only noticeable in a very quiet room. And XP tablet has been very predictable, and particularly good at suspend and resume. You can suspend or resume in a matter of seconds, which is essential for a device of this type.
News is less rosy over at Mindquarry, an online wiki and document fcoused collaboration environment with a lot of promise. After a number of delays with their 1.2 release, they have announced that their commercial hosting branch has closed, and moved entirely to an open source model. It may be perplexing that I lament the closing of the commercial part of Mindquarry, and lament the commercial focus of ActiveCollab, so I'll try to explain.
I think that most open source ventures can be much better supported if they have a commercial component as well, whether that be through support services, hosting, or additional features. However, I also think it is important to growth, adoption, extension, and certainly use by small organizations, that a free "host your own" model exists in parallel. ActiveCollab is now entirely closed. Though it looks like a relatively inexpensive and attractive option, I suspect it will struggle in the face of very large competitors under this model. Mindquarry has pushed their release date out even further (another month). I am still hopefully for this next release, and will certainly try it when it becomes available, but I'm afraid this latest turn of events doesn't bode well. I think they tried their commercial venture too early. The product just wasn't ready to attract a commercial audience - yet. Perhaps it will surprise and become a successful open source venture.
I finally got my invite to try DimDim, the hosted version. I first tried it on my Mac and found that I wasn't able to host anything more than a whiteboard. On my PC (the abovementioned U810) it worked just fine. It turns out that the Mac can't be a full fledged participant yet, due to a Windows only Firefox plugin that is required. Still the project had a lot of polish and was very slick. I may test it out a bit more, but will wait for a full test when it becomes cross platform (which has been promised in the future). Of course one of the more interesting aspects of DimDim is that you can host your own through their open source version.
One thing that the U810 (and the U1010, which is the Asian equivalent) have been criticized for is a very high DPI. The 1024x600 screen is certainly very high density at only 5.6", but I wouldn't want any lower resolution. This resolution permits the use of almost any application. Lowering the horizontal resolution to 800 pixels just wouldn't work.
I'm getting pretty decent on the keyboard (though this is being tapped out on my full-sized MacbookPro keyboard). For most tasks that I use it for (email, light document editing, note taking) it is entirely sufficient. My inking skills are also improving, as most quick one-line responses are easier to write out than open the keyboard for.
The fan whines a bit, but that is really only noticeable in a very quiet room. And XP tablet has been very predictable, and particularly good at suspend and resume. You can suspend or resume in a matter of seconds, which is essential for a device of this type.
News is less rosy over at Mindquarry, an online wiki and document fcoused collaboration environment with a lot of promise. After a number of delays with their 1.2 release, they have announced that their commercial hosting branch has closed, and moved entirely to an open source model. It may be perplexing that I lament the closing of the commercial part of Mindquarry, and lament the commercial focus of ActiveCollab, so I'll try to explain.
I think that most open source ventures can be much better supported if they have a commercial component as well, whether that be through support services, hosting, or additional features. However, I also think it is important to growth, adoption, extension, and certainly use by small organizations, that a free "host your own" model exists in parallel. ActiveCollab is now entirely closed. Though it looks like a relatively inexpensive and attractive option, I suspect it will struggle in the face of very large competitors under this model. Mindquarry has pushed their release date out even further (another month). I am still hopefully for this next release, and will certainly try it when it becomes available, but I'm afraid this latest turn of events doesn't bode well. I think they tried their commercial venture too early. The product just wasn't ready to attract a commercial audience - yet. Perhaps it will surprise and become a successful open source venture.
I finally got my invite to try DimDim, the hosted version. I first tried it on my Mac and found that I wasn't able to host anything more than a whiteboard. On my PC (the abovementioned U810) it worked just fine. It turns out that the Mac can't be a full fledged participant yet, due to a Windows only Firefox plugin that is required. Still the project had a lot of polish and was very slick. I may test it out a bit more, but will wait for a full test when it becomes cross platform (which has been promised in the future). Of course one of the more interesting aspects of DimDim is that you can host your own through their open source version.
