Hardware News
I’m mentioning something that I mentioned on MacGenealogy.org yesterday, The new iPod nano that came this week – it has a capacity of 1GB and retails for $149. The selling point for a genealogist is that it holds up to 15,000 photos (and it can display them on the built-in color display – not a big deal, or on a TV screen, which is a big deal).
MobileWhack.com has put together a review of the Palm Treo 700W, which is the new Windows Mobile-based Smartphone. This is one of the few “Smartphones” capable of running Pocket Genealogist. Unfortunately it has a lower-resolution screen (240×240) and 128MB memory (as the review points) and the 700W ends up being a mixed blessing
From Dell Home & Home Office: “For a limited time, purchase select new Dell Axim Handhelds and get instant savings! Take 35% off Axim X51v 624Mhz Handhelds. Or choose an Axim “Deal of the Week,” a specially configured handheld solution, and save up to 40%! Orders must be placed through Dell Home Electronics & Accessories to qualify.”
This means a Dell Axim 51v starting at $324!
The VGA-Out support is great if you want to do any mini-presentations at a family reunion (there are VGA -> S-Video converters available). I have the previous version, the X50v, and it’s been a solid PDA. It’s very hard to get a Windows Mobile PDA at this price with both VGA resolution (great for the Windows Mobile/Pocket PC genealogy applications and a fast processor.
There is a new review of the Palm LifeDrive over at DesignTechnica.com. It was written by Brandon King, and he rates it a 7.5 out of 10. This Palm device could be for you if you happen to need a PDA and a media manager (photos, etc.), however they weren’t happy with battery and hard drive performance (it does have the most capacity out of all of the Palm devices though).
MobilityGuru has a rundown of several small Intel-based notebooks, “Ultra Lightweights”, including the Toshiba Libretto U100, with a 7.2 inch display and the Fujitsu LifeBook P1510D with an 8.9 inch display (not only that, it’s a Touchscreen!), as well as few larger notebooks.
We normally focus on PDAs, but some of these laptops these days are under three pounds, and a 7.2 inch screen with an actual keyboard (albeit cramped) could make for a useful platform for a genealogist who’s just not happy with a PDA, but doesn’t want a large laptop.