I arrived at work this morning to find the email I’ve been waiting on for a while now; the details of where I’ll be living when I get to Japan in two weeks. So where is it? Not Tokyo unfortunately, but north Yokohama, only 23 mins on the express train from Shibuya. It could have been a lot worse, as Fukushima, one of the possibilities is like being in Nottingham when you wanted London!

The company has arranged a place in a guest house (think university halls) for me for the first month, and after that I can stay on or arrange my own place if I like. The good thing is that there’ll be loads of other English teachers in the same house so I’ll meet people quickly.

My address will be:

450-1
Edacho
Aoba-ku
Yokohama-shi
Kanagawa
225-0013

I have been following the recent devlopments in ultraportable and affordable laptops with great interest, and have on many occasions toyed with the idea of purchasing myself a lovely new 8.9″ screened Asus Eee PC 900. I was very interested in the 701 version available for around £220, and really appreciated the fact that Asus was trying to provide a machine for casual web browers, emailers and simple office users which was significantly cheaper than a standard laptop. I was put off by the lack of screen resolution and storage though. However, the 8.9″ 1024 x 600 screen and 20Gb storage of the 900 looked to me much more suitable for my needs.

That was, until I learned of the price the 900 commands at the moment. I was expecting another low priced device that would push the cost of the 700 down further and sit at a slightly higher price than it’s predecessor. But if I want a slice of this trendsetting beauty I’ll need to hand over around £330, a significant increase in price. This immediately struck me as a dangerous price point if Asus wants to go mass-market with this thing, as £300 is currently the price that fully specced traditional laptops come in at.

This brings up an important question;

Does the technology inside the Eee PC 900 represent good value for money, and what else could I get for the same amount?

Firstly, here are the specs of the Eee 900:

• Intel Celeron M ULV 900MHz processor
• Integrated Intel GMA 900 GPU
• 20 GB of Flash-based storage (12 GB in the Windows version)
• 1 GB of DDR2 RAM (667 MHz)
• Linux operating system (Windows XP in the 12 GB version)
• 8.9-inch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution
• Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 1 VGA monitor out, headphone jack, microphone input, SD card reader (SDHC compatible), Kensington lock slot, Ethernet 10/100
• Webcam (1.3 MP)
• Battery: 4-cell 5800 mAh 7.2V Li-Ion (rated at 3.5 hours)
• Wireless: 802.11b/g Atheros
• Input: Keyboard and Multi-touch touchpad
• Dimensions: 22.5cm(W) x 17cm(D) x 2cm~3.4cm(H)
• Weight: approximately 2.2 lbs with battery, 2.8 lbs travel weight with AC adapter.
• One-year warranty

So, essentially an 8.9″ screen, 900MHz Celeron, 1GB of RAM and a 20GB HDD for £330.

Having a quick look at the Dixons website, where the Eee 900 can be had for £329.95, I decided that a fair comparison would be the Acer Aspire 5315 at £299.99:

• Intel Celeron 550 Processor
• (2.0 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, 1MB Cache)
• Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
• 1GB Memory Size
• 120 GB Hard Drive
• DVD Super Multi Double Layer Drive
• 15.4″ WXGA Screen
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
• Up to 252 MB Shared Graphics Memory
• Matt Black Exterior with White Keyboard

So for £30 less I can have a 15.4″ screen, 2GHz Celeron, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD and the addition of a DVD writer. Using that spare £30 I can easily add another GB of RAM. Of course this laptop is significantly larger and heavier than the Eee 900.

The above investigation shows that, while the Eee 700 was priced below anything else currently on the market and had very little competition in price or specification, it’s obvious that price is not on the 900’s side this time around as it’s significantly underspecced compared with other laptops in the price range, which leaves it with size as it’s unique selling point. Is the smaller size going to be a reason for many people to buy this? In my case, and I suspect the case of many families who are looking for a laptop for the home to get on the net using their wireless broadband, it’s a no. The specification, while usable, is just not good enough for the money to make it worth buying as a main PC over something that can display more, store much more and process data faster. This leaves it in the realm of the hardcore gadget lover, the road warrior and the guy with loads of money to spare.

In my opinion this is a real pity, as I love the Eee PC, and think it’s as important a product for the laptop industry as the iPhone is for the smartphone industry. One that isn’t my cup of tea just yet, but that is pressuring companies to innovate and compete in ways that can only benefit the consumer.

In conclusion, I have to say that the Eee 900 is a very attractive and interesting device. If you’re desperate for an ultraportable laptop at a low price and are only an office, web and email user then it’s a no-brainer decision. But at the current price point, with size not being a big enough issue for me, and the performance/usability to price ratio being paramount, the Eee PC 900 is something I won’t be purchasing. Once I am able to get one for around £200 as a secondary laptop I’ll be first in line to hand Asus my hard earned cash. On the other hand, the MSI Wind is looking mighty tempting…

I have just got off the phone to HP customer support (0844 369 0369 is the number I called), and to be honest I’m rather impressed! Without any of the expected complaining/begging they informed me that for my particular fault the warranty had been extended to two years and that they will collect the laptop on Friday morning and fix it free of charge!

I was not expecting this quality of service from them, and am very happy with how my case was handled. Before phoning I was expecting to be faced with the decision of paying £100+ to fix it or buying a new laptop, and whether I would be comfortable buying an HP again. This thought really saddened me as the build quality, features and looks of the DV2000 series is perfect for me. I’m so happy to be able to keep my DV2000 and to continue being an HP customer. Thumbs up!

One potential issue is the fact that I don’t have the original hard disk in it any more, as I upgraded to a 250Gb Hitachi drive soon after getting the laptop. The HP guy on the phone said he would put a note in with my support request directing the technicians to ensure I get the drive back with my laptop, but he made it clear there are no promises as it’s possible they will send it back in it’s original configuration. I’m gonna tape a big note on the screen asking them to make sure my disk returns to me. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn out like that poor chap and his custom painted XBOX 360!

Another problem is that I’m moving to Japan on June 2nd, and the last day I will be able to receive the laptop is the 30th May. HP said it will take 7-10 working days to get back to me, which leaves absolutely no room for manoeuvre. Let’s hope their technicians are up to the job! Othewise I’ll have to wait until my girlfriend comes out to visit to get it back.
I’ll update once I get it back (if it’s before I head off to Japan).

Wow, I wasn’t expecting this! It looks like later this afternoon Nokia will unveil the details of it’s first Windows Mobile powered device, and it’s sounding pretty damn good!

Specs are rumored to include:

• 128MB RAM
• 256MB ROM
• 16GB internal storage
• MicroSD (assume SDHC) expansion
• A-GPS
• FM radio
• DVB-H TV reception
• TV out
• Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• UMTS/HSDPA
• 802.11n wireless networking
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 7.1 mega pixel autofocus camera
• QVGA screen
• Windows Mobile 6

Wow! I expect HTC will be more than a little worried about this. The only improvements that I would be looking for are a VGA/WVGA screen and a hardware qwerty keyboard. In fact, the latter is a deal breaker for me, I could never go back to a software keyboard now!

Price to be confirmed (although it expect it to be big!).

P.S. Happy April Fools day

I said it in my last post, but I’m going to say it again:

Microsoft, WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? nVidia are a hardware company and they can still come up with interfaces of this calibre! I love Windows Mobile as an open, easy to tweak, easy to develop for platform, but I’m starting to crave some finger-friendly usability. Stop relying on your device manufacturers to hack together semi-effective extensions to make their devices competitive!

Also very impressive is the ability to play 720p video and output through HDMI. While not necessary in my mind for a mobile device, it is certainly a welcome extra. Also rather exciting are the 3d graphics capabilities this hardware contains. With the right form factor this could turn into a nice gaming system too.

Check out the videos below to see what I’m banging on about. More details are also available on the nVidia site, including an interesting mention of Windows Mobile???

The finger scrolling is wrong though, all wrong! I don’t want to push down to scroll down, it feels totally unnatural after using an iPhone and software like Pocket Player. When scrolling with my fingers I want to feel like I’m pushing a surface around, which means if I push down on the screen, the content scrolls up. Plus it doesn’t seem to slow to a stop like it should, again reducing the intuitive, real world feel. Work on it Samsung!

Come on Microsoft, this is the kind of thing we want to see in Windows Mobile 7! You’re the largest software company in the world, how come you’re being left behind???

Oh, and the sound effects are pretty cool too!

I’ve just bought myself a shiny Nokia AD-42W bluetooth stereo A2DP audio receiver off eBay for £45 + £5 delivery (it’s £59.99 on play.com). This thing looks great! I should be able to play music from the comfort of my sofa/bed using my laptop or phone through the hi-fi without worrying about any wires! Apparently I will alse be able to send audio from a hi-fi, TV etc to my Bluetooth headphones if I want.

Will post a full review as soon as I’ve had a play.

I got the email from ECC on Saturday morning! I’ll be starting my training in Tokyo on June 9th, 6 days after my 26th birthday! I’ll need to head out at least a week before I start, so looks like I’ll be spending my birthday drinking sake and eating raw fish!

Of course I’ll make sure to keep everyone updated on the wierd and wonderful gadgets I find out there.

I can’t wait!

(For those that don’t know me personally, I was offered a position to teach English conversation at ECC in November, but due to some delays my training date is a lot later than originally planned)

A great idea or just another pointless use of wireless technology? I’ve spent a few months using the Sony DR-BT30Q stereo Bluetooth headphones, and thought it might be useful for some people for me to post my thoughts on this desirable gadget and my views on the technology behind it.

Read on for my findings…

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Let’s face it. While functional, Windows Media Player for Windows Mobile isn’t exactly the most finger friendly piece of software around is it? After searching for a decent replacement music player to go alongside my new Sony Bluetooth headphones on my XDA Mini S (HTC Wizard) I came across Conduits Pocket Player. In the last few weeks I have come to use this software every day. As version 3.6 has just been released, I thought it was time to write a review.

Read on for my findings…

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