The PDA Guerilla: Enter the UPC

Lately I have been struggling with a connectivity problem. I dropped and broke the WiFi case for my PDA, leaving me without Internet connectivity on my Palm T3. Of course if Palm had been smart enough in its product design to build WiFi into the T3 I would not have that problem, but that is actually symptomatic of another problem. Palm's product direction clearly does not fit my needs. Palm seems to have moved totally away from PDAs to Treo smart phones. This may work well for many people, who basically want a device to get calls, read emails and perhaps do occasional searches for restaurant locations. What I need is much closer to a computer in my pocket, that I can take notes on in interviews and meetings, write articles in, get every web site, not just ones formatted for tiny Treo screens and that work with the Treo's limited software. And I need a machine that can use the much faster speeds of WiFi networks when that is available, for instance in my home office, as well as the much more pervasive cellular network when WiFi is not available.

The iPhone might be an answer, but that means changing carriers (I happen to be with Sprint), and my contract runs through the end of February. And the iPhone seems to have its own limits including the lack of a word processor -- I cannot at this time write a column or report on it and send it to my ComputerWorld editor or other client when I am away from home.

The T3 has other issues as well. My business is moving in new directions, in part driven by a new client that analyzes the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market in detail. I want a portable unit on which I can try out SaaS services in real situations, which for a large number of their users means away from the desk, so I understand what I am writing about. I am not sure that the Palm T3 has the capability I need for that.

Then two weeks ago I got an incredible deal on an ultra-portable computer (UPC), specifically a Sony Vaio UX390N with solid state memory rather than a disk drive. An acquaintance in one of my online professional groups had it and wanted to sell this slightly used machine for half the retail price (which is close to $3,000.) I could not say no to that. It arrived on Oct. 23, just in time as it turned out since I was going away for a four-day weekend on Friday.

My plan is to replace my ThinkPad, a two-year-old T42 with a dead screen that renders it non-portable, and as much as possible, as a a first step. Then I am going to duplicate and move as much of the functionality I use on my PDA onto the UPC as possible. And I intend to blog about my progress here. For a start, I want to talk about the physical package. Initially I thought this would replace both my laptop and PDA completely, but now I think I will keep some functions on the PDA for three  reasons:

1. I doubt that I will be able to duplicate all the functionality on my PDA on the UX390N. For instance, I use the linking feature in Datebk6 extensively to keep myself adequately organized. When I set up an appointment to do an interview for a column, for instance, I copy background information from emails to the notes application in my PDA and put the contact information for the article in my PDA address book and link those to the appointment. Then I have everything I need at my fingertips. Later I enter a task in the PDA to write the column and link that information to it. My research indicates that Outlook does not allow linking from appointments and tasks to address entries and notes.
2. I don't want to risk the UPC in the store. Even if I can find a Windows equivalent of HandiShopper, my electronic shopping list, I don't want to carry this very expensive lump of electronics around the supermarket, where it could get knocked out of my hand and smash on the floor, be put down and left behind or be stolen. For some situations I just prefer to use the smaller, much less expensive T3 in its armored case, which protects its from drops and bangs.
3. The UX390N only has a two-hour battery life. My T3, in its case with a Power To Go battery attached can run all day without recharging. That can be important when you are going to be out for the day.

The UX390N, however, is a beautiful machine, really the future in portable computing. It is essentially a full portable computer in a handheld sized package. Physically it is a little bigger than the Otter Box armored case I use to protect my PDA, which I wrote about in an earlier blog. This is too large to fit in an inside jacket pocket, and I am glad that I have my Scott eVest zippered jacket, which has a perfect pocket for it. The main unit has one of every port you would expect on a Windows portable (that means no Firewire port), and its cradle has several more ports built in. I visualize attaching a screen, external DVD drive, possibly a wired mouse and keyboard to the cradle, leaving the unit itself free of hard wire connections. Then when I am working at my desk I can use it just like a portable, but if I want to sit in my recliner and read my ebook or email I can just pick the unit up and carry it with me.

It is a comfortable fit in my hand, however. It comes with a soft, padded case, a plastic stand for use when it is not on the cradle, and a screen that is longer and a little wider than my T3 -- essentially the entire face of the UPC is screen with a wide border holding various buttons for maneuvering the mouse around the screen, magnifying and turning the unit on and off on the sides. It also has a small built-in camera eye on top of the screen, next to a fingerprint reader. This thing does have security. While the PDA is designed to be used in vertical alignment, the UPC normally functions in landscape mode.

This unit came with Vista installed, and while I could switch that out for XP, Vista is the future of Windows while XP is the past, so I decided to stay with what it has. It is true that Vista can be slow at times, but then my T42 can be slow sometimes as well. And Vista is pretty. The home screen display is exactly what you would expect from a Windows computer, not much different from a Mac, but in miniature. So you see the full screen displayed when at normal magnification. You can magnify a page for easier reading, but this essentially presents a static snapshot of the screen -- all you can do is read. However, the display is surprisingly readable without magnification. Positioning the mouse, however, does require a steady hand.

I got my first taste of the difference between Palm and Vista as soon as I turned the Vaio on. The first thing I wanted to do was connect to my network. No problem, it just happened. Now I could read my email, but I really wanted to type my replies. The UX390N has a large thumb board hidden under the screen, which slides up, but this is really useful only for typing URLs or other very short items. But it does have Bluetooth built in, so I turned that on and unfolded my Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard. In about one minute it was connected, no need to download a driver, and it works well enough that I may not bother to buy a wired keyboard to attach to the cradle. That was very nice.

I spent the next several days downloading and installing software from the Internet -- the only way I can install software right now since the unit does not have a built-in disk drive -- no room for it. I also downloaded the Windows version of eReader, my favorite ebook service. It looks beautiful on Windows, and I am quite comfortable reading on the Vaio's screen. I also downloaded OpenOffice, which is much less expensive than Microsoft Office, and so far find that to be an acceptable substitute.

So by Friday, when I was leaving for a family reunion in Connecticut, I had almost everything I needed, except Quicken, which I will install when I get the external drive situation sorted out. For now I continue to use PocketQuicken in my And it worked beautifully for me on the trip. The hotel had free WiFi, of course, and I was fully connected through the entire trip. I carried both the UPC and PDA and my folding keyboard (which I can use with both units) everywhere in my 38-pocket jacket. So far I haven't been able to get my Bluetooth headset to connect to the UPC, which may not have the headset protocol installed, but I have limited need for that since I use my iPod for music, podcasts and recorded books.

This is a touch-screen unit, and one of the very few physical deficiencies in it is the attached stylus, which is definitely minimal at best. But I already have several stylii to choose from, and I just use the same pen-sized one I happen to be using with my PDA at a given time. I did install the Fitaly virtual keyboard (www.virtaly.com) but find it less polished on Windows than on the Palm. Mainly, however, I have not yet found a supplier of screen covers for the Vaio's screen -- I may have to make my own. Until I have a cover I want to keep screen wear to a minimum. I don't want to scratch up the screen on this beautiful unit. That is another reason I probably will keep the Palm around for the foreseeable future, although now I doubt I will be adding new software to that platform. Rather I anticipate removing software gradually as I move functionality to the UPC.

Another quibble I have with the physical design is that the wrist strap attaches on the right side of the unit. This makes it nearly impossible for me to have the strap on my wrist while I use it as a handheld, which makes it much more vulnerable to being dropped. Since I am right handed I want to hold the unit with my left hand and the stylus in my right. And finally, as a Sony unit of course the UPC uses Memory Sticks rather than SD cards. So I will have to get a memory stick for immediate backups of vital documents such as my financial books that need to be backed up every time I make a change.

But those are really very minor issues. Overall this is a terrific device. My first impression is almost completely positive, and if I really find I need longer battery life I can buy the extended life battery.

My next step, planned for tomorrow (Saturday) is to get the external drive, salvage the external screen I have attached to my laptop and the cradle for my Palm, and set up the UPC's desktop environment, install Quicken and the Palm software, and shut down the T42. After that I have to decide whether to keep the portable or turn its hard drive into an external drive for the UPC.