Today I aquired a Vadem Clio for a low price. ($200.00 Canadian) This machine despite being a Windows CE machine is quite impressive for all the features it has. Compareable to the Newton of old.It has 32MB RAM, a 300MB IBM MiniDrive (MicroFlash Card, it's an actual mini drive with heads and plates), 640x480 Display in Millions of colors, a 56K Modem, Sound, Microphone and a host of cool applications.
All I have to do is see about porting basilisk II to Windows CE and my life is set. ;-)
There is a macintosh kit that allows Syncing from a Mac, but that will wait for a bit.
I realize not all may like the fact that the device is Windows CE powered, but sad to say it's hard today to get Tablet PC's that run anything else. (I have looked at Palm devices but used ones in my price range don't offer the feature set that this device does, and many Palm devices are not the same class of machine nor as powerfull or feature ladden in terms of hardware design) If Newtons were still around I would consider it but still, in some respect in order to play with the big boys you have to be compatible with thier toys so the Clio will give me that edge, and a mobile one at that. In this sense, I phrase a new term: "There's only so much one machine can do." It's a bit of a realization that even a Mac user must at some point recognize that Macs cannot and will not solve all problems and that there are some things which are not possible, at which point a person "Keeps thier friends close and thier enemies closer." Not all battles are won by standing the lone shore of independance. Sometimes you have to get down & dirty. ;-)
On a side note, I got a free Sony CD-R/RW drive and a LinkSys Router for 25 dollars. (The router is a single pass through type, it recieves internet from one end and transmits to a Hub on the other end, making it very scaleable.)
Also got a 4GB laptop drive which the owner says doesn't work. Perhaps I can charm it enough to work. ;-)
Vadem Clio - Windows CE
Posted - 26 Nov 2003 : 20:39:55
68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.