Wednesday, November 6, 2002
Hands-on With The Viewsonic V35
Posted by Jason Dunn in "HARDWARE" @ 03:30 PM
I'm still trying to get caught up on the things I saw/learned at the Microsoft Mobius event a few weeks ago, so you'll have to excuse my tardiness. I had a chance to get some hands-on time with the Viewsonic V35, and I was very impressed. Find out why.
When I was at the Microsoft Mobius 2002 conference in early October, we were given a presentation by Viewsonic. They talked about the history of the company quite a bit - I didn't know any of it prior to Mobius, so it was interesting to learn that they started out making keyboards and mice for OEM "white box" computers. My ears really perked up once the discussion turned to Viewsonic's play in the Pocket PC world - the V35.
Viewsonic has released several forms of slates/PDAs in the past like the Viewsonic SuperPDA, some of them running Windows CE, but the V35 is their first Pocket PC. I dearly wish I had more time with the V35, but we only had a few minutes between sessions. Here's my observations and some rather blurry photos (apologies for that!). All photos below link to larger versions.
The first thing I noticed about the V35 was the size and weight - I'm not exaggerating when I say that the engineering sample I was testing felt like it was a mock-up. It weighs practically nothing - 4.2 ounces (119 grams). In comparison, the iPAQ 3650 weighs 6.3 ounces - a full 50% heavier. I've been told the engineering sample is basically final, so I don't expect the weight to change when the final product ships.
In terms of dimensions, it's 4.8" (H) x 3.0" (W) x.4" (D). That's right - only 2/5ths of an inch deep! 8O
The photo above shows the XDA sitting atop the V35 - the XDA isn't a thick PDA by any means, but this photo shows how extremely thin the V35 is.
The V35 on it's own, bottom view.
V35 atop the XDA, side view.
This is one of the most telling pictures of all, and I wish it would have turned out better. It boils down to this: the Viewsonic screen is simply amazing. Compared to my HP 568, the screen on the XDA is stunning - much brighter and crisper-looking. Now look at that photo and look how much brighter the V35 is than my XDA. Amazing! It blows me away that Viewsonic can put such a nice screen in a "budget" device. I didn't have a 3900 series iPAQ to compare it to, but from my memory the screen looked every bit as nice.
Expandability is accomplished through the SD slot - and the Viewsonic said it was a REAL SDIO slot! :D
As part of my "Mobius Parting Gifts", I'll be getting a V35 from Viewsonic. I'm really excited about getting my hands on one to put it through it's paces, but even my brief encounter with the device made me believe this is a very nice device that, at $275 after rebates, will radically alter the Pocket PC landscape. You can pre-order one from Amazon.com today (affiliate link).
When I was at the Microsoft Mobius 2002 conference in early October, we were given a presentation by Viewsonic. They talked about the history of the company quite a bit - I didn't know any of it prior to Mobius, so it was interesting to learn that they started out making keyboards and mice for OEM "white box" computers. My ears really perked up once the discussion turned to Viewsonic's play in the Pocket PC world - the V35.
Viewsonic has released several forms of slates/PDAs in the past like the Viewsonic SuperPDA, some of them running Windows CE, but the V35 is their first Pocket PC. I dearly wish I had more time with the V35, but we only had a few minutes between sessions. Here's my observations and some rather blurry photos (apologies for that!). All photos below link to larger versions.
The first thing I noticed about the V35 was the size and weight - I'm not exaggerating when I say that the engineering sample I was testing felt like it was a mock-up. It weighs practically nothing - 4.2 ounces (119 grams). In comparison, the iPAQ 3650 weighs 6.3 ounces - a full 50% heavier. I've been told the engineering sample is basically final, so I don't expect the weight to change when the final product ships.
In terms of dimensions, it's 4.8" (H) x 3.0" (W) x.4" (D). That's right - only 2/5ths of an inch deep! 8O
The photo above shows the XDA sitting atop the V35 - the XDA isn't a thick PDA by any means, but this photo shows how extremely thin the V35 is.
The V35 on it's own, bottom view.
V35 atop the XDA, side view.
This is one of the most telling pictures of all, and I wish it would have turned out better. It boils down to this: the Viewsonic screen is simply amazing. Compared to my HP 568, the screen on the XDA is stunning - much brighter and crisper-looking. Now look at that photo and look how much brighter the V35 is than my XDA. Amazing! It blows me away that Viewsonic can put such a nice screen in a "budget" device. I didn't have a 3900 series iPAQ to compare it to, but from my memory the screen looked every bit as nice.
Expandability is accomplished through the SD slot - and the Viewsonic said it was a REAL SDIO slot! :D
As part of my "Mobius Parting Gifts", I'll be getting a V35 from Viewsonic. I'm really excited about getting my hands on one to put it through it's paces, but even my brief encounter with the device made me believe this is a very nice device that, at $275 after rebates, will radically alter the Pocket PC landscape. You can pre-order one from Amazon.com today (affiliate link).
