Yesterday I asked for input on the French SFR-version of the Compal MID. It turns out (thanks, everyone, for the feeback) that it’s provider locked but there’s no contract commitment. For the French, it’s a deal!
The Italians have their own option in the IDOL that is offered through TIM, one of the local mobile Telco’s.
There’s a nice thread in the forum where IDOL users are getting together to chat about the device but it’s worth highlighting a few things. Firstly, it’s unlocked, has Italian, Chinese and English language support and is available without contract commitment for a very nice 430 Euros. That’s a 3G-enabled pocketable Linux PC for 430 Euros. Undeniably good value…if you’re living in Italy.
The software stack looks the same as I’ve seen on the Aigo MID. That is, slightly ‘thin’ with no Skype application (available as a download / hack now) no GPS application and the Coolfox version of the FF3-based browser but there are signs of improvement on that.
In battery life tests by Rapael (who is logging everything on a new blog) it’s looking like 2hrs Wifi-connected and 4hrs with screen off. In my own tests I’ve seen 3.5hrs screen-off (wifi off) and up to 2.5hrs with screen on but I’ll be honest, in a real-world situation (for example at MBC09 last week) the battery life was closer to 2hrs than 2.5 but this limitation is slightly relieved by the fact that the batteries are tiny and carrying a spare (assuming you can buy one for a good price) isn’t a problem at all.
The Aigo/Compal/IDOL/MiPC is one of the best choices at the moment for a pro-level web, pocketable experience. It’s fast (12-13 seconds per page average full-load time compared to over 20 seconds for smartphones) and light. Video support is good and if you’re the type that likes to tinker, there’s a great community building out there that will help you with alternative Lunux and XP builds. Compal really need to push this out in more places an start distributing better software to grow awareness of this great little device.
If you’re not lucky enough to live in Italy or France. Here are your options.
1) Aigo P8860 (without 3G, white) is available globally.
2) Aigo P8888w (with UMTS 3G, black) is available globally.
3) Gigabyte M528 is available from Expansys (although it’s not showing today) and Mobilx.
If you’re prepared to wait and see what an XP version looks like and you’re in the US, keep an eye on the NoteMagix from Velocity Micro.
I’m living living with a borrowed Compal MID from the MID Moves tour but when that and the Wibrain i1 goes back (thanks Mobilx,for the loan) , i’m going to be lost. The Compal MID is at the top of my list with the Viliv S5 and UMID. In two-weeks I’ll be looking to make a decision one of those three devices in order to have it with me for CeBIT in March.
Italian IDOL-dedicated Blog: Il Blog dedicato al MID IDOL di Tim.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:54 am
@nguyen Dont have VAIO P but likely too big. Vista a problem on this platform too. Notebook + http://is.gd/hN0W is my strategy!
January 30th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
i’m relying on those who have these devices. we need more info about daily use. a short info about the UI is great, but what about the usability, features, are they really ok, or not? can you hack an existing OS easily or not?
i’m not going to italy before march, so basically i have 2 months sitting here waiting for news news news… in march i will have mine too. i don’t care about new devices in the MID branch of UMPC market, since apparently manufacturers and intel itself is pushing netbooks. so i can be calm and get one of these devices.
thanks to those guys who actually have one of these units and post pictures, reviews, hacks etc. really appreciated!
January 30th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Fab,
http://www.midwiki.com
fab Reply:
January 30th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
EC this is fantastic!! thanks a lot. i was basically searching for a wiki like that!
let’s promote it to everybody, the more info will be added the better!
thanks a lot
EC Reply:
January 30th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Well I have the feeling there’s not that many of the MID owners just yet,
Jenn’s Pockeasbles Forum has some info too as well as this very site’s (UMPCportal) forums, here’s Pocketsbles’ one:
http://forum.pocketables.net/forumdisplay.php?f=31
P.S. Link copy & pasted with my iPhone! Yep such an app available now!
January 31st, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Any idea when we might see a refresh of the Compal design?
fab Reply:
January 31st, 2009 at 8:19 pm
this one’s hardly out yet…
producers are working, i’m sure, though they want to see how good the current devices are accepted.
January 31st, 2009 at 8:56 pm
@chippy: what device will you more missing: the Compal MID or the Wibrain i1?
February 13th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I want to say that i tested max battery life of “our” MID.
I made a loop of this script:
“find / ; sleep 30s”
so the device have to redraw entire window continously.
I put Screen Backlight always ON but at low luminosity.
I put CPU frequency to MIN
And the MID lives up to 4 hours ad 10 minutes !!
fab Reply:
February 13th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
ciao
what??
you mean, you have the default Midinux OS (branded TIM/Alice) and by using this script you managed to get 4h10m with low brightness and 600MHz CPU.
questions:
Wifi on
3G on
or both
in general radios on (wifi,3G,bluetooth..)
could you do the same test with MAX power usage, means, full CPU, full brightness?
that would be even more interesting to show a full usage of the device at full power.
thanks for the test
(ps: hai acquistato l’idol via internet o in un centro tim?)