Bill Thar wrote:
The hardware specs describe the screen as a "...color transflective
display..." which is the same type as the ipaq uses.

You can't go by the technology used, as even the Ipaqs vary a lot in
their sunlight visibility; e.g., the older 38xx series is more readable
than the newer ones, like the 22xx (I've got both!). You have to see it
to know.

It does look
interesting, but for soaring, the only advantage I can see is the screen.
Why pay for so much computing power?

It's the screen that's most interesting: 5" of VGA (800x600) has got to
be much easier to see and use than 3.8" of 320x240. Even though the
screen is much bigger, the unit is only slightly bigger than a 38xx Ipaq
like I use, so it would still fit easily in my glider and on my mount.

For most of us, the cost would hard to justify for glider use only, but
prices do tend to fall. A bigger problem, I just noticed, is the screen
isn't a touch screen, but requires a "digital pen" for touch use. That's
a show stopper, I think, as all the PDA glide software depends heavily
on the touch screens.

Another choice for a bigger screen might be the NavAero t-pad 800, an 8"
touch screen (www.navaero.com), but it requires a cable connection to a
laptop mounted somewhere. The 8" might be TOO big to really be better,
overall, than a 4" PDA screen.

More choices are appearing, but not quite what we wish for, just yet.


"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...

Has anyone seen the Oqo computer (www.oqo.com) so they know how good the
screen is in sunlight?

It's spendy at $1800, but it's Windows XP computer with a 5" VGA screen,
just about the ideal size for a glider. Physically, it's only slightly
larger than an Ipaq 38xx. Of course, the key feature is how well the
screen works in a sunlit cockpit, but if that's good, it's very
intriguing.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA