I want to see a show of hands, how many of you have spare AAA batteries
rolling around in the bottom of your purses, gear bags, pockets, or desk
drawers? Yeah, I did too until I found the Battery Holster from
RS Innovative.
The Battery Holster definately isn’t a high tech whizzy-fob that you’re used to reading
about on this site. Instead it is a simple product that does exactly what it is
made to do, which is hold 2 AAA batteries. Made of black leather, it is
basically a small rectangular pouch that has been sewn on each side. A small tab
with a snap closes the pouch and holds a metal spring key ring.
You can use this product as your primary key ring, or you can attach it to an
existing one. Or, like me, you can just pop it in your gear bag or purse. Either
way, it takes the hassle out of scrounging around for a set of AAA’s whenever
your pager or older PDA might need them.
The Battery Holster is nothing fancy, but it looks nice and is made well.
Sometimes the best products are the ones that cost very little to make, and very
little for consumers to purchase. I think this is one of those products.
Price: $3.95
Pros:
Inexpensive
Small and simple
Cons:
Need a AA version
Product Information
| Price: | 3.95 |
| Manufacturer: | RS Innovative |
| Pros: |
|
| Cons: |
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Tell us what you think?
I think it’s going to be a hit among power PDA users, but could have a rough time getting a larger market. Selling direct for an unknown company like Tapwave could be tricky. Hopefully, they’ve budgeted a lot for marketing this holiday.
I disagree that this is too unprofessional looking as a PDA, though. I think they did a great job choosing rathing boring black/grey colors. You can use it in portrait mode, so you can flip the cover open just like on many palmOne devices and since the “joystick” is actually more like a nub, it shouldn’t attract too much attention to itself.
I’m extremely tempted by this, but Tapwave may not want me as a customer, since they may not make much off of me in terms of game sales. I don’t really play many games, but this looks like it could be a great PDA.
I posted more of my thoughts and some pictures (which have already made the rounds, but some may have missed them) here:
http://goodthatway.com/news_arc/?id=72
Scott
How can this thing miss?
I defy anyone to show me another PDA that…
1. Can be used in portrait or landscape mode
2. Comes with 128MB RAM
3. Has two SDIO SD/MMC slots
4. Has a soft grafitti 480×320 screen
5. Has a Yamaha soundchiip
6. Has Bluetooth
7. Has an ATI Imageon graphics accelerator combined with the Fathammer X-Forge 3D Game Engine
8. Has a 1540mAh battery
9. Has its buttons placed where they can be easily used for gaming
10. Offers all this and costs just $399
I mean, Hellllllloooooooooooo!!!!
Once the thing is in a case, it will look business-like enough for just about any office.
I am definitely getting one – even if Steve is already threatening me that it will be his PDA. :p
Judie :0)
Judie, I asked this question over at PIC and since you mentioned the 128MB model, I figured I’d ask you as well…Why would you want the 128MB model? The 32MB model is $100 cheaper which leaves you with more than enough money to buy a 256MB SD card. I could understand the reasoning for going with the 128MB model if this device only had one SDIO slot, since you might want to leave it free for Wi-Fi or something, but since it has two SDIO slots, I don’t get it.
Scott
I still don’t believe that diehard PDA users will want the Zodiac because it looks like a Gameboy or Game Park ( http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/gamepark-gp32-review.html ) more than it does a PDA. Does anyone have the actual size specs? It still looks a little large to me.
If you look at the images in Scott R’s article, the screen doesn’t look very bright at all. I know that I would be disappointed with any PDA / Game machine screen that was less brilliant than my HP2215.
I’m not sure that hard core gamers will want it right out of the gate because there won’t be THAT many games available for it. I also wonder how much the games will cost?
To me, this thing is being marketed as a gaming device first, and a PDA second. It will take a lot for it to unseat the Gameboy. Then there’s the fact that Sony is supposedly coming out with a handheld Playstation soon…
I do hope Judie and I get a chance to see one in person when we go to Tech Expo in New York the week after next!
Because I am a goofball that always wants the top of the line model. 😉
Judie :0)
I’m not getting too worked about that yet. The way I figure it, none of these devices usually film well. But if it really is as dim in real life as it looked in the video, that could definitely be a deal-killer for me.
Well, there’s no way that it could unseat the Gameboy due to the cost difference, library of games, and availability issues. But with much higher-end specs and a higher cost, I don’t think Tapwave views the Gameboy as their competition, anyway. The handheld Playstation may be a different story, but that’s still a year away, I believe.
Scott
Ha! I knew it.
Scott
How many games have they announced so far, anyone know? Looking at the Zodiac makes me wish I still had my Game Gear and most off all my Atari Lynx! Now that was a fun gaming device!
😀
flop
This thing is too big and unprofessional looking to become a hit unless they have some truly great games for it. The specs are way impressive, but I would never use that thing as my main PDA in a professional setting.
It looks like it will be a “Tiger Direct” item in a few months.
Getting game developers on board such a project is difficult. Look at the trouble that Microsoft has had getting good titles for the X-Box and now try to do the same thing with a small budget (like Tapwave probably has).
I agree with Julie about the screen and size. I think it looks like a decent gaming device (with few games) and a mediocre PDA (too large/silly looking).
I think the goals of being a gaming device and PDA are at odds with each other. For gamers, you need a large, comfortable screen and button arrangement, but a PDA should be more compact so you can carry it in your pocket. This is the same reason why I think the Nokia N-Gage is going to fail.
L.B.
I’m disappointed that we probably will not see the Zodiac at Tech Expo next week as they are going to officially announce the product at a different trade show.
You know, I’m really impressed with some of the newer Pocket PC games that have been coming out. In my opinion, the Pocket PC is a much more viable platform for the PDA/Game machine hybrid. It already has a large screen, and great sound. They only thing that most current Pocket PCs lack is a great button layout. But that could and has been remedied by products such as this one:
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/zeta-ipaq-gamepad-review.html
Based on my estimations, the Zodiac shouldn’t be appreciably larger than many existing PDAs (see http://goodthatway.com/news_arc/?id=72). Sure, it’s not as small as the HP iPaq h1900-series or a Palm V, but few PDAs are.
Scott
I don’t know about all of you, but since I use my PDA for gaming, reading eBooks and and as my main brain, I actually prefer a slightly larger device with the slightly larger screen that should acompany it.
As cool as some of the new smaller PDAs may look, if their body and screen are too small, then the PDA will be useless to me for everyday use.
That’s just one of the many reasons why I think it is awesome that there are so many PDA choices available to us. The Zod just happens to be one that I think might work for me.
Of course, until I actually get one in my hands, this is all wild speculation…
J
Hi, I’m the owner/editor/lead writer of goodthatway.com and I just wanted to let you all know that we’ve just launched a sister site devoted exclusively to the Tapwave Zodiac. The site design looks a lot like goodthatway’s at this moment, but later tonight all of the colors will change and it will have an identity all its own.
The site is called TapLand and you can find it at http://tapland.com
There’s one big news item out there right now, probably not containing any news you don’t already know. But I’ll be posting news there on a regular basis. Feel free to submit any news/rumors you may here.
Also, there are several forums there (using one of the more popular forum applications) devoted to specific aspects of the Zodiac. I am open to hearing feedback on ways to improve the site, new forums to add, etc.
If anyone is interested in contributing there on a regular basis (e.g. – game reviews, hardware reviews, etc.) please contact me there.
Thanks, and I hope to see some of you over there!
Scott
So you both got a Zodiac? What’s up with that? I thought that Julie wasn’t impressed with it?
Scott
How else can we both review it, unless she gets one too. 😉
Scott:
I never said I wasn’t impressed by the Zodiac. What I did say is that I didn’t think it would be a success.
Sorry, you’re right. I went back and read your original “blog” about it and you said that you were intrigued by it and would probably end up getting one.
So which model(s) did you two end up going with? I’m debating about it. To me, the extra $100 isn’t justified for the extra memory when I can use up one of the slots for a big memory card. OTOH, I like the darker gray of the more expensive model.
Scott
We both ordered the more expensive model. Why? Just because 🙂
You’re right to go for the Zodiac2. In a month or two you won’t even remember having paid more.
Besides, if you want to run emulators, you better get the 128M model !
Read the interviews with Toris, Rlyeh, MikeDX, Atrkid, Prophet and Skeezix over at http://www.zodiacgamer.com (sorry Scott 🙂
or even the great http://www.pdarcade.com
the first Zodiac supporting site online, which also provides your daily ppc and palm news as well.
Amen! For example, the UX50 is a slick piece of kit, but that screen (IMO) is too small. I like it on all the other merits, and was sorely tempted. OTOH, a lot of my fellow geeks have used my Treo 600 and walked away unimpressed. I love it – and I was a Pocket PC user.
I hope more games come out. To me, the GBA is made more for children. Yes, yes, my fellow 30-somethings think that games like Splinter Cell for GBA define the product, but I am not sold. Give me a solid PDA with a large screen that also doubles as a solid gaming console, and I’m sold. Now just gotta figure if my G5 fund gets sluiced for this… 🙂
Actually, 32MB is on the edge of being adequate. I’d rather go the high road and have some breathing space, which is exactly why I skipped the T|T2. I just did not want a LITTLE improvement with the possibility I’d be back to the “delete everything you can and stuff the rest on the card” situation again.