Hi all! We just returned from a week in chilly San
Francisco, Carmel and Monterey! We left the 100º weather in Texas and nearly froze in the
California…it just didn’t seem natural for it to be so chilly in
what are typically the dog days of summer! When we stepped off the
plane tonight to 90º+ temperatures in San
Angelo, I knew we were home. ;0)
Anyway! I have received a lot of email with questions
about the DualCor cPC,
including those from people wanting to know why my posts about it
just…stopped.
Well, they stopped because I was gone, not because I
dropped and broke the cPC, so never fear – pictures and commentary
will resume in the next few days. I used the heck out of the cPC
over the last week, and thus far am incredibly impressed and
happy with its performance.
In the meantime, I’ll attempt to answer a few of the
more common questions:
Q. How do I read only the posts that include
information about the DualCor without having to scroll through
irrelevant drivel? (Just kidding…no one actually said drivel;
I just like using that word)
A. Step by step: 1. Click
here. 2. Notice that any post ever made on this site about the
DualCor (with the exception of forum postings) will now be
clickable and thus readable. 3. Enjoy the saga.
Q. Does the screen feel hard and react more like a
PDA, or does it feel spongy and get those “oil slick” circles when
pressed with a stylus?
A. If you are used to using a PDA such as an iPAQ or Palm, then you
are already familiar with the type touch panel used here. There are
no oil licks and the screen is not spongy; it feels like a glass
pane.
Side note: Speaking of screens brings up the
subject of screen protection: I have already requested the correct
size
WriteSHIELDs from Pocket PC Techs. Hopefully I
will have them this week, so I can peel of the bubbly static
protector it shipped with once and for all. Yep, I have basically
left it on for the last week so that I wouldn’t have to worry about
scratches on the cPC’s gorgeous screen. :0P
Q. That plastic stylus looks flimsy! There is no way
I would buy a PDA with a stylus like that! What else did they
scrimp on?
A. Oh wow…are you kidding me? I seriously don’t follow
that logic because I always have a couple of PDA Panache
stick styli lying on my desk When I am out and about I commonly
use my finger for quick lookups or my
Delta Dolcevita stylus for serious Block Recognizer / Graffiti
word entry. I honestly don’t know where they could have stuck a
stylus silo on this thing…it is really jam packed with ports and
receptacles as it is. I look at the stock stylus as a handy backup
when I am too lazy to reach across my desk or into my bag, when a
finger isn’t going to get the job done. I do need to get a portable
USB keyboard, though…
Q. There’s no jog-dial or D-pad…what is it like to
read eBooks? How do you easily turn the page?
A. Okay, I don’t know if this will work with every reader program,
but it does work with eReader Pro. I
have found that the left mouse button will repeat whatever the last
action was that was taken. So when I am reading, I’ll open the
book, tap the corner of the screen to remove the bookmark, and then
when ready I’ll tap the bottom of the page to advance to the
next…but from then on I can just hit the left button with my
thumb. It’s smooth sailing. :0)
Q. Did I read that right – the battery isn’t user
replaceable?
A. No, it is not user replaceable, and if that ever becomes a
problem I will let you know…
Q. What kind of battery life are you getting?
A. Well, today I had a lot of time to sit and read since we
were either waiting at the airport or riding on a plane. I read
basically uninterrupted from 11am (PT) to 6:30 (CT) straight, so
that was 5.5 hours (remember the time change), and then I read from
7:30 (CT) to 9:30 (CT) – an additional 2 and still had about a
third of my battery life; in other words, I still had about 33%
battery life after 7.5 hours. This was definitely sufficient to get
through a busy day of traveling when I had no chance to plug in and
recharge. XP use is a bit more of a battery drain, understandably.
I have noticed the battery level drop a lot faster when using XP or
when it was running in the background. I’ll do more specific
battery testing on both OSs and get back with you…
Q. Does the cPC get hot when running XP or WM5?
A. It seems to stay at exactly the same temp when running WM5, I
haven’t noticed any heat at all – although I won’t say that there
isn’t any. However, when running XP it does get
pretty hot within the first 10 minutes or so; it’s not too hot to
hold, but it is hot enough that I think a ventilated stand would be
the best place to keep it for extended XP use – especially to allow
air circulation for the rear fan.
Q. What kind of lag is there when you turn on WM5?
XP?
A. Accessing WM5 is instantaneous – push the button and the cPC
turns on. From WM5, when tapping the icon to swap between the OSs
for the first time, there is about a minute (sometimes less) lag from the time the icon changes from red, to yellow, to
blue as XP loads. Once XP is loaded, and until it is shut down,
there is no lag between the two OSs when the icon is tapped;
the swap is instantaneous – press the “button” and XP and WM5 will
switch back and forth on demand. I have to admit that this is
pretty freaky the first couple times it’s seen.
Conversely, there is about a 1.5 second lag when
turning the cPC off from WM5. When I first started using the device
I was tempted to hit the button again because I thought I had
somehow missed it the first time. I have since grown used to the
fact that the device will turn off, it just takes a
second…literally.
Q. Why aren’t you talking more about the ___(fill in
the blank)___?
A. Here’s the deal: The cPC I have is not the final version. I can
talk about most of the hardware with confidence, I can talk about
general OS characteristics with confidence, but there are certain
things about the device that may or may not be exactly the same
once version one starts shipping. I would rather not complain about
something that will most likely be fixed, or praise something that
may not be in the final build. Believe me, once the true shipping
version is available I will write the full review that I know you
all expect.
Q. Why did DualCor give you one?
A. <cough – cough> I purchased an Engineering Sample
when the opportunity was offered.
Q. When will this be available and what will it
cost?
A. Straight from my contact’s email on July 21st: The cPC
will be available in 90-120 days for a MSRP of $1999.00 USD
Did I miss anything? Send me an email… :0)
