How are these relevant with the dawn of tablets and ultraportable, cheap laptops...

smacktoward · on March 24, 2012

1) Extremely long battery life -- the newer Neo model can be used for months on a pair of AA batteries (see http://www.williamlanday.com/2009/05/29/things-i-love-the-al...)

2) Can run on commodity batteries -- AAs are cheap, user replaceable, and supplies are easily available worldwide

3) More rugged -- can be dropped without fear, no need for aftermarket cases/screen protectors

4) Keyboard included -- no need for aftermarket add-on, unlike most tablets

5) Cheap -- you can buy one for an order of magnitude less than the cost of a tablet, or even more less than the cost of a notebook

Which isn't to say devices like these are better for everyone than a tablet or a laptop would be, just that those devices don't automatically make these irrelevant for their niche.

moylan · on March 24, 2012

depends on what you want from a mobile device.

* faster text entry for writing a book? keyboard wins every time.

* less distractions while working on a project.

* runs for ages on a sniff of alkaline batteries.

* easily used outdoors in direct sun light?

* more rugged than a modern laptop?

i'd take one of these over an ipad anytime. but those are my requirements, not yours.

Avshalom · on March 24, 2012

They aren't really, but 1000 hour battery life with a real keyboard has it's appeal to a certain crowd. Though, I say 1000 hours, I know some alpha smarts can hit that, I don't know about the Dana.

Also palm III on 160x560 screen is a bit of a curio.

miahi · on March 24, 2012

It's the price. And the nerdery. Old cheap toys that are still useful today bring up memories. Especially when you have to hack them.