MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

nathanwms · 06-01-2007, 06:32 PM

My main issue with the Foleo is the price. It's hard for me to justify paying $600 (minus $100 rebate) for a Foleo when I can get a Kohjinsha ultra-portable, 7 inch screen swivel screen, Win XP, BT 2.0, 802.11G, built-in keyboard, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, SD, CF, Video out, 2 USB for $691 through Conics.net .

I know some people don't need all the extra ability, but a $299 Foleo would have much better appeal against competition, which has more features and not much more in price.

I also think it was a mistake developing a variant of Linux that does not allow me to take advantage of the thousands of available open-source Linux applications. I'm not a Linux guru, but I believe it would have been just as easy to reduce unnecessary features and scale Linux down (like say Damn Small Linux) but still able to use quality Linux applications. Then they could design the Foleo to be instant-on and write the custom features to allow the one-touch syncing without crippling Linux in the process.

Foleo is in my estimation a good idea but poor execution. Unless Palm does something soon, I believe the market (UMPCs, MIDs, Ubuntu Mobile/Embedded Linux, Redflag Midinux, etc) will make the Foleo irrelevant.

06-01-2007, 06:32 PM	#4
nathanwms Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 24 Join Date: Mar 2005 Device: Sharp Zaurus SL-C760	My main issue with the Foleo is the price. It's hard for me to justify paying $600 (minus $100 rebate) for a Foleo when I can get a Kohjinsha ultra-portable, 7 inch screen swivel screen, Win XP, BT 2.0, 802.11G, built-in keyboard, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, SD, CF, Video out, 2 USB for $691 through Conics.net . I know some people don't need all the extra ability, but a $299 Foleo would have much better appeal against competition, which has more features and not much more in price. I also think it was a mistake developing a variant of Linux that does not allow me to take advantage of the thousands of available open-source Linux applications. I'm not a Linux guru, but I believe it would have been just as easy to reduce unnecessary features and scale Linux down (like say Damn Small Linux) but still able to use quality Linux applications. Then they could design the Foleo to be instant-on and write the custom features to allow the one-touch syncing without crippling Linux in the process. Foleo is in my estimation a good idea but poor execution. Unless Palm does something soon, I believe the market (UMPCs, MIDs, Ubuntu Mobile/Embedded Linux, Redflag Midinux, etc) will make the Foleo irrelevant.