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Hey People,
I just received a Raon Vega and am putting it through its paces. I already own an oqo, so I will be able to compare the 2 devices. First Impressions:

1. Very well built, feels nice in the hands, about the same fatness as the oqo with the extended battery, but not as high. Wider than oqo and screen is more widescreen than oqo. Heavier than it looks with battery attached.

2. Very fast boot times, nice and clean not much pre-installed crap on there, only a power setting utility and a control panel.

3. The built in mouse is crap. Very hard to manipulate. It's kinda of like using your D-pad on your psp to move the mouse. It is neat though that you can press a button to turn it into a cursor pad so that you can play games on it like a psp. I am getting more used to it though, so I think it wil lget better over time.

4. Screen is fantastic, just as good as the sony ux series. Similar resolution to the oqo, so it is very readable, nice and bright. The touch screen is very accurate and you can use anything to move the cursor, not just the pen.

5. Keyboard layout takes a while to get used to. It's handy having Enter, ESC, Backspace etc on the device, but not as good as oqo, as it is missing all the letters. You can configure the keys to your liking to do anything. The onscreen keyboard comes up with a push of a button, but its just a re-labeled version of the built in win xp keyboard. I'm going to install tablet xp.

6. In the bios, you can allocate from 16mb up to 256mb of RAM to the video card... not had much time to test this out though, not sure what effect it has. Also you can set the processor to 100mhz, 200mhz, 300mhz, 400mhz, 500mhz or Auto to save baterry life.

7. Seems to run very fast... Windows open immediately, file explorer, internet no pause waiting to load. Much Much faster than the oqo 01+.

8. Lack of wi-fi and bluetooth is annoying, however the usb wi-fi key is fantastic... great performance and range (it has better range the the wi-fi on my sony SZ series). It has led lights on the end to show you when it is doing something. I just stick it into the usb slot on the top of the device and it doesn't bother me.

9. The plastic port protectors are annoying and get in the way around the sides of the device. I think I may just pull them off.

10. There is no fan in this machine. Just ran windows update for the first time, so processor was going full tilt for over an hour, and the device does not get anywhere near as hot as the oqo. It does get warm to the touch however, but not uncomfortably so.

11. The ability to plug it directly into another machine via usb is fantastic, you can copy files on and off the hard drive without switching the machine on!.

12. I am gonig to install Tablet XP on it as right now it has XP home installed. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work as there are only drivers for the screen, audio, and the control panel (keyboard). Hopefully tablet xp will detect the touch screen ok. I will also try vista, and let you know.

13. The built in Mic is great, very clear.

I'll post more when I have had a better chance to play with it. I'm enjoying it more than the UX Vaio that I had. Lack of wi-fi is annoying but not that much of a problem, I must say that I am very impressed. It may finally be time to sell my oqo.
 
Replies

Nice, mini-review. Thanks!
 

Thanks wormdrummer, can't wait to know more about your new toy.

After using it for several hours does it get hot or just warm and have you tried project64 n64 emulator on it?
I'm curious to see if it can handle it.
Any eyestrain from the smaller screen also and does the battery seem to last as long as they say it will? Scoob.
 

I haven't tried the project64 emulator, but I will give it a go. I doubt it will run as the device does not have a 3d card in it, but in saying that I managed to get warcraft 3 up and running. In terms of heat, I would say that it just gets warm, it's not going to burn your hands or anything.

I think the screen is probably the best screen I have ever layed eyes on. It has a great viewing angle, not too bad in daylight (not quite as good as the oqo though). The resolution is great. I used to find that the UX resolution was just too small and was hurting my eyes. The Vega is 800 x 480 by default and is easy to view. You can change the resolution to 1024 x 768 and 640 x 480 by pressing a button on the side of the screen, but both those resolutions look fuzzy. When plugged into a monitor however, the screen ran 1280 x 1024 very easily. It's a great machine to use as a desktop replacement (for office, internet, movies, word editing etc.. not really for 3d games)... I have run Visual studio 2005 and SQl 2000 and both run great. Office 2007 beta also runs pretty well. (it doesn't run that well on my core duo 2 sony sz!!!)...

Let me know if you have any more questions.
 

I love #11.

Does the Vega allow direct re-charging through the USB port?

And, ahhh....is it pocketable?
Recent Blog: Apple iPhone Switch  

how about the performance when both the voip like skype and MSN video stream are running? I am looking for a mobile communication ceter for me.
 

Three questions:
1) Have you tried it with any GPS software? I found previously that the 800x480 display didn't work well with either CoPilot or iGuidance.
2) Does it support OpenGL? (I'm pretty sure it doesn't.) I really like Starry Nights astronomy software, but it needs graphics power.
3) What are load times for software like? Could you give some examples?

I wanted to ask also if you tried screen rotation. The Project64 emulator might be possible since the emulator has been optimized towards lower spec computers. I saw the video on youtube for the Vega playing a 3d game called "Virtua Cop" and it seemed to work well for it.
Here is the linky:


As for the screen, I owned a Zen Vision:m and loved it for it's display since the colors were better than any other display i've seen even though it was at a resolution of 320x240.
The screen size of 2.5" was it's only drawback but I can see myself using the much larger 4.3" on the Vega for movies. :-)
The screenshots of the Vega seem to show it also looks like a winner. Thanks for the info. Scoob.
 

@wormdrummer
2 q's:

1. Having used the UX Vaio, would you say the Vega is a better system for its purpose (minus the missing internal Wi-fi and BT)?
2. How is its performance vs the UX for real-world usage? What can't you do with this that the UX can do that you would realistically do on a daily basis with a handheld?

diJenerate
ok, I'll do my best with the questions:

Fil: No it doesn't charge via the usb port. Also, you can only copy files to it when the device is off, or in standby mode.

phyzjqk: Skype runs great, no drop outs. Don't have an external webcam so I couldn't test MSN video.

Meansquare: 1) Don't have any gps software, but you can change the resolution to 800x600 (it compresses the image to fit on the screen), so I think it would work, but may look a little squished. 2) The unit only supports directdraw (the test ran very fast), not direct3d or opengl. I will install quake 3 to test this and get back to you 3) It takes 6 seconds to fully load Outlook 2003. Around 12 seconds to open a project in visual studio 2005 (quite a large project). Bootup time is 48 secs.

scoobydew30: I tried screen rotation. It's not as easy as the oqo as you have to go into the display properties to rotate the screen instead of just pressing a button (unless I am missing something). It rotates very quickly and is fine to use for browsing web pages etc. I loaded project64, it did work, but ran fairly slowly. I couldn't find a way to get it playable.

diJenerate: I am enjoying the Vega more than the ux, mainly because of the screen and the way it feels to hold in the hands. I find it much more confortable. In terms of opening office, internet, visual studio etc, it seems just as quick as the UX. I guess the only draw back is missing a full keyboard. The one that the vega comes pre-installed with is a bit of a pain to use. It doesn't respond very well, it opens and closes fine but when you try and move it round the screen it doesn't work that well. I have finished installed tablet xp and I can report that the device works really really well. The tip works great, I had to use a 3rd party program (softrightclick) to emulate right clicking on the screen, but apart from that its great. With tablet xp this thing really is a winner. Screen input is very important, I just wish there was a spot to hold the pen when you weren't using it. As I mentioned earlier the built in mouse needs some work, but is usable after time, so you would be relying on using the touchscreen alot more than you would on the ux. I know the keyboard on the ux sux, but with the vega you have to input everything using the on screen keyboard. If you are happy with that, then I can recommend the vega. (it is half the price).
 

oh and for pocketability, it is longer than the oqo, so you can fit it nicely into slacks, or a suit pocket, but not jeans etc.
 

How is pocketability compared to the UX? And weight? Battery life? I have the UX and have found I am not using it as much as I thought I would. I was considering the Vega to use mostly during travel as a PMP and internet device. Thoughts?
 

Battery life is great. I got 4 hours 56 mintues with wi-fi stick plugged in and screen on full watches tv shows / movies from the hard drive. The large battery that comes standard with the device is actually bigger than the device itself. Weight wise, I think it is almost exactly the same as the ux, if not a tiny bit lighter. (i know you can get a smaller battery that makes the unit weight under 400g). I think you would get it in your pocket easier than the ux, as it is not oddly shaped and fairly smooth, so it would slip in pretty easily. You just need a deep pocket. Another guy I know got over 8 hours with the screen and wi-fi off.
 

Well this is intriguing. Any sense of how long the standard battery is? I drops the weight and volume way down.

Are you full accustomed to the mouse yet? I would rater not have to always use the stylus.
 

Apparently the small battery only lasts 2 hours, but I don't have one to test. I am definately getting more used to the mouse, but its not as friendly as the one on the oqo or the ux.
 

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