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YOPY Arrives
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Thu May 29, 2003 08:52 PM
from the results-of-death-greatly-exaggerated dept.
from the results-of-death-greatly-exaggerated dept.
Victor Tramp writes "Apparently the fabled Linux based YOPY handheld has been put on the market after all! Not only do they look like cool PDA versions of a Gameboy Advance SP (they fold), they look like they give the Zaurus a real run for the money, featurewise. Though the fastest processor is 206MHz, they include CompactFlash and MMC slots on the 3700 model. Apparently you can download their Linupy distro, too. And finally, they don't seem to be vaporware!"
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YOPY Arrives
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Re:I remember seeing at at the CeBit in 2001 (Score:5, Funny)
It's trouble, I tell you. Trouble!
Uhm.. (Score:5, Informative)
Nice but... (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://www.memphisredneck.com/)
I really am enjoying my Palm Tungsten C!!!
It has Front-Lit screen, which is WAY better. (Score:4, Informative)
Sticker shock (Score:4, Informative)
(http://www.cg2.org/)
Nice, but ---BeOS Icons (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.jason-michael.com/)
Has anyone used one? (Score:4, Interesting)
(http://goat.cx/ | Last Journal: Wednesday August 18 2004, @02:34PM)
Like a Clie (Score:5, Informative)
(Last Journal: Sunday April 11 2004, @07:41PM)
Re:It sounds good but (Score:5, Funny)
No, it's fully functional.
Bit pricy still - but competitive for it's market (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Sunday April 11 2004, @07:41PM)
However, a $449 price tag is rather hard to justify here. I known that it's comparing Apples to Oranges, but, a person can still pick up a used, last generation laptop with vast amounts more computing power for the same price on an auction, or slightly more at a computer show. And yes, I do realize that making these things are not exactly cheap, but $400+ dollars for those specs - from an unproven manufacturer?
I'll stick with my $195 backlit Clie [sonystyle.com] that I got from Circuit City - after my $35 mail in rebate and the $10 mark down from the holiday sale (which can do everything that this can) for now. I'll pick a Yopy up off Ebay in a few months though.
not that competative for its market (Score:4, Informative)
(http://www.pfstuff.com/)
Again... (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.ti-news.com/)
You can make an amazing PDA based on Linux, but if it doesn't run the apps that are all ready out there, are the few advantages great enough to outweigh the lack of support?
Program base doesn't equal success (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Sunday April 11 2004, @07:41PM)
PDAs are main stream; everyone from the CEO to grandma has one. Which means that the average PDA consumer is like every other average consumer of anything else, and name recognition and marketing pizazz still rules the market (in regards to sells).
Different markets. (Score:5, Informative)
Anyway... I wsent off on a tangent, but the long and short of it is I doubt these will appeal to the average user. Admins, definitely!
If you really wanted to push these to ordinary users, I think I'd concentrate on marketing the mp3 music/mpeg movie players on them. And the fact that they have CF card slots (think IBM 1 gig microdrive - they hold a lot of data).
The fact that you could check your email in Starbucks doesn't hurt either.
Not a brick, suprisingly... (Score:4, Interesting)
I have to drool over the 2300mAh battery. Ack.
While a Strongarm processor might not have the sex appeal of an Xscale, most of the Xscales are just empty promises for other handhelds. PPC 2002 doesn't support the Xscale's ARMv5 instruction set, and from the look of the upcoming Ipaq (which don't support v5 either but supposedly will have PPC 2003 installed), PPC 2003 won't either.
Re:Not a brick, suprisingly... (Score:5, Informative)
How about Apple's new 4 inch iBook (Score:5, Funny)
A server in your pocket, or maybe two
Someday maybe... (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.brynmosher.com/ | Last Journal: Monday August 27, @10:15PM)
Even if it's not USB, some kind of mass storage would be quite a boon. Perhaps Apple will just steer the iPod in that direction eventually.
Re:Someday maybe... (Score:5, Informative)
Killer App (Score:5, Insightful)
processor too slow??? (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://www.kibbee.ca/)
damn, that's not slow at all, i'm running a 233 right now for my desktop, and it does most stuff, apart from new games very well. I know it's not a pentium chip in the new PDA, so you just can't compare straight mHz, but still 206 mhz, in your hand, this thing r0X0rs!!!
Re:Any interest? (Score:4, Funny)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday February 21 2002, @04:37PM)
I have a first-generation Yopy (Score:5, Interesting)
I haven't touched it in a year, because Gmate never released source for anything but the kernel. Worse, their web site had a place to upload things, but anything they didn't like, (like my cool USB base station mod [cantrip.org], evidently [see the serial number?]) they just tossed, without a reply -- the upload would just vanish into the ether. (I uploaded three times just to be sure it was deliberate.)
It appears they wanted people to write applications, but not to fool with the hardware or kernel.
I hope they have got less contemptuous of hackers in days since. At this point I would be a lot more likely to order one of those Japan-only Zauruses.
Wireless Lan CARD - LAME! (Score:5, Insightful)
Y vs. Z (Score:5, Informative)
So let's compare with Yopy:
Yopy: awesome design, keyboard doesn't look as nice as the Z's which is arranged in the perfect way for thumb-typing. Hmm, you can't fold the screen around and hold the Yopy like a PDA unfortunately, and the keyboard is always exposed. I prefer the Z (plus on the Zaurus you can type pretty much any key you need if you know the right combinations, don't know about this guy).
Looks like the Yopy has speaker/mic onboard? My Z doesn't have that, but the new model does, so that's not a big issue.
Battery life: YOW the Yopy has a phat-ass battery. If there's one thing I hate about my Z it's the <1000mA-h battery. The new Z has a bigger battery but the Yopy kicks everybody's butt.
MMC slot: Well, as far as I know, the SD cards are faster (so they can sell you the copyright bullshit feature which is deactivated on the Z anyway). I don't know if this is slower than the Z's SD slot. Why don't these guys just put TWO CF slots?? That's the superior format in my opinion anyway.
CPU speed: the new Z has a 400Mhz Xscale but apparently it doesn't work right and the performance isn't good. The newer japan-only clamshell Zaurii have a full-speed 400MHz. So I guess it's a draw with the Z here, unless you get the very new clamshell Zaurus.
Colorful LEDs? Well the Z has a couple LEDs that blink and an ANNOYING buzzer. I guess I'll call it a draw here too.
Software: don't know much about the software on the Y. It looks like X Windows.. can I get good software for it? We'll see. I'll give the edge to the Z on this one becuase I know where to get good free and commercial Z software, haven't seen any Y software (yeah yeah, port the X apps, but what about when I want something that Just Works(tm)).
Price: Well the Z is available cheap from many places, I got mine from the HSN special for $168, don't think the Y can compete with that. I'll hand this one to the Z.
WiFi: Does the Y have built-in Wifi??? I don't understand when they say "wifi card". If it has it built-in that's a win for Y, I hate having to go off the air to use the CF slot (I HATE SD cards, and all my software is installed on mine so I never take it out anyway).
So based on my cursory glance: The Y *looks* a *little* cooler than the (non-clamshell) Z. The battery life is much much better. Other than that, I don't see much reason to get one.
Looking forward to the reviews/cool hacks/comments
So what? (Score:3, Funny)
Archaic ordering process (Score:3, Informative)
Turns out, you have to make a wire transfer to their bank account in order to get one. When's the last time you went to your bank for a wire transfer (note: there are extra fees involved).
Also, shipping to the US is US$50. So raise the minimum price to US$500.
looks a lot better than the Zaurus (Score:3, Informative)
I have a Zaurus and it has generally been a disappointment. The built-in applications are not all that good, and its use of Qt/Embedded makes it very difficult to port most Linux GUI software to it--you have to spend time learning Qt/Embedded. I find the Zaurus mostly useful as a little wireless terminal and music player for around the house, not as a PDA.
The Yopy looks like it gets it right: standard Linux with X11. Note that G.MATE also first tried to use some other embedded window system and then saw the light.
Also, the keyboard on the Yopy looks like it's more functional to me than what the Zaurus has. The Zaurus keyboard feels nice, but the sliding mechanism is kind of clunky. On the Yopy, it's right there.
The price seems pretty much in line with the new Zaurus, the PPC, and Palm handhelds, and the Yopy just seems like a nice machine.
StrongArm going obsolete (Score:3, Informative)
(http://www.aleccawley.com/)
This is new?? (Score:3, Informative)
(http://mvgrafx.ath.cx/~vmark)
The 3500 and 3700 models were announced before Christmas too...
The sites have been available since I've gotten it, and they're released new versions of Linupy twice since I've had it.
Check out www.yopydeveloper.org [yopydeveloper.org]. Many useful opensource downloads for the Yopy. Several of which I contributed (porting ogg123, for example
It's a pretty decent platform.
Size Matters (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fabled? (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.poweredbyg.nu/)
Re:heck (Score:4, Insightful)