Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 15, 2008 Report Posted May 15, 2008 Hurrah, the day is finally here... I have in my hands a Celio Redfly! The Celio REDFLY Mobile Companion (detailed here) is 'a sleek clamshell design that includes an 8" display, a full function keyboard, and a touchpad mouse. Measuring just 1x6x9 inches and only 2 pounds, the REDFLY Mobile Companion offers over 8 hours of battery life and boots instantly! It also adds three new features - instant VGA output, access to USB flash drives, and the ability to charge your smartphone via USB.' I'll be using it primarily with my HTC Kaiser, but it's pictured here connected to the latest hotness, the HTC Diamond! The REDFLY is priced at $500, which some have said is a too high pricepoint. As prices of Eee type devices continue to rise and bearing in mind that as you upgrade your mobile devices in the future the REDFLY continues to work (therefore becoming a longer term investment)... does this seem more reasonable? That's my current thinking, but i'm interested to hear your thoughts! Stay tuned for a full review coming soon, but hit me with any questions you have in the interim! :D P PS Don't forget to check out the Celio Interview if you haven't already!
Guest nickcornaglia Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Didnt understand Palm's version of this (forget the name but I'm sure it died faster than the time it took them to develop it)...and dont get this one either! :D
Guest bennish Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 (edited) Didnt understand Palm's version of this (forget the name but I'm sure it died faster than the time it took them to develop it)...and dont get this one either! :D Palm Foleo... man that thing sank fast didn't it? Basically I'd go for the EeePC any day. You can't install Firefox on the Redfly. If it was like 1lb instead of 2, i'd understand Edited May 16, 2008 by bennish
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Didnt understand Palm's version of this (forget the name but I'm sure it died faster than the time it took them to develop it)...and dont get this one either! :D Palm's was the Foleo, and was slightly different as it had it's own OS (Linux). P
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Palm Foleo... man that thing sank fast didn't it? Basically I'd go for the EeePC any day. You can't install Firefox on the Redfly. If it was like 1lb instead of 2, i'd understand No, as it doesn't have it's own OS, but you can install Opera on your device :D P
Guest idavid Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 i know it's off topic but i'd rather get your low down on the phone sitting on top of the redfly!
Guest ZSX Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 The REDFLY is priced at $500, which some have said is a too high pricepoint. As prices of Eee type devices continue to rise and bearing in mind that as you upgrade your mobile devices in the future the REDFLY continues to work (therefore becoming a longer term investment)... does this seem more reasonable? That's my current thinking, but i'm interested to hear your thoughts! That's what I thought of the significantly cheaper ThinkOutside Bluetooth keyboard. In the end though, I only ever used it with my iPAQ 2210 as ThinkOutside never released Windows Mobile 5 drivers, let alone 6 or 6.1. Hopefully there will be some longevity in the Redfly, especially with Windows Mobile 7 purportedly coming out at the end of this year. Or does it use generic bluetooth HID drivers? I suspect not.
Guest chucky.egg Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I might be the only one, but I like these things. There have been LOADS of times when I've wanted to send a long email, for example, and (even when my PDA had a keyboard) I decided to wait until I had my laptop to hand. My one concern (apart from price) is battery life and whether it's tough enough. To be useful it has to be the sort of thing I can fling in a rucksack and forget about until I need it.
Guest unicron Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 so if I wanted one, where would I get one and pay 500 dollars for one? also apart from opera what other third party aps are upscaled? em....does TCMP/Core media player upscale or does it depend on the original resolution of the video? does WM 6.1 work ok or is it only WM 6.0? i'm probably the only person interested in this as the eee pc has no bluetooth for me to use my phone to get online when i'm out plus I would need to upgrade my web&walk package but with a celio redfly I won't plus I can do my other stuff as well.
Guest Monolithix Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 chucky: All the stuff i've read from people who got pre-production units seem to imply its pretty robust. The battery is tipped to last up to 8 hours!
Guest nuttyphilt Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I'm thinking it might make a nice tool to watch videos on the way to work, then use in meetings with customers. Not at $500 though, maybe closer to £100 :-) Therefore, does it play video well? And where does the sound come out??
Guest micaels Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Paul, Is it just enterprise thast can purchase them or can anyone purchase them right now?
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I might be the only one, but I like these things. There have been LOADS of times when I've wanted to send a long email, for example, and (even when my PDA had a keyboard) I decided to wait until I had my laptop to hand. My one concern (apart from price) is battery life and whether it's tough enough. To be useful it has to be the sort of thing I can fling in a rucksack and forget about until I need it. Battery life is DEFINITELY not an issue, 8 hours at least while charging your phone. It also seems VERY durable, and has as lovely soft touch coating. P
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 so if I wanted one, where would I get one and pay 500 dollars for one? also apart from opera what other third party aps are upscaled? em....does TCMP/Core media player upscale or does it depend on the original resolution of the video? does WM 6.1 work ok or is it only WM 6.0? i'm probably the only person interested in this as the eee pc has no bluetooth for me to use my phone to get online when i'm out plus I would need to upgrade my web&walk package but with a celio redfly I won't plus I can do my other stuff as well. You can order them on the site - http://www.celiocorp.com - and I believe everyone can order one. All apps are upscaled! Note that TCPMP et al don't perform acceptably at this time, although Celio expect multimedia optimisations to come in a future build. P
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 chucky: All the stuff i've read from people who got pre-production units seem to imply its pretty robust. The battery is tipped to last up to 8 hours! What he said :D... except it can last OVER 8 hours! P
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I'm thinking it might make a nice tool to watch videos on the way to work, then use in meetings with customers. Not at $500 though, maybe closer to £100 :-) Therefore, does it play video well? And where does the sound come out?? No, video isn't a valid usage scenario at this time. P
Guest micaels Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Paul: Could you try the IPAQ 614 and see how it works wiht your redfly?
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Paul, Is it just enterprise thast can purchase them or can anyone purchase them right now? Everyone I think, altho I will clarify that. P
Guest xorangefirex Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 It looks like a mid 90s attempt at a laptop. It really doesn't strike me as a high-tech piece of "must-have" technology. I think that is what companies should striving to create.
Guest mwright Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Didnt understand Palm's version of this (forget the name but I'm sure it died faster than the time it took them to develop it)...and dont get this one either! :D Fraid I am with you! Don't get it at all :(
Guest Dr Who Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 Too heavy and costs too much. If it weighed less than an EEE and was, say £150 or less then I would buy one.
Guest Ghost_1 Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I love the idea, I can't tell you how many times I wished the screen was bigger and I had a keyboard to type messages on forums or emails. I don't think I'd pay $500 dollars though. IMO it's a little too much to pay. For that much money I'd just pay a few more bills and get a UMPC or the new I-mate Ultimate series and hook it up to a TV. I think price is the big kicker. In the end if I was rich I'd get it and the HTC Shift! lol
Guest carphead Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I so get the Redfly. As a IT Manager for a largish company I'm deploying XDA Stellars to our sales force. We're pushing them out not just for email but we're also developing a custom front end to our SAP ERP system with live stock checking and order processing. This is the same app that our warehouse people have for order dispatching. With the Redfly we don't need to give our Sales people a lightweight laptop but can give them a less mobile desktop replacement laptop which makes usage that much easier. We only need to develop one app and we give our sales force the option of using it on a small portable unit or a larger Redfly screen. I'm looking forward to getting a Redfly as it'll be a complete success for us.
Guest Stoneje77 Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I was looking at the site for this thing, and was wondering if you could give a little clarification on what that actually is. Is the Redfly just pretty much a dummy terminal that runs off of your phone's OS, or does it have CE or something built into it? I have an old NEC palm top (running on CE) that was about the same size that I really like, but it's about 6 years outdated, and was looking at perhaps replacing it with something more functional. I like that this would work with my BJ2, so it would be something that I would want to consider. Thanks for showing yours off and sharing with us Paul.
Guest spacerace Posted May 16, 2008 Report Posted May 16, 2008 I am planning on getting one, the part I like is that you can upgrade to pretty much any WM device (they are releasing new drivers/compatible devices quite frequently) and still use the RedFly. Plus it supports multiple devices at once, so you can simply choose which device to connect to at start-up. I'm waiting for them to sort the shipping price to the UK out - currently $100+ but they have confirmed they are correcting this to ~$50 very soon.
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