One of the challenges with using Windows Mobile devices, as with most mobile
devices, is the size of the screen. It is great having Office Mobile on the
latest and greatest device but doing a significant edit of a document on a
3.5" QVGA screen is, well... fun? Granted, on bigger devices that have VGA
screens, the HTC Advantage comes to mind, it is a bit easier but you still
end up doing a lot of side-to-side scrolling. Couple this with either a soft
keyboard on the device or a small thumboard to type with and once again,
doing big edits on a document is, well... fun? How then do you get around
this quandry? With a colorful insect of course!

The Celio REDFLY is designed to help resolve this difficulty for Windows
Mobile users by allowing them to connect their device via a USB cable or
Bluetooth to the REDFLY and gain an 8", 800x480 VGA display and full QWERTY
keyboard. The REDFLY has no memory, storage or operating system itself. It
is literally an extension of your device, utilizing the memory, storage and
operating system of it. Even better, the REDFLY has a VGA output so you can
display on an external monitor or projector straight from the device,
something only a select few Windows Mobile devices can do natively. All of
this in a package that is less than 2lbs. and 9" wide and under $500? If you
a a true power user of your Windows Mobile device, you should seriously
consider a REDFLY. It could save your eyes and thumbs!

Read the full review at
http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/redfly/default.asp


--
Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! & HPC:Factor
http://www.clintonfitch.com
http://www.hpcfactor.com

At 29 Jul 2008 20:19:55 -0500 Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
> One of the challenges with using Windows Mobile devices, as with most
> mobile devices, is the size of the screen. It is great having Office
> Mobile on the latest and greatest device but doing a significant edit
> of a document on a 3.5" QVGA screen is, well... fun? Granted, on
> bigger devices that have VGA screens, the HTC Advantage comes to
> mind, it is a bit easier but you still end up doing a lot of side-to-side
> scrolling. Couple this with either a soft keyboard on the device or
> a small thumboard to type with and once again, doing big edits on a
> document is, well... fun? How then do you get around
> this quandry? With a colorful insect of course!
>
> The Celio REDFLY is designed to help resolve this difficulty for Windows
> Mobile users by allowing them to connect their device via a USB cable or
> Bluetooth to the REDFLY and gain an 8", 800x480 VGA display and full
> QWERTY keyboard. The REDFLY has no memory, storage or operating
> system itself.
> It is literally an extension of your device, utilizing the memory, storage
> and operating system of it. Even better, the REDFLY has a VGA output
> so you can display on an external monitor or projector straight from
> the device,
> something only a select few Windows Mobile devices can do natively.
> All of this in a package that is less than 2lbs. and 9" wide and under
> $500? If you are a true power user of your Windows Mobile device,
> you should seriously consider a REDFLY. It could save your eyes
> and thumbs!
>
> Read the full review at
> http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/redfly/default.asp


Sorry- I just don't see the point of it- for _less_ money, I can tote
around a similar size/weight ASUS EEE PC that has a large display and
keyboard like the Redfly, but also has a full PC OS, memory, storage, and
doesn't require my WinMo device to be it's "brains"- just it's modem- if
WiFi isn't around.

The Redfly is a cute concept that would work if it was less money than a
micro-laptop, not more. I suspect it will sell well only when some close-
out discounter like Geeks.com or TigerDirect finally dumps them at $199.

This is more a "for each his need..."

During my travel days (and before checked bag charges ;-) I partitioned
luggage into "carry" and "luggage" so, this can be looked at as a
windows mobile "docking station" with additional attributes such as
allowing a road warrior to hook up to a vga projector and giving a
presentation he/she was able to work with on the plane.

While the price is high, it's relative to what the user reaps from using
it... for example the full keyboard and mouse when you have a place to
sit down for a few hours work would have high repeating value and you
can factor in the cost of a portable ppc keyboard with that.

This is obviously for those who's ppc's are their primary computing
device, and, it significantly narrows the gap between the two when a pc
is not available nor needed.

Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]

Todd,

As I said in the review, it isn't for everyone. The aim of the REDFLY is
clearly at the business segment and business traveler. If you are a power
user of your WinMo device, this could be a thumb and eye saver for sure.
Having used both the Advantage and the REDFLY, I can see the benefits of
both. It really depends on your needs.

Regards,

--
Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices
Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! & HPC:Factor
http://www.clintonfitch.com
http://www.hpcfactor.com



"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:g6ojja$jtd$1@aioe.org...
> At 29 Jul 2008 20:19:55 -0500 Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
>> One of the challenges with using Windows Mobile devices, as with most
>> mobile devices, is the size of the screen. It is great having Office
>> Mobile on the latest and greatest device but doing a significant edit
>> of a document on a 3.5" QVGA screen is, well... fun? Granted, on
>> bigger devices that have VGA screens, the HTC Advantage comes to
>> mind, it is a bit easier but you still end up doing a lot of side-to-side
>> scrolling. Couple this with either a soft keyboard on the device or
>> a small thumboard to type with and once again, doing big edits on a
>> document is, well... fun? How then do you get around
>> this quandry? With a colorful insect of course!
>>
>> The Celio REDFLY is designed to help resolve this difficulty for Windows
>> Mobile users by allowing them to connect their device via a USB cable or
>> Bluetooth to the REDFLY and gain an 8", 800x480 VGA display and full
>> QWERTY keyboard. The REDFLY has no memory, storage or operating
>> system itself.
>> It is literally an extension of your device, utilizing the memory,
>> storage
>> and operating system of it. Even better, the REDFLY has a VGA output
>> so you can display on an external monitor or projector straight from
>> the device,
>> something only a select few Windows Mobile devices can do natively.
>> All of this in a package that is less than 2lbs. and 9" wide and under
>> $500? If you are a true power user of your Windows Mobile device,
>> you should seriously consider a REDFLY. It could save your eyes
>> and thumbs!
>>
>> Read the full review at
>> http://www.clintonfitch.com/reviews/redfly/default.asp
>
>
> Sorry- I just don't see the point of it- for _less_ money, I can tote
> around a similar size/weight ASUS EEE PC that has a large display and
> keyboard like the Redfly, but also has a full PC OS, memory, storage, and
> doesn't require my WinMo device to be it's "brains"- just it's modem- if
> WiFi isn't around.
>
> The Redfly is a cute concept that would work if it was less money than a
> micro-laptop, not more. I suspect it will sell well only when some close-
> out discounter like Geeks.com or TigerDirect finally dumps them at $199.
>
>

Agree Bev.
"Beverly Howard [Ms-MVP/MobileDev]" <BevNoSpamBevHoward.com> wrote in
message news:eN2mVwl8IHA.2416@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> This is more a "for each his need..."
>
> During my travel days (and before checked bag charges ;-) I partitioned
> luggage into "carry" and "luggage" so, this can be looked at as a windows
> mobile "docking station" with additional attributes such as allowing a
> road warrior to hook up to a vga projector and giving a presentation
> he/she was able to work with on the plane.
>
> While the price is high, it's relative to what the user reaps from using
> it... for example the full keyboard and mouse when you have a place to sit
> down for a few hours work would have high repeating value and you can
> factor in the cost of a portable ppc keyboard with that.
>
> This is obviously for those who's ppc's are their primary computing
> device, and, it significantly narrows the gap between the two when a pc is
> not available nor needed.
>
> Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices]

At 30 Jul 2008 12:29:41 -0500 Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
> Todd,
>
> As I said in the review, it isn't for everyone. The aim of the REDFLY is
> clearly at the business segment and business traveler. If you are a
power
> user of your WinMo device, this could be a thumb and eye saver for sure.


I do consider myself a ower user", but still don't see the advantage of a
PPC extention with the roughly the same form factor and higher price as an
XP mini-laptop.

I love WinMo as much as the next guy, but if someone magically created a
way to cram XP or Vista onto my Kaiser, I'd use it instead!

> Having used both the Advantage and the REDFLY, I can see the benefits of
> both. It really depends on your needs.


Fair enough! I'll conceed that point to you. ;-)

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:g6r2pq$jl8$1@aioe.org...
> At 30 Jul 2008 12:29:41 -0500 Clinton Fitch, MVP-Mobile Devices wrote:
>> Todd,
>>
>> As I said in the review, it isn't for everyone. The aim of the REDFLY is
>> clearly at the business segment and business traveler. If you are a
> power
>> user of your WinMo device, this could be a thumb and eye saver for sure.
>
>
> I do consider myself a ower user", but still don't see the advantage of a
> PPC extention with the roughly the same form factor and higher price as an
> XP mini-laptop.
>
> I love WinMo as much as the next guy, but if someone magically created a
> way to cram XP or Vista onto my Kaiser, I'd use it instead!
>
>> Having used both the Advantage and the REDFLY, I can see the benefits of
>> both. It really depends on your needs.
>
>
> Fair enough! I'll conceed that point to you. ;-)
>
>
>

Todd,

I was able to get a very short demonstration of the REDFLY Clinton was
testing and I found it to have some potential benefits over my Sony TX850
which is about the same size and weight and runs XP Pro. Thats not to say
the REDFLY is "equal" to the laptop but in some circumstances a good
alternative.

The Sony is slow to boot up, so it's not available to use as quickly as the
"instant on" REDFLY.
My phone synchronizes OTA with my Exchange Server, so REDFLY ( is always up
to date with contacts, email, and calendar as well as with the notes, files
and programs I keep on my phone. It's not another device to keep
synchronized.
To use my phone as a modem for the Sony I would have to step up to a
conserably higher "tethering" data plan. It looks to me like the REDFLY
wouldn't require that since it's using the same resources as the phone
without the REDFLY.
Using a USB flash drive I can add MUCH more storage than I could with the
phone alone.

I don't pretend to be on the same level as you and Clinton, but as an
enthusiastic WM user, I can see some reasons to use the REDFLY rather than
my laptop on many occasions. I haven't made the purchase yet, but I haven't
ruled it out.

I understand your skepticism, but if you get a chance to test-drive a REDFLY
take the opportunity. It's a pretty interesting device (depending on your
needs).

Bob