I explored the RedFly extensively last night. Overall I love it - it does what it says on the tin. No quibble. But I see a few places where it could be better.
I know some of what I'll list below has been mentioned elsewhere, but I figured it can't hurt to put my thoughts in one place where the great folks at Celio Corp can see them ...
Also, I know full-well that some of the things I'll list have an effect on complexity, battery life, performance in general. But we always ask for more, right?
• The power button is in a bad spot. I'm an interminable fidgit and I've switched my RedFly off several times unintentionally. I'd prefer a recessed button of the type we see on phones and other electronics.
• Screen could be bigger - or at least have more pixel density. Moving the screen width up to 1024 or more pixels gives a *much* more usable screen area for remote desktop.
• Plus the bezel around the screen is pretty thick - screen diagonal could be upped an inch or two and still fit in the current lid.
• As I mentioned elsewhere, if RDP support was built in, I think that would be a winner particularly for the target business audience. Saves IT having to find an RDP client for iPhone, S60 etc once drivers are available for those devices.
• Mouse response is not great using touchpad. Even at full speed, still seems slow. I rarely use a mouse, carpal tunnel issues years ago got me out the habit + I use a laptop for 99% of computer use, so this is important to me. [edit] plus if we feel we have to plug in a mouse, then we probably have to be at a desk or table, which defeats the purpose of the mobility of the RedFly, right? I don't mean remove the ability to add a mouse, just make using the touchpad more rewarding ;-)
• It's pretty thick + heavy. Since there's no cpu, hard drive etc, I expected a leaner machine.
• The supplied drawstring 'case' is a yucky nylon thing. A faux velvet or cotton case would be much nicer. Something more sturdy could be even better yet, but starts to defeat the portability idea, plus does you out of possible accessory sales.
• The power supply - I'd rather it wasn't the 'wall wart' style (never heard that term before reading it here!). Takes up the space of two devices on my power strip!
• F (function) keys don't seem to pass through to SmartPhone or to remote desktop.
• The Left select and Right select keys might be more useful about the touchpad.
• There are a few critical function buttons - Mail, Home etc. Could they be given a more prominent location? How about the on the hinges? Sounds dumb I know, but basically somewhere whre we don't have to hunt for them on the function key row.
• Am I blind? I looked and looked, but I cannot see an 'end' key.
• I know this is an OS limitation, but if you can find any way at all to support edit keypresses control+c, control+v, control+x to the SmartPhone (no touchscreen) driver I'll kiss your feet.
That's it for now. Will probably add more over the next few weeks ...
I know some of what I'll list below has been mentioned elsewhere, but I figured it can't hurt to put my thoughts in one place where the great folks at Celio Corp can see them ...
Also, I know full-well that some of the things I'll list have an effect on complexity, battery life, performance in general. But we always ask for more, right?
• The power button is in a bad spot. I'm an interminable fidgit and I've switched my RedFly off several times unintentionally. I'd prefer a recessed button of the type we see on phones and other electronics.
• Screen could be bigger - or at least have more pixel density. Moving the screen width up to 1024 or more pixels gives a *much* more usable screen area for remote desktop.
• Plus the bezel around the screen is pretty thick - screen diagonal could be upped an inch or two and still fit in the current lid.
• As I mentioned elsewhere, if RDP support was built in, I think that would be a winner particularly for the target business audience. Saves IT having to find an RDP client for iPhone, S60 etc once drivers are available for those devices.
• Mouse response is not great using touchpad. Even at full speed, still seems slow. I rarely use a mouse, carpal tunnel issues years ago got me out the habit + I use a laptop for 99% of computer use, so this is important to me. [edit] plus if we feel we have to plug in a mouse, then we probably have to be at a desk or table, which defeats the purpose of the mobility of the RedFly, right? I don't mean remove the ability to add a mouse, just make using the touchpad more rewarding ;-)
• It's pretty thick + heavy. Since there's no cpu, hard drive etc, I expected a leaner machine.
• The supplied drawstring 'case' is a yucky nylon thing. A faux velvet or cotton case would be much nicer. Something more sturdy could be even better yet, but starts to defeat the portability idea, plus does you out of possible accessory sales.
• The power supply - I'd rather it wasn't the 'wall wart' style (never heard that term before reading it here!). Takes up the space of two devices on my power strip!
• F (function) keys don't seem to pass through to SmartPhone or to remote desktop.
• The Left select and Right select keys might be more useful about the touchpad.
• There are a few critical function buttons - Mail, Home etc. Could they be given a more prominent location? How about the on the hinges? Sounds dumb I know, but basically somewhere whre we don't have to hunt for them on the function key row.
• Am I blind? I looked and looked, but I cannot see an 'end' key.
• I know this is an OS limitation, but if you can find any way at all to support edit keypresses control+c, control+v, control+x to the SmartPhone (no touchscreen) driver I'll kiss your feet.
That's it for now. Will probably add more over the next few weeks ...
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