Mossberg gives some good press to the new internet IPAQ...
John
New Internet Appliance
May Challenge the PC
By Walter S. Mossberg
COMPAQ AND MICROSOFT -- like the rest of the computer industry -- for years scoffed at the very idea of simple, cheap Internet appliances that might challenge the PC. This week, they teamed up to introduce just such a device.
Well, better late than never. Their new Compaq iPAQ Home Internet Appliance is a solid and worthy first effort. It lets you roam the Web, and send and receive e-mail, with most of the functionality -- but none of the complexity and aggravation -- of a full-fledged PC. And it costs as little as $199, plus $22 a month for Internet access.
Compaq built the hardware, but the device runs on Microsoft software and connects to the Internet exclusively via Microsoft's MSN Internet service, though you can use it to reach any site on the Web, not just Microsoft's proprietary sites. There aren't any files, folders, commands or menus to figure out. There's no hard disk to crash. It's sort of a TV set for the Internet.
I'VE BEEN TESTING this new Internet appliance in the breakfast room off my kitchen, and have been pretty pleased with its performance. It's the best desktop Internet appliance I've seen. Some features are missing, but these can be added in future software upgrades automatically transmitted to the machine as they are developed.
Even in its present state, I can recommend the Compaq appliance to anyone who'd like to get online but doesn't want or need a PC.
Compaq's new iPAQ Home Internet Appliance
The all-white appliance looks like an inverted laptop, with the base containing the electronics lying behind the screen, not in front. The wireless keyboard has a solid feel and contains lots of special Web navigation keys. There's no separate mouse, but a pointing device is built into the keyboard. The 10-inch flat-panel screen is bright and vivid, and text and graphics are pleasing to the eye. The whole thing fit neatly on my counter without looking out of place.
Setup is speedy and easy. You just plug in the electrical and telephone cords, tell the machine your area code, and it dials in. After that, every time you want to use it, the machine starts up immediately, unlike a PC, and instantly dials into the Internet via MSN. It also shuts down instantly with the touch of a button.
This first model can only connect to the Net using a dial-up phone connection. But Compaq and Microsoft plan to offer high-speed DSL service for the appliances, probably in a few months. They say buyers of these first units will be able to upgrade their service plans and hardware to DSL.
I tested the Compaq Internet appliance on a wide range of Web sites and with different types of e-mail, and it handled almost everything quite well. Unlike other Internet appliances I've tried, this one can display all kinds of e-mail attachments, including Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, and every common type of graphics or photo file. But you can't edit or create such documents, just view them.
On the Web, I successfully used scores of sites, all of which looked fine on the small screen. I bought a book at Amazon, refilled a prescription at CVS.com, checked my 401k at Fidelity, played MP3 music clips, and watched Windows Media video clips. I viewed photos stored in online albums, and even retrieved e-mail from the Web-based e-mail services provided by Microsoft rivals America Online and Yahoo. Overall, the speed was acceptable, similar to the speed of PCs.
THE SOLE PRINTER certified to run with the unit is the $99 Epson Stylus 740. It connected quickly, and printed most of the text and graphics screens I tried, with just the touch of the Compaq's "print" button.
This product, however, has some important limitations the companies should fix. The worst one is that the Compaq appliance can't handle Web sites that depend on the Java programming language, or use audio and video files created with RealNetworks technology. These limitations, and others, meant I couldn't sample CD selections on Amazon, or check my bank and brokerage accounts online. Also, the e-mail function is primitive. You can't sort e-mail into folders, create group e-mail addresses, or compose e-mail offline.
What's more, you can only have one online account, so family members can't keep their own e-mail and Web favorites. Documents and large photos attached to e-mail can't be printed. And you can't customize the home page.
If you have a question you want answered, or any other comment or suggestion about Walter S. Mossberg's column, please send e-mail to mossberg@wsj.com
The companies say they plan to fix many of these problems in a second version of the software, planned for December or January, that will be automatically uploaded to all the machines.
Pricing on the appliance is complicated. Nominally, it's $599, but nobody will pay that because you get a rebate with your required MSN subscription. A three-year subscription carries a $400 rebate, bringing the price to $199. For two years you get $200 off, and for one year you get $100.
Still, this is a good product that I wouldn't hesitate to use, or to buy as a gift. And it will only improve over time.
For answers to questions about DSL Internet service, handheld devices and serial ports, check out my Mossberg's Mailbox column in Tech Center. |
