My Flybook V5 review

[johnmcd]

Hi all,


Since reviewing the Flybook V5 seems to be a somewhat popular activity these days I thought I'd toss in my 2 cents. I bought a Flybook from FlybookUS last week and I've been writing down some observations/impressions. Here's what I have so far:


Flybook V5, Silver, 2GB mem, 60GB disk, Vista Business, HSDPA


- It can use the same screen protectors as the P1x10 (maybe 1/16" too narrow, but it doesn't really matter much). I use one of the anti-glare ones from Boxwave and it makes a huge difference in readability in most lighting.
- I was uncertain about the location of the mouse/trackstick, but it turns out I like it. Given the size of the keyboard it's not a far reach, and having mouse buttons on both sides makes for some fast clicking.
- Speaking of the keyboard - I like it. I'm 6' tall with pretty big hands, and I'm a pure H&P typist, but I can get some pretty fast and accurate typing with it.
- You can turn on/off each individual radio with a 'Fn/key' press
- There's a sensor that detects ambient light levels and automatically adjusts the screen brightness. Nice touch.
- The fingerprint scanner and associated SW work very well - it logs me into pretty much anything with a finger swipe.
- One gripe - the USB ports are upside-down! On most systems the USB symbol goes up, but on the Flybook it goes down. That means if you have a USB device with a LED or switch/button on top, it'll be facing down when you plug it in.
- The iGo notebook Tip #5 works perfectly - right size and 19V.
- Any bag that fits the Fuji P1x10 series will fit the Flybook. I use an old Caselogic portable DVD player bag I had laying around for the unit, power supply and some odds and ends.
- The unit auto-detects when an external monitor is plugged in and gives you three options - a) external only, b) internal/exterior mirrored, and c) internal/external active separately (called 'Extended'). You can use the unit as a notepad on the side of your desk while working.
- It plays my DivX movies full-screen with no problem, and they look and sound great. The built-in speakers are pretty nice, but I use a Turtle Beach external USB adapter for true surround sound.
- It only comes with one extra app installed - Norman anti-virus. I uninstalled that since I use McAfee Enterprise.
- To set it up I first I first installed all my apps on the unit (Office 2003, Outlook, OneNote, etc.), then used the built-in utility to migrate all my user/app settings from my HP TC1100 running Windows XP SP2. It worked almost flawlessly (I have a small problem in Outlook - it keeps looking in the wrong place for my signature file.)
- With the Boxwave screen protector inking is very nice. I've taken a bunch of notes with OneNote and it's a very smooth process. With the passive digitizer you don't get things like hover, but that actually makes it even more like paper 8-)
- Performance is nice, but I've only had it a few days and haven't really stressed it that much. It takes me a few weeks to break-in a new system and get it tweaked the way I like it.
- Unlike the previous-gen V33 series the unit is completely sealed, so you can't easily replace the disk drive or memory (but since I ordered it with max memory I'm not that worried about it).
- I haven't had a chance to really stress-test the battery yet.
- The weight is very nice - it's noticably lighter than my TC1100 and easy to hold for extended periods.
- I read in the iCube review that the screen isn't very sharp - I have to disagree. Personally I find it to be very sharp, bright and readable, but I imagine that's as much of a personal perception as anything.


I'll be doing some traveling next week so I'll take some more notes and post them here when I get the time. In the meantime if you have any specific questions please feel free to post them - no promises on how quickly I can respond, though. Also, check out the iCube review and Rob B's upcoming video review on the main GBM page.


John

[Dennis Rice]

Great comments John. We are looking forward to Rob's InkShow on this!

[doggie]

johnmcd--thanks much, it really helps to get impressions like that. You said you liked the writing--does it vector? Can you lay you palm on the screen and write?

[johnmcd]

I haven't experienced any vectoring whatsoever when resting my palm on the while writing.

John

[johnmcd]

A couple of more quick observations:

- The battery has been averaging about 3+ hours. This includes a mix of note-taking, wifi access, HSDPA access, eBook reading, etc. I can generally get through a normal work day with just an occasional plug-in while at my desk. I've also watched a full 2-hour movie from my hard disk and had maybe 15% battery charge when done.

- The screen is very readable outdoors. I've used the unit to deliver a presentation to a customer on my cell phone while in my car on a sunny day, parked under a shady tree. It was easy to read the screen. I think the no-glare screen protector definitely helped here.

John

[doggie]

John and Dennis---what do you make of the vast difference in vectoring experience between John as per above and Dennis as per his short video? John--are you actually setting your palm on the screen and getting no vectoring?

[johnmcd]

Jim,

Yes, I am resting my palm on the screen - it's large enough that you almost have to if you want to take ink notes. I even spent some time today testing out various inking postures to exaggerate the amount of contact and I still saw no vectoring.

John

Hi all, its my first post here. I hope that this forum gonna help me to choose which config shall Ibuy.What will be the price for top config in USA? Because here in Russia it cost around 3200 USD. I have a choice to order it in USA and ship by my relative. Could some give me a link for true prices?

Thanks in advance.

[doggie]

From a reseller well trusted:

http://www.dynamism.com/flybook-v5/pricing.shtml

[johnmcd]

A couple of more observations:

- I continue to be impressed by the screen - I used it with my BT GPS yesterday to find my way around Baltimore during a fairly sunny day, and the screen was VERY readable.
- I switched to the Mobibook eBook reader (from MS Reader). Mobibook allows you to use a finger tap to advance the page, and it works great on Vista (versus MS Reader which hasn't been updated for almost 2 years). I have around 300 eBooks, mostly SciFi from Baen.com's Webscriptions (my plug for Baen). With the bright screen and light weight the unit is very usable as an eBook reader.
- I spent most of the morning taking notes, and I still haven't encountered any issue with vectoring. I have to respectfully disagree with Rob's mention of vectoring on his newest video review. As I mentioned, maybe it's just my use of a screen protector that makes the difference.
- I've been doing quite a bit of typing and I still find the keyboard pretty usable. Like I said, for me it's all H&P 8-)
- I didn't see it in Rob's video review, but there'sa master 'Radio off' HW switch located right next to the power button. This makes sure that the radios stay off when you're on an airplane.
- The included external DVD works as advertised. You have to use both USB connectors on the cabel (power from both USB ports), but one of the has a pass-thru so you can still hook up something else.
- I've used the HSDPA in both Boston & Baltimore and I was seeing something in the area if 400-500Kbps pretty consistently.

That's all for noe.

John