Last year, the incredibly compact Asus Eee PC was introduced to the world and it seemed like everyone fell in love with the form factor. The ultra-portability of the little laptop made it really easy for bloggers to update their sites on the fly and for regular people to stay connected to the web everywhere they went.
For this year’s COMPUTEX Taipei, it was stated at the opening press conference that one of the major themes would be the compact notebook. From the Acer Aspire One to the MSI Wind, it seems like all the big players are coming out with a subnotebook of some kind. The thing was the vast majority of these offerings, however, is that they are designed to be secondary computers. They’re designed to supplement your main laptop, rather than replace it. The power just isn’t there.
Enter the Flybook
Dialogue Technology Corporation has a wholly different philosophy. While its Flybook range of laptops can be just as small as something like the Eee PC, these bad boys are actually full computers. In fact, the Flybook reps say that their little laptops are just as powerful as a 3GHz desktop computer. The Flybook is not a supplement to your main computer; it becomes your main computer.
Much like Jerry Shen of Asus, Flybook welcomes the competition. They thrive on it. By having more subnotebooks on the market, more people will become aware of the smaller form factor and more people will fall in love with it. Flybook’s strategy, in this way, is to allow people to buy sub-$1000 laptops from HP, Everex, Gigabyte, and so on. They’ll enjoy the form factor, but they’ll be disappointed with the performance.
According to Flybook, many of these people who buy the Eee PC, for instance, will upgrade to a Flybook in under a year. You still get the convenience and portability of the cheaper subnotebooks, but you get the “real” performance of a “real” computer. From PhotoShop to Dreamweaver, the Flybook can handle it all.
Flybook V5 Convertible Tablet PC
Although it may have a similar footprint to some of the small form factor notebooks out there, the Flybook V5 actually offers a heck of lot more for the user. For starters, it’s not just a laptop. The 8.9-inch wide-view LTPS TFT LCD can rotate 180 degrees to provide a Tablet PC experience. All you have to do is twist and fold to convert from a regular notebook form factor to a Tablet PC. The display is a touchscreen, obviously, for this purpose.
There are a few other subnotebooks that offer this kind of functionality as well, but none have a spec sheet that is nearly as impressive as the Flybook V5. This little laptop gets powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 processor (1.2GHz), 2.0GB of SO-DIMM DDR2 RAM (upgradable to 4GB), an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, biometric fingerprint authentication system with data encryption, and an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera that can rotate 215 degrees.
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The connectivity in the Flybook V5 is equally impressive. Standard on every Flybook is 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi and high-speed 3.5G WWAN. The radio inside supports quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900) and tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900/2100), pushing your wireless data transfer speeds as high as 3.6Mbps. The 7.2Mbps upgrade should also be available shortly, assuming that your service provider supports it. This high-speed connection not only takes care of data, but it can also be used for voice and SMS. In essence, the Flybook V5 can function as one big cell phone.
Because the Flybook V5 is so compact (235 x 163 x 30mm), the 80-key standard keyboard is quite a bit smaller than a full-size keyboard. It will take some time to get used to the smaller size, just as you would on the 7- and 8.9-inch versions of the Eee PC. It’s also notable that Dialogue decided to go with a “nub” for the mouse (remember the old ThinkPads?) rather than a trackpad. That’s another area that could take some getting used to.
Flybook VM Notebook with Swan-Neck Design
You may have had the experience where you were on an airplane somewhere, using the flip-out tray to support your laptop. Just as you get ready to enjoy a movie or write a blog post, the person in front of you decides to quickly recline his seat. Your notebook screen nearly gets crushed in the process.
The FlyBook VM was designed specifically to be “Airline Friendly”, featuring a unique Swan-Neck design that can push the 12.1-inch widescreen display on the laptop a little closer to you. What this means is that you can use the Flybook VM in even the most confining of spaces. The display is attached to an arm that not only flips up like a regular laptop, but it can also extend and tilt at the end of the arm. This has to be one of the most unique features on any notebook today.
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The spec sheet on the Flybook VM is just as impressive as the Flybook V5. You still get an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 processor, 2.0GB of DDR2 RAM, and an 80GB hard drive standard. The connectivity options are also the same, getting awash in GSM, HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0, and 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi. Interestingly, the standard battery is a little smaller than the V5. The VM gets a 3-cell (7800mAh) battery, whereas the V5 comes standard with a 6-cell (10800mAh) battery. There is an option for an extended battery as well.
Because it is a little bigger, the keyboard on the Flybook VM will be easier to use for the average person. The VM also gets a standard trackpad too, making the experience a little more familiar than the nub of the V5.
Flybook’s Roadmap for the Rest of 2008
What does the future hold for Dialogue Technology and Flybook. In speaking with the company, we hear that they are working on no fewer than three additions to the Flybook lineup, and all three of these laptops will be launching before the end of the year. Details are scarce, but they did say that they would be called the Flybook V6, Flybook V8, and Flybook V9. One of these will be priced at around $2,200 and we believe that all three will be based on the Intel Montevina platform.
Flybook is also working on agreements with service providers like Rogers Wireless in Canada and AT&T in the United States that will allow the cellular network operators to sell and distribute the Flybook line. The biggest hurdle for Canadian entry is the price of data, but with the pending launch of the 3G iPhone, we hope that HSDPA data will get a little more affordable for us Canucks.
If you thought that the Asus Eee PC, MSI Wind, and HP Mini-Note were impressive, wait until you get your hands on a Flybook. Considering that these things come loaded with Windows Vista Business too, you know that they mean business. Secondary laptop? Puh-lease. Either the Flybook V5 and VM can easily become your primary unit. Just realize that the pricing will match. A Flybook is no sub-$1000 unit.
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