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Re: Sony Vaio U50 or U70 as a wearable computer core

From: Chris Saari <>
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 10:35:16 -0800 (PST)

> Do you use the extended battery?  If so, what is a realistic runtime?  And
> how much weight does it add?  How do you generally manage the power
> situation?  (swapping batteries, external battery, etc?)

Yes, I have the extended battery in addition to the regular one. It adds a
surprising amount of weight, but the thing is surprisingly small even with
the normal battery installed. The OQO is smaller however, so take that
into account if you're concerned with size/weight. The realisitic runtime
I'm getting is closer to 4 hours, but like I said, I leave wifi on and I'm
doing somewhat taxing stuff with it. Life gets better if you turn off the
main display and just use the SV-6 which has it's own power supply.

> Do you have Linux installed on it?  I found this page that describes how to
> do it:
> http://nautilus6.org/doc/tc-vaio-linux-bsd-20041221-KuntzR-html/vaio.html

I haven't installed linux, no. Mostly what I want out of it I can get done
fine in Windows and there are some components that I actully need Windows
to run so I've just left it alone. If you go this route you need to have
the Sony CD-ROM, from what I understand it won't boot off any old drive.

> Do you have a website with any information about your wearable so I can look
> at it?

unfortunately I don't really have a site up about it, sorry. I've got a
few pictures that I can sed along when I get home.

Some other random feedback: The 802.11 range is better than my laptop's
and gets very good speed. Boot is slow, but that is probably disk bound.
Once you're booted it is quite usable, and I usually just use the standby
button instead of shutting down. The screen is awesome, very high
resolution, so much so that small fonts can be hard to read, but they are
clear. The trans-flexiveness of the screen means you can actually use it
in daylight, much to my surprise. The stylus is strangely shaped and
small, so you might want a different one. The touch screen works well in
the middle but is inaccurate at the edges.

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