Leave Audrey at Home
Written: May 14 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, synchs with Palm OS PDAs
Cons: Bad screen, Awkward, high price
The Bottom Line: Overall, this is one of those devices to avoid. It is an evolving work in progress and 3Com decided to unleash it before they fully developed it.
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| gauldd01's Full Review: 3Com Audrey-Linen Handheld |
The 3Com Egro Audrey seems futuristic at first glance, but once you start to use it, you will quickly realize that it doesn't have a place in this constantly evolving world of technology. It looks good: a flower-pot shape with a transparent stylus that flashes green when you receive new mail.
The Audrey will work with any ISP you choose and it is supposed to function as a terminal, say in your bedroom, rather than be a fully function computer. In my opinion though, this premise is really quite silly. At $499, you can purchase a 733Mhz from Dell or Gateway and that includes everything you need to set-up a second computer.
The Audrey is useful in that it will sync with any Palm OS handheld device, including the Palm V, m505, III, Handspring Visor, and Sony Clie. Fortunately, it has both a serial and USB port.
The 7.6inch screen is rather small and limited, also its somewhat lacking in brightness. This is due to the fact that navigation is by touch-screen using the stylus rather than mouse or keyboard. The stylus has an awkward feel to it as the screen is vertical rather than horizontal (like when you use your PDA.) Another very annoying feature is that you must scroll horizontally (in addition to vertically) to see most web-pages in full because the screen is only 640x480.
The email package is not even close to being a robust service and it cant even handle most attachments. It would be one thing if you could install Outlook 2000 on it, but that's not possible. You can even exchange your addressbook between your PC and Audrey, so you will have to look up those email addresses. A neat function is the handwriting "scriblle" feature that you can include in emails, but certainly this isnt a selling point.
Lastly, the connectivity options are rather poor. You will need a home network to connect this to in order for it to work properly, unless of course you are going to dedicate a phone line just to this device.
Overall, this is one of those devices to avoid. It is an evolving work in progress and 3Com decided to unleash it before they fully developed it.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 499
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Epinions.com ID:
gauldd01
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Location: Manhasset, NY
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