Ten-year-old Apple Newton beats latest Windows UMPC

EddieThu 27 July, 2006 8:52pm

It should be noted that there are Newton-compatible Bluetooth cards, as well as wired and wireless ethernet on the market, so the networking advantages of the Q1 mentioned in the article disappear.

Daniel BeckThu 27 July, 2006 9:04pm

Heh. As the owner of several Newton models through the years, I can agree with the article that the latest UMPCs don't cut it compared to the Newton. It isn't the hardware--I admire the specs of the Q1, but purely the software limitations of the OS that don't measure up. The Newton OS was lean and spare and supremely designed to benefit handwriting and tap-driven input. Its intelligent handling of data--integrated dates, notes, messaging, address cards, etc. have to be experienced to be believed--is unmatched in any other OS. I've been willing to upgrade to a new device for at least 5 years, but every one I look at still feels like I'd be taking a step backwards in the OS, despite all the obvious hardware improvements over the years. So I'm just (still) waiting for the Newton to be un-Steved, since nobody but Apple seems to have a clue about handhelds. Anybody else feel the same?

Boris from ViennaFri 3 August, 2007 7:58pm

Daniel Beck asks:

--quote--
So I'm just (still) waiting for the Newton to be un-Steved, since nobody but Apple seems to have a clue about handhelds. Anybody else feel the same?
--unquote--

Indeed Daniel, many feel the same - "many" is sorrily limited to the folks having had the "Newton experience" in real life. They who have owned a Newton fell all the same.

The Newton users where (the current producers of mobile equipment / phones / PDAS e.g. are very happy about and light a candle a day for that gift ) not to many.

If more people would have had the possibility to touch a Newton and work with him a day there would be a national uprising in the USA - confronted with the comparable lame and in many ways (including closed and proprietary canned OS software - something Apple fought with nails until... yeah until when?) unbelievable limited iPhone.

The iPhone may be a killer tool for a lot of folks.
Compared what the rest of the market is offering in stile and power it may be shining.

Even the G4 the Asian market is on has no end-gear by a far shot comparable to Newton's class, style, intelligence (OS).
Flat: For someone having owned a Newton the current offers altogether are a crying shame - Apples iPhone is not even a lame caricature of the still shining Newton 2100 D.

Not that the Newton can work efficiently today - but he could be the a shining market leader if he would have been developed further.

Sorry that we live in a age of proletarisation and lowering of standards on all levels on broad fronts in all levels of our society from food, social network to technical tools and services - bridges include - all going the way of the Edsel / Studebaker.

As a outspoken Apple fan I have finally to admit:

Apple is going the same way as the highway - the mainstream - the Murdoch "STJ" destiny is at hand -
everything around us - from food, behavior, lifestyle to cultivated discussion is becoming "way uncool" everything is falling into pieces.

The old:
"panem et circenses"

Sold by his Steveness in a stunning evangelistic PR prayer is taking speed
cannot cope the odor:

Slightly rotten panem and low end circenses -

the girlies may be screaming in joy and the paid claqueurs shouting on the prearranges seats- the masters are disgusted turning sideways - in shame.

And find out that they have no island, homeland left to turn too.

AnonymousThu 27 July, 2006 9:22pm

Someone already commented on the bluetooth connection (which I use, seamlessly), so the major addition would be to mention the gesture driven interface. It rrrocks. You scribble out words, you attach them or split them using carats. You tap and drag to cut to a new location, you store text snippets against the edge of the screen and such... Meaning, you interact with the text in ways that are wholly different from any other machine on the planet.

For this reason, only, I am still using a Newton. The data structures are neat, but the text entry is unique.

AnonymousThu 27 July, 2006 9:54pm

And then finally there is the Einstein project which ports the Newton to other hardware platforms (its already running on some old Zaurus and the Nokia Tablet). So maybe the Q1 will help save the Newton!!

AnonymousThu 27 July, 2006 9:58pm

I dislike battles featuring a half-dozen to a dozen winner-take-all category comparisons. Could you not offer a basket of ten (or so) points per category and award some to each, totaling them at the end? Some of these contests were 6/4 splits while others - like battery life - were 9/1 walk-aways.
Want to get a bit fancier? 8 points only for 'appearance' and a dozen for 'stability'.
I'm very much of the view that a huge win in an important category ought to outweigh several wins-by-slim-margins in less important categories. That's just me.

AnonymousThu 27 July, 2006 11:02pm

Just think if it was a Newton 2100 instead of a 2000! I do think the price comparison isn't exactly fair...the Newton 2000 was almost $1000 when first released. However, if we go by Moores law, I guess that WOULD really be about $100 now...so, never mind! Heh heh.

When I saw the form factor of the Origami project I thought, "What a rip off of the Newton!" Guess I wasn't too far from the mark. The Newton still rocks, and it makes a great ice breaker (not literally) at business meetings that I attend (where I use it for note taking with it's phenominal H/W recognition).

AnonymousThu 27 July, 2006 11:05pm

Not only is the battery life and completly dependable OS a winning combination punch, but add to that:
Intuitive pen editing commands...
to delete a word on the Newt, just scratch it out. To change a word to capitalization, draw a line UP through the first letter! To place a space inbetween letters draw a caret (^) where you want a space. To remove a space and bring two letters together, draw a (V) under the letters...
And the winning combination punch for this knockout is how the OS interprets your needs...Of course, newton users will know I'm talking about the "Assist" button.
Write on a blank sheet "Meet with Mike the day after tomorrow for lunch at the airport", tap the "Assist" button and the Newton will search your address book for "Mike" and grab his phone number. It will then create a "Meeting" slip and automatically populate it with all the information. And because the Newton is smart, it knows that the "day after tomorrow" is two days away from today, and will create the slip for that day...and it knows that lunch, in most parts of the world is noon and will schedule the time for noon!
This is what's known as "Newton Intelligence" This same technique can be used for solving math problems as well as other handy items...
Nothing today can do this...It is this reason alone that makes the Newton a Truely Personal Data Assistant!
Ed
web/gadget guru

BrendanThu 27 July, 2006 11:07pm

I think it's hilarious that a 13 year old technology product beat a brand new tech product, ha ha ha ha!!!

AnonymousThu 27 July, 2006 11:54pm

I know there are a lot of biased "reviews" out there, but I trusted CNET as an objective review source until today. From the story I quote:

"Although the Q1 won more points, the Newton was declared the overall winner of the battle and was crowned by CNET.co.uk in an emotional ceremony."

Can you be any more bias? This comment shows that despite the logical determination of a winner (points, in case you missed it), the Newton was declared the winner for biased reasons. Apple yuppies may now complain.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 12:24am

This a bull..... they are not even in the same leauge. You guys need reallity check.
How much they pay you to do stupid comparation like this one. Newton was good for that period ( as 10 years ago). But can`t even come close to any of the new mobile devices.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 12:28am

Cnet hates Apple Computer for the most part. Has anyone read the many articles that slam Apple's computers and other tech products? I see read one by Cnet all the time. So to say that Cnet was biased and favored Apple is inaccurate...

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 12:38am

What BS.

kellyFri 28 July, 2006 12:47am

Paul Allen owns cnet.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 12:56am

Stanford University uses Newtons to this day to run their Student Housing facility maintenance in the field. They are soon to be replaced by Symbol MC50 or MC70 w/ barcode readers and wifi. It was fun actually to demo all the different barcode readers/terminals.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 3:28am

Ok, ok, all joking aside...I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

In 1997-98, before the Newton was killed, if you had asked me what my main computer would be today in 2006, I would have said something like, "A Newton 4500 with speech recognition, color screen, 30 hour battery life, etc." etc.

The fact we still have not developed a handheld that exceeds the Newton makes me want to cry. Yes, I still have my Newt, and I surf the web wirelessly when I want to think about the good old days, and what might have been. And I have software on it (medical texts) that still have not been duplicated for portability, completeness, and ease of use (just tap with a stylus).

Anyway, I know I sound like an old fart talking about how good it used to be, and how everything today is crap, which I do not believe. In general. But compared to the Newton, today, all handhelds/palmtops/whatever are pretty much crap. Some have come close, but none has exceeded the Newt.

I have two 2100's and an eMate, by the way, so yes, I am biased.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 3:35am

It just goes to show that if/when Apple bring out a PDA I would just race to the Apple store and buy one. I bought the top of the range HP iPaq and the out of the box experience is truly awful. The user interface is non-intuative, and you need to buy additional software to make it do anything useful other than sync with Office. I can hardly wait until Apple release there small form factor Mac.

SteffestFri 28 July, 2006 2:23pm

Hehehe, funny read.
You all keep using your Newtons for your daily mobile life, folks, have fun !!!
But if someone tries to take my Samsong Q1 away from me ... I'll bite your fingers off *grin*

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 3:22pm

Well, showing my age abit... I had one of the first Newtons (I was the only 'MAC' guy in the company and was the I/T Director, so go figure)... anyway, Urban Myth says that the original O/S and Handwriting Recognition on the Original Newton (the one I had) was written by Russians. Days before the Debut, the folks at Apple couldn't keep the thing from crashing and went into a 'major fix-up rewite' ... so my impression of the original Newton was, for it's time, it was revolutionary, but fell short on delivery.

Now, I own a Q1... some corrections, it doesn't come with MS Office. The O/S is XP Pro Tablet Edition, and the card interface is a C/F card (from the article I thought it might be pcmcia)... Rumors have it may be upgradable to 2gb, but I doubt it. Battery life is right at 2.5-3 hrs depending on your settings. They are supposed to offer a 9 hr battery as well. I've been using the Pharos CF GPS Card with Great results... and have found a DVD case from Targus that makes a nice small 'man bag' for transport of all the little accessories. I have used Logitech keyboard/mouse (diNovo?) with great results, the Monitor Output looks great on my Samsung 42" Plasma... I'm not happy with the screen... from a daylight visibility point it's unusable... inside is fine in almost any light... maybe a hoodie would help. For many external usb hookups, the small targus 4 port hub (about the size of a matchbook) works excellent. I've had live video feeds, music ripping, and web surfing all going on at the same time with no real performance issues (the video is a bit hungry)... All my music (about 2500 tracks) fits comfortably on the 40gb hard drive (60gb and larger soon?) I use the Pentel Pentopia as the stylus, the one on the back is just too small for anything but tapping. StreetDeck works great for the car/etc.

I guess Overall, (not being a huge XP anything fan) this unit really does deliver. I've helped customers deploy many types of 'table' technology, and this one seems almost worthy of consideration for corporate deployment... certainly strong enough for most everyone's needs. It would allow you to keep all 'Your Stuff' off the company laptop/desktop, etc. and it all goes with you!

So, my vote is for the Q1... but fully admit that if Apple had kept going with the Newton it would be a far superior product.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 3:24pm

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, I've alredy gotten the live Linux Distro for BackTrack running on the Q1 from CD... Can't wait to get another internal disk or another Q1 to set it up with Fedora or some other distro...

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 3:44pm

I hope you people aren't being serious. That newton belongs in a museum, not on an airplane being used by people trying to get something done. Modern word processing uses pictures, colored charts, graphs, etc, so the colored screen IS a requirement for any new mobile PC, maybe not for an eBook reader, but definatly for a mobile PC. Your comment that they ran from the stylus? Have you ever heard that one size fits all.....poorly? Its true, the Q1 is made so that no matter what you can be comfortable with the interface, while the newton forces you to use something you may not like. Viruses? Sure, keep you software up to date, and you'll be vulnerable pretty much only to 0 day attacks, add virus protection software, and the virus threat is limited further. And why doesn't OSX have vmany viruses....well, lets thing about this, viruses today aren't like viruses of old. The number of viruses that seek to destroy your PC are basically 0, with the outlier here and there. Instead they seek to use your computer to send spam, attack other websites, throw popups at you to get ad revenue. What are the majority of PC's running? Oh thats right, windows, so whats the most profitable system to attack for all those? Oh right Windows. So if Apple were ever to make a superior OS, and people began converting in droves, what would happen, Apple would be attacked all over the place. With them closing the source, they would have no help in defending, nor any experience, where MS is learning now, and will eventually have the most secure OS out there. Don't laugh, they have the money, and the market. Apple is not nearly ready to try and make a claim like that. Bottom line no matter what OS you use though is stay away from dirty sites, enable the firewall, run the antivirus, and you're pretty much set. Virus risks are a minimum, so if you are an idiot mac user and expect everything to be done for you, no matter how much it limits you, sure grab a newton, I dont want to be taking the tech support call from you...."Where's the any key!?!?!?!" Next lets look at something that newton simply cannot do. Run a web browser that passes the acid2 test. Something tells me the Q1 won't have any trouble with that. Lastly, battery life? Is that your claim of a knockout punch? With airplane adapters, car adapters, and office plugs everywhere, you think battery life is the most important feature for a mobile device?! Are you kidding?! Get an eBook reader, seems you'll be more than happy. It is simply amazing the stupidity of the general mac using public. Yes its a generalization, and I know there are plenty of power mac users out there, but even you have to admit, the majority of mac users are total idiots. Yes I worked at a shop that repaired apples...I had to deal with a ton of them. I have had to help them use windows when a college decided not to fork out for an apple for them...so before you stand up and defend the general mac using public, think about it for a second.

Now if you meant all that as a good joke. I did laugh, though my comment may seem like I am an angry person, I am not. Simply pointing out the facts, just in case this was serious. I simply cannot believe it was though.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 7:13pm

If you really looked at this text for what it meant to say, you would realise that 10 years of Microsoft's R&D (and hundreds of millions of $ later), all they could produce was a shini colour screen. Fundamentally, the device does not provide significant order-of-magnitude type of functionallity improvement. To put this in perspective, in 1996, Intel had just released Pentium (no MMX yet). They were running at about 150 MHz, and having 32MB of RAM was very wasteful. Win95 had just been around for a while and was seriously crashing all the time. On the Apple side, we had Mac OS 7.5 (no Open Transport yet), with PPC beginning to replace 68k chips. The interned was still for enthusiasts (no Yahoo yet), middle-of-the-road PC configurations (from Packard Bell) were US$2,000; Macs were still $3,000+... CD-R just made its appearance with blanks costing $20 each. This was when Newton appeared. Even Palm had not existed yet (with their Pilot). Again, the point was, this Newton thing is still very competitive. Its OS is definitely NOT obsolete. Too bad the world is moving away from PDA and mobile computing and towards mobile phone computing...

Cody BFri 28 July, 2006 4:09pm

You just compared a PDA with a full-blown computer. The Q1 has added functionality then a laptop. So what you’re doing is comparing a specialized laptop with a PDA. The average laptop gets about 2-3 hours of battery life. Most laptops consumers get come with an extended battery which gets them an extra hour or so, well the Q1s battery doubles its capacity to 5 hours. I'm not sure but does the Newton have a web browser, (mine doesn't) because if someone was to get a wifi connection for it and all I can do is sync that would be a waste. The Newton was $1000 new and so is the Q1. I bet in 10 years you could get a Q1 for 50 or less. I have a Newton, it replaced my palm. A palm is a POS compared. But I will be getting a UMPC very shortly. UMPCs are getting a lot of flak for no reason. I ask you this Newton users, do you need a keyboard? I'm guessing no if you own one. For you to buy a laptop would seem strange when you can get a full computer in the size of your Newton. What comparison is next my Casio calculator and the Newton? My Casio never needs new batteries and has never crashed. Does that mean its superior? No. I thought the article was funny, I liked it for that. But people need to back off the UMPC, its getting negative press for all the wrong reason.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 4:12pm

Having never used one of these tabletPCs but having owned every single Newton at least twice over, I still find present day Handheld devices -- Palm OS or Windows Mobile/Tablet PC -- to be subpar when it comes to the interface and handwriting recognition. What the review leaves out is you can write anywhere on the Newton and it will understand your input, where the Windows systems typically confine you to an intrepretation line to write in (not horribly bad, but bad for note taking in a class). Furthermore, there are a host of printers you can print to with the LRP driver for newton, WiFi and Bluetooth are options, and as a whole, if writing if your game, the Newton is hard to beat. However, most people don't even use these devices for contacts and appointments anymore, thanks to synable phones, so they use them as movie and music toting devices, which the Newton despite the MAD MP3 player, was not designed to do. I'd take the newton over the Q1 for the simplistic fact that I know the Newton can be dropped from a rooftop and survive, where the Samsung will not. The ruggen design of the Newton was, yes, because it does well in construction-type jobs (I've seen them used at jobsites before) and the ability to email most any data off the device to another computer makes it one of the best communicatiors, despite it having a Serial Port as the default connection. This is a device that pre-dates mass use of USB, and for its age it's amazingly powerful with an open source community driving it to still be competitive.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 4:27pm

The Newton was years ahead of it's time, and yes it still wins out in some areas over brand new devices. Thanks to it's Assist feature where it would parse what you had written on screen to automatically add contacts, schedule appointments, or file notes the phrase Personal Digital Assistant was coined. It really did assist you. Everything else that has used the monika PDA since has really been just an electronic organiser or a very compact computer.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 4:28pm

just like all boxing matches this was fixed. don king must have been the promoter.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 5:14pm

As an aside, two years ago in Disney World Florida, outside one of the parks some folks were collecting simple demographic data from everyone entering that park. Much to my family's dismay I stopped to chat with the data collectors because they were all using......Newton MessagePads! It was a mix of 2000's and 2100's but mostly the 2000 models. Just a custom data form with 3 fields, but I was blown away. Newtons live!!!

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 5:15pm

My lord, they are comparing a 10 year old device against a bleeding edge one, you can't take it too seriously.

That aside has anyone here actually tried to use windows XP Tablet PC edition at 800x600 using word or onenote you have about an inches of usable area on a 5 inch screen. If Microsoft wants to make this form factor work they are going to have to rework the shell a bit reflect the fact that it isn't running at 1024x768.

AnonymousFri 28 July, 2006 5:27pm

"The appearance of the two devices is almost identical"

ummmmm yep ... so identical I had to look 3x to figure out which is which. I guess they are both rectangular with screens. you know what, they look identical to Ipods as well ... actually, they both look like toasters to me. where am I?

Michael VallanceFri 28 July, 2006 6:01pm

Of course! And since 1995 MSoft been trying to sell Tablet PC's (re. Road Ahead book by Bill if you doubt me). They even practically give them away in some schools just to market the monstrosities. Newton is still unique.

So.... where's this nSync software for Newton? Googled it but no luck. found nSync beta 0.1 something but no mention of Newton.

Can you provide a link please?

Thanks.

Sprocket999Fri 28 July, 2006 7:21pm

Hey Chris! Where did you get the Newton screen mod? Mine could use a brighter. BTW - for the record, the MP2000 unit cannot be OVER 10 years old, because we are in 2006 and the MP2000 came out in 1997 according to the one in front of me. Also, the 2000 was NOT the strongest of the line -- that honor went to the 2100, which was canned in 1998. Overall I agree. The Newton 2x00 series was people doing things (stil) and the Q1 is just a marketing toy.

BenFri 28 July, 2006 7:52pm

I completely agree that the Newton (especially the later versions) not only contends with computing devices of today but out performs them. It's just too bad that the high-tech capabilities and streamlined user interface never really caught on...

TristanFri 28 July, 2006 7:53pm

How do those two compare to the fantastic (and affordable) Nokia 770?

Ben DoverFri 28 July, 2006 8:11pm

Bottom of page 5. Is customisable a word or did you customize the dictionary and make it a word?

fawFri 28 July, 2006 8:15pm

These computers may have all the capabilities that you've ever wished for--but they're HUGE! Wanna make notes, set reminders , browse the web ,watch movies or whatever?
Get yourself a Pocket PC! They do pretty much all the things the UMPC's can , and have a considerably longer battery life too.

Anthony HarmonFri 28 July, 2006 8:38pm

Let's see...

If "WordPad" is supposed to be a software feature, that is about as meaningless (and useless) as having George Bush as President...

Any comparison that starts with the "Windows Experience" is about as meaningless as Justice in America....

You can damn well bet the farm that ten years from now, the Q1 will NOT be running, no matter how cool and slick it looks now... Oh! And what about software updates...? Virus definitions...?

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 2:08am

Yep, Newtons everywhere--that's what I see. Oh, wait. I forgot. The market spoke and the newton figged out. Keep looking backwards, guys. The market moves on.

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 2:09am

Yep, Newtons everywhere--that's what I see. Oh, wait. I forgot. The market spoke and the newton figged out. Keep looking backwards, guys. The market moves on.

Bum WicketSat 29 July, 2006 2:59am

Clarifications on the Newton:

It does crash. Not often, but it does happen about as frequently as on a modern Windows.

The network support for the Newton, and especially the IR support, is very spotty. I wouldn't categorize either as easy or reliable.

The best feature of the Newton that was completely ignored is the pop out stylus caddy. This is amazingly useful and should be included on every darned PDA out there.

The Newton still wins this battle, though. By far. A phenomenal piece of hardware. Oh, and the Newton 2000 and 2100 are the ones being used here. The 100 series is crap.

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 6:26am

That is just it. the Q1 is the first of it's kind, when the newton started out it was crap, so from first to first, Q1 wins. Most people see the Q1 as the like 20th of its kind. It will improve when the come out with a nother new one that can smoke the newton.

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 6:29am

Ya, thats a good point, plus, I own both (I am using the Q1 right now to type this, with voice recognition, Thats a smak against the newton) but find the Q1 far better, and will get even better wit the second version and windows vista.

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 7:47am

Oh man, that was funny! That picture of the BSOD just made your bias so obvious.

Look, fanboys: When you open your platform to software developed by an outside source, it may crash. When you can't run any software that wasn't written by Apple 10+ years ago, it probably won't. Wow, it's almost like you've discovered frigging powdered sugar, or something equally significant.

This is just stupid. I have a two-year-old Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone that fits in my pocket so easily that I don't know it's there, yet interfaces with a Bluetooth GPS (that fits in my other pocket and cost me $40) and tells me via synthetic voice where I am and where to turn. Wow, the friggin' Newton blows that away, doesn't it? NO, IT DOESN'T! Again, this is just STUPID.

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 7:50am

Oh man, that was funny! That picture of the BSOD just made your bias so obvious.

Look, fanboys: When you open your platform to software developed by an outside source, it may crash. When you can't run any software that wasn't written by Apple 10+ years ago, it probably won't. Wow, it's almost like you've discovered frigging powdered sugar, or something equally significant.

This is just stupid. I have a two-year-old Audiovox SMT5600 Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone that fits in my pocket so easily that I don't know it's there, yet interfaces with a Bluetooth GPS (that fits in my other pocket and cost me $40) and tells me via synthetic voice where I am and where to turn. Wow, the friggin' Newton blows that away, doesn't it? NO, IT DOESN'T! Again, this is just STUPID.

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 10:46am

Great piece of writing!!!

AnonymousSat 29 July, 2006 5:12pm

What strikes me is that they are really not being fair in what 2 items are being compared. The Newton is really a forerunner of the Palm, not the newer tablet PCs. This would be like trying to compare an old Compaq "Luggable" to a newer I-Book. For a more accurate comparison, the Newton really should have been compared against something like the Palm Z 22. Then you really would be comparing 2 devices that are the same. And that "knockout" of battery life would largely vanish.

JohnSat 29 July, 2006 6:58pm

1: The Screen. A couple subtle things about the Newton's display... First, you'll notice that the Newton has a 'paper' texture. It was specifically designed to have an visceral warmth to it. Writing on a Newton's display feels natural, not artificial like writing on high-gloss plastic. Second, color displays were very polished by the time the Newton was made; Apple chose grayscale with VERY good reason. Yes, its lower power consumption, but its more dramatic than that. Take a stroll outside on a sunny day with your schnazzy Q1 and 10-year-old Newton and tell me which is worth carrying everywhere.

2: The Flap. Too little was said about the Newton's brilliant, removable, hyper versatile 'flap'. It protects the screen securely in said manbag, it flips around back easily like a good paperback book, and it can even double as a stand on a non-slick surface. The design of this device is beyond what I've seen any other company ever approach.

3: The Finish. Samsung should get a clue here... The 'glossy' thing results in fingerprints (as stated), scratches, scratches, and scratches. (Apple has made the same mistake(?) in its iPod line, though perhaps the whole idea is the aforementioned schnazyness of a new device to buy the next one.) The Newton's finish is inspired. Having owned a 2k since a month after its release, I can tell you the rubbery finish is virtually indelible. The texture, feel, and whole experience of the newton was designed to be *human* not 'gadgety', the Q1 just doesn't get it; its a gadget.

RuthSun 30 July, 2006 6:00am

The Newton won without even a mention of its ability to do voice recording. I still have a recording of my daughter's voice on it from 9 years ago. You can record your thoughts into it while you are walking. It is truly an amazing machine!

fidgetwidgetSun 30 July, 2006 10:01pm

Thats another strike against CNet in my books. You compared Apples to Oranges, and for obviouse reasons, declared the Macintosh the winner, not because its better, but because its an apple, and you perfer apples.
A PDA and a UMPC are NOT the same thing, and should never be compared like this. The Newton was a TERREBLE machine, it was too big, and was no better than a PDA. Its functionality, not how long it functions that should win. And the Newton doesnt have any features a modern phone doesnt have.
CNet, you need to smarten up, or you will look like fools.

On a side note, the Q1 does suck.

AnonymousMon 31 July, 2006 9:33am

Despite Q1's cons, if someone wants to give me Newton or Q1 for free and asks me to choose between them, the Samsung Q1 will definitely be my choice. I am pretty sure everyone else would do the same.

AnonymousTue 1 August, 2006 4:33pm

Apple also anticipated the manbag craze by ten years in producing a snazzy case complete with logo in which you could store your Newton plus a fullsize keyboard

I believe if you had the right software it would also boil an egg

Bence SariWed 2 August, 2006 9:40pm

I really don't understand how that Samsung device could have been released with such short battery time. This thing is too compact for a laptop and too bulky for a PDA. It's something in between. This could be a good idea - just think of the HP Jornada 720 or the Psion Netbook, these were/are still excellent devices - but the poor battery breaks the concept.

As for the Newton: I'm happy to see that such masterpieces can survive almost a decade and find their place in today's world even in handheld computing. However, I think this comparision has left some serious questions open:
1. It wasn't mentioned if the memory of the Newton can be extended and how. 5 or 8 Megs of RAM is really too little. Newton users must have found a way to extend it if they say they're still using it. I know there were PCMCIA memory cards around back then, but they had only a few megs' capacity. It's seems crazy for me to carry 600 grams with me for the sake of only a few megs, especially when a smartphone can hold 10 or 100 times more.
2. Anther important thing is file compatibility. Is it possible to open a word document or anything else, such as OpenDocument or PDF the Newton?
I think the comparision just wasn't fair without addressing these issues.

OddumFri 4 August, 2006 4:07am

hmm, it seems to me that the newton is not in its first generation, unlike the Q1. I agree, this UMPC isn't that great, but UMPCs still have potential. Who knows, perhaps the Averatec AH1 might be better. I also have to say that the newton looks NOTHING like the Q1. Lastly, although the newton may beat the Q1 at certain tasks, the Q1 is much more flexible to many purposes. I think the saying, "jack of all trades, master of none" applies to the Q1. All in all, the Q1 gets my vote.

Tee Na L SFri 4 August, 2006 10:55pm

This is a very timely (or untimely) and poignant comparison. Despite the age differences of 10 years Microsoft Windows products are still inferior. It is unfortunate that Mr Steve Jobs decided not to continue the Newton line allowing rubbish and inferior systems like windows to capture the market. I for one still mourns the demise of the Newton and unfortunately have to use the Windows Mobile 5 system still buggy, unreliable and rubbish.

The Last AmericanSun 6 August, 2006 2:09am

They mentioned that the Newton 2000 used was "grey" in color. What!? Did they even bother to wipe off the dust from where they pulled it from, because ALL Newtons were/are GREEN in their 'natural' state. Also, another reason Apple didn't use a 'normal' full color screen was to help eliminate, or reduce the effect of momentary 'night blindness' when using the Newton at night, or in a darkened room. The green backlight did not limit ones night vision as would a screen with a 'white' backlight.

StillCanadianTue 15 August, 2006 5:01pm

So the Q1 wins on points and categories but loses overall? Ridiculous. But you did attract quite a number of 'Mac Moonies' by the look of the many instances of pro-Apple commentary/Apple apologists. Tell me then...if after some 30 years of producing 'superior' products, why is Apple at roughly 2.8% of market share? You'd think by now all of that superior technology would have made a small dint out here where people actually use computers. Get a grip you MackleHeads!

Tim WestSat 19 August, 2006 11:40am

Microsoft beats mac on sales for sure. By the same ratio, people prefer the Dukes of Hazzard to Shakespear and the National Enquirer to Scientific American.
The fact is that mac functionality is so superior to the microsoft experience that, once experienced for a week or two, no-one looks back if they have a modicum of intelligence.

Ira BarronTue 22 August, 2006 5:13pm

Mike Tyson versus Mohamed Ali! CNET, you’ve done Don King proud. So I’ll say it in rhyme like my man from the ‘ville. “The winner was always clear – Rory, go bite an ear.”

AnonymousWed 23 August, 2006 6:38pm

I wish Apple would re-enter the PDA market.

I've used a Siemens SX66 for over a year. It uses MS Pocket PC which crashes sometimes even during phone calls. If I forget to lock the card it gets wiped sometimes when PocketPC crashes.

I avoid Microsoft (MS) any and every where I can... but I need a PDA. Now Palm has dropped the Palm OS for Pocket PC... What the heck?

Again, I pray that Apple comes out with a PDA (&Phone) like the SX66 or Treo. I'd switch in a second.

(FYI, I own 2 mac minis (1 runs my home security, stereo, etc, 1 for home office) - (I plan to get a Intel Mini and run Parallels WinXP & OS X), 1 IBM ThinkPad - for travel and my company (GE) has a IE only website (stupid IT dept) - a Compaq TFT5000 Flat panel monitor, which I A-B the two minis. A Brother 5440CN multi-function which all 3 computers print to (IBM wirelessly). SBC(now AT&T)-Yahoo 3Mbps DSL (17.99/mo) with a 2-Wire router/modem with 4 ethernet, 1 USB, and wireless. So I'm not a Mac addict, I just try to use what's best for the buck for me. I research then I research. PCWorld, Macworld, Infoworld, etc. a recent comparison was interesting: http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/14/pricecomparison2/index.php

AnonymousSat 2 September, 2006 6:13pm

There's no question that battery life is critical. What do the designers think? ...a guy buys a small screen, light-weight computer to surf the web or play games?

I'm hoping that Samsung will fix the proprietary battery/screen issues before I take my next extended road trip where battery life is everything!

AnonymousSat 9 September, 2006 10:38pm

I couldn't agree more with the decision. If my interface plug didn't go out on my Newton 2000, I may be still using it today. I have been using poor subsitutes, such as the palm treo, HP ipaq ever since. I was looking at a tablet PC today, still not fast enough.... There was also a great Newton programing community which was prolific in providing the user any app needed. Sorry to see the Newton go away...

ReindeR RustemaMon 27 November, 2006 9:38am

I want the Newton operating system on my iRex iLiad with electronic ink. If the Einstein project can bring the Newton OS to other machines, it should be possible to let the Newton civilisation land on this, albeit ugly, Linux-based platform. Apparently the power management of the iLiad is a problem. It is designed to support only the turning of a page, while the Newton is active all the time. This would drain the iLiad's battery quickly.

godzilTue 9 January, 2007 3:49pm

I didn't agree with one part, the newton have a real keyboard (needed to use Works by the way) and a virtual keyboard. You didn't have to use every time the handwriting recognition.

cosmichoboWed 28 February, 2007 1:11am

I received an ex-demo MP2000 for my 21st birthday, back in 1998. (Hell, it was the only way my parents considered buying it, at around 1/2 price, compared to normal!) The Newton is an AMAZING device, that I still use today. It never ceases to amaze people when they see it. And they assume it must be a new, as surely with all those amazing abilities - it couldn't have come from a decade ago - surely? :)

AnonymousThu 12 April, 2007 8:56pm

People loved the Newton. That's why it's still around now! Heck, I went to Best Buy today and picked one up...wait, no I didn't...well I went to ebay to get one, and...wait, there was only 1 for sale there...

But it's great...right?

I'm sorry. I'm coming from the young group of techs that was in college with no money to speak of when the Newton came out at $1000 a pop. You know what? I didn't even know it ever existed. No matter how well you all say it did "this and that", the bottom line is it was irrelevant...and still is, or else Jobs would have made a new model.

UMPC is akin to a laptop...Newton is akin to a PPC. It's that simple. Laptop vs. Newton: Of course battery life will be an issue. Let's be serious.

AndrewSat 29 September, 2007 5:25pm

Does anyone with a Newton actually compute with a computer or is it all for exchanging Apple kool-aid recipes?

Just for baby steps let's have the Newton score for SuperPI.

AnonymousSat 3 November, 2007 2:29am

Why all the hate for the Newt? To the detractors:

The Newton was d@mn ex$pen$ive for a PDA at the time, which coupled w/ the completely buggy & underspecified original MP1xx models explains why the Newton had such a hard time finding a market. By the release of the 2x00 models [which were completely different beasts, the only similarity being they ran the same OS], Apple had finally gotten a clue as to what they needed to provide to make them workable. But by then the market was leery of any PDA, esp. ones costing more than a desktop computer! By the time the Newton had cleaned up its image sufficiently, Apple had been mismanaged into close to demise, and Gil Amelio helped Steve Jobs to come back & take over in order to save the company. Why did Steve kill the Newton? Because he's a petty egomaniac [not that he doesn't have good qualities, this is just a character flaw, we've all got'em: read his biographies...] and the Newton [aka "Knowledge Navigator"] was John Scully's baby. In case you aren't up on Apple history, John Scully was the guy who'd ousted Jobs from Apple eleven years before his return. *That's* the reason why the Newton was cut just a few weeks after Jobs' return, & why it's been sat on ever since, despite a large community calling for its return and a market & technology that has finally matured to a point where such a compact mobile computing device could actually be bigger than the frickin' iPod!

For the Apple hater who asked "why does Apple only have a 2.8% share after all this time if their products are so good?" - Mismanagement, pure & simple. Apple had a 20% share in 1990, was sitting on a HUGE cash research warchest, & foolishly decided to continue selling high-margin computers & flush the MacPlus when they could have sold the Mac+ for $500 and made money [entire factory in Ireland was amortized by then] and gone for market share. The rest of the 90s was spent lost in the woods. Man I wish I made what those suits at the top were being paid! %-p

The Newton, like any piece of hardware designed to be sold on the open market [vs. a single buyer like the govt or huge corporation] is a host of compromises. It could have had an active-matrix color screen, but battery life & more importantly, CO$T would have been unacceptable. Comparing it to a much newer UMPC is unfair to the Newt, yet I find all the complaints to be from the anti-Apple crowd to be vice-versa! Get real! If Apple was to redo the Newton today [& they easily could], it's processing capability would likely be quadruple what the StrongARM chip can offer, the form factor would be more portable, etc. etc. etc. And lets not forget the cost: just allowing for inflation, the $1000+ price that was so outrageous then would actually be acceptable to early adopters today. Look how many people lined up for a gddmn *iPhone* for goodness' sake! And that little toy has nowhere *near* the capabilities of a 10y.o. Newt...

Oh yeah, someone asked about "how do you expand the too limited memory today?" It's all in the cards, my friend! You buy a compact flash card, stick in a PMCIA adapter, ad some driver mumbo jumbo [the original 4Mb flash cards for the Newtons were serial address units; yup, you had to rewrite the whole dang card just to add something to memory! At least, that's my recollection, I was too poor to afford one back in the day...] that thankfully, the Newton community came up with, & wa-BAM! Way more storage capacity than the Newt's designers ever envisioned...

Robinson PereiraFri 16 November, 2007 6:49pm

One point: people who use Newton or Q1 are not only computer users. Until today when you pick your PDA up most of persons open his eyes and asks “what is that?” You pick a PDA or a UMPC not for normal use. You don’t buy a Q1 to use as a notebook. Who works on these devices prefer a keyboard accuracy. But tech lovers just love a device and it is what it is. Each PDA or UMPC users choose their devices for one reason. I am journalist and writer and I think keyboard is faster then I need to create my texts. I need time to think about the words, the phrases, and HWR is the best way to write for me. I tryed Treo, TX, PPC2003, PPC2005, Cassiopeia Fiva, etc. And now came back on Newton MP2100 (in mint condition, as new). I have an ipaq HW6495 with a 2gb microSD also, and trying a IRDA beaming with two devices. And if you ask me why I use Newton, you got an answer: “that’s why I want to”.

AnonymousTue 22 January, 2008 9:21am

The Asus Eee blows away both of them--at a fraction of the cost!

AnonymousFri 25 January, 2008 6:31pm

I wonder how many of the Newton detractors here have actually used one, for a period, to do real PDA tasks. Not many it seems. If you have ever used a 2000 series Messagepad you will know that a tiny windows tablet with a 2.5 hour battery life and indoor-only screen is a toy, by comparison. Imagine how much the Q1 would have cost in 1997. This article is right. Newton is still the best handheld computer OS. You can rely on it. I got an iPhone for Christmas and can't believe how many Newton features it lacks and needs. Bring back the other Steve: Steve Capps.

AnonymousSun 17 February, 2008 12:23am

Okay this may be a stupid question, but i have just got an iMac with Leopard and Mac Office. I'm new to Macs and am considering getting an old 2100 for jotting ideas on the go and everyone says they are amazing and it does everything i need it to much better than any UMPC could (if reports are true). My quetion is this; can i move the stuff i create on a Newton to my Mac and edit it in Mac Office (or even Text Edit for that matter). See if I can then Newton is my perfect travel companion.

AnonymousThu 28 February, 2008 7:58am

Just thinking about it .... A "new Newton" is just what might come in above the Ipod touch in the Apple product range. Can you imagine what it could be like?
The ipod touch is going in that direction already.
TC.

AnonymousTue 20 May, 2008 4:07pm

The newton failed because it was to much like a laptop and not enough like a laptop. It was difficult to program and create new products for it. To large for a pda and wasn't a complete replacement for a laptop. The newton should have been marketed as a tool and designed to take notes in class for students and made affordable for that. It would have replaced laptops which were to expensive. My Newton froze up. About 1 in 200 would freeze and you'd have to send them off to Apple to get them reset. People who had them were afraid they'd lose data, because of the freeze up or did and set them aside. I sat mine aside once it froze and the reset didn't work. A couple of days ago. I found it in storage when going through some stuff. I dusted it off, took out the RayOvac batteries I left in it, which were dead. The battteries didn't leak. I put in a fresh set, powered it up, and it came up. All my stuff was in there. Surprisingly I looked at the last entry in it and I had an appointment to meet a friend, the appointment was for 10-28-1996, 12 years ago. I called my friend up and told him I might be a little late. . . lol. He told me he just threw out his Newton in the trash about 3 weeks ago. I told him someone might dig it up, put in some AA batteries and find his data in it like a time capsule. Anyway, mine works, but needs a backup battery as that's dead. I had the 130 Newton. It's an interesting piece for conversation and I wonder about writing Apple and telling them I've discovered a fix for the "freeze up" problem, just set it on the shelf for 12 years before powering it back up.

Greg

AnonymousWed 1 October, 2008 7:34am

This was a complete waste of time. You are a bunch of dumb asses if you think that old piece of crap is better than a Q1 simply because it has a longer battery life. The Q1 is a computer with lots of powers and features. That old apple crap has longer battery life because it doesn't do anything. And of course it's cheaper, it's ten years old! Get a Life!