really big Palm? or just "Rosy"?

May 10, 2006 11:48 AM

Is there a conceivable method of getting a Palm to have a full-size (say, 15" laptop screen) display?

A friend and I were kicking around tech fantasy wish lists. We were talking about tablet PC's and realized that we don't need a full-on PC for our purposes, but we'd love a cross between a Palm and one of those RYO digital photo frames. Touchscreen isn't a a necessity, as most of the inputting, etc would be done via an IR keyboard. Is there any possibility of somehow porting the display to a repurposed/recycled laptop screen? Resolution needs to be good enough for text to be legible. Has someone done this already? Are we geniuses? Or is it impossible?

posted by penciltopper to technology (9 comments total)

correct me if i'm wrong, but if you were to somehow get the image on a larger screen, because of the resolution limits of the palm os, the image would be streatched to uselessness. If you would like to run the palm os on a larger screen i'd give the palm emulator a shot
posted by killyb at 11:57 AM on May 10, 2006

I guess you're wanting something cheap and small with long battery life, but with a bigger screen than a typical PDA. When Windows CE was a new thing, there were a few CE devices that were cross between a PDA and a laptop, like the Vadem Clio and some larger Psions. The problem, though, is that with the larger screen real estate and real keyboards, people want to just run normal applications on Windows XP.

The opposite to what you're talking about is the OQO -- a tiny PDA-sized computer that runs Windows XP.
posted by zsazsa at 12:08 PM on May 10, 2006

Palm can handle 320x480, I think the biggest screen available right now is the LifeDrive (with 4GB storage). I think you've got a great idea, an 8 or 10" screen at that resolution would be wonderful, but it doesn't seem like there would be a market. It would porbably cost $400-500 for the hardware and for that price most people would prefer a laptop.
posted by blue_beetle at 12:21 PM on May 10, 2006

A few years back I think I saw presentation hardware for Palms that would let them drive a ~1024x768 projector. Assuming I'm not making that up, that would seem to be the place to start. You'd probably still end up controlling the thing using the built in screen though.
posted by Good Brain at 12:32 PM on May 10, 2006

Isn't this basically what a PepperPad does?
posted by Crosius at 3:42 PM on May 10, 2006

Small is the opposite of what we're going for, and this would be a homebuild, not a commercial idea (unless it turns out supercool). You know these? or this?

The idea we had is instead of an old laptop turned inside-out like for the photo frames, take an old desktop LCD, remove the stand, jam an old Palm board inside along with a box of magic fairies (pixel-ies?) that would bring the Palm's resolution output to say, 800x600, and make holes in the case for IR/USB inputs to sync with a regular Palm.
Hang it on the wall/fridge/opposite the "throne" and you'd have a syncable wall calendar, etc. Taken off the wall, input would require accessories like an IR keyboard we also have lying around (or some crazy fantasies about old wacom tablets or even NES joypads).

Sure it would end up costing us hundreds. And it would end up being the decade's dumbest laptop if you want to look at it that way.
But we were thinking who needs a tablet that runs a full PC OS when all we need is something like a Palm, but with a 30cm screen?
posted by penciltopper at 4:06 PM on May 10, 2006

oops. shoulda previewed. Yes, sorta like that pepperpad. But without the browser or the $900. We already have all the pieces we need lying around, except for the magical resolution fairies.
posted by penciltopper at 4:11 PM on May 10, 2006

I always wanted a Dana Wireless. Screen is big but not too big. $499 I think.
posted by zpousman at 8:36 PM on May 10, 2006

Margi's Presenter To Go is out of production, and I'm not sure it can display a live Palm Desktop.
iGo(yes, the guys selling adapters at Radio Shack)'s Pitch Duo will do what you want, but is really bulky for your application. The Pitch and Pitch solo, which they used to sell, are probably more apropriate, because they attach w/ wires.

IMO, I think the dana wireless would be a good bet for your application/pricepoint, or, if you're hung on the idea of using a tablet, a Fujitsu Stylistic running a palm emulator on an optimized Win98 platform might be quite doable. Somebody seems to have put a bumper crop of them up on eBay for just over $200.
posted by Orb2069 at 7:16 AM on May 11, 2006