HOT! Sonic Blue PROGEAR Wireless TabletPC - $599

[amnesiac]

Got this email from Sonic Blue today:

ProGear is a wireless entertainment system that allows more than one person to access the broadband Internet connection from anywhere in your home. You can maximize the benefits of a wireless home network by accessing desktop PC files through a router like those from Netgear. It's awesome as a universal remote - or for web browsing or email while sitting on your couch!

802.11b wireless broadband connectivity
10.4" flat-screen 1024x768 LCD display
Long-lasting battery
Lightweight, tablet-style, go-anywhere design
Touch-screen keyboard
Instant-on to last feature viewed
Easy-to-program and easy-to-install controls
Choice of Windows 98 SE or Linux 2.4 operating systems

Limited Time Offer - Purchase by June 28, 2002

ProGear 1050 SE (Windows 98SE version) - $3,299.00
Buy Now $599.00!

ProGear 1050 LX (Linux version) - $2,799.00
Buy Now $599.00

ProGear 1050 SE (Windows 98SE version) for $599
ProGear 1050 LX (Linux Version) for $599

If someone could fix those links up a bit - they're kind of messy - post it and I'll update it here.

 

[MyBuds]

nice....i might use this in a mobile video setup.

 

[RBC]

something is wrong. Your link goes to the right price but when you add it to your cart it shows up at $3,299.00. When I try going in direct to the site I don't even get the $599 price that your link sends me to. Just the $3,299.00.

 

[RBC]

I just got off the phone with customer service and he said they're all gone, both the se and the lx. It's a dead deal now....

 

[numatrix]

Hot Deal. I just got in on one. If you hit order by following amnesiac's links you should be able to get in on the $599 price.

Thanks!

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: numatrix
Hot Deal. I just got in on one. If you hit order by following amnesiac's links you should be able to get in on the $599 price.

Thanks!

It appears you get the $599 but after adding it to your cart the price shows $3,299

 

[SteveNYC]

Well, I actually came to post that this deal was available, but then saw the posting here saying it's sold out.

I'm not too sure about that. The e-mail I was sent from SonicBlue has two links. One for the Win98 version and one for the Linux version. When you click on either link, it places a cookie that allows you to see the sale price of $599. You need to click both cookies if you want to see both products being sold for $599.

I just deleted all the cookies in my system and went to the website. Sure enough, it was the full price for each (not worth it). But when I went back and clicked on either of the links for the $599 price, it showed the new lower price. In addition, when I put it in the shopping cart, it showed the correct price and it showed it as IN STOCK.

Admittedly, for the last few weeks it had been shown as being OUT OF STOCK. So the fact that it's IN STOCK is a pleasant surprise. When I ordered mine two days ago, it was listed as OUT OF STOCK, yet mine shipped yesterday and I have the confirmation number. I should receive it some time late next week.

So definitely check this deal out again.... here are the links as I have them from the e-mail I received from SonicBlue.

Link for the ProGear 1050 SE (Windows 98 Version)

Link for the ProGear 1050 LX (Linux Version)

The E-mail said that this is "Limited Time Offer - Purchase by June 28, 2002".

I have been watching this thing for awhile. I called SonicBlue a week ago when I first caught a glimpse of the price (they posted it as being $599 for everyone for a weekend) and they said that the unit was to be discontinued. No surprise there, but this thing is easily worth $599 in my book (plus $7.64 for S&H via UPS ground in the lower 48).

For those who are interested, I started up a group on Yahoo for the ProGear this morning. Right now, it had one member....me! But I'll be posting a lot this weekend and as soon as I get it I'll post up a lot of pictures and info. Go to :http://groups.yahoo.com/group/progear/ if you are interested. Mind you, there is nothing there now, but you gotta start somewhere.

This webpad is pretty remarkable, I can't wait to mess with it.

 

[amnesiac]

Still in stock for me. Dunno what you guys are whining about.

 

[RBC]

SteveNYC... Your right, this time the links worked and in went into my cart at the sale price, thanks!

 

[VaG]

Good luck. I was trying to buy this last night. I had it showing 599 & in stock no problem but everytime I entered all my info. it just kept saying:

We are sorry. We cannot complete the action you have requested.

I dealt with this exact same BS - in & out of stock, says out of stock but still shipping, & there lame online order process with the empeg rio player when where discontinued.

Please post if you are actually able to get the order to go through today.

 

[SteveNYC]

Well VaG,

One thing is for sure, SonicBlue's website for ordering is horrible. You might be right and that this thing is just done and finished, but keep trying. Here was my experience with their so called order system.

It asks you when you enter the billing information if the shipping address is the same. I wanted mine to come to my office, so I said no and entered in the additional information.....next page.... So it asks me to confirm the billing and shipping address and asks me to MAKE SURE it is correct or I will have to call and the order will have to be canceled and a new one established. But guess what, it NEVER shows the right info, it just shows my billing info in both categories. Whatever....., I just say accept..... On the final confirmation page, it shows up with the right shipping information (minus the actual company name I entered). So I just hit CONFIRM.

Later on that day they send me an e-mail asking to confirm the name, billing address and shipping address w/i 24 hours or the order would be canceled. How dumb is this?

So I did and the order went through fine.

But they charged my CC instantly. They didn't wait for the thing to ship. I checked my CC less than 3 minutes after I ordered to ensure they had my shipping address listed as a valid alternate shipping address and the charger was already reflected in my balance.

So all in all, a weird ordering situation.

I hope somehow you are able to get one VaG, I think this unit looks awesome. I'll post tons more on the Yahoo group once I get it.

Also, you should know that there is a guy selling them on EBay for $1220 and $1250. He's loaded all his current units with Windows XP Pro (I wonder what the performance is like) and he includes either the cradle and keyboard (for $1250) or just the cradle (for $1220) if you use the buy it now feature.

I do want to get my hands on that cradle though before those go out of stock.

Good luck.

 

[SteveNYC]

RBC,

Did you actually try to order it or did you only put it in the cart?

Just checking considering the problems that VaG seems to be having.

 

[takhyon]

Uploaded some pics of the inside in the Yahoo Group.

 

[RBC]

No, the more I thought about it the less I could justify that I'd really use it. Maybe they really are all out of stock like the CSR told me yesterday. I remember when I spoke to him, he didn't even hesitate or have to check the stock status, he just said "they're all gone.".

 

[kermalou]

hey, if they are out of stock their business practices suck. i ordered hoping i could get one when they come in stock and they instantly charged my credit card, what is up with that?

stevenyc - where was this guy on ebay?

 

[DanT]

I ordered yesterday morning around 11:45 PDT, with no problems whatsoever. Of course, my shipping address was the same as my billing, so no problems there. About two hours later I received a phone call, wanting to confirm my order and shipping address. No email. I was hoping it would ship yesterday, but I still haven't gotten a tracking number, so I'm guessing it'll ship on Monday.

 

[SteveNYC]

kermalou,

The guy who's been selling them for awhile is "clickboom.com_!"

Do a search INCLUDING DESCRIPTION for "ProGear" and you'll see he has 14 on EBay now (not dutch auction, single unit auctions)

Actually, here's the link:

ProGear Search on EBay

Like I said, he's not as cheap as $599 but if you do the buy it now thing, you can get it for as low as $1,100. He includes the cradle for that price but not Windows XP. But that shouldn't be a big deal because you can install it yourself. You can put the ProGear's HDD in your own computer if you buy a simple 2.5" to 3.5" adapter. They're $3.65 at ComputerGeek.com

2.5" to 3.5" HDD adapter

Another guy occassionally sells some used Linux version ProGears on EBay as well. Last time he tried to sell it for $300 and nobody bid for it. It has a 3 hour battery as opposed to the six and is missing the network card, stylus and power cord.

Good luck.

 

[sygyzy]

I am confused. Is this a new item that has $599 price as a promotion or is it getting cleared out and discontinued?

 

[VaG]

discontinued

 

[Wei2Cool]

I recieved an email from DigitalRiver asks me to confirm by EMAIL the order without giving any specific info about where to sent the confirmation. I reply to the sender (ordercofirmation@digitalriver.com). Anybody experienced the same?

Here is what I've got from them,

Please verify by email the name, billing address, and shipping address for
your SONICblue (Diamond) order. Verify within 24 hours of the date of this
email or the order may be cancelled.
Thank You.
Order Number: xxxxxxxx
Customer Number: xxxxxxxx

 

[LiquidSnake]

Got the same email and replied back.

I think the units are being discontinued due to the Transmeta chip. 400Mhz is slow and it runs at 200 Mhz on battery to conserve battery... I think that is how transmeta chips and "mobile" processors work. I read this unit heats up a little and a new 800 Mhz is coming out soon. I believe the 400mhz is a first generation Transmeta chip.... dont shoot me down if I'm wrong.

The way I see it, if I can install WIN 2K and surf while in the bathroom instead of reading a magazine, how can you go wrong? As long as you dont run Photoshop or play 3D games I think everyone will be fine.

 

[SteveNYC]

Yeah, me too.... same e-mail and I replied back. No problems.

LiquidSnake, I have to say that's the first time I've heard about the Transmeta cycling back to 200 MHz when on battery. I don't doubt you, but I sure hope you're wrong!

Chances are you're perfectly correct.

I haven't seen any real benchmarks on anything like this. The closest seems to be the PaceBlade that Anandtech reviewed but that's a faster processor.

But like LiquidSnake said, this is for basic stuff. I'm not doing SQL programming on this thing (though it's a thought!)

I think the biggest constraint right now is the memory. 128 is good for 98, but not for XP and you can't forget that the Transmeta processor steals 16 MB for converting the X86 code.

Still, for $599 this thing should be great. Anyone else gotten through on buying the ProGear today?

 

[Wei2Cool]

The way I see it, if I can install WIN 2K and surf while in the bathroom instead of reading a magazine, how can you go wrong? As long as you dont run Photoshop or play 3D games I think everyone will be fine.

I am using a HITACHI WinCE pad with wireless network as a Windows terminal client and the experience is so great. Just imagine carrying a very portable pad anywhere with Internet connected, and you can use almost all the applications on the host machine, like handwriting in Word with Office XP. However the resolution is only 640x480 and multimedia is badly needed. That's why I can't wait for the next wave of tablet PCs and jumped on this deal.

 

[SteveNYC]

Wei2cool,

I completely agree, one thing I intend to mess with is putting terminal service or Citrix Client software to work on this thing as see how it runs. Should be interesting.

I'm wondering what 1024 X 768 is going to look like on a 10.5 " screen. Should be amusing. They say the screen is really sharp, but that a lot of reolution for a little screen to pull off. I'll see soon enough.

 

[LiquidSnake]

I have an Epods, the Hitachi, and soon I'll have the Progear unit.

My experience with the epods is ok... slower than the hitachi but bigger screen with a keyboard.

Hitachi is ok too but using terminal services only gives me 256 color which is annoying (if there is a way to increase color, PLEASE let me know). Surfing on 640X480 is a little small. I'm saving these units so when I automate my condo with curtain openers and light controlls and stuff, I can use the CE tablets as a remote control.

Progear on the other hand is a full PC. Yes the Transmeta, runs slower on batteries like the mobile pentiums and celerons (i think this is called speed -step technology... supposedly. Intel "stole" this idea from the first transmeta chip)... again dont kill me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, the memory is the problem. I dont think there is a way to add more memory but you can add a larger hard drive. Right now, I am looking for Win2K/WinXP drivers. If you have access to these files, please email them to me. thanx