Speaking of small form factor, low cost laptops...long-time readers already know that for quite some time now, I've been regularly exploring the feasibility of the cellphone as the nexus of an individual's communications and computing ecosystem. As far back as October of 2002, for example, I was doing hands-on investigations of the first generation of smartphones. In February of 2007, I suggested that a mouse-, keyboard- and external display-augmented smartphone might be a credible alternative to a computer in emerging markets.

In February of this year, I pointed out that an integrated keyboard was a primary motivation for my migration to a T-Mobile Dash. And one week later, I critiqued Palm's Foleo, a 'smartphone companion' introduced at the end of May 2007 and canceled three months later on the eve of its production ramp. So I was quite surprised a few weeks ago to learn, via a Smartphone Thoughts post (mirrored on Pocket PC Thoughts), of a company called Celio and of the Foleo-reminiscent (albeit Windows Mobile-partnered in this particular case) Redfly it unveiled at January's Consumer Electronics Show (I must have missed it).

In revisiting my past Foleo coverage, you'll see that while I was mildly enthusiastic about the smartphone companion concept, I was extremely cynical about Palm's implementation...specifically of Foleo's $500-$600 price tag, considering the diversity of full-featured notebook and netbook computers available at comparable costs. Surprisingly, therefore, Celio initially mimicked Palm's several-months-earlier muddle, announcing Redfly at $499. However, the reason for Smartphone Thoughts' recent coverage is more encouraging; until October 31st (and, I suspect, beyond that date) Celio's dropped Redfly's price tag to $199. The company recently sent me a review unit, which I spent Thursday evening and part of Friday trying out.

Before providing my impressions, I feel compelled to pass along a few qualifiers. First off, I tested Redfly with a T-Mobile Dash running version 5 of the Windows Mobile operating system, a hardware-plus-software combination that's not on Celio's officially supported product list. The Dash is there, albeit in an identical-hardware Windows Mobile v6 variant. But one Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone (the AT&T/Samsung Blackjack) is also on Celio's approved list, thereby giving me confidence that I could proceed with my testing. With that said, I've asked Celio if any known incompatibilities between the WM5-based Dash and Redfly exist...if I hear back in the affirmative, I'll publish a follow-up report here at Brian's Brain.

I felt confident that I could proceed with my testing...but I when I saw words such as the following...

Warning: If your smartphone is not on the testing list www.celiocorp.com/smartphone, loading the driver may disable the display and force a hard reset of the device, resulting in the loss of all data and applications.

...I was unenthused about subjecting my primary phone to potential peril. Fortunately, I have a backup unit at my disposal. This leads to my second disclaimer; although the Redfly driver seemed to happily coexist with the applications I tested it with, I can't guarantee that your experience with a phone more heavily loaded with third-party programs will be as smooth. Also, I can't be sure that Redfly's leverage of phones' USB and Bluetooth resources won't, respectively, hamper your ability to pair your phone via an ActiveSync or Mobile Device Center (Windows Vista) wired tether, or to wirelessly mate the phone with a headset or other Bluetooth peripheral.

Solidly-built Redfly weighs 2 lbs, has dimensions of 1x6x9 inches when the bezel's closed, touts a long-life 4,500 mAh battery, and offers a built-in 8" diagonal, LED-backlit LCD with native resolution of 800x480 pixels. It (and therefore its keyboard with two-button touchpad...thank goodness for thin fingers!) are about 20% smaller than my MSI Wind...if you've seen the 7" and 9" LCD versions of ASUS' Eee PCs, or for that matter any of the other small-screen netbooks now available, you've got a general idea of Redfly's form factor

An integrated VGA connector boosts the output resolution to 800x600 when Redfly's connected to an external display or projector. Since Redfly is designed to operate in conjunction with a Pocket PC Phone (Windows Mobile Professional, in WM6 vernacular) or Smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) device, it doesn't include a built-in Wi-Fi or CAT5 Ethernet transceiver. Pocket PC aka Windows Mobile Classic devices aren't documented as supported by Redfly on Celio's website, but I suspect they'd also work.

Continue reading with Part 2, 'Celio's Redfly: Hands-On Strengths, Hiccups And Future Things To Try'...