Well this is a pretty cool contest. I don't think I'm quite able to convey the excitement of that dude back there did. Maybe you'd better just give it to him before he
pees his pants. :P
And if he DID pee his pants, I think I'd use PocketStreets on the MyPal to find the nearest gas station so he could go get dried off. No, seriously, the Asus sounds like an awesome product. The things that stood out to me in the review was the built-in wifi AND bluetooth combo, and the long battery life. I have an Axim X5 right now, so maybe I take all the other features for granted (because the Asus DOES sound quicker).
Pocket PC's are fun to play with. I'm addicted to Snails, my girlfriend is addicted to Jawbreaker, and my mother is addicted to DopeWars (no joke, I'm dead serious. She teaches grade 2 and then sells digital crack when she gets home). I'm definitely intruiged by the possibility of multiplayer gaming through bluetooth...
But if you're looking for somebody who would use this device just to get their giggles, or to try and make other people jealous, or to dance around and say "yippee I got a toy", then don't pick me. Sure I'd play with it, but mainly it would help me get more work done.
I'm a student, and my campus has lots of WiFi access points. I think I'd buy a foldable keyboard and use the device in class to take notes... with the super-long battery life, I wouldn't have to worry about shutting it off all the time. The long battery life would also mean I could stay connected over wifi and VPN to my home PC, to get at all my files from anywhere on campus.
Obviously the speed (which battery life also helps, because it frees you to run in "turbo" more often) would be very nice, especially when multitasking. I used to have this old Casio E125 (which I gave to my little sister) with a wireless CF, and I can remember the thing just CRAWLING when I was trying to check email, and ActiveSync over TCP/IP, and check a few web pages all at the same time. The speed of the device becomes so crucial when you stop on campus between classes and only have a few seconds to look some stuff up.
Speaking of on campus, the screen of this device looks pretty sweet. I'm doing a degree that requires me to be taking classes through the summer, and I'd love to be able to use the device outside in the shade. Come to think of it, a good screen, high quality sound, and quick processor make this device perfect for me - I'm doing a minor in digital arts, and would love to be able to show draft edited video clips to my prof & classmates for feedback and collaboration. With the CF slot now free (no need for a wifi card), I think I'd probably stick to SD memory and look into a more diverse collection of CF devices (like a VGA card and/or GPS module).
What if you gave me this device? I guess I'd give the Axim to my girlfriend and use Microsoft Portrait to voice-chat with her across campus
But mostly it would make an already-happy guy just a bit happier and more efficient too. I'm pretty sure I could try most of these ideas with my Axim, but it's obvious from your review that the A716 would do all of it
better. And hey, maybe I'm crazy, but getting the device for free would sure help me justify the expense of add-ons
Good luck everybody