1 Week with the Redfly Mobile Companion - Review

[pho]

I received my as part of the pre-order process about a week and a half ago.

My overall rating on this device would be a 8/10.

Upside - Super Fast boot -
works wireless and wired
magically increases phone screen resolution

Downsides
price is a bit high
the keyboard is small, but usable, even for real typing.

I have had some mixed results with different roms and programs. For the basic programs - email, calender, office, IE - everything works fine. Some programs though don't play well with the Redlfly, such as the official opera 9.5 release.

When a program doesn't work, the redfly screen goes black. Also, HTC photo album, tomtom do not work.

Google maps works.

Nothing is perfect- the actual web load speeds combined with substandard browsers make certain tasks great, but some pages are more of a pain then they are worth.

am i ready to travel without my laptop - Yup, especially for short trips. When the newer opera starts working with redfly, i think that will make a huge difference.

As in other reviews the battery life is one of the real selling points here. I left it going, wired, using the phone and a cordless mouse - for several hours and had no indication of losing my power and my phone was powered out at max (i was using a bluetooth headset)

the other way to use it, is to whip it out of a case, hit a button and bamb wirelessly send an email, looking something up, ect ect.

The redfly is VERY well constructed - very lightweight, but feels solid and well put together, the materials and the feel of the case are rubbery - and they look fantastic.

I did not experience the lapse in typing as the reviewer in pcworld did - maybe she needed a rom upgrade :)

Currently i'm using Lorentis' V5 diamond rom - this rom for some reason redfly doesn't like my today screen plugins and they look "scrambled" like a bad tv signal, but this is just a minor issue as you can see all the icons and move into the programs with no difficulty.

If your traveling or if you want to be able to expand the capability of your phone in random situations - this Redfly is the thing to have.

Relating to media - redfly's screen refresh rate is pretty slow - which can cause issues when scrolling on large web pages - but - it works.

My slingbox program played, but looked like a slide show and you can see the screen refresh line re-writing. - So, you can use this as a nice portable media screen- but it is my guess that this screen thing is not only a limitation of their driver and our phone, but i think it also is part of the battery life having a less active monitor.

one of the great things on the keyboard is there are lots of built in shortcut keys - they were REALLY awesome and work very well.

I got a mobile dvd player case that fits it very nice - and there is enough room for my mouse - i'm thinking about adding backup battery - one of these deals Tekkeon MP3450 for the heck of it.

again this is a fantastic device - it doesn't turn your phone into a laptop - relating to multimedia but, it greatly expands the capabilities for both speed and ease in the core applications

If you have any questions, shoot away

[bengalih]

I've been looking at many reviews and ads and videos on this thing and I honestly must say with all due respect that I don't see the point.

You state that it improves capabilities for "both speed and ease in the core applications." I can only assume you say "speed" because you think you can do things quicker on a larger screen. AFAIK the redfly does not actually speed anything up for the phone. It is simply a dumb terminal that scales the screen larger and passes input/output.

If this device cost $200 I could possibly see it. But, for $500 you could buy a used P3 ultra-mobile off of ebay that although would be about 25-50% bigger would provide much much more in terms of capabilities, especially when paired with the phone itself for wireless internet.

Multimedia is not increased and, as you state, it has compatibility problems with quite a few applications. Pocket Office is really no where near as functional as real Office...I would never attempt to write a real document over a few paragraphs using pocket Word. Outlook is really the only thing that is very functional (since it is basic e-mail which aren't generally too long) and for that I find the small Kaiser/Tilt screen fine.

I suppose if I had limitless money I would buy one (just like I would by everything), but as I said an old PIII ultra-mobile can be had for cheaper.

Also, generally I am either packing just a phone, or I'm packing my whole case. If the redfly is to big to holster on my hip (which it is) I have to carry a case, and at that rate I might just as well carry my full size notebook.

And as far as being able to quickly whip it out and start on an e-mail, etc... Yes, you probably save about 15-30 seconds vs bringing a laptop out of standby...I'll give it that. But, that brings me back to the fact that I would consider it a waste of time to pull it out in the first place for just an e-mail which I feel is quickly and easily done on the tilt keyboard itself.

The only rational explanation I read for using these things is if you are a company that wants to fit mobile employees who already have phones with "laptops" for very basic tasks (like e-mail). Because the cost of a laptop (and all associated maintenance) can be bery high, this could be a one time fee solution that wouldn't require any additional support.

For an individual user, especially a power user, I can't see that the benefit of a larger screen is really worth the $500. But I'm glad you like it (to each his own), apparently they tapped into some market of people that find it useful and cost-effective.

[pho]

in principal i don't disagree- it does not speed up your phone

however, for me, it has speed up and made easier my ability to use the phone

primarily in email, calender word, excell- ESPECIALLY excell.

If your on the go - it can be helpful

there is a big difference from my comptuer bag carrying my Dell 700m at 4 pounds and my tiny portable DVD player bag i use for the redfly - less than 2lbs, its like a feather

i have a bad back, the less stress the better - this is light enough to just grab and go anywhere with.

Its also somewhat future proof cause it can go from phone to phone, - hopefully they keep up the drivers.

I debated a small PC eee or something. you can even get them for 200 bucks.

For now i'm sticking with the redfly. - also, i note the pricepoint is the only major downside to the device.

once they get opera 9.5 working - i think it will take it to a whole new level.

[Protonus]

I see your selling yours... no longer satisfied?
The price is now $400 new.

[pho]

I see your selling yours... no longer satisfied?
The price is now $400 new.

needed full laptop functionality - changed my job from running around locally to flying around nationally - needed to use photoshop ect ect with me

its yours for 350 - basically new, paypal and shipped conus