I'm biased (Director of Marketing for Casio), but I have both a Z-7000 and a
Newton, and I'll give you my opinion. The Newton is fast and powerful, with
some neat sound effects and gadgets. Script recognition is nice, as are the
graphics. However, it is not nearly as easy to use as the Z-7000. I have been
training the heck out of it, and it's recognition in print is no better (and
sometimes worse) than the Z-7000. Upper and lower case are up to the Newton,
and you are constantly adding words to the dictionary in the address book
because it forces you to use text (no word on how much RAM this eats). The
fact of training, switching between dictionary and non-dictionary
recognizers, no ink in fields in the address book, and it's short battery
life do not a consumer product make. It's a nice new hand-held PC, but that's
not the business we're in.
The lack of RAM, a RAM patch that goes away if you let the main and backups
go down (preventing use of the included PCMCIA tour card), no low-battery
warning (only gas gauge, which shows 1/4 full, but then unit shuts itself off
and you have to reinsert batteries and lose data) are also hurdles that have
to be overcome. Also, it behaves erratically in low-battery conditions (like
entering ink in to-do, then switching back to calendar leaves to-do ink on
screen). I could go on, but the point is, it's a new product that isn't the
holy grail, as I'm sure our Z-7000 is not also.
The intelligent agent is a nice concept, but it is not true intelligence. I
can enter an ink appointment for lunch on the right day and time quicker than
Newton can take a guess that needs correction. Great idea, not too useful in
reality (so far). Also, the Z-7000 comes with a TON of apps (Pocket Quicken,
AOL, 26 lang. translator, dict. & thes., reference, 3 games, etc.).
Comparably equipped, there is a big difference in price between the two.
Consumers look for intuitive (no learning or training), value (lots of
software included), and set and forget (battery life) type products. That's
why VCRs have a play button, and don't need to be programmed in BASIC. I'm
sure Newton will sell well, as will Casio's Z-7000. But we are a consumer
electronics company, and that's where the audience is. We feel that based on
what we have and what we've seen, we have the best consumer electronics
product.Subj: At last, some comparison...