1) I suspect Palm ran out of time with development of the Foleo software and decided they simply had to release it as-is before it was too late. The software is VERY basic - almost amateurish - and numerous key software features are either missing or poorly-implemented. Palm has essentially "thrown one over the wall" and appears to be hoping that 3rd party developers and the open source community will fill in the (large) gaps. For obvious reasons, I think this isn't exactly a great strategy. It may have worked for the Palm Pilot 10 years ago, but the situation is a lot different now and despite Palm's attempts to spin the Foleo as "not-a-laptop", Palm's competition is going to be real laptops and UMPC devices.
2) No Kensington slot on the Foleo? Why, Palm? To hopefully increase Foleo sales (due to increased Foleo thefts)?
3) No ability to print documents? Why? No doubt expecting others to come up with the solution. Unfortunately, every application users have to buy to do a function that should have been included out of the box increases the true price of the Foleo, and it's already well into laptop territory. The standard answer that "It's Linux - a hacker will code/port a solution in a few weeks" is rather silly in my opinion. Talk to someone with a Nokia 770 or N800 and you'll see what I mean. (Yes I know the Nokias are not laptops.)
4) YouTube doesn't work on the Foleo, giving an error message that it isn't supported. I was going to post the screen photo but thought otherwise, because it makes Palm look bad. Of course there are hints that support for YouTube is "coming real soon now", but until it's here those promises are as meaningless as the empty promises of bugfixes that Treo 700p users endured for a year.
5) Weak security. No security if using the "instant on" feature and poor security otherwise. Zero security for the CompactFlash card that will likely be used to store most user data. Not a good setup for a business device. A Palm rep said TealPoint is planning to release a version of TealLock for the Foleo. In my opinion this should have been a standard part of the Foleo OS.
6) Someone posted earlier asking about hinge strength. While there is no way to predict how it will withstand the test of time, the hinge seems to be well-designed. I'd bet the Foleo can take a lot of abuse and keep working smoothly. Could probably be a great laptop for industrial users, warehouses, delivery companies, etc. with the right software.
7) No standard multimedia (video or MP3) application. Wow, Palm. Inexcusable.
8) No standalone email app - you need a Treo to download regular mail first. BIG mistake, inexcusble in my books and will be a dealbreaker for some people. I feel it would make more sense for the Foleo email app to be fully functional so users could optionally download email directly to the Foleo via Wi-Fi and sync it to the Treo via Bluetooth later. If you think about it, Palm pretty much had to go out of its way to NOT include standalone email functionality in the Foleo's email app. The only possible reason for Palm omitting such a basic feature is that they wanted to promote the syncing with Treos as a "unique" feature in order to hopefully differentiate the Foleo from other small laptops. Someone posted here asking if the Foleo only works with Palm's (buggy) Versamail app. Unfortunately, yes. I use Chatteremail and wouldn't touch that Versamail malware with a 10 foot pole. Another potential dealbreaker. It will be interesting to see if the recently-released version of Versamail has finally fixed its bugs and also if Palm's acquisition of Chatteremail + hiring Marc Blanc will result in some better Treo and Foleo email apps in the near future.
9) I tested the download speed and I believe it took a little less than a minute to send a 1 MB email (with JPEG attachment) from a WindowsMobile Treo to the Foleo.
10) Users can specify that attachments are not automatically downloaded from the Treo to the Foleo.
11) Claimed 5 hour battery life is nice, but given the feeble 415 MHz XScale CPU and the 10 inch screen I wonder if it shouldn't be longer. Unfortunately, the battery sits in an enclosed compartment, so switching batteries takes a while and you can't add a physically larger extended battery.
12) The Foleo does not seem to generate a lot of heat. Finally a laptop that doesn't fry the lap!
13) Very weak photo viewer. The Foleo's photo veiwer makes my Treo's Resco Viewer look like Photoshop. (Not really, but it's still disappointing). There isn't even a way to rotate photos. Given the fact that people will likely be offloading digital photos to the Foleo it should have shipped with a decent photo app.
14) Wi-Fi was working at the demo, but the speeds were disappointing. Slower than my Treo tethered to my laptop on even a "bad Sprint day". It will be interesting to see what the throughput is like later on in the real world.
15) Inconsistent user interface. Right click button doesn't even bring up a menu in several applications.
16) Lack of being able to keep multiple apps or multiple browser windows open at the same time is a significant flaw. Palm likely chose this compromise in order to be able to spec a slower CPU and thus eke out greater battery life, but I would gladly trade an hour or two less battery life for the ability to properly multitask. I think people are used especially to having multiple browser instances open and a lot of potential customers will find the Foleo's setup to be too constraining. As others have mentioned, besides YouTube there are a number of other sites that the Foleo's browser can't access in its current build.
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Chupa's theory that Palm is planning to position smartphones as the future PCs might end up being true, but I'm not sure that Palm has the ability to realize such a radical vision. And even if they did, there are rumors swirling that Apple may be planning a similar attempt to cut Microsoft Windows desktops out of the loop. Bold ideas, but if Palm can't even code a decent browser or email app can they really be expected to produce a stable, entirely new platform?
All things considered, for the $600 asking price I was disappointed by Palm's effort. The numerous software deficiencies suggest the Foleo either is being released before it is ready, or else Palm doesn't understand that it has serious competition in a cutthroat market. After experiencing the Foleo firsthand, I'm at a loss to see how it will ever attract a significant number of buyers at its current asking price. The Palm reps claimed the $600 price will not be revised at launch date (now expected to be in around 3 weeks), so it seems likely that cheap laptops like the Asus Eee PC will result in the Foleo being relegated to a role as a very tiny niche device. Despite what some people will tell you, the Foleo IS a laptop. A well-made, poorly-speced, 415 MHz, 128 MB, PalmLinux, (sort of) non-multitasking, long lasting, relatively-applicationless, cool-running, 10 inch-screened, overpriced, $600, 2.5 pound laptop.
For a little less than half the price of a Foleo you can get an Asus Eee PC and for a little more than twice the price of a Foleo you can get a Fujitsu P1610, each of which - in their own way - seem to be much better values than the Foleo.
As always, your mileage may vary. Just don't shoot the messenger.
