I didn't have a happy week. My laptop, after being carried around by me for months on end finally fell seriously ill and died. This is not a good thing due to my Facebook addiction! Luckily I managed to procure someone elses laptop, but obviously it can't travel with me due to the risk factor so now I'm deskbound. When I'm out and about I have resorted to pen and paper to write and relying on the unreliability of my mobile net access. The whole experience has been very saddening.

Enter the PocketSurfer2R. The PS2R got my attention straight away as it's made to travel with you everywhere you go. Just like a regular laptop, only it's much smaller, lighter and more durable. In fact it's not much bigger than my Nokia mobile. Unlike my mobile, it runs on GPRS, so when I access webpages I get the content in their original format. Google Search looks like Google Search, with the funny logo and everything. It's also a lot faster than my mobile. In fact it was faster to access the net than Alex's PDA. We were most impressed. Another bonus of this product is that is has a regular laptop keyboard (QWERTY). Everything is where it's supposed to be. The only difference is that the touchpad is on the upper right side, rather than underneath the keys like most laptops. Apparently this is the first handheld device with a touchpad. I'm not sure if that's true, but the touchpad is really well positioned for a handheld device.

Unfortunately apart from a 20 minute fiddle tonight I haven't had the chance to use the PocketSurfer 2R fully. It gets extra points for looking sleek and feeling really nice. It wouldn't look out of place joining me in the back of a limo. Now I'm eagerly awaiting my chance to take the PS2R home for a more intimate exploration.

Comment by Alex.
Spode of Spodes Abode attended the launch with PI and I this evening and failed to be impressed...

He may have a point.

However before we damn this device or delight in it - full review to follow when we've trialled it for more than an hour -here's some of the techie stuff that for once might be worthwhile keeping in mind...

DataWind bill the PocketSurfer 2R as a "no wires, no contracts, no compromise" device. The first two points they've got right. PI quizzed a DataWind bigwig about the durability of the PS2R and had him confessing he'd thrown his around a bit - into briefcases, deep pocket with keys etc. She looked hugely reassured (if you knew her handbag you'd understand why!) Charge this thing up and despite a concerning short battery life (4.5hrs) no wires indeed - just a sleek black casing.

The "no contracts" got my attention. An iPhone 3G with O2 across eighteen months will currently set you back by about £800+... and for internet connectivity, the PS2R beats it hands down. Buy it for £199, chuck in an 'immortality' package (£59.99) that allows for unlimited access for the life of the product and you've spent a grand total of £258 - that's quite a saving (£550+)

Further their European and USA roaming package - hence the 'R' - is definitely arresting. Pay £29.99 by credit card and you've just bought yourself 600 minutes (valid for a year) across two continents and that wallops the competition over the head resoundingly - equating to 5p per min rather than the more typical £1.50 per minute!

I have my reservations about one or two points - not sure the "no compromise" is entirely fair comment but we'll address those in the weeks to come. Right now this device and the future ambitions DataWind have for the product is definitely worth a mention - oh, and the image just doesn't do it justice.

Watch this space.

Available in the UK from: PC World, Amazon and a few other lucky retailers within the next three weeks.
£199 plus add-ons if you wish...
See www.datawind.com for more info'.