UMPC Group Test (Part 1)

I’m sure that I have mentioned this before on the blog but I commute to and from London every day and try to get some work done on the train. As I’m doing more on the blog these days I need to use a laptop more and I need my internet access.

At the moment I have a small Dell Latitude D420 which I carry everywhere with me. It’s light and fairly powerful and there isn’t much wrong with it. I even have a built in 3G card. The problem I have isn’t with the laptop as such but anyone that uses trains regularly and takes their laptop will know (probably) that the space between seats coupled with the tiny seat back tables makes using a laptop pretty awkward, even with a fairly small laptop. There are also few tables on most trains.

Pocket PC mobile devices aren’t quite powerful enough for the job and they also do not run the software that I need to use. But now that UMPC devices are becoming more common I thought that one of these might solve my problem as most of these are designed for hand held operation.

Luckily my friends from eXpansys were kind enough to lend me a few devices (the UBiQUiO and the OQO) to test for this purpose.

So over the next few weeks I’m going to be ‘real world’ testing and reviewing three UMPC devices. I’ll be letting you know which one I think’s best.

The devices I shall be reviewing are:

The UBiQUiO 702

The OQO Model 01

The Samsung Q1

Specification of each device:

	Samsung Q1	UBiQUiO 702	OQO Model 01
Processor	Intel Celeron M ULV	VIA C7®-M UL	Transmeta Crusoe
CPU Speed	900MHz	1.0 GHz	1.0 GHz
Memory	1 SODIMM Socket, DDRII 400, 512MB	1 x SODIMM slot 512MB Standard	512MB DDR RAM (fixed)
Screen Size	7” Touchscreen	7” Touchscreen	5" transflective display
Screen Res	800 x 480 Native	800 x 480 Native	800 x 480 Native
Graphics	915 GMS Internal GFX	VIA UniChrome™ Pro graphics	8Mb 3D Accelerated
Hard Drive	8mm, 1.8” SFF HDD 40GB	2.5" 9.5mm, 40GB UDMA	8mm, 1.8” SFF HDD 30GB
Ethernet	Yes, On-board	No	Via Docking Cable
WiFi	802.11b/g, a/b/g	QCOM 802.11b/g	802.11b
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 1.1	Bluetooth 2.0+EDR	Bluetooth 1.1
USB	2 x USB 1.1	2 x USB 2.0	1 x USB 2.0
Firewire	No	No	Yes
OS	Windows XP Tablet Edition	Windows XP Tablet Edition	Windows XP Tablet Edition
Audio	2 x 2W Stereo Speakers	Built-In 1W Speaker	Built-In Mono
Battery Type	Re-chargeable 28w Lithium ION Battery	Re-chargeable 26w Lithium ION Battery	Re-chargeable 14.8w Lithium Polymer Battery
Battery (Claimed)	Standard Battery : over 3.5 Hrs	Standard Battery : 3 Hrs	Standard Battery : 3 Hrs
Dimensions	227.5mm x 139.5mm x 24.5mm	230mm x 150mm x 25mm	134mm x 86mm x 23mm
Weight	770g	1042g (with extended battery)	421g
Other	Button : 8 Way Stick, 4 User Key, 3 button (Auto Scale/Select/Menu), Hold , Volume Up/Down, Power/MIO, CAD	Power on/off switch, 1 x Wireless on/off switch, 1 x D-pad with enter, Left Mouse Button, Right Mouse Button, 4x Function Keys, PageUp, PageDown, Key Lock, Volume Up, Volume Down, Synaptics Transtouch Stick Cursor	Included accessories: universal power supply (air/auto adapters included), docking cable, desktop stand, digital pen, carrying sleeve