This morning I received the UMID Mbook, a tiny, clamshell ultra mobile PC that everyone seems to be interested in. My opinion is that this is one of the best mobile/microblogging devices there is (and I include all smartphones) and that its a stylish, flexible ultra mobile PC of the sort that many of us wanted to see from day 1. That means, its POCKETABLE and it has a KEYBOARD!
The unboxing video is below. There’s a gallery to view and the specifications (and some hands-on review links) are in the information page. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do a live Q&A session on this immediately as I’m heading to Amsterdam for ‘TheNextWeb‘ conference in about 3 hours [(‘m taking the UMID. If you want to see it there, contact me.) so I’ll schedule a live session for the week beginning 19th April. Again, thanks to Mobilx.eu for sending this over. They plan to have final pricing and stock very soon.
Original WMV available at Blip.tv
More information in the UMID Mbook product page.
New article: UMID Mbook (retail) Unboxing and Overview by Chippy http://cli.gs/pYnLuG
Liked “New article: UMID Mbook (retail) Unboxing and Overview by Chippy http://cli.gs/pYnLuG” http://ff.im/26CKO
Video is still being processed by YouTube as I write this. Give it ten mins or watch the Blip.tv version. http://blip.tv/file/1991016
I see a mobilx business card in the picture so do you have any info from Mobilx about when they are hoping to recieve stock of the M1?
They are finalising pricing right now. 1-4 weeks for stock is my estimate but i’ll update when I get info.
S
Thought I could avoid being interested in this, but I can’t.
Hopefully pricing will put me off!
I assume 3g isn’t shipping on release? Any advice on these mobile 3g routers?
MiFi 3G wifi router looking excellent so far. Again, Mobilx chasing it. Respect to those guys.
S
One day something will actually be released and in easy supply.
I do wish more companies would do the Apple thing, announce something when it is about to be in their online store for ordering. Gone are the days where I enjoyed the anticipation!
That’s exactly how I feel Marc.
Amen. The only good thing about the fact that I can never actually get our hands on most of these cool looking devices is how much money it has saved me.
But it’s frustrating.
“UMID Mbook (retail) Unboxing and Overview by Chippy | UMPCPortal …” http://tinyurl.com/cvv2qv #retail
seems the people worked on the finish of this liitle guy too
What happened to the 1 gb versions of the UMID?
Haven’t heard anything about the 1 gig versions in the coverage so far.
i was talking about 1gb of ram above.
Love the Viliv box in the video.
I’ll second the request on the 1GB version. I don’t understand what’s happened to it either
I want one with 1GB RAM, 32GB SSD, HSPA…
If you were interested in the UMID device I had at SXSW (awesome microblogging device) check out @Chippy’s unboxing: http://twurl.nl/ar4av8
looks like pulling the cable sent it into sleep/hibernation ;)
your talking about as a UMPC, but mobilx has it sorted under MID…
hmm, cant wait to see the price of the linux version (unless there wont be one, i see it listed on mobilx but that could just be old placeholder info).
..and umid have it labeled as a pocket PC!
Why not?It is an very good description!?
looks great but there are a few bizarre compromises…
512MB RAM, why? cant be a size issue, sounds like to me they are being cheap & trying to maximize profit by a few bucks.
even if they couldnt include a thumbpad, there should at least be a trackstick. reaching over the KB to use the touchscreen looks like it would get very tiring after awhile.
stylus is way too short
The reason for 512MB could be also because of power consumption and heat dissipation issues. It achieves 85% of Viliv S5’s battery life with only 74% of battery capacity. It CAN also be size because with 1 DIMM, a 512MB might be single sided while 1GB might be double sided and that adds to the thickness.
This is certainly an interesting device but two things that definitely put me off is the 512MB of RAM and low capacity SSD drive. Even with 32GB that is nowhere enough and anything but the best SSD drives are gonna reach problems especially as the drive gets full, which will happen quickly with this one.
I would take a HDD version with 60GB storage and 1GB of RAM which will probably be lower priced thanks.
There is a 1GB option I believe, if you look at the bottom of the page here:
http://i-mbook.com/mall/mid.php?check_key=5
@Chippy
Can you clarify the 1GB situation? – I am very adverse to buying a 512 MB pc in this day and age
thanks
whow…really impressed…at least a mid with xp and a pocketable size…
it only lacks a rotating screen to be perfect :) waitng for the price, and the umpcportal live show ;)
I think I know the answer but to just check anyways, that computer does not have a long enough keyboard for touch type input right?
To me it is sad as if it were a little longer say 6.9″ at least then it would be an even more popular computer.
You can always buy a netbook. ;) Id preffer a small thumbtyping machine like this though.
Anybody old enough to remember to Psion Series 3?
This sure brings back memories
But the Psion 3a and subsequent 5mx were longer at 6.9″ which provided a touch type keyboard that was very good to type near desktop speeds. This looks to be too short to be touch type?
Im skipping this one and waiting for the eking i1. Why?
No USB port, no normal 3.5mm headset jack (need some icky lump of a breakout port adapter thing), no future in vista/win7 because of non upgradable 512mb RAM, Screen hinge is obnoxiously clicky and cant go flat, not even the smallest attempt at a mouse pointer, and ive heard some things about button stroke registration and some annoying layout issues (period being in an awkward spot).
The only thing this puppy has going for itself is the rather fantastic shell. I mean I havent seen a UMPC with nice chrome trims before, and this one pulls it off rather elegantly.
Tobad looks dont matter much for me. :P (hence probably my love for the upcoming eking i1. ;)
See my buying experience, first impression and tweaks here:
http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=2415
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=5364&forum=12
Paid $647 total and received it within a week from EMS. Cannot be happier.
Oh that was dead sexy. It also proves any true UMPC must be thumb-typing, since you can’t hold it and normal-type with it at the same time.
1.3 GHz, fricken amazing. I was using a 1.53 GHz desktop up till last christmas
It’s very fine to hold it with left hand and type it with the right. Left hand can press Fn, Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys. I prefer this way to thumb typing. Remember it is only 12 oz and freaking small, no problem at all to hold it with only one hand.
UMID (aka sub-netbook) unboxing video by @chippy: http://is.gd/svl6 via @jmoriarty. Sub-netbooks need an OS designed just for that form.
I guess it is not quite for people outside Korea. The functions like charging the battery using usb power(slow but works) or handphone charger would be difficult to use as the particular port thing next to mini usb is common in Korea only. Basically, Lazion and others suggest on memorising windows short-cuts on keyboard. By the way, in Korea, Portable Media Players (with Windows CE) has a lot of that kind of design so I think you can get replacement ‘adaptors’ better design than those provided by UMID which was ‘founded’ by engeneers from SAMSUNG.
got this mbook in my hands today from steve http://tinyurl.com/cvv2qv
RT @redfactory: got this mbook in my hands today from steve http://tinyurl.com/cvv2qv
Good to know they are from Samsung which owns fantastic engineers but their chief sucks. I’ve banned Samsung for life, I also worried about this umid but it turned out to be truly perfect, unlike Samsung that always looks perfect until you play with one.
This is way better design than the Sony P in ergonomic and utility.
Its a thicker Nokia tablet you can put into all sort of pockets. This thing is amazing. And its only $150 more than what I paid for my MSI Wind. I can’t think of any reason to buy the next Nokia tablet over this little monster.
Except the earplug, I will wait for a revision with a 3.5mm earplug.
Not sure I’m understanding the pricing of all these new MIDs. The Aigo (XP) comes in at 771EUR (£680), I expect the viliv and UMID to come in at a v. similar price. When you consider that the early UMPC’s started life at around the £700-mark. How can I justify paying more, for less? (feature-wise)
Also, I don’t get how getting this would be “cooler” than putting down the £150 extra and getting a Vaio P – which everyone considers a “rip-off”.
Any explanations?
Pocketable vs non-pocketable?
The main one for me is that it can be used when held in two hands which opens up more scenarios.
Steve
The Vaio P is a cool netbook not a UMPC/MID. Not only is it bigger but it also lacks a touch screen.
And I can’t see how these are more for less based on original UMPCs? What features are they lacking. The main keys for me is that they are smaller, quieter and have better battery life.
“UMID Mbook (retail) Unboxing and Overview ” video – Wow this thing is small but full featured! Need to see one to play: http://bit.ly/jvb5
Wow this looks really good
I would dearly like a modern replacment for my Psion 5 which whos screen died many years ago.
This seams to fit well – I am concerned theres no 3.5 headphone socket and 1gb would be good also- would also prefer that they used more of the top area for the screen too – like the Psion 5/5mx
My EEEPC901 seams like a modern Psion7/Netbook so am happy with that
the M1 looks great generally it perked my interest in mids again
you know the best repleacement for a pson 5 is another psion 5. lack of standard headphone jack is ridiculous but iguess screen size is due to cost.
If only this had the build quality of a 5mx – looks to me like it’d fall apart after a little bit of average use… look forward to the full review…
Nice design, screen could be wider because big fonts may be necessary to be able to read something on 4.8″.
Processor is slow and graphics benchmarks are extremely low compared to my everun note.
http://www.umpcportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/everunnote-thumb.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3385064738_8a99e40258.jpg
An everun isnt going to fit in your pocket. ;) If you take one, something else has to give. In this case preformance is given to take some pocketability advantages I think.
Looks very nice and very functional. The bit that seems silly is using a touchscreen for mouse BUT NOT folding into a tablet/ebook/phone mode.
I assume along with customer reluctance the problem is that a well engineered pivot costs more in parts and assembly than half the electronics. As a ridiculous analogy I had to price the seal for a small refrigerator door yesterday. Somewhere between £28 and £48 for a long lump of extruded rubber possibly with bonded corners. Oh and a whole similar fridge is easily under £150. Now compare all that to say an eee700 or Acer One at under £200 – crazy. On devices like the SC3 the swivel may be a large part of the fixed cost.
Thats exactly what has kept me from this device. A screen only mouse input is only viable on pure slate devices, or ones that have a fold/slide away keyboard, like the Viliv S5 or OQO.
Even a rudamentary joystick like the viliv has, or a “reverse” optical mouse like the everun note would have made a world of difference for this device.
Any details on the digital TV tuners built in? Does it already have DVB-T (or just the one which works in Korea?) And if yes would that work out of the box with Freeview in the UK?
One question, if I plugged in a USB mouse, would it work ok?
I had been Jornada since 680 to 728 but I bored with them. I hope that the price of this unit is around $100 – $300. I show the video an I think that it is the best portable solution for my business. I am IT support and CEO of websites building.
I show that it has webcam, can I work with skype?
Thanks
Hiya!. Thanks for the blog. I’ve been digging around for info, but there is so much out there. Google lead me here – good for you i suppose! Keep up the great information. I will be coming back over here in a couple of days to see if there is updated posts.
hi. there. a. smalller. version of. my. hp. netbook. 1.3. ghz. cpu. vs. 1.6. ghz. 512. mb. ram. vs. 1. gb. ram. and. both. systems. have. 16. gb. ssd. when. ssd. netbooks. were. at retaiers. i. had. a. chance. too try. a. hp. 1000. with both. a. 16. gb. ssd. and. 5400. rpm. hdd. i. will. never ever. buy. a. hdd. becuase. slow. crashes. and. hard. drive. faikuers. are. way. higher. then. ssd