Hands-on video overview of the UMID M2 (can you say “optical mouse”?)

Posted on 22 September 2009, Last updated on 22 September 2009 by

umid m2 I know I can. You probably read my recent opinion piece on the UMID M1 that I’ve been testing. Among other things, I found the device to have some serious usability issues due to the lack of mouse and the unsatisfying keyboard. While not everything on the M2 is new (it might better be called the M1.5), it definitely tacks on some much desired improvements.

The M2 that Chippy got his hands on is just a prototype at this point and may change somewhat from when the product launches (targeted for Q4), but here is what we know:

  • optical mouse on the screen bezel as well as left and right mouse buttons, opposite the mouse (!)
  • 1.2GHz and 1.6GHz Atom CPU options
  • 1GB of RAM
  • New casing, opens to a further angle
  • No more proprietary USB adapters, there is 1x real USB plug on the right side of the device
  • Windows 7

Have to say that I think the new hinge looks more attractive than the M1’s style, looking forward to seeing the M2 in matte as well. Here’s to hoping that the keyboard get’s some sort of upgrade before the unit gets finalized.

28 Comments For This Post

  1. Ben Lang says:

    New article: Hands-on video overview of the UMID M2 (can you say “optical mouse”?) http://cli.gs/DANZ5

  2. にわとり says:

    @Chackn http://j.mp/OG4Ts

  3. anon says:

    The new mouse will be perfect, the connector problem is solved, 3G is there and the keyboard will not spoil it – I can see one of these in my pocket in the future!

    Thank you UMID for listening! The M2 will be the best example of a pocketable, full PC so far.

  4. ravellar says:

    Finally the device i have been waiting for at last

  5. sere83 says:

    Looking very tidy indeed. Glad to see they have adressed some of the main concerns regarding the M1, nice result having the 3.5mm jack on there too. Ok it is chunkier but really something had to give and I’d rather a bit more heft than all that dongle business. Definitely an improvement, we will have to see though how well it performs under windows 7 and what kind of configurations it will be avilable in. Also be interested to see how it squares up against the viliv S5.

  6. ArchiMark says:

    Yes, I want one…..Now!

    ;)

  7. pepilo says:

    Me too ;)

  8. yamete888 says:

    The turning point here is the 1gb…! (finally!!!)…and Win7…I was expecting UMIDs to still use WinXP…hopefully the 3G version isn’t too expensive, and you can make phone calls as well (like the original Everun, or Viliv x70), though I kinda doubt it…how would it fare against the XPPHONE? Since those 2 systems seems to be the most feature rich, and *ahem* pocketable in one way or another…!

  9. Cajun_Mike says:

    It looks like we have a winner. This is the device that I’ve been hitting this site daily for almost three years. If it’s qtr 4 this year, I am fired up.. Heck qtr 4 begins in 8 days. LOL

  10. teh.sean says:

    Ben, what kind of ‘upgrade’ to the keyboard would you like to see?
    As far as size goes, the keyboard is not going to get any bigger, and as far as layout goes, I’m not sure what else could be done for this.

  11. teh.sean says:

    @Chippy: Was the M2 thicker than the M1? I know aesthetically it looks chunkier, mainly because the M1’s casing tapers at the ends, but sitting on the table next to each other, which one was ‘taller’? I’m trying to get an idea of how much bigger the M2 is compared to the M1.

  12. sashi says:

    Hands-on video overview of the UMID M2 (can you say “optical mouse”?) – http://shar.es/12VIT

  13. markus says:

    Looks great, I think this is the umpc concept finally realised, I wish it had ION / dual core atom and swivel screen but you can’t have everything

  14. davie says:

    and nothing better than M2 in world at present too :)

  15. John D. says:

    I am going to get one! Yahoo!

  16. Ravellar says:

    The umid m1 That I am typing right now using a MS word 2007, will be expecting twin little brother and sister, meaning I will be purchasing 2 right out of the shoot. Windows 7 is nice but it takes up too much HD space. I will be installing XP on both. Chippy, is the m2 fatter, thicker, if so how much. Doesn’t matter I still want two.
    Can’t wait

  17. ArchiMark says:

    Just out of curiousity, Ravellar, why do you want 2 of them?…….

  18. teh.sean says:

    A backup in the event of hardware failures is usually my reason for buying duplicate hardware.

  19. animatiio says:

    yup, these guys listen to the public and akt quickly. nice .. waiting for christmas

  20. emumillion says:

    http://hotfile.com/dl/13276103/509c702/umid_m2.flv.html
    youtube moive

  21. katsuny says:

    あらら。mbook 2が出るのね。工人舎のPMはまだ発売されてないのに。Win7 かー。1GBのRAMは魅力よね。 http://tinyurl.com/yjd7w8g

  22. 桑原 光昭 says:

    M1がmemory 1GBでだされた日には、やばいな~ http://bit.ly/hdd8e

  23. vikas says:

    Hi All,

    first of all i’ve read the mbook reviews and all are very nice.but im a bit confused reg waiting for m2(8gb 1.2) or buying a m1(16gbssd 1.33).. after all i need is fast msoffice 2007 & firefox, hardware:keyboard(must), wit 3hr full usage.(i dont think anyother fits like mbook)
    plz suggest me as i feel 8gb in m2 would be in sufficient for ms office2007 or go ahead wit 1.33 16gb ver m1?
    Also is there a way to use right click in m1 on the touch screen(or any device button) i often use it and that is creating a question for m2(wit mouse buttons and touch pad)

    thank you and have a nice day

    vikas

  24. Fred says:

    So is there a release date for the m2 yet?

  25. ArchiMark says:

    Yes, would be very helpful to know if there’s any info on release date yet????

  26. Thomas says:

    Wow… I thought about buying the m1, but now! I’m convinced. I’ll be buying the m2 unless something drastic happens,(someone sells the m1 under 300) I can’t wait, finally a upgrade I want for my outdated nokia n810!!!

  27. Luke says:

    Really great post to hang on.. I am really amazed with this post. Looking forward for future posts.

  28. karmic koala says:

    I still haven’t bought a pocketable, looking at options. My biggest concern with the M1 is actually architectural: The ssd is soldered to the board, as is the ram. It’s hard to fork out $700 for something that might randomly brick on you. I’m looking at this thicker main body and hoping it represents some internal architecture change. Ram and ssd on some sort of standard interface (sata2? & sodimm?) would be real nice. I’ve heard that ssds sometimes die on windows due to swap file excessive read-writes in the same location. Would be a shame to junk the entire machine over something like this.

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