I just want to air a few observations on ultra mobile PC products in the Euro market.
It looks like Samsung have repositioned the Q1. The original Samsung Q1-900 Ceegoo (NP-Q1-V000)with 512MB and 30GB drive is only available from a few retailers now and instead, the Cassomi (1024MB / 60GB – part number NP-Q1-M000) version is being offered by most online retailers. The most probable explanation is that they need to reposition the Q1 to make way for the Q1b. Remember that Samsung said the Q1b would come in at the same price as the Q1 (Euro 1099) meaning that in order to compete with the Asus R2H they would have had to drop the price of the basic Q1. By moving it up the chain slightly they’ve avoided that. It will probably sit above the Q1b. There’s a navigation bundle available too. NP-Q1-M000/SEG_Navigationsbundle is the part number and you get the organiser pack, car mount, GPS unit, and Map & Guide navi software. Its not clear weather the TMC receiver is included. (TMC allows you to receive live traffic info over an FM receiver.)
I’ve spotted that the Sony UX280 is available in Germany. One enterprising online retailer now has it for the scary price of Euro 2000. This is obviously an import from somewhere. Who on earth is buying them?
Q1 car mount is available now. I’ve seen it on a number of Euro websites.
ASUS R2H port bar NGVPB1000P is starting to appear on distributor and reseller books. For about $120 or 120 Euros you can order it now. There are no images available anywhere though so I guess no-one has one in their hands.
The Fujitsu P1610 appears on a number of online retailers websites now. The 512 MB RAM 60 GB HDD version (that’s the only version available at the moment, note that it’s without the cellular data modem.) costs around 2100 Euro minimum.
That’s it for now. I hope that I can report news on the Q1B soon. Its well overdue.
Steve.
