Over the CeBIT period I had a number of chances to play with the Arima/Medion/Gigabyte ultra mobile PC and also had a meeting with the Medion ultra mobile PC product managers.
From the Medion side it looks like they are getting close to being able to ship the first units. This is expected at the beginning of April although there are still a few software issues to be sorted out. What I’m pleased to hear from Medion and other suppliers (Asus, TabletKiosk) is that it looks like VIA are working on Vista drivers for the C7 and VX700. Remember that so far, no one has seen video working very well under VIsta on this platform. I had some time with the Medion ultra mobile PC during my meeting and can at least say that Vista is running.
My feelings about the device have changed slightly since I saw the first specifications and its mainly down to the keyboard and the thumbpad. The keyboard layout and size is good but the physics of the keys is bad. The pressure required to ‘click’ is about the same as on the Pepper Pad but because the keys on the Pepper Pad are separated by 1mm or so, there is no risk of hitting another key. On the Medion, all the keys are together so this heavy click approach doesn’t work. It should have been softer. I estimate the typing ratio to be around 30%. The second disappointment was the mousepad. I’ve used many mousepads and mouse sticks and I always choose a synaptics pointer. Take the Kohjinsha as an example. It has a synaptics pad and mouse button. The pad is just a fingers-width away from the keyboard but I still use the mouse button.
On the positive side, the RIM 1000 feels really good in your hand. Its light and the 6.5″ screen works well at 800×480. The processor feels strong enough with Vista and if VIA sort out drivers that (finally) exploit the video hardware then video is going to work well. On the back of the device there’s a unique feature that sets the Medion apart from all other UMPCs – a mini-USB port underneath the stand. You can unclip the stand and fit modules directly on to the back of the device. This is how the DVB and GPS solutions work. They are not options that can be built into the device, they come as snap-on modules that replace (and also function as) the stand. The DVB-T module will be available in the 2nd quarter and the GPS module later in the year along with GPS software developed by their existing navigation software partner. I like this modular approach.
Medion showed me the docking station (a real docking station with VGA-out as opposed to the USB port solution that is provided with the Q1 Ultra) that will be offered as an accessory and they are working on a really nice leather portfolio case. The prototype looked good.
All in all I’m a little bit disappointed. The keyboard is SO important that when its sub-standard, you have to consider it a big issue. Design-wise its nice if not the highest quality build. If I would be responsible for giving it a price, it would be $1000 WITH the docking station and $900 without. At its current $1000 asking price, the Q1 bundle with the organiser and the keyboard is too appealing an alternative.
More information on the Medion ultra mobile PC is available on the product datasheet.
