Images, hands-on thoughts, short video.
I have a confession to make. I’ve been sitting on information about the U560. Sorry everyone. Its nothing to do with an embargo or non-disclosure agreement, its to do with my bad, er, memory which only got jogged when I saw this U560 news filter through from Engadget today. There’s no real news in the Engadget article, just a few more images. Its been known for along time that the Amtek U560 would wear the Aigo badge and dare I say that our U560 images are better than Engadget’s anyway?
Here’s the new information though. [image right] Its the full production specification for the OEM model from Amtek. Click for the full-size version. All the data has been transferred into the product database.
About the device – I think it highlights quite effectively what happens when you add a sliding keyboard to a UMPC. It gets thick. A keyboard needs a frame, a layer of switches and the buttons themselves. This all takes space and I doubt anyone can do it successfully in less than 5mm. If you look at the Everun (full review to be published later today BTW) you’ll see a depth of about 25mm. The Amtek is 36mm deep making it almost impossible to get into a pocket. Battery capacity looks to be big though at 25W/hr. This should last longer than the Fujitsu U1010 which only has a 19W/hr battery. Maximum memory is 1GB. Drive is a 1.8″ 30, 40 or 60GB option. Camera is 1.3MP.
We previously heard that target pricing is around $1200 and release is planned for Dec 2007. Considering that the top-end Everun S66HS is $1100 and the Fujitsu U1010 is around the same price, it looks like there’s three ultra compact models to choose from at that level now. Check out the comparison table here. Which one would you go for? A screen PPI of nearly 250 could be much too tight for most people although it is slightly better than the Sony UX.
Images, hands-on thoughts, short video.
Longer video showing keyboard.
Amtek U560 specs and news links in the product database.
