One of the more attractive UMPCs we’ve seen in the last few days has been the ASUS R50A. Its bigger than we expected, with a 5.6″ screen and it’s a fairly high-spec device. GottaBeMobile’s Rob Bushway and Kathy Sierra got some hands-on time with it and shot a video which i’ve just made some notes on. Read on…
I posted yesterday about the size of the R50A. Its not a pockatable device at all although for a handheld, the 5.6″ screen and 1024×600 resolution combination should result in a much more comfortable viewing experience than with the 4.8″ devices at the same resolution, something I personally gave up the battle with on the WiBrain B1. I’m using it in 800×480 permanently now.
The facia looks tidy and it’s nice so see what looks like a real mouse pointer. At these high PPI values its critical to have good mouse control because standard Windows text, links and menu items are just too small to use with the finger. Its possible to move windows around and use scrollbars and of course, dedicated software such as navigation programs and media software skins will be comfortable to control with a finger but the mouse control comes into its own with a default desktop setup, especially when you’re holding the device in two hands.
Three USB ports, a microSD slot (nice to see), array mic and two cams complete the features from the outside. On the inside there’s a 1.33Ghz Silverthorne which means absolutely nothing to anyone at the moment until someone has enough time with the device to be able to run Vista perfromance or some other tests.
A 32GB SSD, built-in HSDPA build with Windows Vista Business gives that game away somewhat on the pricing front. Those three elements (however cheap the parts costs might be) combine to produce a device that’s aimed at the Pro user. Add the size (its not pocketable) and I think we’re talking well over $1000 here with $1200 or even $1300 being a possibility. No other ultra mobile PC with those specs is anywhere near as cheap as that (I’m thinking Q1 Ultra HSDPA, OQO HSDPA here.) so it would be a mistake to launch it below $1000.
The R50a is the first tablet device at 5.6″ and therefore occupies a unique space in the market. If it has a soft-touch screen I can’t see it being on the top of many peoples buy-list but there might be enough people out there that want the ultimate mini tablet. If the accessory range is good (case with keyboard, car mount etc) then it would make a nice alternative to the Q1 Ultra HSDPA. It certainly looks the part! If it does have a hard touch screen though (it didn’t look like it in the video) then this could be the ultimate mini tablet PC for mobile inkers and electronic artists.
Check out the video over at GBM and let me know what you think.
Stop-Press! A few images have just come in from Sascha at eeepcuser.de. Thanks Sascha. Interesting that the images show a device marked up as the R3 and running windows XP. Is this the same size as the R50? Its hard to tell. I’m guessing that it is the same 5.6″ device. This is probably just an older prototype.
