Expansys (one of our affiliate partners) have contacted us to let us know that they have a set of reconditioned ‘as new’ Sony UX 380N UMPCs on offer for a bargain price. The 1.3Ghz Core Solo device with 1GB RAM, 40GB drive and Windows Vista Business (which also gives you a free XP licence) is available for £749.95 in the UK, €985,91 in Germany and for a similar price in many other EU countries. At today’s prices in Germany, its about 50% of the cost of the local Sony UX1.

Note that these are import devices with a locked 3G 2.5G card. You won’t might (see below) be able to use the module in Europe but still, for one of the most powerful UMPCs on the market, it’s a very good deal indeed. Grab-n-go desktop anyone?

Specs and links to reviews on our product page.

Expansys DE Expansys UK Expansys FR (Aff.)

It had to happen sooner or later. According to CNN Money and from the Dow Jones newswires no less, is the story that Compal will produce a low cost netbook for Dell. Engadget are adding that its an 8.9"er for under $499 but I don’t see the source of that story. This one is for the UMPCPortal watchlist at the moment but I have no reason to believe that it will stay there.

Thanks Voicoder

You will have seen the pictures of the Lenovo MID recently and wondered why it has the numeric keypad instead of a ‘real’ keyboard. The reason is that numeric keyboard input is popular in Asia and they prefer it to the two-thumbing method that would be required on something like a Gigabyte MID or even a Blackberry. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. One hand, easier to learn, smaller keyboard, more mobile. I use T9 a lot on my mobile (my old 6280 is far faster than my N82 for this) and although I can’t type blind, I’m not far off.

Dotsix, over at Symbian-Guru, has written a great article about why T9 is better than a QWERTY keyboard. The article is phone-focused of course but it’s worth thinking about.

Unfortunately, MIDs are generally too heavy and simply the wrong shape for one-handed use and I’m wondering how well it will work on the Lenovo. It appears that you’ll still need two hands. The right hand to type and the left to steady the device. Also note that blind typing only works on physical buttons as you continually feel and adjust your position on the keypad according to physical feel.

Many of us have been reading the news about the HP 2133 and wondering how it might perform with the VIA Isaiah processor instead of the C7. VIA have been talking about 2-4 times performance which, if applied to the 2133, could yield a device that could span low-cost netbook to mobile powerbook. I have been sent an Isaiah test result that indicates a significant processing power boost. Obviously this isn’t the full story, but it’s one of the first test results I’ve seen for Isaiah and gives a good indicator. [more after the break]

Taking the technical specs to another level in order to gain an edge on the Eee PC is the Jisus from Van Der Led (VDL) Designs in Holland. While the 1Ghz Loongson 2F MIPS CPU might sound strange and will probably prevent you from installing Windows XP over the stock Ubuntu build, it does have a nice advantage. 4.5hrs wireless operation on what appears to be a standard 3-cell battery. The 8.9″ screen is only 800×480 though and it comes with a big dose of ‘WTF.’

Unfortunately, the specs and details are rather thin on the ground with this device but I’ll be honest, I’m interested. If I really can run Firefox for 4.5 hours at a good speed and have a good keyboard and good build quality for 299 Euros, it might keep me, or at least my daughter, happy for a while. However, like you, reader, I’m suspicious! Should I contact VDL and get hold of one for testing? Vote in the comments below!

Source: Linuxdevices. VDL website.

Reproduced in full (with permission) here’s a very useful rundown of the keywords coming out of the Intel Atom ‘ecosystem’ and what they mean. I recently made a mistake in calling Diamondville a ‘platform’ so thanks to DavidC1 for calling me out on that one and redirecting me to this information. I know we should really be creating a Wiki on all this. I have a Wiki plugin for the portal which I’ll test out. Maybe between us all, we can get some nice info together. [more after the break…]

I’ve just heard about UK and Ireland availability of the HP 2133 miniNote. There are two versions. The high-end FF009AA and low-end KX872AA

The high-end 1.2Ghz, 2GB, 6-cell version running XP and including a 120GB (5400) drive, Bluetooth and the standard, Wifi, Gig-E and 8.9″ 1280×768 screen is available for pre-order at RM for 457 pounds (inclusive UK VAT) and should be available from the 27th May. The lower spec version, which appears to be available for special order only, is the 1GB, 3-cell version running Linux. This will set you back something in the region of 350 pounds, again including the local taxes.

Local price of the Eee PC 900 is also expected to be about 350 pounds when it launches in a similar April/May timeframe.

HP have a UK product page available.

1300 Euro now buys you one of the smallest UMPCs on the planet with a specification to match the netbooks that are out there. It’s still a far cry from the bargain prices that the ‘Amis’ are paying but unless you’re off to the U.S. for a trip in the next few months, this is about the best you can hope for.

1GB RAM, 60GB drive, Windows XP Pro, 5″ screen and slide-out keyboard.

2 months ago this was costing at least 1550 Euro here in Germany so it’s good to see the prices falling. I’ll alert you all again when it hits 999 but wouldn’t it be nice to see this baby going for 599!!!

Link to Specs, reviews, gallery etc etc. UMPCPortal full review.

Source (Geizhals, German price comparison site)