I’ve been trying to work out what the most popular device would be to serve all the CCC requests I’ve had but it’s really hard. If I was an OEM designing a UMPC, MID or Notebook I’d be pushed to come up with a design that would suit even 30% of the people wanting a solution. Take these two for example…
CCC 16. Fredrik
Fredrik has a request for a campus solution. Price range: up to $1000. Form factor: Mini notebook Usage: Haul around campus. Top three apps: just basic: Browsing, Office, E-mail. Requirements: Fulls size (or near full size) keyboard is extremely important, good battery life at least 4 hours with basic use according to the above and weight – as low as possible, maximum 1,5kg.
Sounds like a job for a netbook to me! For devices with good keyboards, look at the MSI Wind, the Samsung NC10, the HP 2133 and the ASUS Eee PC 1000. Any of those will serve your needs as long as you make sure you get it with the extended battery. The Eee PC 1000 comes with the 6-cell battery and people are really loving it but there’s still something special about the high quality build of the HP2133. It was built with ruggedness in mind so although it might not be built around the latest and greatest CPU, it could still be worth looking at, especially as it appears to be discounted a lot these days. The NC10 is a bit of an unknown at the moment but could be worth waiting for. Recent news suggests they might put a high quality 6-cell battery in it which would return over 5 hours of real-world usage. The MSI Wind is almost a guaranteed good purchase. With the 6-cell battery you just can’t go wrong. If you need to make a purchase this week, keep a look out for MSI Wind and Eee PC 1000H offers and you’ll be very happy. Especially with $500 change in your pocket!
CCC 17. Jay
Jay comes up with the ultimate quandary. Portability Vs Productivity?
I’ve been using an IBM ThinkPad X31 (which I like), but i’m looking for something more portable for use around town. That said, I’ll also use the machine for
overnight or two night stay for business travel, so I don’t want to stare
at a 4-inch screen. The SC3 size seemed ideal; something larger like the Wind makes me think I should just carry my ThinkPad instead. I need XP for a few XP-specific apps.
It truly is a tough decision. You want to work comfortably but want to travel comfortably too. Trying to balance those requirements while having to keep productivity levels high is difficult. Here’s a few general comfort and productivity notes based on screen size (which largely determines weight and overall volume.) and my experience.
- 4.8" Smallest for comfortable 800×480 hand-held work. Poor typing speed on most keyboards at this size but comfortable thumbing experience on sliders.
- 5.6" Good handheld size for 1024×600 screen. Also works as an emergency table-top device. Thumbing still comfortable in most cases.
- 7" Still small enough for handheld use but also useable for up to an hour on a tabletop. A tablet device allows you to go handheld when needed and then add a BT or USB keyboard for more comfort on the table. Probably the size limit for extended one-handed use with a touch-screen until components shrink to allow bigger screens for the same, circa 700gm, weight.
- 8.9" Starting to get comfortable on a table for extended periods. 1hr + is easy. At this size, weights are usually about 1KG which makes single handed use or even two-handed use difficult over longer periods.
- 10" Very comfortable tabletop experience. Arguably the best size for travel and productivity work on a tabletop. 1.3-1.5KG is common though so its not a device you’ll be using in one or two hands.
The 7" Kohjinsha SC3 has a wonderful form factor. At 800gms it can be used in one hand but its quite difficult to ‘thumb’ on it and the keyboard is really cramped. It’s also a Vista-only device and has poor battery life. Raon Digital have done an excellent job of enlarging the important alpha keys on the Note which makes it more comfortable for table-top use. You’ll also get the advantage of the extra CPU power when using it in the hotel but again, its not fantastic on battery life due to the tiny standard battery. I was going to mention the Eee PC 901 XP but it’s got a small split-partition SSD which I feel is too restrictive for XP users. I’d rather see a 901 with a 60GB HDD which would be a closer fit for the average user. The Eee PC 900HA is probably the answer for a basic but highly portable netbook though (if you’re in the U.S.) It only has a 4-cell battery but returns a reasonable 4-hours battery life. Its under 1KG too! Apart from the 900HA and the Everun note I really should mention the Q1 Ultra with XP. Its more expensive than most at around $1000 but if you get the Q1 Keyboard thrown in its a great 700gm device for everything but laps and with the extended battery you’ll have 6hrs of battery life. If you’re adventurous and find a good deal, go for the Q1 Ultra but if you prefer a regular laptop style device and want to save quite a few hundred dollars, look for the 900HA. If you don’t need much storage, look for the Eee PC 901 12G with XP. Good luck Jay!
To view all the customer challenges, see this page.
About challenge 17:
– would an Asus 901 Linux with a fresh winXP install do the job?
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Your challages are a good thing for the community. I just hope that there are manufacturers looking at your challenges and taking notes on what consumers really want.
Keep the excellent job.
Keep up the excellent job!!!
Chippy, thanks for helping me and everyone else at the site. I’ll consider your recommendations. Interesting that you think a 7″ screen is only usable for about an hour or so. Maybe the SC3 wouldn’t have been good for me, as I can be in front of the machine for a few hours in a hotel. That might disqualify the Q1 Ultra.
Cervelli, this will sound lame, but I don’t think I want to get into a fresh install. I’m too computer-phobic!
I’m treating each product on the basis that it wont need to be modded.
Steve,
Hey Chippy,
I´ve been watching some of your live events and i want to congratulate you to your enormously great work with umpc´s
I had a grat attention watching your Gigabyte M912 Live-Event because it was my favorite netbook so far. Now i saw that your doing this challenge and i´ll try to do another profile, maybe you could help me decide which new netbook i should buy. I´m using the 701 4G right now and to be honest, the screen ain´t enough for me. Also the batterylife is very poor even though i have one of the early models having the slightly bigger 5200mah battery.
I live in Germany and i really decided to go for the M912 but then i started thinking. I don´t really need the tablet mode, it would be nice, but the gigabyte is right now so expensive that i´m beginning to wonder, if there ain´t something else.
I really like the size of the Asus 701, i got used to the small keyboard and it´s okay.
So what i really want is a 8.9″ netbook with a big hard-disk and a decent batterylife. Right now the only one available here really is the gigabyte, since the aspire one is glossy and has no possibility to put in my 2 gb of Ram which are now in my EEE. Also it only comes with the 3-cell and the 6-cell battery would pump the price up to gigabyte level.
Then i saw the Asus 900 HA with hard disk and 4 cell battery. This one seems to be nice, but then i´m not the biggest fan of the keyboard because it just feels kinda cheap.
Maybe i´m just in the search of a “EierlegendeWollmilchSau” which means “the perfect thing” and there might never be such thing. Last but not least there is the fact that i really want to buy something at the beginning of november :)
Hope you can help me at some point
Best regards
Bandito
Bandito:
I have the 701 and find it fine for blogging, etc. I just posted elsewhere on this site something I read on Wikipedia about how Celeron batteries drain power even while off – and the 900HA has a Celeron. Bummer.
MyEierlegendeWollmilchSau runs XP, has a real SDHD, good screen resolution, decent battery life, weighs no more than 35 ounces, and has the right shift key where it belongs! Being able to connect to WPA, which the 701 can’t do, would be the icing on the cake!
I, too, want to upgrade soon so will SOMEONE come out with my dream machine???
Sorry to correct you but the 900HA has the Atom CPU :)
My 701 connects to WPA, it´s just not connecting to WPA2.
I´m dreaming of a 2GB Ram capable, 6 cell, 8,9″ non glare netbook with decent harddrive(80gb+) and a nice feeling keyboard with the same layout as the samsung nc10.
Hopefully the guys at samsung will read this and build a NC9, or Asus finally decides to make some space inside the 901 to fit a 1,8″ or 2,5″ Hard Drive
After reading those two comments, it seems to ring a very familiar need I have seen for many years yet there is nothing on the market that really provides that. What most business users want is a full desktop OS with a touch type keyboard yet small enough to stow in a large jacket pocket. Remember the great Psion 5mx or HP Jornada 720’s? What OEM’s need to do is stuff full windows in a true handheld jacket pocket laptop.