Let’s say you need a UMPC. It’s not as uncommon as some people think. It might not be the consumers cup of tea but in industry, mobility counts for a lot. Logistics, amateur pilots, health industry, blue-light industry, traveling geeks and other situations where full capability, compatibility and flexibility in the smallest package is key. The problem is, if you need a ultra mobile PC today, what the hell are you going to buy?
Lets put down a little wish-list for the sake of the argument.
Sub-1KG, Windows 7 support, 5hrs battery life 5-8.9 inch screen, easy conversion to keyboard/screen device. Price under $1000.
The shortlist I would recommend right now would be the following but they are all ‘last-gen’ UMPCs, at least a year old and going out of stock, and probably entering the end-of-life phase.
- Fujitsu UH900
- Sony Vaio P
- Viliv N5
- Viliv S7
- Viliv X70
- Archos 9 (with SSD, 1.2Ghz)
- UMID Mbook SE Thx to Gearsguy for the information on the availability and videos. I’ve included one of the videos below.
If you need a keyboard, the Mbook SE, UH900 and N5 are worth a look. The Archos 9 is good value at under 450 Euro right now and the X70 is a great performer. Isn’t it underwhelming that these devices are all over a year old though.
One device I took a second look at was the Toshiba Libretto W100. Originally this device was available for 1100 Euro. Today, it’s under 600 Euro in Europe making it an interesting option because of its CPU – Pentium Dual-Core U5400 with 2x 1.20GHz that comes in at about 130% the processing power of a high-end dual-core Atom part. It also includes 2048MB Ram and a 62GB SSD. This is certainly an ultra mobile workhorse but the design and battery life are going to be issues for some. 3hrs isn’t that exciting. Interestingly this could make a super ultra-mobile video editing platform.
This dearth of options in this space is because of two things. Firstly, Menlow is out and Oaktrail isn’t yet in. There isn’t really another platform to think about right now although I’ve got my eye on AMDs Z-01 We’re going to have to wait for a set devices on Oaktrail for another few months. The other issues is the 10 inch tablet craze. It puts designs at around the 1KG mark and limits usability. The Viliv X70 is one to keep an eye out for but based on the silence from Viliv, I’m guessing it’s not close to being available yet.
Widening your choices
Netbooks, starting at about 1.2KG (2.6lb) and large-format Windows tablets (again 1.2KG when a keyboard is added) along with 5~ and 7~ Android tablets and the iPad2 all need consideration. Even the >4 inch Android phones with the latest CPUs. As Meego filters in, keep an eye on that too as it spans mobile and desktop environments. Finally, Honeycomb and WebOS are operating systems to watch. Personally I have high hopes for Honeycomb as one of the more flexible operating systems to cross-over into a productive and flexible environment and that could happen on either ARM or Intel.
Choosing a platform for 2012
Oaktrail Intel’s Z6xx series. We’ve seen it running Windows, Android and Meego already, it will run Chrome OS and there should be forward compatibility with Windows 8 making it, in my opinion, one of the most interesting ultra-mobile platforms out there right now. Intel builds of Honeycomb and Meego should be able to squeeze more battery life out of it too. There’s a 2X graphics improvement over Menlow (GMA600 vs. GMA500) and even hardware 720p video encoding which could speed up video rendering. At 1.5Ghz, it’s not the most CPU-powerful platform but Intel have already talked about 1.8Ghz versions and I’m sure, if the platform becomes popular, we could see dual-core versions too. Why Oaktrail and not Cedar Trail? Because it’s got power management capabilities that Cedar Trail hasn’t got.
Waiting for Sandy Bridge.
Sandy Bridge in ultra-low-voltage guise is very interesting. I recently tested an AMD-E350 based Lenovo S205. It was good. It’s TDP (CPU+GPU) is 18W and the CPU performance is high-end Atom level. Sandy bridge, on the other had also comes in 17W TDP variants but the CPU performance on these simply blows Atom, E-Series Fusion and even first-gen Core parts out of the water. with around 5x the CPU performance of an Atom CPU along with some good GPU performance. Price is high as we’ve seen with the Samsung Series 9 but that devices comes in at 1.3KG with 6hrs of battery life and serious compute power. It’s a sign that Ultrabooks could push down in to even smaller and lighter designs.
My plan. What’s yours?
Today I sold my last netbook / laptop. Over the last few months I’ve been having a clear-out and now I’m left completely without any sort of mobile productivity device. It’s a nice position to be in but it’s going to be a tough decision. Right now I’m favouring the Samsung TX100 / Gloria / PC7 Slider on Oaktrail because I’m interested in Oaktrail performance and multi-OS scenarios. I’m worried about the CPU performance though. I’m also looking carefully at that Toshiba W100/W105 show above. I think I can run PowerDirector video editing suite on that and get some usable 720p rendering speeds that should be 2x what the Oaktrail platform can produce. Finally, Samsung have another very interesting product in the Series 9 laptop on Core i5 Sandy Bridge. It’s an expensive item but a real mobile workhorse. And why am I looking at all these laptop-style devices? Because after spending 7 months with the Galaxy Tab I’ve found that there are fewer things I need to do on a laptop now and those things generally involve high-productivity working with Video, Images and multiple windows. The 7 inch tablet has filled a great position but along with my new requirement to product 720p videos, has pushed up my requirements for a laptop.
What about the 11” version of Samsungs Series 9? I guess it didn’t make it here to europe, but what about the US?
I wasn’t even aware that there was one.
Do you know anything new about Samsung series 4 12″ subnotebook?
http://samsung-blog.com/samsung-series-4-robuste-12-zoll-und-thinkpad-design/2011/05/06
I’m surprised you didn’t include the HP Slate 500. It certainly meets the sub-1KG, Windows 7 support, 5-8.9†(8.9″) screen, easy conversion to keyboard/screen device (with the properly angled dock), and price under $1000 ($799). The only requirement that it might miss, depending on your usage, is the 5 hour battery life. I get that, but I don’t do video.
As a bonus, it’s built on a current generation chip, the Atom Z540 which, at 1.86ghz, is faster than the others on your list. Plus (and this is a big plus) it has a dual mode digitizer which (n-Trig), for all it’s faults (and it’s not in Wacoms’s class yet) allows the full Windows UMPC experience.
I agree with the HP Slate suggestion. I had one for a few weeks. All in all it is a great machine. I just hope HP put some additional attention on the quality issues they have been experiencing. Mine had at least two spots on the glass that would (likely) become an issue. Another suggestion would be the new Fujitsu Q550. While does not fit on the 5-8.9″ slot, all the other features are there – and it was just launched. I think it is expected that Viliv refreshes its product line with the new Intel processors, any time soon…
Remember he did mention that the 400MHz GMA 600 gives around a 2x improvement over the 200MHz GMA 500 used by the Z5xx series, and he also pointed out that Intel is considering a future version of Oak Trail at 1.8GHz. He also suggested that if the platform became popular that dual core version may be seen as well.
Though the later part of that may not come about until Clover View replaces Oak Trail and brings the manufacture size down to 32nm, but all that is for at least no sooner than next year.
I bought mine few days ago for 289 Euros. Wifi version, in Spain.
Toshiba Libretto W100.
oooh! W100 for that price. Good.
got one for 466.- swiss franks. nice device. has some very interesting features considering the different modes of usage of the dual screen design. what i like most is the 3 keyboard feature with an additional virtual touchpad with haptic touchresponse wich is very convenient for win 7 applications. to add vga video out support you can usa a usb dongle from hp (about 80 swiss franks).
I returned my W100 because of the annoyingly loud fan. It was a demo unit. My guess is there was something really wrong with it. I am now back to my trusty Fujitsu U2010.
Did anyone experience the same problem?
Probably one of the upcoming MacBook Air models in 11.6′ and with Sandy Bridge could be interesting for you. If Quick Sync could help your video encoding, it pretty much blows away any fast cpu based video encoding although the quality of the results might be a problem.
I encode for YouTube – I think i’ll be OK ;-)
Eh, I just dont see anymore UMPCS coming :\. Kind of sad really. I wish I hadn’t gotten into the game so late. Anyways, I’m hoping for the fall of tablets and maybe something more innovative :P
I don’t know about industry but I use my N5 purely from a consumer point of view. A mouse and keyboard is a requirement for internet browsing. I chose the N5 mainly because it was easier to buy in US than the UMID.
Not only do I mostly use the N5 for internet content consumption, it is my pocketable media player that can play all the videos I come across. Both local files and streaming. That’s something pretty much all the non-Windows devices can’t claim.
If only the N5 had longer battery life. A slider design would be nice but that might make the battery life worse. A pure thumb keyboard would better too. Maybe that would make the device less long assuming the motherboard could be shrinked (ARM and Windows 8 might help here).
I, too, am waiting/hoping for the demise of the tablet. A full computer experience requires buttons and a touchscreen can supplement it. Here’s hoping to the resurgence of 5 inch UMPC!
Well, if Sascha Pallenberg from netbooknews is right then we’ll be seeing a generation of 4″ to 5″ Super Smartphones soon that may replace the UMPC and even eat away at the tablet market share.
He has pointed out things like how Smartphones 4″ and larger are already taking up to 24% of all units sold, and sliders are nothing new to Smartphone design.
Though Windows 8 won’t be out till Autumn 2012, there are a growing number of OS choices for ARM devices that’ll make them increasingly more useful.
While docks like that utilized for the Atrix 4G and Asus Padfone means there can be accessories to use them outside of their normal usage scenarios.
Intel also can’t be entirely counted out as they plan significant changes once they reach 22nm and then will push to 14nm, which should let them offer solutions that are better suited to compete in the mobile market than anything they have now.
Too bad all the mobile OS’s can’t provide what tnk wants: full internet and media playback experience. Good luck playing a lot of videos available out there. I know my dual core phone can’t without wasting time transcoding, settling for choppy Flash video. Netflix is still very beta and Hulu is not available at all.
Also, because of the annoying tablet craze (thanks Apple), We’re seeing less and less physical UI controls. As mentioned before, a mouse and keyboard are required for a full internet experience (mouse hover, controlling Flash, interacting with embedded pop-up windows, etc.). There are many other drawbacks to mobile OS’s and probably should be kept in a separate group: smartphones. Making a smartphone into 5 or more inches doesn’t make it a UMPC unless your requirements really don’t go beyond what smartphones offer.
I for one also hope to see the demise of tablets. At least ones that don’t run a desktop class OS.
Ya, smartphones are far from providing the same content consumption ability as Windows UMPCs (5 inches please). I’ve even tried prettied up smartphone OSs (Honeycomb and iPad’s iOS) and they suffer from the same browser and media playback problems. In terms of media problems, it’s annoying having to wait for an app for every single media site you visit which may or may not come out either. That whole touch only interface idea is very annoying too.
These smartphones and tablets can have quad core or high speed CPUs but if their software platform is severely lacking than those specs mean nothing.
I use my N5 as a consumer too. If I had to guess, I bet most of the UMPC purchases are by individual consumers and not industry employees as dedicated work devices.
With the current hardware spec war in the smartphone arena, there hasn’t been much improvement in actual usability. I still can’t play most Flash content. Forget about navigating through a Flash based site with your fingers (I happen to encounter a lot of these sites especially ones for companies). All those DVD/Blu-ray backups (and other “acquired” videos) I have won’t play at all even though the hardware specs per the chipset manufacturer says it could play at least some of them. Ya, we could have the more cores and faster speeds which might be able to let you software decode some videos but battery life is probably going to be worse than a Windows UMPC making full use of hardware acceleration with efficient and mature players.
I guess something I use my UMPC for that could be considered for “professionals” would be word processing and working with spread sheets. Those tasks are a chore to do on a smartphone with a 4.3″ screen and is much much easier on my N5 due to a desktop class office suite, keyboard and a mouse.
I also am very disappointed with the current state of tablets which are essentially larger smartphones with modified but still gimped OSes from a consumer usage scenario. I sure hope more up to date 5 inch UMPCs come out. I sure won’t be buying a tablet.
I use my N5 as a pocketable entertainment device too. Well there’s the occasional work email checking/replying and VPNing/remote desktopping to work but that’s just a bonus. That’s something only a desktop OS is capable of doing well.
When it comes to pocket computing, Windows is the best choice. Even the popular Ubuntu Linux distro can’t compete. Windows just gets more support: drivers (big problem for Linux), Flash, Silverlight, codecs, video players, etc. I don’t have to hunt down and sometimes pay for an app for every single thing I want to do that usually ends up having very limited features.
For all those people with simple needs, smartphones (and their tablet derivatives) are good enough but since the price of a limited feature Android, iOS and QNX device is sometimes similar to a Windows UMPC’s price anyway, I would rather go with the more feature rich Windows UMPC.
Q1 UP — The grandfather of all umpcs
Superfast (W7 installed 2gb RAM)
7″ Screen (portable)
Great Battery life (4.5-5 hrs high performance )
Dual cameras
3G high speed internet(huawei modem with voice capability)
I mean i know its a 3 year old umpc but believe me nothing comes even close as far as productivity is concerned, absolute sole pc for a professional(Doctor)
I have had
Sony UX ( battery does not ast long enough…less portability)
Toshiba W100 (joke as far taking notes is concerned….less productivity ..Regretted buying it! COOL Concept but believe me an absolute pain to use,pathetic battery life…just too many flaws as an umpc)
Fujitsu U820 (Slow & kind of irritating to switch typing & writing)
My other umpc is VILIS S5
No camera , mic (need to use headset with mic for calls)
Nice little device that can be carried around
If you ever have a chance to buy the Q1UP – BUY IT!
I was very close to buying the Q1UP after this experience. Seriously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOpZ3vwO1NU
I still love the form factor (have a broken one here that I can’t bear to throw out)
“have a broken one here that I can’t bear to throw out”
Is it for sale?
i think I want to keep it. the charging circuit is blown but maybe one day ill get it repaired.
I am still using the Q1u, but I dislike Galaxy Tab. Q1u/Q1up were apparently gotten many of technical support from Intel.
However, in the Q1u/Q1up, you must consume some time to install and configure Windows OS, driver files and software, and you ought to reject Samsung shell at the driver files, brush off some of the Samsung software. Those Samsung shell and Samsung software drag down the UMPC performance.
Secondly, a bad third-party driver is also to drag down UMPC performance. In startup time, the sound card control panel is with default run, but the startup time slowed 10-sec thus! The Realtek driver file is too bad. In the REGEDIT can disable the default startup with the sound card control panel, and then create a shortcut icon for manual control of the sound card control panel.
You’re right, q1up is the best mobile computing device ever! It’s fast, and faster with ssd, got a good screen (5 inch screen like sony ux is to small, 7″ is the minimal confort),and it’s got multiple ways to enter data, not only touchscreen (i hate full touchscreen device, mouse is necessary for me). 5 hours of battery, with a second battery, you can be mobile a whole day unplugged. I am totally mobile with 3g added.
In fact, this device is so easy to use and so fast that it had become my main computer, even at home!
If umpc are dead because of those annoying tablets, q1up was the climax of umpc era. I have bought three of them just because i think such a good produce won’t be produced anymore.
“If umpc are dead because of those annoying tablets, q1up was the climax of umpc era. I have bought three of them just because i think such a good produce won’t be produced anymore.”
ditto :)
everytime i use the Q1UP , actually admire the umpc concept!
as much as I love the mobile community, when I read the comments here I cant help but think you guys are just stuck in the past. it’s like that old friend from highschool reliving his glory days but it’s not 2006 for “UMPC’s” anymore. if you think the “Windows Experience” is worth anything on 7″ & below you’re just kidding yourselves. the ONLY chance Windows has anymore in the mobile space is with 8.
yes I despise all these late comer wanna-be mobile enthusiasts iPad owners & celebrities (Leo LaPorte types). they were still using 15″ laptops when we were using 10″, they don’t have original thoughts, they’re not visionaries, they just hop on 1 trend after another. BUT that still doesnt excuse what use to be a forward-thinking UMPC community from living in the past & not looking forward to whats coming next.
especially you though Chippy, you’re a bright mind, you “get” mobile. you’ve been the most respected member of this community for quite awhile & thats why so many popular mainstream -but- less tech savvy bloggers defer to you (I.E Joanna Stern from Engadget). I’m not sure how familiar you are with American politics, but if you keep down this path promoting Windows on sub-compact devices you take on the dangerous chance of becoming a “clown” to the tech industry much like Bush/Palin/Trump are too politics.
move on guys, it’s embarrassing.
can you kindly post your “windows experience” on umpc
have you tried the Q1UP? or Sony UX or anyother umpc for that matter.
The single largest factor why i feel the umpc dint do well in the world as they should have is because of the PRICE.All earlier launched umpcs were pricey & difficult to afford to be as a consumer device.
By the time this issue was addressed to a certain extent and the prices made alittle more comfortable ,markets were injected with lesser quality chinese products(search ebay for umpc & chances are only 1 in 10 products belong to a repured company)
UMPC can do anything that a laptop can do & way better for a professional user,unless you need to play GAMES!
Chippy & umpcportal have done wonderfully well & the only clowns are the ones who carry heavy 15″ laptops & then complain about heat,battery life,portability…etc
Buy UMPC & you may never need a laptop again!
Interesting feedback. you probably haven’t read my x-over articles; about moving away from windows. I’m happy to risk being labeled a clown until such a point when windows has no unique features. I don’t want to visionary, just practical and honest and reader-minded.
I litterally think you don’t understand the mobile game.
You see, it’s not that we specificly want WINDOWS on a mobile device (7 inches and under), its just that windows is the only OS currently that is still good for productivity and can run on these devices. I mean can you really get like anything done on an Android tablet? We wish we could, but everyone knows thats probably not going to happen.
Yes, we still want smaller devices, but thats’ cuz were ultra mobile baby! We like mobile devices with 5 inch screens and such and thats our opinions. If you wanna call us clowns over our opinions then I think you can just get out.
Back to windows. Yeah, we currently want Windows on because theres like no other OS that can fulfill our needs. Windows 8 seems to be a step forward for being productive and good for mobile products, but nothing else is at the moment. New os’s are still supported heavily here and always look forward into the future.
You’re completely missing the point and you didn’t really provide any arguments as too why Windows is the past and what is the future. All I see right now is that the mobile space went from having dynamic usability to limited features by cramming in smartphones (3-10 inch ones) into the category.
The non-Windows mobile devices are still far behind in terms of versatility. So, right now and for a while, Windows UMPCs are the only devices that can provide a full computer experience while being mobile.
Plus, Chippy isn’t ignoring the progress of the non-Windows UMPC. While they’re significantly behind in features and capability, he’s still following reporting about them. This just shows you haven’t been reading any of his articles. You probably didn’t fully understand this article, either.
this time for me the winner challenge is the fujitsu loox f-07c
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/15/ntt-docomos-fujitsu-loox-f-07c-goes-official-coming-with-windo/
with dual os symbian/windows 7 home premium etc…
I was excited when I first the saw the image of the Loox a while back until I read the article about it. The 4 inch screen is too small since 5 inches is my minimum and maximum limit for a pocketable Windows device. The 2 hour battery life is way too short. I also would prefer the removal of the phone side of the device (ie. Symbian). It reminds me of an OQO. If they still existed, I’d be using an OQO instead of my N5 right now.
Currently using a Galaxy Tab also. Fantastic device (Android 2.3, adobe flash, whole day battery life) but I really miss having a slide out keyboard and a way to connect to a VGA projector (only HDMI currently). Wouldn’t mind it being able to dual boot Windows too.
I’m curious about the productivity apps that people feel require Windows and/or MacOS. Word processing and spreadsheet work has been mentioned. Is it just for easy compatibility with desktop apps? File sharing with colleagues?
I understand the desire for a keyboard and a pointing device (mouse, trackpad, etc) for word processing, and I think a pointing device works better for editing photos and video than a finger on a touchscreen.
its a good question I remember an ‘alternative’ list for linux / windows apps. we should take that list and work through it for other operating systems.
Productivity requirements will very with each person’s job. In addition to Microsoft’s office suite which doesn’t really have any real competition, I use my N5 to run quick MATLAB simulations or C/C++ numerical computations. I also use Remote Desktop or VNC to log into my work computers to start or view results of long ASIC simulations and syntheses while away from my office. That’s just to name a few work related uses.
I have a fancy 4.3 inch Android phone and it either can’t do what I need or it does it badly. Most apps out there are written by individuals in there spare time or in between their homework and it clearly shows. It is useful for 1 sentence emails, doing quick internet searches and directions.
Windows, a keyboard and mouse really does provide the most options be it for entertainment or work. Maybe years from now mobile OS’s can compete but who knows. I buy what meets my needs now and it certainly isn’t a tablet running any OS nor is it a device running a mobile OS. So when I’m mobile I either carry my N5 or Thinkpad because a smartphone sure isn’t enough.
Ya, mobile OSes aren’t useful enough to justify their price. I got an iPad and that sure was disappointing. I now associate the word “app” with limited, cumbersome, awkward, not useful, etc. I now use an N5. While it has its drawbacks, it sure has a whole lot less of them than the iPad.
This is what I use on my Viliv S5: Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Hugin, Avidemux, XnView, Total Commander. That’s about it.
Of course I also use many other apps for GPS, multimedia, ebooks etc.
On Viliv S5:
Classic media player (K-lite codec pack) + Winamp, plays just about anything except very old pieces.
Firefox
Garmin GPS. Having the maps in your machine is greatly superior to having to depend on network access.
I’ve tried a few umpc’s, but the best usability to me so far is the wibrain models and the Samsung umpcs. Split keyboards that you don’t need to stretch to use or set the device down on a surface to type a couple paragraphs at a decent speed/comfort level.
I too am frustrated at the lack of physical inputs on most of the tablets, phones and newer concepts. Touch is handy in certain situations, and physical keys/mouse input in others. Using only touch is like exclusively using a keyboard to control a desktop. It’s possible, but not the most efficient or comfortable.
The next big umpc should have a plethora of integrated inputs, innovative and/or tested and true. It needs to strike a balance between awesome battery life for light tasks and raw power when you need it. Intel is on the right path for this, and I believe AMD is going to enter this segment as well.
I have a Toshiba Libretto W105 and I love it, it’s fast and the cool factor is awesome. Since it was a limited run they are very rare, there’s nothing like it on the market. I also use it to encode video and the processor/ram is able to handle that and still allow me to have multiple windows open. Just get an external battery like the Energizer xp18000 for extra power for it or your other mobile devices.
Talking of the Windows Experience – I’ve been very happy using both the Tosh Lib W100 and the HP Slate 500 ever since they became available. I traded up from UMID and VILIV because of eyesight. No problem with the UI at all. I’ve tried Thinix with the Slate and it works well, but after a few Win tweaks it’s not really necessary.
Yes there’s fan noise from the Tosh, but it doesn’t bother me at all. The battery life is crap of course, and extra batteries are expensive, but I always use the thing in hotels with power so it’s never an issue. Having the extra screen [and the big keyboard] is great, and it really is portable.
I don’t have any problem with the performance of either. And I obviously have them because I run some fairly heavy Win programmes.
For the record – I have a Dell Streak and only use it as a SatNav. I also still use an HTC HD2 runnuing WinMob 6.5 because it syncs so well with the desktop… though in many ways I still prefer my old phone emails.
On the Tosh the big keyboard saves the day, and on the Slate I use fingers and stylus in different programmes.
Correction:
For the record – I have a Dell Streak and only use it as a SatNav. I also still use an HTC HD2 running WinMob 6.5 because it syncs so well with the desktop… though in many ways I still prefer my old HTC Asdvantage X7510 for texts and phone emails.
Sorry!
“i think I want to keep it. the charging circuit is blown but maybe one day ill get it repaired.”
Well, you’re right Chippy, keep it, repair it and enjoy it! This device is really great. Samsung Q1UP for ever!!!
Anyone know a good site to buy a Toshiba Libretto from? They need to ship within Europe.
Android tablet will be located in the lowest bottom of tablet market, even that Android is likely to disappear on future tablet market, this is not in a cellphone market.
Android tablet is merely a bad toy = MP3/MP4 + Internet nothing more, and is not a tablet PC.
Also, Google is merely to want more search share, it is not a software corporation. Some Google PC program files bring bad experience, like Google Picasa, Google document online, etc…
MS is worse in Bing search, Google is worse in PC program and OS.
I’m hoping for a company to continue the OQO form factor. Hopefully the next gen components will make it easier to build one. Nothing remotely compares to a pocket Windows device.
That would be great! I sure hope my N5 isn’t the last pocketable PC I buy. Too bad from the whole tablet craze, it might be. Which means I’ll be buying just notebooks when my N5 dies or is too slow for newer software.
The area between a 5 inch UMPC and a notebook just doesn’t make sense to me (too big for a pocket and too slow for something that requires a cumbersome bag to carry it).