Jenn from Pocketables.net notes that the Sony VAIO UX490 has gone missing from SonyStyle.com. This isn’t abnormal for Sony. It’s been seen before, however this time it seems a bit different as Sony has completely removed the UX section from their website. This is the first time that there hasn’t been at least one UX model for sale on SonyStyle. Without the UX490 there is nothing under that category, so the whole section has been removed from the site.

I think the big question is whether this is an indicator of Sony moving away from the UX line and instead replacing it with the netbook. Sony is rumored to be taking advantage of VIA’s OpenBook design which would help them bring a low-cost netbook to market in a relatively short period of time. Does that conflict with the UX line? I would say no. The two are in completely different categories. The netbook is a low-power, low-cost device targeted toward first time PC users or users who don’t need a lot of power. The UX line, on the other hand, is a high-power premium device targeted toward mobile professionals. Sony managed to pack enough power into the UX490 to make it one of, if not the most powerful ultra mobile PC to date, and in one of the smallest packages.

So what could explain the removal of the UX490 from SonyStyle.com? Sony is often very mechanical about the way it does things when it comes to pricing and online sales. When the UX180 was first released it was only on shelves for a few months before it disappeared entirely and was replaced with the UX280. The UX280 sold for the same price as the UX180 but had double the RAM and a larger HDD. Then of course came the UX380/90 models which were slightly upgraded versions of the UX280 for the same price. Consequently the UX280 faded off into the background. The same thing happened with the UX380 before the UX490 came out. If anything, I would say that removal of the UX490 from SonyStyle.com has more to do with marketing and sales than telling us whether or not the line is going to be discontinued in favor of a netbook. It’s quite possible that Sony stopped producing the UX490 because they new a new model would be coming to market soon, but something has prevented them from bringing the new model on board at the right time.

So the way I see it, the two are not going to interfere with each other. Sony will probably continue its incremental updates of the UX line. Sony is large enough that it can experiment with a netbook while continuing to manufacture the UX series of computers. Its anyone’s guess as to when they will update the platform that the UX runs on. They have been using the same powerful Intel hardware since the series started with the UX180. There has been some fishy activity on Sony’s support website which may hint at new models. I’ll be keeping an eye on that and keep everyone posted.

Hello everyone, I’m Ben AKA Benz145 from the US. I’ve been following the ultra mobile PC world ever since I bought the first US available Sony VAIO UX (the UX180p). Looking for a community for UX users, I stumbled upon micropctalk.com. At the time, the site was mostly overrun by spam and didn’t have many active users. I appealed to the admin of the site to help clean the place up, and shortly after I was posting news and moderating the forums. I’m proud to say that Micropctalk became an incredible resource and community for UX users while I was working on it. I have been working with Micropctalk for nearly two years now, and while it is a wonderful site and community of people, it covers a narrow topic with a relatively small audience, which means there isn’t too much room to grow. MPCT users need not worry, I will still be an active part of the site, but today I am announcing my membership of the ultra mobile PC Portal team.

A few weeks back, I responded to Chippy’s call asking for some additional help on the site. I have joined the ultra mobile PC Portal team and I hope to provide users here with quality news and reviews of all things ultra mobile PC and MID related. I will definitely be active in the forums and I hope to strengthen the community that is growing here at ultra mobile PC Portal. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the new open comments provided by the WordPress blog system, and if you haven’t already, be sure to register so you can join us in the forums!

A little bit about my tech (picture on the right): As I mentioned earlier, I have had the Sony VAIO UX180p for almost two years now (see the UX series in the Portal). It is actually powerful enough that it has been my primary PC. I use it most often in its dock hooked up to a 19″ monitor with full sized keyboard and wireless mouse. In addition the UX, I have a 16GB iPod Touch which recently replaced my Nokia N810, and I’ve owned many feature-phones over the years, currently using a Samsung SGH-D807 slider. I love having the ability to be mobile while staying connected, and all of these devices help me accomplish that.

I’m looking forward to being part of ultra mobile PC Portal and I hope my contributions here provide to be useful to users.

Update: 15 Oct. Added Jenn’s OQO Model 02 result.

Jenn of Pocketables write an excellent review of the (rather uninspiring) Flipstart last week and in it, she summarized the typing speed tests that she had done on previous devices and compared it to the Flipstart.

I thought it would be a good idea to combine that list with my tests and some other results picked up from around the ultra mobile PC community. The results range from the smallest thumboard to full size keyboards and gives a good idea how certain form factors and keyboards styles affect input efficiency. Its interesting that the iPhone is as fast as some of the mechanical keyboards on UMPCs and that the new keyboard on the Kohjinsha SA1F00V and SH6 is way faster than the previous versions of that keyboard.

The percentages listed are the percentage of full touch typing speed achieved by the tester. If anyone has any other speed test results, please let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list for future reference.

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Jenn of Pocketables is doing marvelous job of keeping up with the frankly, annoying numbers of Sony UX model numbers. Trying to keep the product database up to date with Sony UX info has been rather hard work but I think I’ve manage to incorporate at least some of the new devices now.

Sony UX280P (Americas)

Sony UX380N (Americas)

Sony UX390N (Americas)

Sony UX1XN (Europe)

Big big apologies to the rest of the world but I have not (and probably will not) be putting all the other variants in. Sony has made the job so difficult that I’ve had to just pick these devices based on my current readership demographics. I even had to adjust my database design to accommodate all the regional pricing and availability info.

I’ve also added a feature on the database. You can now get a ’10 latest UMPC’s’ view here.

I need to get this on RSS don’t I!

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This looks like the VGN-UX1XN that appeared in a UK magazine the other day.

The 32GB SSD Vaio UX Premium Micro PC runs with Vista operating system on a 1.3GHz Intel Core Solo U1500 processor. It has the 4.5-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, a 32GB solid state disk, a Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11g, USB 2.0, Firewire, and Memory Stick Duo memory card slots.

Via Gizmodo.

This looks like the VGN-UX1XN that appeared in a UK magazine the other day.

The 32GB SSD Vaio UX Premium Micro PC runs with Vista operating system on a 1.3GHz Intel Core Solo U1500 processor. It has the 4.5-inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, a 32GB solid state disk, a Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11g, USB 2.0, Firewire, and Memory Stick Duo memory card slots.

Via Gizmodo.

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The R2H will not budge from the top of the ultra mobile PC table. On the Carrypad product list it gets more than twice as much attention as any other Ultra Mobile PC.

I’ve had the ranking system in place for a while now and its interesting to watch things go up and down. Generally after some news, a device will climb a place or two but there is a definite pattern forming. Devices are settling in to some fairly persistent positions. Here’s the current 7-day-averaged popularity ranking based on a 10-point scale of clickthroughs on the portal. Click on the images for more info.

1st place.

ASUS R2H

Not only does the R2H have a very complete specification but its well priced and heavily marketed. If you are on the look out for a ultra mobile PC you really can’t avoid it!

2nd place.

Sony VAIO UX Series

The Sony UX has been climbing slowly up the chart despite it being a relatively old device. There is also an entry for the UX280P in the chart so combined, the Sony UX has a very strong showing.

Samsung Q1b

Over the last few days, interest in the Q1b has risen considerably. With 4-hour battery life it has a unique advantage against other Origami-based UMPCs. HSDPA version available in Europe soon.

3rd place.

Raon Digital Vega

The Vega is consistently high in the rankings. I think its really appealing to consumers especially after the good reports the I, and others, have made. I hear that its selling extremely well in Korea.

4th place.

Pepperpad 3

The Pepperpad 3 has had a lot of attention on Carrypad so its no surprise its up there. Its a new device too so it could be a honeymoon period.

Fujitsu P1610

The P1610 is another device that’s also new on the market. Its one of the most technologically advanced mobile PC’s you can buy right now. One of my favorites. Watch out for the LG C1 though.

Kohjinsha SA1F00A

Here’s another of my favorites. Its not a touch-screen device but its got that convertible form factor that satisfy’s. I want to get my hands on one of these.

Notable entries at 5th place include 3 devices that aren’t available yet. The Averatec AHI, the Samsung SPH-P9000 (Foldable umpc/phone) and my best tip for a good consumer-level UMPC, the Arima UM650UV1/Medion RIM 1000.

Missing from the top 5 is the Samsung Q1 which may have had the wind taken from its sails by the R2H Also missing are all of the Amtek T700 variants although if you added those together, you’d find it up there in the top 5.

Nearer to Christmas i’ll do an all-time list but you already know what’s going to be No.1 don’t you.

Steve / Chippy

There’s a fun site over at origamibattle.ning where you can choose between UMPCs in random ultra mobile PC fight-offs. I spent ages doing it yesterday wondering when it would come to an end. I gave up when I realised it was a continuous stream of random ultra mobile PC pow-wows!!! Current winner over there is the ASUS R2H. Funny that, its winning over here too.

Based on the last 15,000 hits on the product portal, this is how the top ten ultra mobile PC ‘viewing chart’ looks right now. It’s very clear is that the winner of the Carrypad product portal readers chart, by a large margin is the ASUS R2H, which hasn’t even been launched yet. Bring it on ASUS, your customers are waiting!

[Click to go to the data sheet, images and links for each device]

• Asus R2H (12%)
• Samsung Q1 (8%)
• Tablet Kiosk eo V7110 (8%)
• Averatec AHI (7%)
• Paceblade Easybook P7 (full review here) (7%)
• ECS H70/Founder mininote (6%)
• DualCor cPC (6%)
• Sony Vaio UX series (5%)
• Amtek T700 (5%)
• Flybook V33 (4%)

Our previous results, from back in April when the Samsung Q1 was winning, are here.

Regards
Steve.