A brief bit of news here for our UK readers.
We’ve heard from Samsung UK today that the UK release date for the Q1 ultra mobile PC will be 1st June. DigiUK.com have the product available for pre-order at £799.
Details on the Sasmung Q1 including review links can be found in the Carrypad product portal here.
Steve / Chippy
[img]https://www.umpcportal.com/origami/images/samsung_q1_bestbuy.jpg[/img]
According to a press release word document on [url=http://video.mww.com/Q1/]mww.com[/url] which is available [url=http://video.mww.com/Q1/media/Q1_US_Launch_Final.doc]here[/url], the Samsung Q1 will be available for purchase at [url=www.bestbuy.com/ultramobilepc ]Best Buy[/url] in the U.S. on May 7th.
The company made the announcement at a San Francisco event today and also stated that the device would be available in retail stores later in the summer.
Sears from the Micorosft Origami Team also [url=http://origamiproject.com/blogs/team_blog/archive/2006/05/01/4345.aspx]updated the Origami Project blog[/url] with some pics and information about the device and the event including info on the price again saying the base price will be $1099. So go check it out.
Thanks Ctitanic for the info!
The full press release can be found below
[url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1955912,00.asp]PCMag.com[/url] just got its hands on a Samsung Q1 and this review is a bit worse than the first one we saw from [url=https://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=87]PC Computer World[/url].
It seems the biggest complaints are the lack of integrated keyboard. Though on the plus side they do say the battery life lasted about 3 hours so it should be good for watching at least Lord of the Rings.
Check out the full review and more pictures of the device [url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1955884,00.asp]here[/url]
source: [url=http://www.gottabemobile.com/PCMagazineReviewsTheQ1.aspx]gottabemobile.com[/url] Read the full story
The Samsung Q1 has obviously been doing the rounds this week in Europe. A number of UK and Euopean websites have been running ‘first impressions’ reviews. However, Xonio.com a German website, ran some brief tests and had a short review available back in early April. Importantly, they ran some battery-life tests. Here are the results:
Working with text (Word) – 3.01 hours.
Divx playing – 2 hours.
The Samsung uses the Celeron processor (the least efficient of the mobile processors available in current Origami UMPC’s) and these figures are way below my prediction for the VIA-based devices (4 hours / 2.5 hours respectively) and makes me wonder if I’ve over-estimated the battery life of the VIA-based ultra mobile PC devices. Especially as the Japanese itmedia only got 2 hours out of their VIA-based ultra mobile PC battery when playing a movie.
There are some more Eo (via-based) reviews lined up for next week on various ultra mobile PC portals so i’m hoping we’ll see some battery life tests to determine once and for all if the VIA based Origami UMPC’s are really more power efficient than the Celeron-based ones.
Other info from the Xonio web site are:
Steve / Chippy.
[url=http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/hardware/2155011/samsung
-q1-ultra-mobile-pc]PC Computer World[/url] has just posted the first online review of the Samsung Q1 and the inital review was pretty good.
They gave the device 4 stars in every catagory including ease of use, features, and value for money, so I suppose that means it’s pretty well rounded.
[img]https://www.umpcportal.com/origami/images/samsung_q1_review_sheet.jpg[/img]
One of the big problems they seem to have with the device is the use of the Celeron M as it is not an extremely powerful processor. This hinders being able to use multiple applications at one time that are CPU heavy. Though they are quick to point out that these devices are not likely marketed at people that are going to be doing high-end application proceesing.
They also did some tests on the vents at the top of the device and blocked them to see what the fan would do and apparently after blocking the vents for a couple minutes it caused the fan to kick into high gear and got noisier. After removing the blockage it took a little while for the fan to go back to normal speed and they say it will likely heat up the device if blockage happenes to these vents, so I am sure you don’t want to put stickers over them.
They tested the Q1 out by watching a ninety minute film (with wireless and other non-essential tools turned off) and it used 70 per cent of the
battery, which was to be expected on the device.
More below… Read the full story
[img]https://www.umpcportal.com/origami/images/samsung_Q1_review.jpg[/img]
[url=http://www.pcw.co.uk]PC Computer World[/url] has just received a Samsung Q1 review unit and posted some good first impressions about the device.
They say they are impressed at the ergonomics of the device when first handeling it and really like the joystick layouts which make it easy to control the device with your thumbs.
They also did some initial benchmark testing on the device which included a 30 minute DivX movie which brought the battery down 20%.
They figure the battery will last 3.5 hours, but over on their [url=http://labs.pcw.co.uk/]test bed site[/url] they claim watching a whole DVD movie drops the battery time to 1 hour and 40 minutes. This could obviously be helped with the 6 cell battery option, but it seems that so far Samsung is not sure when that will be released.
They also talk a little about the speakers which they claim are good enough for sounds but not music. So I suppose this won’t be a portable boom box.
As for the initial reaction to Dial Keys they claim it was easy to start typing relatively fast but will likely not be used for long periods of time. So, obviously external keyboards will be an item people will want to invest in.
Interestingly they also say:
There’s no doubt this a huge step in terms of mobile computing, but after spending our first day with the Q1 we’re still a little unsure what sort of user would benefit most from it.
Good question. But, at £799 I’m sure there are people who will but one just because they have money to burn.
The initial first impressions can be found [url=http://www.pcw.co.uk/personal-computer-world/hardware/2154869/samsung-q1-first-look]here[/url]
And the the test bed blog post on their site can be found [url=http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2006/04/samsungs_q1_ult.html]here[/url]
As soon as their full review is posted we will list the updated info. Read the full story
PC Advisor received a review model of the Samsung Q1 ultra mobile PC and is currently putting the model through its paces. In their first look article, they mention some interesting information they received from a Samsung rep:
“Samsung was, however, keen to stress that the Q1 will be the first of several Origami devices. The spokesperson was not at liberty to disclose what or when new models were likely to be announced.”
“The company was happy to agree, however, that a marginally slimmer, lighter device was likely and, when asked whether they thought they’d missed a trick by not copying Sony’s desirable Playstation Portable’s Xblack screen, suggested that was another possibility for future versions. Increased storage capacity over the Q1’s likely 40GB is another strong possibility.”
Glad to hear Samsung is already thinking about improvements. Read the full story
Yesterday I spoke with Apex Software and today I heard back from them.
On the 4th of May Apex software will ship me an Eo to play around with and review.
Expect alot more than the other reviews you’ve seen including processor and graphics tests along with several battery benchmarks, and of course I’ll make a video to find out what kids think about it!
A [url=https://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=277&start=0#forumpost1416]thread[/url] has been started in the brand new Eo forum for recommendations and requests for any tests you’d like to see me run.
–Andrew/Marix
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