Living in a 5” world is a rewarding experience. Coming down from a 12.1” wide screen Tablet PC (my Toshiba R400) there are obvious losses in productivity but ultimately the gains far outweigh this. I still remember traveling in June this year and feeling confident with my decision to go small; and this time was no different.As I lay in my Hotel for the night I surfed from the lounge chairs, from the bed, from the mini bar and even from the toilet (you know you’re guilty of it too). On this occasion however I did not plug in an external keyboard but rather I chose to use the keyboard on my OQO only, which proved to be more than OK.
Thinking back on this road trip there were some memorable UMPC moments which predominantly revolved around visiting with the Brisbane SBS User Group. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the local fanatics and impart some of my stuff too. I rocked up with no less than eight UMPC ranging from OQO to EVERUN, and Q1U to SunPad. The "funnest" moment was when I was showcasing the Q1U’s multi camera array. Here is the photo I took using the Q1U:
Photography: Samsung Q1U-V
So I am back in Sydney now and getting to know all the UMPC I missed while I was away. I am spending plenty of time with the Fujitsu U1010 and am getting particularly fond of the SunPad too. My next trip is to Adelaide (but there may even be a New Zealand trip too) all before Christmas. So I will do what I can to find relevant info to share.
LUV YAs
19 comments:
Hugo,
TMI! Please! :-)
Here in frozen Iowa, we are recovering from an ice storm. And you're probably going to the beach this week end.
I knew a wonderful exchange student from Australia back in high school. I still remember my difficulty in getting my mind around the idea that you could have Christmas without snow, and still sing about it! She was used to swimming every day during Christmas break, and having a hard time getting into the spirit of the season. Wrong season for her!
Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Good Kwanzaa, Happy Hannukah and all that!
(Can you tell I'm getting ready to trim my tree today?)
Sharon
Hey Sharon,
great comment! How good is Christmas time!?!?! The fact that your is white and mine is "stinking hot" means little in the scheme of things as I believe (as do you) that this is special for all.
For Aussies Christmas is usally a beachside affair with seafood and plenty of sunscreen. I live in 10 minutes driving distance of at least 7 beaches so you can imagine that life without the sun would be just weird...LOL.
I happen to love the snow and of the two white Christmas'I had in Europe one year they happen to be the most memorable.
Happy Season Greetings bak at ya!
Hey Hugo, Happy Holidays. So now that your back from your short vacation. LOL Have you had any time to decide which UMPC you will choose? Also we will be waiting for all those new VBlogs for all those new UMPC's that you will review. Will you be out to the CES show in Las Vegas? I have looked at the Fujitsu U810 at a local Fry's store yesterday and was impressed with it. I'm still using my Q1P running Vista Business and really like it but sure liked the small form factor of the Fuji. Also was thinking about the OQO 02 which TigerDirect had the other day for 1,069.00 regular 1,800.00. In your opinion on screen size is the OQO to small to read long emails, documents, etc... vs the Fuji U810? Thanks.
HG
Hi HG,
I know you've been following my blog for a while so you would probably also know that I was NOT a fan of the U810 (U1010) when it first came out. I thought it was clumsy and ugly. Sadly (for me) I have changed my tune and I am quite enamored lately. I like the bigger screen size and also appreciate the lay down keyboard...I have actually chosen the OQO however.
The reason I am back on the OQO is mostly becasue of the speed. The U810 is just TOO slow...painfully so. If I could get the VIA 1.6GHz processor in the U1010 then I would probably pick it over my OQO. But becasue I can't. Then I won't.
Does that help???
Season Greetings Hugo! We're getting a little late start on the decorating, a little cold & blustery in the NW this weekend, but Christms songs starting to make their way on the radio & such.
Here in the NW we pretty much do what we do all year long. If we want to go to the beach we go down to California! No, really we go to the beach for different reasons but do enjoy the summer sun that few realizes shows up here as much as the rain. And we love our seafoood from razor & steamer clams to Dungeness & other crabs to our various King, Coho, & other salmon. Of course we love shrimp & lobster, most from other great parts of the world such as Maine & of course Australia. And the halibut & salmon from Alaska is simply out of this world. Now I'm getting hungry!
Getting back to the OQO which I'm easily typing this note from, reading email is a piece of cake.
Most documents using text are easy to read, but it can be hard sometimes reading PDF's, especially when they are imaged pdf's like TIFF and if at a low resolution. Overall going page wide in landscape mode I can read any document, especially since IE 7 & Office 2007 provide a nice zoom control on the bottom status bar.
Some people think raisingthe native resolution to 1200 x 600 or better would make a 5" screen harder to read, when in reality it makes detail more crisp & legible. Becuase the OS & some software doesn't adjust as well, you might have to tweak your system settings for bigger detail with themes, desktop fonts & window control sizes, font DPI, etc... I'd like a 1024 x 798 native resolution to match external displays, projectors, & meet certain software restrictions.
Well I better go. Hope you U your family have a great Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Hey, Hugo!
A few questions on the U810/1010. First, what do you think of inking on it? Second, is it possible to hack the memory? Has anyone that you know of tried it?
Thanks Hugo it helps. I did noticed when I was using the U810/U1010 at the store that it was kind of slow when opening word, excel, etc...
HG
Hey Hugo,
I've been using my Q1U now for more than a week. I'm loving it.
True, the split keyboard is quite hard to get used to. I keep accidentally pressing the wrong key. My fingers aren't chubby either ;)
My next device will have to be a convertible tablet PC/UMPC that has a proper keyboard. The HTC Shift would be my next pick but as you said, the battery life is poor and it's a bit too expensive for me. Fujitsu P1610 maybe?
But the Q1U does look ultra sexy! Much better than my old eo v7110. Speed wise it is similar, perhaps slightly faster because of the 2GB of RAM. Screen brightness is fantastic. Wireless reception is great. I have had no problems with it. This has pleased me greatly considering my eo v7110 had lots of trouble in my home network. The VGA-out port is very handy. I was formally using a USB to VGA adapter with my eo and it lagged a lot. But now with the inbuilt VGA-out port, hooking up to my external monitor is great. The inbuilt stereo speakers is another plus.
One negative thing I have noticed about the Q1U is its inking/touch screen. It's satisfactory but I much prefer my eo for inking. It just feels less solid and less precise when using the stylus. I've tried calibrating a few times and it doesn't make much difference. Not a huge drama anyway.
Battery life is also great, but I won't know its true advantage in this aspect until I start uni again...which I'm not thinking about for many weeks. Man, I love uni breaks! :D
Overall, I'm very happy with the device.
I still haven't tried Vista on it, but I don't think I will anyway. XP does everything I need for now. I might change over to Vista once XP starts getting obsolete.
Anyway, have a good break Hugo (and everyone else). I will be leaving for overseas for the next few weeks for holiday. I've decided I will just take my iPhone with me. I would like to take my Q1U too but I'm not sure if I would be using it enough. It is also slightly bulky for my travels. Besides, the holiday is to get away from everyday life, which includes the internet.
Take care.
Sean
iH Hugo, i'm a animator and i'm shopping around for a UMPC for christmas, and I was just wondering if you know any UMPC that have the pressure sensitivity capability for drawing. Thanks
Hi Opus,
I wasn't able to read your comment till now but as I do I seemed to be working up an appetite! LOL. I love seafood and it seems we have that in common.
Like you I am a fan of the OQO and paired with the zoom feature of IE7, and on the OQO, there is nothing that cannot be read.
Also like you I like adjusting my themes. My favorite is to make the scrollbars larger the instance I receive a new machine. Fonts I normally do not touch because the zoom feature is so good on the OQO.
Thanks for all the well wishes. I wish you best to and look forward to chatting again.
Hi Sharon,
The U1010 is a machine I would love to love...but I cannot. Reality is, and I think you are pointing out the same; the device is hard to use. Even though the OQO is smaller the fact is that the Active Pen experience is so good that it allows me to enjoy the inking experience. On the U1010 the inking experience can be poor, at best, and has broken me as a user. Conversely the touch experience sucks...so I have had to right it off as a desirable machine with little intention...like the Motion LS800. :-(
Hi Hector,
As per my address to Sharon above, the U1010 is a dissapointment although I wish it weren't.
Hi Sean,
I must have missed you as you are probably on holiday now. I hoe you are having fun and getting the R&R you (and we all) deserve, If you left the Q1U at home...shame on you! If you did not...well done!
Your feedback is so great a it highlights the real thoughts of someone exposed to a new device. I only hope manufacturers read these blogs and get the perspective they shoudl have!
Hi Alain,
Sorry about the late reply. With regards to dealing with pressure sensitivity I reckon the OQO is the only UMPC that could express this in a way that an animate might need it to. The only issue you might have is that the device is small...at 5". All other UMPC, being that they ship with varying forms of touch Screens, provide quite a bad experience when it comes to pressure sensitivity, angle of entry, and so on.
If the OQO is too small then I am afraid you will need to look for a tablet PC. I think the Toshiba R400 would be great for you as it offers the most felt like, pen and paper experience, I have ever felt.
Hope this helps and sorry again for the late reply.
Hahaha, don't worry Hugo. I did take my Q1U along for my trip. It is very handy indeed. I have free Wifi in my hotel room in KL, Malaysia so it is great. I am typing this now using my awesome Q1U!
Dear Hugo,
I am thinking that I would like an ultra-mobile PC as a graduation present from high school (which will happen next year) (I am currently a junior). I have looked at quite a few different types and I believe that I have pretty much gotten it narrowed down to three (though I am not sure if one of them would be considered ultra-mobile).
1. The OQO Model 02 (www.oqo.com)
2. The Sony Vaio UX (http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665246465)
3. Dell Latitude XFR D630 (This is the one that I am not exactly sure would be considered "ultra-mobile.") (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/latit_xfr_d630?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04)
What are your thoughts on that? I am leaning more toward the OQO because of the reviews and videos that I have seen for it, but that is a tough one (especially when comparing it with the Dell). If you rummage through the options on the Dell, you will see why.
I have looked at [and like the looks of] the OQO, but I do not like the estimated shipping times that they have for their products. What is your opinion on this matter? Were you pleased with them?
I am curious why the shipping times are so lengthy. I would imagine that OQO is not headquartered in the U. S. The estimated shipping time is 5 - 7 days for all of the computers except for the SSD one, which is 4 - 6 weeks. I am also curious about the keys with light indicators next to them (primarily Alt).
Do the lights stay on until the key is pressed again or until another key is pressed (I would think that it would be until a key is pressed). For example, if Control or Shift is pressed, then the LED light would go off after another key is pressed, but if Alt is pressed, its LED will not turn off until it is pressed again. This would be especially reasonable if the Alt can be used in conjunction with the numbers to be used for internation characters (like the num pad on a normal keyboard). I also think that it is kind of odd that the OQO does not appear to contain any Windows keys. Do you know if the Windows Vista models come with a tablet pen? I believe that the site says that the XP Tablet Editon ones do, but I would imagine that OQO realizes that Vista is preinstalled with built-in tablet controls, therefore making it reasonable that the Vista run machines would also come with a tablet pen.
Caleb
After looking at the three, I am leaning more toward the OQO. I have pretty much ruled out the Sony from the list primarily because it does not appear to be customizable! The Dell machine looks extremely nice, but I like the portability of the OQO (as well as some of its other features) (such as its design and the fact that it has a backlit keyboard!) (Though the Dell's design is also nice)
Apparently OQO is indeed headquartered in the U. S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OQO
I thought it was going to be some boring old post, but it really compensated for my time. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
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