A couple of reports have come in over the last few days about pre-order and availability for the Gigabyte M704. The M704 is basically a 1.2Ghz version of the slider U60 UMPC with an LED-backlit 7", 1024×600 screen but it’s also available under other brands. Its actually made by Flextronics (previously Arima) in Taiwan.    Image of from Rover computers (Russian) The Gigabyte M704 info originally leaked through a Gigabyte [...]

Among the new netbook sector competitors, the Eee PC is expected to retain its lead. Is this news? The Eee PC isn’t just a product now, it’s a brand that has serious value and momentum in the netbook market. You can guarantee that Mums and Dads across the world will be going into their local PC superstore and asking for one of those ‘Eee notebook thingys.’ rather than an ‘HP [...]

What is there to say about the Eee PC 900 that JKK hasn’t already covered yet? It’s mobile, productive and people absolutely love it. The big question is, do you need a small, lightweight, good value mobile computer like the Eee PC 900 or do you want a mini-laptop like the HP2133 and MSI Wind, devices that are trying to balance themselves between ultra mobile and sub-notebooks. There’s not much [...]

Laptop magazine and jkOnTheRun are reporting back from their initial tests with upgrading (yes, it’s an upgrade in my opinion) from Windows Vista to XP on the HP 2133 MiniNote. Just how much evidence do OEMs need to convince them that installing the shiny Vista option is going to degrade the quality of their low-end computing product? I run XP on the WiBrain B1H which has a lower-spec, 1.2Ghz CPU [...]

UMPCPortal have been fortunate enough to be able to build some good relationships with resellers over the last few years which means there’s a nice two way channel for information that can go to and from potential customers. For example, yesterday I contacted Gigabyte about the rumored 912, 8.9" netbook and I should be getting some official news very soon. In the other direction, came the following information for UK [...]

I was of the understanding that Leopard  wouldn’t run on VIA but maybe I’m wrong. Either that or this is a nice little remote-desktop scam! The Leopard install is legitimate and works quite well.  However, I am still working on two final issues which are video resolution, presently limited to 800×480, and wwan which I have not yet attempted.  Sound, wifi, power management, and usb are working fine and the [...]

My most recent live-tracked UMPC photoblog went a lot better than the one I tried to do before and the main reason it worked was because I turned off 3G on my mobile phone thus extending battery life by over 100%. Smartphones still have a battery life issue in these online scenarios though and my own battery sill died before I got home but at least it lasted 3hrs and [...]

While Europe waits patiently for the HP 2133 Mininote launch, users in other parts of the world are spending a lot of time optimizing and testing.  Joanna Stern of Laptop Mag is testing out the HP 2133 as her only PC but wasn’t too happy with the Vista experience saying "a Vista Experience score of 1.2 (out of a possible 5) tells you right off the bat how poorly the [...]

Although I like the N810 design, I’ve never been a personal fan of the whole product and, objectively speaking, I think it under-performs for the average consumer. The keyboard is poor, the processing power is limited and the application suite doesn’t flow in terms of design and UI. Its not ready for consumer prime time yet although to be honest, I don’t think Nokia are too worried about that. It’s [...]

Like many places in Europe today, its sunny and warm and as the wife and kid are off working the fleamarkets, it only makes sense that I get on my bike and do a bit of UMPC photo blogging. Bag – 238gm. Jack Wolfskin Bodybag. Nokia N82 – 110gm for live GPS tracking (Sportstracker.com – see my current position) and music. Canon S2IS. 512gm (I need to get something lighter) [...]

Only yesterday, I was writing about the Wibrain accessory pack and the fact that the price appears to be good value. Today, I get an email from Mobilx telling me that the prices have dropped even lower!   The entry price for the WiBrain UMPC with 1.2Ghz processor, 1024×600 touchscreen, 512 MB, 30 GB, 802.11b/g, Webcam and Ubuntu Linux (no Bluetooth) is just 395 Euros and that’s including all your [...]

Archos are moving, very quickly this week it seems, to combine the three major, non-smartphone, consumer mobile activities onto a single device. Thats the high-end PMP function (that requires a 4-6″ screen size,) the mobile Internet (that requires a 4-6″ screen size) and Navigation (that requires a 4-6″ screen size.) Now i’m not saying that you can’t do those functions on a smaller, or even bigger, device but these are [...]

Engadget picked up some lovely MSI Wind photos. This is a very good looking little device indeed but again, it’s a relative heavyweight at 1.2KG and the sizing is going to be way bigger than the Eee PC. I’m not sure if this is the 8.9 or 10" version.n For a pricing guideline we can take hint from the Medion Akoya which appears to be exactly the same device and [...]

As expected, The Phone House, France, has put the Airis Kira into their catalogue and is expecting it to be available in Mid May. The Airis Kira is a 350-Euro, VIA-based device that uses a 1 Ghz VIA C7-M, includes 1GB of RAM and a 40GB drive. Its said to have 4.5 hours of battery life too which means it probably gets shipped with a double-capacity battery. Apart from the [...]

Ah, back to ‘real’ UMPCs at last. This last week has been so packed with netbook news that I’m starting to think that you can only use an ultra mobile PC at a table! This should fix it! The Wibrain accessory set. The Wibrain starts with Linux at at under 475 Euros (inclusive tax) now which if you take into consideration that it’s running the same processor as the Cloudbook [...]

There’s another PC World snippet coming through today which reveals that Acer will launch their netbook at Computex in June. That makes total sense seeing as that’s the last major trade-fair before the netbook launch itself. Computex is guaranteed to be awash with mini notebooks and we should expect to see the Atom-based Asus Eee PC along with many of the other 20-or-so netbooks that are under development. I won’t [...]

Unlike the Sharp Em-One that I always craved, the Sharp Willcom D4 will be available through a grey importer. Albeit for a price! Pocketables reports that GeekStuff4U.com will have the device in stock from the end of June. Willcom D4 preorders priced above $1500 $1500 is, of course, a crazy price for most of us but I’m sure it will be ‘in scope’ for some. Willcom D4 specs and links