I’ve been asking questions in my head about this one ever since I saw it crop up at CES. Did Samsung produce this as a new UMPC concept or did a big customer put an order in for a specific device for a big project? Or are they trying to re-ignite the tablet pc or jump the ‘reader’ market?
For UMPC and TabletPC fans though, this could be interesting. Navigadget have spotted a GPS in the specs (indicating that Samsung might be targeting the transport industry?) and if it’s got a heavy touchscreen, it could be a great little TabletPC option.
It seems strange that Samsung, with their knowledge of both UMPC and Netbook markets, would produce a new UMPC out of the blue so my feeling is that Samsung are aiming at a specific customer with this one which means pricing will come with the usual premuim.
We should be getting hold of one in the next month so we’ll bring you the full details then. In the meantime, check out a few pics, some details and a possible price at Navigadget
March 5th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Samsung Q1EX UMPC/TabletPC launching in U.S. http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=6064
March 5th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
So they remove all the keys and buttons, keep the same screen size, yet it is still the same overall size as the previous model, how the hell does that happen?
March 5th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
The most interesting part about this device is the Nano-CPU.
Over at engadget they are repoting a price of $775.
Too much for me. Especially for a device without keyboard.
March 5th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
What on earth is the point of this thing? No buttons, no keyboards. When will UMPC manufacturers learn we need lots of input methods?
Morganj Reply:
March 6th, 2009 at 7:52 am
I’m afaraid i have o disagree about the lack of keyboard. I use a Gigabyte m704 umpc on a daily basis and find that i never use the keyboard. With Windows 7 the inking and on screen keyboard is more than enough.
If the keyboard was removed it would take the weight on the m704 down by about 200g.
I feel that umpc’s dont really need hardware keyboards these days. But its all down to personal choice i guess.
John Reply:
March 7th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Some people don’t like the (lack of) feel of a virtual keyboard.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:19 am
The only good thing about this model is the price. Everything else about it sucks compared to the Q1 Ultra.
March 6th, 2009 at 8:45 am
4000mAh for 4.5 hours use is not that bad. But if GPS is the only add-on, 775 dollars is way too high.
March 7th, 2009 at 7:23 am
I agree with Morganj, yet it is unclear if this device has a facing camera. For me it is a deal breaker
March 7th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I’m with Vit: I can understand ditching the keyboard, but no facing camera? That seems crazy. I’d also much prefer to have a mouse button to use with fly-out menus.
March 7th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I’m completely ambivalent about the cameras … and I’d rather have the picture camera (on the back side of the device) than the user facing camera on the front (taking pictures might be nice to do on my UMPC, but I don’t do web cam chatting, so I don’t care about that at all).