I've been researching all of the UMPCs and subnotebooks, trying to find "the perfect device" for weeks now, scouring all of the mobile blogs and forums, and watching video reports and reviews on Youtube by the dozen. Every single device seems to have its tradeoffs; there is no single "perfect" device.

I spent some time working with a Vye S37 (Kohjinsha SH8) and while I liked the unit, it had overheating issues and the performance wasn't all that spry. I also found myself using the tablet/inking features less than I thought I would. LOVED the screen through.

I considered buying the Asus EEE 8G + 2G RAM + 16G SDHC card, but ultimately decided that the 800x480 screen was a dealkiller for me.

I considered the Sony UX models, but dang, that screen is TINY, and also unprotected.

I like the form factor of the Fujitsu U810 (and ultimately I may still get one at some point to play with) but there have been reports that (1) performance can be subpar, and (2) entirely too many keyboard remappings rather than dedicated keys.

I preordered a Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium based on the initial reviews of the performance of the Core Solo and the 7+ hour battery life... the split thumboard seemed a bit bizarre though.

It's extremely tough to sort through all the options without a hands-on trial period (ideally, simultaneous usage). I find myself changing my mind as to which device to try to work with.

Then the announcement about Dynamism's blowout sale on all the Flipstart accessories... I'm thinking to myself that this would ultimately save a TON of cash. Regardless of what device I would ever buy, I would want to get (1) a decent case, (2) a spare battery, (3) a second AC adapter for my office, and (4) an auto power adapter to keep in my car. So I reconsider the FlipStart.

But...

Like an idiot, I had procrastinated and missed out on the Dynamism liquidation, and it doesn't appear that there are any other vendors out there. But I lucked out on eBay and snagged one yesterday.

I'm looking forward to using the unit.

Pros and Cons as I perceive them (without any hands-on use, going strictly from others' reviews):

Pros:

1. Rugged. Screen is very well protected.

2. Phenomenal performance, given that there's only 512MB of RAM

3. Usable thumbboard (unlike the Q1)

4. Multiple mouse options (pointer and trackpad)

5. Vibrant screen

Cons:

1. Heavy for its size (Color me simple, but it weighs less than the SH8 I was using...)

2. Not sleek (who gives a darn, you're not buying a Gucci purse)

3. No touchscreen (I guess it depends on what you're used to using)

4. RAM not upgradeable (as long as #2 above remains true, not an issue; I'm an XP user, not a Vista user anyway)

5. Hard drive not upgradeable (too bad, would like to put a SSD 32/64GB in there)

6. Can't touch type if you have big hands (s'ok, I can't touch type anyway)

7. This is the one thing that has me concerned: No SD card slot, so there is no way to expand storage at all. I will be using the FS with a Novatel U727 Verizon broadband modem, which will occupy the USB port, so using the USB slot for a thumb drive is not an option (although the U727 has a micro-SD slot, but it's limited to 4GB capacity).

At the end of the day, the pros outweighed the cons in terms of their importance to me, especially in light of the price.

One thing that swayed me as I did more research was that when taking into account the source of the review/report, the FlipStart has very few detractors, outside of having an issue with the original price. Those who have rated the FS poorly tend to have been those who don't "get" UMPC-sized devices to begin with. They're trying to equate the FS with a Dell Inspiron and are thus complaining about the size of the screen and the keyboard. Well DUH! That's the problem I have with the vast majority of mainstream media reviews of UMPC-like devices... they have no clue as to the intended use of these machines.

If some of the components were user-upgradeable, this device would have serious potential and wider appeal!

Quote:several users already have updated the hard drive, check first post in http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2468&forum=26
(cheap 60GB hard drives on ebay or more expensive 80GB hard drives, check : http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2490&forum=26 )

FlipStart arrived today.

Nice little beast.

After a few trials and tribulations with my USB DVD drive, I'm happy to report the following:



The swap process actually ended up being easier than expected...

wow ... congrats ... did you put the HS06THB HDD ? ... is it cooler and faster now ?

Faster, yes. Cooler, not real sure. When it's doing processor- and disk-intensive tasks, the device does get somewhat warm to the touch, but no more than any laptop would, and certainly nowhere near as hot as the VYE S37 did.

I'm sorry these have gone the way of the dodo; they're great little devices. Quite spry. I couldn't install Adobe CS2 or CS3 due to screen resolution checks by the Adobe installer, but I was able to install Photoshop CS and Illustrator CS without difficulty. They both run just fine.

Acrobat Professional 7.0 runs well. Have not yet installed the Pitstop plugin.

I installed Adobe FrameMaker 7.1, and it's very peppy and usable. Would I do full page layout from scratch on the FS? No, but there are times when I need to tweak book files and index entries at a moment's notice, and this works well.

Next step: install some games and see how they do.

1-2 years from now, when 64GB SSD are semiaffordable (and if there is one in a 1.8" 5mm form factor), it will be interesting to see what those do to the device as far as performance and battery life.

One problem though: Couldn't find if there is a Fn combination that gives you a PrintScreen key... I wanted to do some screen captures but couldn't figure out how without installing 3rd-party software...

By way of comparison, here are Orgwon's original PassMark numbers from a thread over at handtops.com:

FlipStart w/512Mb Ram:
Over All Passmark Rating = 185.9 Composite Average
CPU Mark = 291.4 Composite Average
2D Graphics Mark = 240.5 Composite Average
Memory Mark = 199.6 Composite Average
Disk Mark = 146.5 Composite Average
3D Grphics Mark = 69.8 Composite Average

Now here are my numbers. Most of the numbers are close, but slightly lower (I ran mine on battery power; I will rerun the benchmark tonight on AC power when I get home to see if it makes a difference), with the exception of the hard disk numbers, which skews the overall result in my favor. You can really see the difference that upgrading the 30GB 2MB drive to a 60GB 8MB drive made.


FlipStart w/512Mb Ram:
Over All Passmark Rating = 189.4 Composite Average
CPU Mark = 276.0 Composite Average
2D Graphics Mark = 214.8 Composite Average
Memory Mark = 188.5 Composite Average
Disk Mark = 213.3 Composite Average
3D Grphics Mark = 68.8 Composite Average

Wow : DiskMark from 146 to 213 ! quite a jump Thanks !

By the way these PassMark numbers are much better than the ones on its OQO ( http://www.handtops.com/forum/3462/1//Flipstart_Rules__first_impressions.html ) :
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Some other PassMark Numbers from http://www.pocketables.net/2007/04/benchmark_battl.html :

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