Dynamism very kindly lent us this Asus R50A for review.

Note: The unit is said to be pre-production. As you will read in the review below, the hardware seems final except the speakers aren’t functioning. The software build is where the flaws seem to be. UMPC Portal reader Arthur, who owns an R50A, says that he doesn’t have some of the software issues (such as multiple radio connection apps) that I experienced with my unit. He also sent over his Vista Index score which I have posted below (my unit’s Vista Index didn’t seem to be calculating correctly).

Overview

Have a look at the R50A [Portal page] slate UMPC from Asus. A pretty nice piece of hardware that unfortunately lends itself to some poor software integration. I’ve been testing the UMPC for a few weeks now and regret to say that I am not impressed with it as a consumer device. Lets have a run-down of the specs first, shall we?

• 5.6″ 1024×600 gloss touchscreen
• 1.33GHz Atom Z520 CPU
• 1GB of RAM
• 32GB SSD
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• 3G HSDPA
• Bluetooh/WLAN
• GPS

If you are interested, have a look at my R50A unboxing. Here is a quick excerpt of my unboxing impressions:

The Asus R50A manages to be true to at least half of its “Rock Solid – Heart Touching” slogan. The R50A feels solid in the hands and it is fairly well made. The 32GB SSD helps reaffirm that this unit is designed to be mobile in and in the user’s hands. The joystick mouse doesn’t move like that of an video game controller, instead it moves like the stick on a PSP, it moves left and right while staying on the same plane, as opposed to actually tilting from one side to another. Even after much practice with the thumb stick on my VAIO UX180, this thing will take some getting used to. This is the first slate UMPC that I have used, so it is a new experience for me; having to do my regular computing tasks without a keyboard. Going through Vista’s handwriting recognition training makes the recognition pretty darn accurate. The screen isn’t too smooth to write on unfortunately, and the stylus is small… too small for a UMPC that doesn’t have a keyboard.

Right out of the box, Vista is causing some serious issues. Right now I’m running the unit with the lowest possible graphical settings from Vista, and performance is still pretty bad. Vista is really obviously going to be a major bane to this otherwise good piece of hardware.

Hardware Tour

Front (left to right): Left and right mouse buttons, quick launch touchscreen menu button, Windows Media Center launch, user log off page button, sleep button, camera, mouse stick, biometric fingerprint scanner, arrow key d-pad + center enter button.

Left side: Micro SD slot, power slider, proprietary USB accessory connector, wrist-strap anchor.

Bottom: Microphone hole, air vents (intake).

Right side: Wrist-strap anchor, proprietary VGA connector (behind door), battery ejection switch, USB 2.0.

Top: Camera button, air vents (output), A/C adapter, mini-USB port, hold switch, air vents (intake), antenna connector, stylus silo.

Under the battery: SIM card slot for 3G, camera.

Battery: Camera lens hole.

A few size comparison pictures to the VAIO UX:

Dynamism kindly provided us with an Asus R50A [Portal page] to take a look at. It is a slate UMPC with a 32GB SSD, 5.6″ screen, 1GB of RAM, 3G connectivity, and the less power hungry 1.3GHz Z520 Atom CPU. Will the R50A cut it as a quality UMPC? You’ll have to wait for the full review to find out. For now have a look at the unboxing below and read some initial impressions.

(continue reading…)

Read the full story

I just choked on my cuppa! Euro 1450 for the ASUS R50a is a shocking price. Even more so when you know that Vista isn’t very spritely on the 1.3Ghz Silverthorne processor. The R50a is said to have a fairly fast SSD which will help a lot but still… Maybe this video will help you decide yourself. I’m off to wipe my screen down!

All R50 links, specs and resources in the product page.

Via JKKMobile.

Answering some of the unanswered questions about the R50a, a new tablet-style UMPC from ASUS, is a review by the Spanish-language website Hispazone. Take a look at the article translation for a good 5-page run-down but don’t miss these points.

• 3.5 hours with connectivity options switched on.
• Max 50MB/s read speed on ssd. 20MB/s write.
• 3G, GPS, Fingerprint reader included.
• Included foldable USB keyboard.
• SDHC support (micro)
• No ethernet port.
• VGA out via adaptor.
• Origami Experience 2.0.

Its great to see ASUS still pushing forward with the mid-range UMPCs and moving on from the mediocre R2H and R2E products with high-end features and a slick design but it’s so sad to watch them avoiding the low-cost route. According to my sources, you’ll be paying around 1000 Euros for this which, in the current climate of belt-tightening, may not even appeal to the pro-mobile customers that are being targeted.

R50a datasheet.

Something strange is happening in the world of ASUS. In a back office, somewhere behind Eee-Towers, a product manager is battling to get the R50a out on the streets and the story that is coming through is about as clear as mud! Or should I say FUD?

Apart from the normal show appearances, we’ve seen the R50a hit the FCC (July 29th, USA) get an official press release (August 29th, Taiwan) appear in online stores in Portugal (Asus R50A-DV002C, 1019 Euro, 13th Sept, Portugal) and now, via JKKMobile, we hear that its been previewed in Germany by Toms Hardware. [translation link]

As JKK said, Vista on a 1.3Ghz Atom processor is not a great combination but if that SSD is fast, it might be acceptable. I’m still using Vista on the SC3 in certain situations and that has a relatively low-end HDD.  Remember that this had a hard-touch screen when we tested it at CeBIT and with the fingerprint reader, GPS, DVB-T (Germany) and 3G, the quoted price of 799 makes it an attractive pro-level mobile tablet. If the video codecs worked, I’d say that this would also make a nice video player but I see no evidence of any hardware decoding support out of the box (based on the Kohjinsha SC3 video playback problems) which takes away a big reason to have this device for many people. As it is, it remains targeted at pro-mobile users wanting natural input but even these users are going to have to wait for reall battery life figures before they make a purchase.

More links and details in the R50a info page.

Photo credit: Cnet Asia