Based on excitement factor alone, here are the three UMPCs that are at the top of my personal watchlist. For me, they all represent UMPCs 2nd generation.
Samsung Q1 Ultra – 1024×600, 300nits screen is Wonderful. Perfect for the 7″ screen size. Good design and potentially good performance from both the CPU and battery puts it right at the top. Keyboard is a bit of an unknown but potentially useful. Price also unknown. [spec sheet]
KIDC-US702. This is the convertible ultra mobile PC that we’ve seen running Vista. Design-wise it looks fantastic and has all the elements I desire on my UMPC. Including a real mouse pointer on the bezel! By the time it comes out, the Celeron will seem very dated. Fingers crossed for a McCaslin platform refresh. [spec sheet]
UMPC-X. Or rather, the HTC Shift! If I knew more about the platform, battery life and price of this device it would be my #1 ultra mobile PC desire. The physicals are superb and if HTC got the keyboard right, there’s going to be a lot of happy reviewers and journalists. [spec sheet]
Here’s my Top 3 in a tunable comparison window.
Bubbling under – Intel’s T-swivel UMPC. Great design for a consumer UMPC. McCaslin platform will be good. 4.8″ screen optimal for 800×480. No word on weather this really is a device that will be launched on April 18th. its likely though. [Device info.]
