I’ve just seen today that Amazon in Germany will be offering the Medion UMPC (Model MD 96277) for €899, a good 10% reduction over the original Medion asking price. Not only that but you’ll get a DVB-T module bundled in.  I suspect that we’ll see this price on the Medion web shop too when they’ve finally got details of the next shipment through. At the moment its looking like 4-6 weeks for delivery. €899 is exactly the price I said it should come in at although that was six months ago. Today (or in 4 weeks time)  that €899 is arguably still too expensive.

Interestingly, the Gigabyte U60 that was on UMPCshop.nl has also disappeared. I wonder if Arima are having problems getting this model through the production lines.

A few days ago Hugo posted a video about why he’s chosen the OQO Model 02 UMPC and has stopped using his tabletPC. I’ve just watched it with interest and a pencil in my hand. Its well presented (I can learn something from Hugo here. He’s got a very smooth delivery.) and is a good outline of why he’s moved from using a tablet PC to a UMPC.

My notes:

• Its significant that a tablet MVP has dropped pen input. I’ve said before that I think handwriting input is going to become less important. Especially for mobile and mass market consumers. It will still be useful for a niche segment but its not important for devices that are not targeted at this segment.
• The Samsung Q1 organizer keyboard is not cramped. Its one of the best quality mini keyboards that I’ve ever used. I’m using it right now and have no need to attach a full size keyboard. Have you got farmers fingers mate?
• Do you need that Dopod any more? You’ve pretty much said that the OQO does everything that the Dopod does and better. If I were you I would move down to a feature phone.
• Pocketing an OQO Model 02 is going to be 1 – awkward 2 – going to rip your pockets. I used to carry a lot around in my suit when I worked in London but I ended up at the tailors every three months!
• Is it really your desktop PC or do you have a larger desktop that you use for video editing?
• Numeric keypad. How many numbers are you putting in per day? really needed?
• Q1 organizer pack is a table-top solution I agree. Not a sofa, standing, car, bed solution.
• I agree. Windows is not optimized for touch but there is a lot of software that is. Navigation for example. Touch is important.
• I use the Q1b as a desktop replacement but its not quite good enough. Intel based devices make far better desktop replacements. XP on 1.2Ghz VIA is probably about the entry point so yes, I agree it can be used as a desktop and yes, you have to change your working style a little.
• What battery life do you get with your extended battery. Is it a full day like with the other two solutions or did you sacrifice some battery life?
• We know that the keyboard on the OQO isn’t much faster than on screen typing/handwriting. Would you be happy to lose 4-8mm on the depth of the device (or have a bigger battery capacity) without a keyboard and use an on screen keyboard?
• Don’t forget to highlight that the OQO Model 02 with docking station is around double the cost of a Q1b with organizer! You have to be tech-savvy and also be able to justify saving minutes per day to balance the extra cost.

There’s a general negative feeling in my notes there but all I’m doing is highlighting some very important points. I too believe that a small UMPC replaces the need for a smartphone and that a three-device strategy based on small feature phone, a 5-7″ UMPC and powerful home PC (if you need to do videos, games etc) is something that could work for a lot of people. Moving from on-screen handwriting to keyboard is also something I find significant. Especially for a Tablet MVP

I’m still looking for that perfect Carrypad solution myself. Currently I have the Raon Digital Everun, the Fujitsu UMPC and the new EB slider UMPC on my list. I wouldn’t buy the OQO because it doesn’t have a touchscreen and its damn expensive. I also think that its too big for a pocket (I don’t wear suits or cargo pants or have the nerve to wear that on a belt!) UMPCs will always be too big for pockets and so to me, the 6-7″ range (possibly a 7″ with 1024×600) could be optimal for me. But as we all say, it depends on your usage requirements. Hugo’s Hugometer spreadsheet and my UMPC buyers guide are good places to start in order to make that decision.

Thanks Hugo, for stimulating a good conversation through the video.

She’s an attractive little minx isn’t she. I wonder what version of Linux they are running. Must be RedFlag because that’s the only one ready I think.

Encouraged by yesterdays progress with the solar kit, I spent most of today finishing off the wiring and packing it all into a plastic box. I then paired down my kit list somewhat (out goes the Nokia N800 and spare mobile phone, two pairs of underwear, one of the t-shirts, the multimeter and a pair of trousers) and loaded everything up on the bike to see what sort of weight I was dealing with. The total wight of the bike and kit together (that’s biking, camping and computing gear) comes […]

Could this be!? Earlier today I decided to see if I could find an image of my first laptop. It was a gift from my uncle, since he knew how intrigued I was by computers. He hands me an all black Dauphin 386SX Laptop. Nothing fancy about it. The internal 9600bps modem didn’t work, and neither did the battery. It was the size of a 15.4″ laptop, with a 7″ screen. Really quite the animal!

I decided to do a quick Google search for Dauphin laptops. What I came across was strikingly similar to a Q1 with organizer pack. Could this be the very first UMPC, that predates even the OQO 01?

When compared to the Q1 with Organizer Pack:

The specs for the Dauphin are as follows:

• CPU: Cyrix486SLC-25MHz 32bit
• 4MB RAM
• HP Kittyhawk C3014A 40MB HDD
• Pen Windows
• OS: Dos or Win3.1 with Pen extensions
• Input/Output:
  Monochrome VGA LCD display; pen input with handwriting recognition; optional separate keyboard
• 640×480 grayscale

So is this really the first UMPC? It is amazing how far we have come since the creation of that little device, which was in 1993. That leaves me excited for what the future has, and with the flurry of UMPC activity lately things are looking pretty good!

This video over at Solar-UMPC.com goes over details about how you can connect and run your UMPC (and other devices) from a portable solar panel. There’s details on the components used and how you use batteries, controllers and converters to provide a complete solar solution for multiple devices.

I will be using this set-up on the solar-umpc tour and it weighs around 6KG including UMPC, solar panel and battery storage. The total storage capacity of the solution is around 160W/hr which, when used with the Q1b gives around 17hours of online computing time with a collection and storage capability (here in Germany on a sunny day) of around 100W/hr per day. The system can output voltages from 5v to 19v and I have a set of tips that should allow me to charge almost anything. I’m quite please with it but if anyone has suggestions for improvements I’ll happily consider them. Many thanks to SelectSolar for their help in preparing this solution.

Solar powered computing video.

Lesson number one in the Solar-UMPC project is that the weather is chaos and if you live in mid-northern Europe, you can’t rely on it as a source of instant energy. You’ll see how I’ve had to adapt my solution in my first Solar UMPC video. In the video I present the solar charging and storage setup that I’ve decided to use for the tour. Its based on the fag-packet drawing I did a few weeks ago after deciding that Li-Ion batteries weren’t really the best solution. I’ve introduced the […]

Just like all the best countdowns, this one is paused for a while. The reason? Taiwan. Both VIA and myself have been non-stop busy since Computex started 4 days ago and we’ve decided to delay for a week. Looking at the weather forecast, its probably a blessing in disguise because cloud and light rain is forecast for much of next week. Watch out for a video overview of the Solar equipment coming up either later today or tomorrow.