MicroPCTalk forum member Anh did some serious surgery on his UX280. Taking the unit apart, he de-soldered the factory U1200 Core Solo (1.2GHz), and soldered in a U7600 Core 2 Duo (1.2GHz) CPU. An impressive instillation in a machine that has so much hardware stuck in such a tiny footprint. Was it worth it? Take a look at the graph belo; the benchmark performance almost doubled in certain areas. The graph compares the modded UX280 to a UX380, I compared to the 380 because both machines were running Vista and I wanted the graph to be as accurate as possible. ALU and FPU are the primary CPU benchmarks and as you can see, the 1.2GHz U7600 Core 2 Duo crushes the 1.33GHz U1500 Core Solo. Ahn is most likely the first person in the world to be running a UX280 with a Core 2 Duo, and might even be the first to successfully swap the UX’s CPU for any other CPU in general.
The device was apparently first announced at Computex. I don’t recall reading any news on it but it did make me laugh. Just look at the headline:
Albatron’s “Tee PC inch is all that you need with not an inch to spare
As the article on HotHardware.com mentions, it comes out of the box with Windows CE 6.0 and everything you need preloaded: WordPad, MediaPlayer and Internet Explorer…right. The device has both WiFi and Bluetooth, weighs 343 grams, has a 400Mhz ARM926 processor, 128 MB of RAM and 128MB of flash memory. On the device itself there is an SD card slot, a camera, and a headphone jack while the included docking station has two USB ports, built in speakers and line in/out. Assuming you can get a good time-telling application, it would make for a decent bedside alarm clock ;)
Quick Update: The dimensions are 18.8×11.3x 1.3 cm, and the screen is 7 inches.
I think that completes my hands-on with almost every netbook out there (*1) and I’ve decided which one is the best for the average customer. Its the MSI Wind with XP and 80GB drive.
Over the last week I used it (in Medion Akoya form) alongside a Kohjinsha SC3 costing twice as much and its been a superb portable all-rounder. So much so that on the third day of IDF, I left the SC3 in my room. The SC3 works well most of the time but after a number of Bluetooth failures, Vista lock-ups, drive thrashing and a lack of processing power for Skype operations, it became too risky to rely on it. The Wind took over and performed flawlessly.
While I was at IDF I also got the chance to test out the Aspire one, G10L and Eee 901 and neither of them really seemed to offer anything special over the MSI Wind. The Aspire One, a previous favorite of mine, seemed to have a lower build quality and have a lower quality keyboard, the 901 has an even worse keyboard. The G10L isn’t available! Don’t get me wrong, none of these devices are bad and I doubt that any of them would actually disappoint. For all-round table-top use though, I can’t find any faults with the MSI Wind.
Many of you will cry ‘battery life’ of course and yes, that is a consideration if you’re 2-hours away from a power socket but the reality is that in the table-top usage mode, there’s nearly always a power socket nearby. Be careful to remember I’m not talking about ultra mobile computing here and I’m also talking objectively. The MSI Wind is not the best device for my usage scenariosbut it’s likely to be the best for most people. I’ll talk about my own requirements again soon (In short I think I’m going to go for a Gigabyte M912M + Gigabyte M528 until I can test a Raon Everun Note and Viliv S7 that may replace both early in 2009.) but for most of you out there, if you’re thinking about a no-fuss do-it-all netbook, the MSI Wind with XP and HDD is the one that should be at the top of your list.
(*1) I haven’t personally tested the HP 2133 but I know from other peoples testing that its not the best device out there. There are processing limitations that cause problems with some higher-end apps like Skype. The keyboard and design is good but it needs a processor boost before it becomes a flawless device in my opinion.
An OQO playing world of warcraft, flash 10 on an MID, an image manipulation application, a floating GUI and a very cheesy intro video! Higher quality version here. (WMV) Full Ultra Mobility keynote video and slides available at the Intel IDF site.
Here’s the video overview of the well-executed Benq S6. Nice user interface, good styling and a few unique features like shake-to-overview and auto-rotation. Its going to launch through a European telecoms carrier very soon so it’s difficult to get an idea of price because you’ll be paying for it with an included data contract. In the video below I take a closer look at the device and demo some of the UI. The lighting was terrible but later on in the video, we moved to a lighter area.
Yup, that’s my favorite IDF device right there. The promise of a 1,8Ghz Atom with XP and 7-10hrs battery life in that stylish, productive form factor is just too much for me to resist.
With a slick design, 8+hrs battery life and a swivel touchscreen, this isn’t your average UMPC! It’s not exactly a netbook either. Viliv have taken the U5 design they demonstrated at CES, slightly modified the screen, dropped an Intel Atom inside (up to 1.8Ghz) and made what I think is a very stylish piece.
Key features there are the 3G/4G module capability, 9 hours movie playback capability, GPS and the capability to take up to a 1.8Ghz CPU. (Silverthorne) The S7 is in final design stages (what you see is the final casing design) and is planned for launch in Q1 2009. There are no details about price or per-country availability at the moment. More details and video after the specs….
Here’s my video overview of the Wibrain i1 ultra mobile PC that I got hold of yesterday evening. Expect an October release at a $500/500 Euro starting price. (Not including 3G)
The device was apparently first announced at Computex. I don’t recall reading any news on it but it did make me laugh. Just look at the headline:
