Showing: All entries in 'Analysis'


09Jun2006

Where do I send you UMPC?

Posted by Joe in Analysis. 2 Comments

Rob of Paperless Undergrad (paperlessundergrad.co.uk) has a very interesting post on the UMPC. Obvious enough he likes the Tablets a lot (look at this domain name again). Rob goes with describing what aspects of the UMPC he likes and does not.

Well I battened down the hatches while the Internet literally rained UMPC (codename Origami) talk these past few months and I chose to keep quiet on the subject. However with the recent spate of first class video reviews hitting our ‘screens’ (such as Kevin Tofel’s excellent ongoing review of the Q1 and James Kendrick’s and Akihabaranews’ review of the Sony UX50) I’ve had the opportunity, albeit in a virtual sense, to see what these beasties have to offer. So if it is at all possible to pass an opinion based solely on third party interaction (probably not) and if the view of a lowly student end user, although one that feverously strives towards paperless living, is of interest to anyone then follow the jump to hear my take on this whole UMPC scene [...]

It’s worth, go ahead Read on

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09Jun2006

UMPC goes Vongooooo!

Posted by Joe in Analysis and Software. 0 Comments

You bet, with such a portablity and the form factor Vongo is the perfect software for downloading and enjoying Movies. jkOnTheRun goes ahead with it and shares the good and bad about it.

vongo_600_1.jpg

I did run into two immediate problems, but found resolutions to both. If you’re beta testing the Office 2007 suite like I am you’ll have a .dll conflict when trying to run Vongo. A quick search online turned up the solution of renaming the offending .dll. I did that and Vongo launched without a problem; additionally, I’ve seen no ill-effects in Office 2007 as of yet.

The second problem had me totally confounded for about three days. After choosing a movie to download, the title would show up in my Vongo Download Manager and then simply disappear. No error message, no warning, it just disappeared. Thinking it was firewall related, I made changes and opened some ports to Vongo per some technical support information, but nothing seemed to help. This issue wasn’t just on the Q1; it was on my desktop as well, so I knew it wasn’t specifically related to the UMPC [..]

Read the full post here

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01Jun2006

Comparison: Samsung Vs P7 Battery Discharge

Posted by Joe in Analysis, Hardware and Samsung. 0 Comments

Kevin [jkOnTheRun] has an interesting article about the batter discharge of the Samsung Q1 and the P7.

I noticed the other day that Carrypad listed the battery discharge rates of the Paceblade P7 UMPC in their review, so I promptly downloaded the same application they used and gave it a whirl on the Samsung Q1. If you’re interested, the software is called Notebook Hardware Control and it’s actually very useful for any notebook computer, not to mention it’s free.

WiFi off, screen brightness at 50%:

  • P7 = 11.3 Watts for a runtime of 2.3 hours
  • Q1 = 10.0 Watts for a runtime of 2.9 hours

WiFi off, screen brightness at 100%:

  • P7 = 11.9 Watts for a runtime of 2.18 hours
  • Q1 = 10.8 Watts for a runtime of 2.68 hours

WiFi off, screen brightness at minimum:

  • P7 = 8.1 Watts for a runtime of 3.2 hours
  • Q1 = 8.7 Watts for a runtime of 3.3 hours

USB devices disabled (through windows hardware control – disables Bluetooth and wifi) screen min:

  • P7 = 7.37 Watts for a runtime of 3.52 hours
  • Q1 = 8.3 Watts for a runtime of 3.49 hours

Read the full comparison and anlaysis at [jkOnTheRun]

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25May2006

Via to overtake Intel

Posted by Joe in Analysis, Hardware and Samsung. 0 Comments

A lot of analysts told us that Via processors are better than the Intel for the UMPC segment and now Computer Active says that it is proven. Now with Intels Dual Core in UMPC they might be able achieve more batter life and performance. Wait a minute - did i read that Via is already working on a Dual Core processor? Well this Article tells us how Via could undercut the Samsung Q1 in particular

c7l.jpg Via’s low-drain C7-M processor allows Origami ultra-mobile PCs to be sold at a much lower price than Intel-based models like Samsung’s Q1, according to a member of the chip’s design team.

Charles Holthaus, who worked for chip designer Centaur when it was taken over by Via, also disputed Intel’s figures for the performance per watt of its mobile processors.

A Via Origami shown at Winhec is on sale in the US for $850 (£490), including a satellite-navigation module, a price that could put it in competition with high-end PDAs as well as traditional notebooks.

The cheapest Samsung Q1 will sell in the UK for a shade under £800 when it comes out on 1 June.

PCW expects to get a Via UMPC in later today for review, at which point we will have a clearer idea of the UK price, and how the C7-M compares on performance.

But even if it lacks the legs for running a lot of applications back to back it could still prove to be a good buy as a mobile workhorse.

Holthaus said Via’s Origami design was rushed out because the high cost of low-voltage Intel processors created an opportunity for the company.

And he said Intel’s way of measuring performance per watt was more suitable for high-end servers and did not reflect truly how much power a processor will drain from a battery doing typical mobile tasks.

In PCW’s tests of the Samsung Q1, which uses a 900MHz Intel ultra low voltage CPU, we found battery life to be closer to 2.5 hours than the claimed 3.5 hours.

But could Via compete when Origamis start to use Intel multi-core processors, which offer both performance and power efficiency?

intel_solo.gifHolthaus said Via had considered going dual core. ‘We haven’t disclosed it on any of our public roadmaps yet but it is certainly technically feasible for us. We already have [two] discrete processors on motherboards today.

‘The next evolution will be to put those on the same die. We haven’t committed to that product yet.’

The C7-M chips were also small enough to put two on an Origami motherboard, Holthaus said.

Source [Computer Active]

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25May2006

It’s now the Vistagamis !

Posted by Joe in Analysis and General. 0 Comments

Microsoft seems to be having a lot of trouble when it comes to naming a product, had they stuck on with Origami for the UMPCs things would have had a different story. Now CNET says Microsoft is getting ready with the Vistagami (come on CNET don’t hint microsoft soft with such names they are already in big confusion). There are people who already managed to install vista on their TabletKiosk, so what’s this vistagami?

With the first Origami devices out the door, Microsoft is setting its sights on the next generation of tiny tablet PCs–products known within the company as “Vistagami” devices.

The new minitablets are likely to resemble the first of the ultramobile PCs, though they will run Windows Vista, rather than XP. Hopefully, they will come with a lower price tag than the first devices, such as Samsung’s Q1, which starts at $1,100.

While Microsoft was under no illusions that it could hit its long-term $500 price goal, the company said Tuesday it was not happy with how expensive the first devices turned out to be.

“We were (disappointed),” said Mika Krammer, a director in Microsoft’s Windows product marketing unit. “We would have liked to have seen a lower price point.“

Krammer said Microsoft doesn’t have much say in what the final price of the device is, but conceded “the ding accrues to us, regardless.”

The software maker generated huge publicity with a “teaser” campaign that touted the Origami idea without revealing many details of the proposal for Windows-based minitablet PCs. However, as the plans became clear, analysts said the hype had moved ahead of reality.

Microsoft is still a strong believer in the concept. “There’s a huge benefit to using a smaller form factor, because it is more convenient and it is more portable,” Krammer said. [Read more]

Via [CNET | News]

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