Samsung Q1U

Samsung Q1 ultra review

The built in keyboard is pretty useless, the screen keyboard is much more practical. Some people swear by the handwriting recognition, which really does work well and even Putty supports it, but I can't see using it full time.

I can't get used to the mouse pointer, but the touchscreen works great, even without the stylus. Some things are just a lot more fun to use with a touchscreen; flicks (on screen gestures) are also quite handy.

For extended typing I bought a small Logitech NetPlay keyboard, which works quite well; q1u has a built in tilt stand that makes for a nice workstation setup.

http://zooid.org/~vid/pics/q1u-netplay-samui.png

The performance of the q1u is pretty good. I didn't get time to install Linoox before departing, but once I turned off Vista's visuals I can run multiple apps, including Google Earth (which is fun to use with the GPS logger, though immediate connected support is a pay option I haven't explored), with good performance.

Just for fun I even set up Eclipse on it, and it was completely usable(this unit has a low power 800mhz chip and 1 GB of RAM).

Battery life is about 4 hours at most, and it recharges quickly. The extended battery wasn't available since it's a new device.

With its 60 gb hard disk, it's good for storing media, and we also carried a number of movies, which look great on the bright, crisp 1024x600 screen (1024 width being essential for web browsing). Of course we use VLC. :)

The built in cams (front and back) are not great quality, but still handy for sending quick videograms. Maybe I could tweak the settings for better quality, but it's nowhere near the Macbook Pro's cam quality. Still, you can use it as a computer based camcorder, with wireless internet it could be quite neat for roaming videoconferencing. Funnily enough almost ten years ago using my lil Fujitsu B series (touch screen notebook) we used an external web cam to record video, even in the Louvre. People must have thought it was very high tech, though it was pretty awkward. This is much more practical.

It also mostly works quite well using Skype for VOIP to places around the world, it has dual mics so is noise cancelling. Skype is quite convenient and economical.

We were able to share the net using Bluetooth, which is great for hotels that charge exhorbinently for each connected computer. (hmm, I know I spelled that wrong, why is Firefox's spellchecking not working?)

All in all it's a lightweight device that does everything you need a computer for, you can carry it on its own and it is compact and weighs very little, the power supply and keyboard add just a bit more making it very practical.

It's now for sale! $1100 CDN. Contact me - vid_q1 -at- zooid.org.

http://www.samsung.com/Products/UltraMobilePC/UltraMobilePC/NP_Q1UA000SEA.asp?page=Specifications

http://www.umpcportal.com/livelinks.html?id=105

U models - 1024x600, front and back camera (some), 1.5lbs

Slower processor!

~~But not available yet?~~ ordered on June 24, 2007.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.do

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/06/04/124854.php

http://www.christopherwelle.com/2007/06/introducing-q-bert-samsung-q1u-v.html

http://www.xyzcomputing.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5412

http://www.gottabemobile.com/CommentView,guid,985E2049-399D-4A83-9E3C-3AF5AA43C805.aspx#073d0d00-9403-4618-abb8-d3760e70405e - nice video review with comments

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=11356 - screen protectors comparison