Weekly Roundup
Welcome to Part 4 of the Ultra Mobile Computing Buyers Guide. The final part is titled ‘Additional Information and further reading’ and ties up the lose ends by going over some of the less commonly found features. We also give you a big reading list.
We feel we’ve done a good job on it and covered a lot of ground and a good level of detail but if you want to see additional content or make corrections, please let us know in the comments below. We’ll consider adding it to the next issue which will be published during the summer of 2009.
If you enjoyed the series, please consider promoting it by linking, digging, sharing or highlighting in some way.
Buyers Guide posts:
- Introduction
- Part One: ‘What is Ultra Mobile Computing?’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.
- Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’ It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.
- Part Three continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.
- Part Four (below) ‘Additional Information and further reading.’ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.
The compete series will be published next week as a free PDF or e-book for non-commercial use. If you would like to use it for commercial purposes, please contact us to discuss.
Read on …
Part 4 – Additional Information and Further Reading.
Docking stations
One feature that UMPCPortal considers very important for mobility is the docking station. Some of the higher-end tablet UMPCs are capable enough to be used as desktop PCs and having tested this setup a number of times now, it’s clear that it’s a valid usage scenario for UMPCs of the future. The problem is that most UMPCs are manufactured by people that also make desktop PC’s so you will rarely see this usage model promoted!
The docking station should support docking through a dedicated docking connector or through a PCI-Express connector so as to support direct connectivity and control of a monitor (for dual monitor operation.) Avoid cheaper USB docking solutions if you want to use a UMPC in this kind of setup.
Currently very few UMPCs come with docking stations. Hopefully this will change in the future.
Other features
As time goes on and competition in the market increases you will see more and more features being added to the wide-range of UMPCs on the market. Some will be generally useful and others useful only to a niche type of customer, other features will be purely marketing-related. The list is long but here are the most common features to consider:
- DVB-T/H and DMB (Digital TV over terrestrial transmissions to be picked up using an aerial.) Is country dependant. Some UMPCs offer these facilities but only in countries and cities where the service is available.
- Built-in GPS. Can be very useful for in-car usage but as more and more smartphones include GPS, its arguable that for most consumers, the build-in GPS on no longer needed. For some applications using vehicle tracking though, this could be a requirement.
- Fingerprint reader. Combined with a good software suite can limit the amount of username and password entry need. Also simplifies the login process. Can also increase security of data when combined with disk encryption.
- Stereo speakers. Generally, speakers on UMPCs are quite low quality due to the size. If its important to you (Kitchen film watching, background music while surfing, video conferencing) then make sure you check out the quality.
- Rugged builds. In general, mid range and low-end UMPCs do not offer any level of ruggedness but some specialist devices are available. We don’t cover specialist rugged-build devices but there are some consumer devices that are able to withstand the knocks and bumps that a device might experience in a home.
- Extended battery options. For all-day operation extended battery options are available with some UMPCs. They add weight and size. One tip here is to ignore the mAh figure until you know the voltage of the battery. Capacity is expressed in watt-hours (Wh) so make sure you find out this figure before buying a battery. As a rule of thumb, 10wh will bring about 1 hour of computing time on the average 7-10″ UMPC under average usage conditions. For the newer, smaller devices, you can expect up to 1.5hours per 10wh of battery capacity. On average, each 10wh will add about 2.5oz (75 grams) to the devices overall weight.
- Active digitisers. Regarded as the best option for pen input (handwriting, sketching, annotating) but do not permit finger touch response unless the are combined with a second, resistive layer. Only some specialist devices are available with this combination.
- High brightness screens. For outdoor use, high brightness screens are essential. Look for brightness figures over 280 nits for outdoor, under shade and in-car usage. Some mid-range UMPC devices are available with 300 or 350 nit screens. Specialist devices can offer more. Operation in direct sunlight is generally not possible with normal UMPCs.
- Built in cameras. For web conferencing or video calling, a built in 1.3MP camera can be useful. It is important to check on the sensitivity if you are looking to work indoors under normal home lighting. Some devices also come with forward facing cameras. At this time, there are no UMPCs that offer digital photography class cameras. (Glass lenses, manual focus, optical zoom etc.)
- Small PSU units. If mobility is your aim, make sure you check on the size of the power supply unit. Some can be big and heavy!
Other aspects to consider
Style and customer service are the main considerations that you won’t find detailed on reseller pages. Style plays an important part in the UMPC market. These devices are very personal, a new breed, go out of the house a lot and for many people the style is a very important characteristic. Its personal choice here. I’m afraid we can’t help you!!! Customer service is not something we track on UMPCPortal either so make sure you do a little research. Generally a search for “[company name] problem (blog OR forum)” brings up interesting results but don’t take them out of perspective. Google usually shows you exactly what you were searching for.
The near future
The UMPC market is a fast-moving one so waiting for the next device to come is always going to be an option. As this is being written there are devices based on 2007 technology that have been announced and still haven’t reached the consumers while some CPU manufacturers have already demonstrated next years technology. The overlap is big! As the UMPC marketplace becomes more competitive, so more effort will be going into design and unique features and within months of buying a device, a new model will be announced that will have better features and a better price. This will affect residual prices of devices and you have to be aware that reselling the device to fund a new model won’t be an option unless you’re the type of person that buys for a three month span and then sells the device while it’s still current.
The pro-mobile market is fairly slow moving as the competition here is relatively low and many solutions are made as one-off designs. We expect the Intel Atom processor to filter into this segment during 2009 along with 3G options. Prices will remain relatively high.
The netbook market is at the other end of the scale. Here, products are being announced every week. Prices drop as models leave the market and in some cases, certain models are announced before the previous model becomes available. We don’t expect technology to change much during 2009 with Intel Atom devices making up the biggest percentage. VIAs C7-M based devices will continue to find a home in Asian and developing markets although the new Nano processor should appear in devices before the end of 2008.
The MID market is just starting and we’re expecting this to gain momentum during 2009. Prices will drop rapidly and buying a device from this sector will take a lot of research as software updates on the Linux-based systems can change features and usability overnight. We expect MIDs to appear through carriers in Europe during the first half of the year with US-based carriers starting to offer the devices later in the year. The reseller network will be initially very small and it could be difficult to get hands-on. We don’t expect any new silicon platforms in this segment during 2009 so the Intel Menlow platform and ARM Cortex-based platforms will be the two main choices.
Our suggestion is to do what we said before. Be honest! If you’re honest with yourself about what you need and there is a device that matches your requirements then there is no need to wait. You will only be waiting to buy something that does more than you needed in the first place. Your requirements are likely to mature after you’ve bought the device but over time, you can re-consider your requirements and keep them in mind for your next purchase.
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I need to stop right there because currently there is only one pocketable device with WiMax and that’s the Nokia N810 Wimax. Vikenty asked for GPS (check), WebCam (check), IP-phone (check)and Windows XP (Bzzzt!) All is not lost though because a lot of the MIDs will be modular. For example, the Viliv S5 might come with GPS and WiMax in certain markets (I’m told.) The problem is that it doesn’t have a keyboard. In fact, trying to put ‘easy document editing’ and ‘350g or less’ in a single device is going to be very difficult. Vikenty, I don’t think there’s anything I can recommend to you at this stage. To get the keyboard in a device that weight is going to be an engineering challenge for at least another 12 months and even then, XP might not be available anymore. The best I can recommend is that you keep an eye on the Viliv S5 and look for a small foldable keyboard to go with it. As for the mobile phone, it really depends on what you want to do with it. I’m a big fan of the Nokia N-series because of their outstanding ability to create images and video but if that’s not your thing then maybe a small, basic feature phone? I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on the phone choice. Sorry!
There’s only three devices that I can think of here. The Gigabyte M912X, the Kohjinsha SX3 and the end-of-line Fujitsu P1610. Unfortunately the M912V isn’t the coolest kid on the block and at 1.35KG with a 3hr, 3-cell battery, it’s not going to get close to the 1KG mark. Fortunately the P1610 could fit the bill. I’m seeing it in Europe for about 750 Euros (just under the 600 pounds mark) but I haven’t seen it in the UK for that price yet which means having to buy from somewhere like Germany and replace the OS and keyboard. Not so easy! Keep an eye out for offers in the UK as this gets cleared to make way for the P1620 and P1630. Don’t worry about it being ‘old’ because its still got great specs compared to today’s netbooks. 1280×800 screen. Intel (Linux friendly!) Core Solo with 945 chipset and 60GB drive. Watch out for memory upgrade costs and don’t forget to look for the extended battery that you’ll need to reach 4 hours. As for the SX3, you might get lucky and find an import for around 600 pounds but you’ll definitely need the extended battery. It runs Vista in a rather unimpressive fashion but there’s a possibility in the next few months that an XP downgrade is achievable with new drivers but its not Linux friendly right now (although Ubuntu might be building Poulsbo support into their April ‘09 Ubuntu-Mobile release.)
