Sunday, March 30, 2008

Why would I wanna buy a UMPC?


(EB MIMD UMPC) and the (i-mate ultimate 9502)

In the words of the famous Janie from the hit television sitcom "Friends"...

OH... MY... GOD...!!!

Has my eyesight gotten worse or has the world gone insane? Are those really tiny 7 inch laptops?? Now I can see that the laptop companies are just plain trying to showoff here..
Can anyone spell identity crisis here? (See above)
Besides the rise of the windows mobile platform as a popular choice of OS for the smart phones, we've got companies like nokia producing a device thats purely for use with the internet (Nokia N800 tablet PC) and now the they're bringing in the UMPCs to come stir up the market as well.
Pretty soon, the line of distinction between what we call a smart phone, internet tablet (if that small segment of the market actually starts taking off) and the UMPCs will start blurring and some smart aleck marketing guru that the makers hire will start coming up with a new term to give to that hybrid device.
BUT.. there are reasons why we like to keep our devices seperate. Because sometimes, a master of something is better than a jack of all trades. Especially during the times where you need to rely on a master.
Qualities of this tiny bugger:
- Small and lightweight
- Packed with decent computing power, mostly for the moderate user.
- Whopping storage space (big big hard drives for some)
A UMPC is a device that seems to be targetted at people who:
- travel a lot,
- don't mind being labelled a sissy (so I'm guessing it must be women),
- probably don't need to spend a lot of time on their computer typing away (I'm definitely out of the equation here),
- and have REALLY skinny fingers who happen to be quite dexterous as well.
- Oh.. and one more thing.. have really good eyesight too..

What UMPC users do with their.. err.. UMPCs:
- Watch movies and videos
- Prepare for meetings by managing their documents and presentations. Its like a huge thumb drive with a screen and keyboard.
- Impress other people by telling them they can pull a laptop out of their pockets
(anyone has anything else to add?)
Anyway, the UMPC is focused for people who travel a lot and don't mind small surfaces to view documents and type on. Resolution on some of these small puppies are quite good mind you.. so watching a movie on them can be a pretty great experience.
But a good tip to bear in mind when buying UMPCs is always choose the one with the longest lasting battery. I mean COME ON.. its focusing on mobility right? So would you want to tie yourself down to a power point every 2 hours?


2 comments:

Shawn said...

I'm posting this comment from my UMPC, a Sony Vaio UX380N. I'm also a programmer and have other machines I use to do serious developmnt work. I think it's wierd you think people with UMPCs are labled 'sissy'. I've never gotten that. I use my UMPC to keep my life in order - email, calendar, IM, etc. It's fantastic for tecnical meetings where I can not only write notes and sketces, but I can take pictures of white boards, etc. I don't travel that much, but I do live in a city and find that it's really nice to be able to have access to an actual PC and wireless broadband... whenever.

As far as tiny keyboards and screens go, It's nice to have a physical keyboard on the run, but when I'm at home or in the office, I dock the puppy and get to use a standard keyboard and a larger monitor. It's really nice to be able to use the UMPC like I would any computer and then have all of that information with me when I'm out and about.

So this isn't insanity, it's the PC I've wanted for about ten years now and I'm looking forward to better designs as the species evolves. :)

Girl Jamie said...

Hi Shawn,

Thanks for the comments man. Well actually, the sissy comments came from some of my..err.. "man-lier" guy friends. You know.. the types who are terrified of anything that might show them as any less manly. I think the whole UMPC thing made them feel a little girly because their female companions who went with them to the IT show to see them went "OH MY GOODNESS THATS SO CUTE!"

I know what you mean when talking about mobility. My mum who has like waning eyesight loves her new tiny PC and INSISTS she can see everything 100%. I'm kinda waiting for her to give it up so I can take over it and fiddle with it more.. kekekekkee... But she's travelling all the time and her baby really helps her keep up with her work.

All the same.. thanks for your thoughts!! :)