Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
I really enjoyed my Psion Mako while I had it (which could have been longer, but the hinge turned out to be a weak point in its design). I could have used that as a UMPC forever, and could have replaced a PDA with it, too.
Today, my biggest problem with evaluating UMPCs is finding one to evaluate. With the decline of the electronics chains like CompUSA, there are fewer places that carry electronics, and only a few of them allow you to do any creative test-driving of a device to see how it works. And I have little interest in paying over $800 on a device that I've never even turned on.
A local electronics store has moved into the old CompUSA space in Rockville, and I've had the chance to check out the Asus UMPC, as well as a few small laptops for comparison. But I haven't seen some of the others I've wanted to check out, so I'm taking my time before I pick anything.
So far, I've seen nothing particularly compelling about the UMPCs I have seen, other than the price of the EEE PC (and I'm still trying to figure out how they can justify charging you extra for a black case, as opposed to a white one!).
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Retail store purchasing people can see that the mass market has no interest in the current UMPC's thus far so you do not see them in that many retail stores. Again UMPC's need to create a productive need. People already have the choice of laptops and sub notebooks, and now some cheap subnotebook size UMPC's. What is and has been missing is a jacket size pocket laptop like the shape of a Psion. It is not a replacement of a laptop for everyone but there are millions whom could and would use that as the primary computer.
While there are people like "DMcCunney" and need a larger non jacket size device, that population is very small. After over a year only 350K of such devices worldwide have sold.
There is no one form factor for all but there is clearly a huge void for the people whom are very mobile whom would love not to carry a computer larger than their jacket pocket yet there is nothing offered at this time. I am amazed that the OEM's do not learn from mistakes as the UMPC's and MID's are just building similar devices of form factors already created in 2007 yet those had no real sales to speak of and they think something else is going to happen?
The world uses a touch type keyboard for inputing and working with full Windows so trying to change human behavior to something less desirable like a thumb input slider, or pen input has never ever worked. If they just used a form factor like a Psion which did have good sales and people enjoyed the ease of typing the UMPC's would have good sales. In the 1990's the devices like the Psion and HP Jornada had yearly sales over 2.3 million. Imagine now a device like that but with the power of a full laptop able to load any windows program? That would be a mobile sales persons dream machine.