By now, almost everyone seems to be aware of the new Origami/UMPC devices, and especially the
Samsung Q1. It's small, but big enough to use. There is a built-in translucent screen keyboard that uses the touchscreen digitizer. And it has Windows XP TabletPC, so you get to run regular Windows software on it.
The processors are even updated already in the new versions (the Q1B with much better battery life but no bluetooth, and the Q1P with better battery life plus 1gig memory and a bigger hard drive).
After playing with one in person, I had some very definite reactions to it. I basically thought a lot about how people might use it. It was, without a doubt, a great device, so the main issue was how it would fit into someones computing life.
Here's what I think:
1)
If you are basically looking for a much more powerful PDA with a better screen, you will be amazed at how wonderful the device is, but you will probably be disappointed at how heavy and relatively hard it is to carry it around. Especially if you add the keyboard/organizer combo accessory, which I think is almost necessary if you are going to do any real computing. It's just kind of bulky. Because of that, it won't be as easy to carry around as a typical Franklin planner. But if you can live with that trade-off, you'll love it.
2)
If you are basically looking for a smaller laptop, you'll be excited about the portability and price point, and the ability to use it as a slate. But you will probably be disappointed about the USB keyboard and the on-screen touch keyboard.
The USB keyboard is kind of flimsy, and not real easy to type on. But it is sufficient, I suppose, and the thumbstick pointer built into it is a stroke of genius, as is the organizer case. In fact, that keyboard and organizer are enough to make any UMPC without that accessory option to be much less practical. Who wants to use the onscreen keyboard all the time? And would anyone really carry around a separate keyboard and be happy about it?
The translucent dial keys screen keyboard was hard to use. Even after I started to get the hand of it, it just wasn't real pleasant. The buttons were easy to tap and it felt good and was pretty accurate. But it takes a while to get used to the wide split. I don't like using thumbs while holding the unit up, and it was much more comfortable when I put it down. In that case, the keyboard layout is not very good, as it seems to be set up for thumbs.
I'd like to see a similar translucent keyboard, but with a more standard layout for fast two fingered poking, and still room on the screen for the application window. (Maybe there is already a third party program to do that?
Update: I remember now... there's a very nice free one from Illiumsoft offered here.) And I never did figure out how to type an apostrophe or other special characters. So I think a good Origami dial keys replacement could revolutionize the Q1 and all the UMPCs. Even if you have to set them down to type, you almost always at least have a lap.
Some Tentative Conclusions (Which may change any day!)
I think it's a great piece of hardware and I hope this type of computer becomes a big hit. I think it's future is wrapped up in having a great on-screen keyboard, if such a thing is possible on that size screen, and some really effective case options. I guess the jury is still out on how well the manufacturers will do in both of those areas.
So, after a personal hands-on test run, I can definitely see why some people have recently been talking about using it as their main computer. With advances in power management, UMPC software and touchscreen quality, it is going to become a very attractive option for a lot of people.