And what about the downside of UMPC's?

[Bob Russell]

You can find people that rave about UMPC's (well, a few of them anyway), and people that slam them. In fact, it has become a favorite sport to slam the UMPC as relatively worthless on the grounds that it's not as powerful as a full tablet pc, but too big to fit in your pocket. I think those comments show that people are missing the whole point, but that's a discussion for another day.

Today I want to point you to a unique and interesting post from Kevin Tofel over at JKOnTheRun. He is excited about the UMPC and tablet pc's, and has been providing some really interesting hands on reports based on his experiences with a Samsung Q1. And now, in the post referred to above, he gives the downside in a practical and rational way. Not as a UMPC hater, but as a real user who is sharing some of the weaknesses of the device. This type of coverage is very helpful and interesting and well worth a look.

I suspect that there are many like myself that are watching the whole UMPC thing from a distance, waiting for it to progress just a bit. It's a great idea, but needs the upcoming improvements such as better battery life, less kinks, lower prices and maybe even some better screen resolutions. The value ratio just doesn't seem to be there for the casual user, so right now you have to be a hardcore fan, or have a significant use for it. I wouldn't be surprised a bit if we see it show up soon in the hands of corporate users in the field.

The good news from Kevin is that the device meets his needs despite its weaknesses, and if you look at his complaints they all appear to be items that future generations of devices will probably solve. People talk about the UMPC as if it was a failure and Microsoft missed the boat. I don't agree. I think it's early, and variations of this form factor are here to stay. I hope so, anyway!