Mossberg revisits UMPC

Michael — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:31:40 +0000

I wrote last month about a WSJ article panning the Flipstart UMPC.

Today Mossberg is a lot kinder; writing about the Samsung Q1 Ultra, he says it takes over four minutes to reboot it, the battery lasts about 3 hours, and it costs too much at $800. But his conclusion is: “if you don’t do a lot of document creation, and value small size and weight enough to put up with some hassles, the UMPC is finally an acceptable choice.”

This has to be a huge relief to Paul Otellini. Intel is banking on the UMPC becoming a mainstream device.

Mossberg pans FlipStart UMPC

Michael — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:11:29 +0000

Mossberg pans the FlipStart UMPC in today’s Wall Street Journal. Comes to the usual conclusion that the in-between form factor falls between two stools rather than finding a vacant sweet spot. The keyboard is too big for thumbing and too small for touch typing. The screen is too small for regular Windows work. It doesn’t fit in your pocket. He goes further than these generic objections to UMPC in his critique of the FlipStart, saying it’s riddled with bugs, too expensive, too thick and too heavy, though he likes the screen size and the battery life.

Citing the iPhone, he concludes that the mobile PC of the future will evolve from the smartphone, rather than the laptop. I agree.

Wirevolution » UMPC

Mossberg revisits UMPC

Mossberg pans FlipStart UMPC