Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Hauki to the Samsung Q1

All apps, any place
Not a replacement PC
Critics don't get it.

That sums it up: if you've been waiting for a small unit that gives you all of the utilities (MS Office, Internet access, etc.) that you need when even your laptop is too big, then one of the tablet PC's is perfect. I bought my Samsung Q1 to take to conferences, so I could take notes and be connected via free wireless while out of the office. It's been perfect for that, and when I travel, I carry it with me all the time to get directions, events, etc.
The main drawback for all-day use in conferences and planes is that the battery life is about 2.5 hours; but you can buy a battery pack at http://www.batterygeek.net that gives about 10 hours on a single charge.
The "case" for the Q1 is not very useful - I bought a Bodyglove padded CD case, removed the CD sleves, and the Q1, with cables, etc. fits inside the heavily padded case with a strap, and doesn't scream "there's a PC in here - steal me".
The MS Table PC software is built on the MS XP o/s, with additional utilities, including handwriting capabilites - in a notes application and in MS Word (very useful for meetings and conferences). The PDA-like screen 'typing' is very very slow, but there's an optional compact keyboard that is well worth the price.
The reviews of the Q1 and other "UltraMobilePC"s and "TabletPC"s claim that they'll never replace full-size notebooks, but I think they're missing the point. These UMPCs don't replace the notebook, they have the portability and very small size and light weight that we expect, but never get, from notebooks. I wouldn't take my notebook all the places that I take my Q1. I think the critics "just don't get it".

No comments: