best bang for the buck umpc? i think im getting ocd!

[friedbbq]

been trying to decide what is best for my needs. ive been debating back and forth which would be best for me and what i can afford. my computer needs are heavy internet usage(surfing, reading, watching internet videos in flash and quicktime) and reading documents(pdf, word, excel), and maybe minor file editing on the go which i can use a seperate keyboard.

so far here is what ive been contemplating.

samsung q1b or the ultra q1
tabletkiosk umpc
asus r2h
oqo 02 or ux (last on my list since they are the priceiest)
etc...any upcoming models i should know about?

i plan on being connected on the net via external usb wireless network card from sprint, or maybe a tether from a 3g phone. however, would probably not like the tether option since it will drain the phone battery rather quickly.

thanks for any help/

[Benz145]

I would say UX or OQO as they are truly pocketable, and are serious UMPCs. The Q1 could be looked at as a small tablet PC, but not a UMPC. Its to large to be place in the pocket, IMO if your going to get something the size of the Q1, just get one of Sony's laptops from the TX series (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_TXSer ies&Dept=computers), as they are nearly as small, but still offer a full sized keyboard, and much better specs when it comes to RAM or HDD space.

I'm talking practicality based on design, I can't offer much advice in terms of price:performance as I've only owned the UX 180p. Though if you want to look at if objectively, just gather the specs of the various UMPC's that you're looking at, and see which really offers the best performance (from an objective point of view) for the money.

[Virtua]

Sounds to me like you should be going for something like the new vaio G. Very compact, tough and light weight (smaller than the C series, made from carbon). think you'll benefit from the screen - especially if your going to surf alot. Can be configured with up to
Intel Core Solo 1.33ghz / 2gb / 100gb hdd - drive can be integral or separate.

BOth Conics andDynamism sell it - I was very tempted to get this instead of my new UX.

[friedbbq]

thanks all for the advice. just to clear up my earlier post, my heavy surfing will be primarily reading programming information and forums. not really heavy bandwidth stuff like youtube/videos/games etc...

would pretty much all those models i listed have a snappy reponse with the browser?

also, if i use an embedded internet like usb, or get the evdo/hspda included(i.e. no tethering), can i be connected online all the time, or does the service timeout and i have to wait that 30 second reconnect time?

[Benz145]

The UX is great for mobile viewing. Key features include Zoom in/out hardware buttons. The built in keyboard for URL and other input, and a great one is the ability to easily rotate the display via the quick launcher menu, for viewing long pages such as forums or blogs. When you rotate the display, the UX has been well designed in the way that as you hold the UX vertically, it swaps the zoom buttons with the mouse buttons allowing you to still work with the mouse while rotated. Its a great design, though I might not have explained it very well : P

If I get a chance, I'll upload a picture explaining.

Here we go - first image is using the UX horizontally (you don't need to antenna up as its only for the WWAN):

http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesProducts/MoreImages/VGNUX380N_3.jpg

Second Image is using the UX vertically, the zoom buttons become the left and right click which means you can still hold the UX in your hands up and down and be able to utilize the mouse -

http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesProducts/MoreImages/VGNUX380N_1.jpg

[jeffgrado]

I would get that ux 230 from tiger direct. $1000 is a good price.

[Benz145]

I would get that ux 230 from tiger direct. $1000 is a good price.

Check the front page for a new deal I just found - UX280p for $1129 from Sony.

[friedbbq]

after you guys posted that price, i may be eager enough to wait for the next deal since everywhere seems it is sold out at the 1000 price. the 280p is 1299 for a refurbished though.

[Benz145]

The UX230p ($999) is a different model then the UX280p. The UX230p has a 1.06GHz CPU, and 512MB of RAM. Its (correct me if I'm wrong) the least powerful of all UX's. I personally wouldn't ever get the 230 as its just not powerful enough to be practical. The only time I would ever recommend someone the 230 is if they are extremely budget tight - but even then I would probably just tell them to save their money : P

[friedbbq]

thanks benz145..hopefully by when my tax return comes, i can get on a good deal!

[Virtua]

Depends on what you are going to use it for, and which operating system you are going to run. - I've gone for the highest spec to partly make it a little future proof as well as having some decent speed in my UX - I want to use it as my main PC.

I had a UX50 with 1.06ghz chip and it was a bit slow really (made my money when selling this one because still in hot demand!), then UX90 with Core solo 1.2ghz, plus flash and it was great (lost some money, but you know how it is), now with UX91 and core solo 1,33ghz and flash - post initial problems I had with it, it is definately faster - infact, faster than my desktop - Sony Vaio PCV-V1/G 512mb / 2.8ghz Pentium 4. Flash memory makes a big difference - and with 32gb's instead of 16gbs and 1gb of ram - Vista is no problem.

So if speed is important, I'd pay the extra money.

[friedbbq]

im really impressed with the price of the ux280p now. i hope i may be able to get one by the summer. id really like a brand new one though for around 1100.

[tomt]

The UX230p ($999) is a different model then the UX280p. The UX230p has a 1.06GHz CPU, and 512MB of RAM. Its (correct me if I'm wrong) the least powerful of all UX's. I personally wouldn't ever get the 230 as its just not powerful enough to be practical. The only time I would ever recommend someone the 230 is if they are extremely budget tight - but even then I would probably just tell them to save their money : P


Actually, it's about the same as the UX50.

I think it depends on what you want to use it for. The 1.06 core solo is more than enough power to run nearly any productivity application. The processor really isn't the limiting factor. (Heck, for productivity apps, the system seems at least as fast as my other laptop, 2.2 gig pent m.) To think about it this way - going from 1.06 ghz to 1.2 ghz is a mere 13% performance increase. That's paltry. In an FPS, if you're getting 20FPS, you'll bump up to 22fps. And while 512 meg of ram isn't enough for photoshop, it's much better than you might think for typical everyday applications and a few games - as long as you don't feel a need to go to Vista (and frankly the more I read about vista, the less eager I am to move to it). The real limitation of this model (IMO) is the 30gb HDD, of which you can only use 27gb, and 7gb is formatted for the sony recovery CD's, and sony manages to put an AMAZING amount of crap on the other partition.

I'd be rather leary of purchasing a refurb - simply for the fact that it does not come with a one year warrenty like the 230p does (and I confirmed this with Sony, and FWIW their tech agreed with me). In a perfect world, money wouldn't be an issue and we'd all have the most expensive and fastest units, but I'm glad they put out the 230P. Cost really isn't a huge issue for me (I tend to buy a fair amount of toys), but frankly, I just couldn't justify the price they are asking for the other current models.

The really big advantage of the 230P is it gets you into the form factor. Once you're there, you'll find a ton of uses for the computer you never imagined. FWIW, For my REALLY intensive applications, I've got a Core 2 Duo e6600 w/ 500gb HDD with raid 0 and 8800GTS.

I see computers as completely disposable. Two years is the goal. My UX was purchased with some specific applications in mind and it does the job admirably. However, I expect I'll be buying something else down the road. Future proofing tends to not work out very well - at least for me.

[ruffnexx]

i`d tend to agree with you tom, i`ve got the ux50 and ive been quite happy with it the only grouse i had was the 30gb hard drive which i promptly upgraded to 60gb, its fast enough to run almost every productivity app that i need....spread sheets, word and power point and so far a good few games- unreal tournament, doom3, starwars, scrabble. i actually toyed with the idea of getting a faster one ie 1gb ram 1.33Ghz but changed my mind as i hadnt really had any app i couldnt run, also adding ritepen software made it even more functional.

[zigzag]

i personally from recent expericene (got my 390N about 2 weeks ago, which is the US version of the UX91) wouldnt advise getting it at the moment, ive noticed less than satisfactory performance with Vista, maybe it would run a lot better on XP but that requires a lot of DIY....

but if your patient, the 390/91 is a good choice, maybe time will improve performance (with updated and fixes).

[friedbbq]

as i keep searching for alternatives for a umpc...it seems that the 280p for 1129 is the best bang for the buck eventhough its a refurbished model.