Asus R2e UMPC just around the corner: hitting in November?
If you like the overall design of the Asus R2H UMPC but want an 800 MHz A110 CPU on the inside, it looks like your dreams come true this November. Mobility Site indicates that the current Pentium-driven R2H stock is about hit zero and that the Intel A110-based units are ready to take their place. From what I can see, this is still an 800 x 480 display with the same 512 MB of RAM installed. If the unit still has the 256 MB of on-board RAM, that will get you up to 768 MB of memory out of the box. The other big difference is a key enabler of mobility: an integrated HSDPA module for speedy mobile connectivity.
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The R2H with a Pentium M is a slow dog, I can’t imagine it with the slower processor.
Let’s suppose I have been dreaming about the Asus R2H UMPC but want an 800 MHz A110. Why would I? The HSDPA I get, but what’s the advantage to the A110?
Wow! I can’t wait to trade in my current R2H with its 900 mhz cpu for the added bonus of losing 100 mhz and… wait, what were the other things? I guess hsdpa is good, but I really do not see the appeal of these slow A110 processors, why not just throw in an AMD Geode at 600mhz. These upgrades are going in the wrong direction.
While I’m inclined to agree with the slow CPU comments, and I prefer the older Pentium M chips in a umpc I would use, 800 mhz on paper should just be enough to do the job. I’m typing this on a very responsive vista convertible tablet; and the cpu is downclocked to the 700 – 760 mhz range. Of course I have dual cores, but still.. it’s really responsive even while locked to such a low speed. I guess it depends on how much they can optimize the OS and their own drivers.
I think I’m going to skip this generation of UMPC’s – they are all nice (HTC shift, ect) but I’d like a bit more CPU power; there isn’t much point for me in taking a portable device everywhere to work if you have to work longer to accomplish the same level of work a ultraportable could do in a shorter time.
For the ram, it looks like the sign in the picture says 1gb ram. But the question is if we can install 2gb of ram; then vista might actually run halfway decently.