UMPC, sub-notebook overview at PC World. Good questions asked.
James Martin has a well-rounded summary of the UMPC and sub-notebook offerings for folks new to the space. He covers the pros and cons of some example devices including Fujitsu’s U810, Vulcan’s FlipStart, and the Asus Eee PC to name a few. More importantly, he poses some key questions that a potential UMPC or sub-notebook owner should ask themselves:
- Will an ultracompact laptop meet all your business needs when you’re traveling?
- What will you need tomorrow?
- How powerful is your primary computer?
- How will you back up and swap files?
Good questions all; they generally focus on the primary questions we’ve suggested in the past. Considerations I’d also recommend or re-phrase: What tasks must you be able to do on your UMPC? Where will you primarily use the device? What type of connectivity needs do you have? How long does the device need to work on a single battery charge? Have you written down all of your answers to these questions and compared the currently available devices against it?From a potential purchase perspective, this device class is actually no different than handhelds, notebooks and desktops in terms of how you choose which one (if any) are on your must-have list. You want the right tool for the tasks you perform, regardless of a reviewer’s opinion. Everyone is different, so as we say: there’s a device for every owner an owner for every device out there.
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We are going to need a comparison between the eeePC and the coming Cloud Book. Performance, Battery life and things like that.
..wiley
NW Houston
I’d add, “how (or where) do you want to carry it” (e.g. in a laptop bag, under the arm, in a purse, in a pants pocket, in a shirt pocket, on my wrist, etc.).
The smaller you go, the more important form factor becomes. For a laptop bag, the difference in size between the MacBook Air and a thicker notebook is minor. For a pocket, the difference between an OQO and a WiBrain is significant.
One should also ask if inking is part of the requirement.