JKK, that baby has wireless, so you shouldn't need to take the card out for any reason. Even so, I didn't see anything that showed the contents of a retail package, so I can't tell from the web page that it doesn't come with a cable. In fact, I'll bet the station has a USB port (possibly mini) that then connects to an open USB port on the PC. So it probably does, in fact, come with a cable.

The problem for any Origami or UMPC is going to be that it cannot, because of form factor, possibly solve all flash memory problems because not all cameras (or other devices using flash memory) use the same type of memory. If you put a CF slot in one, then you leave out all the Sonys, older Canons and Nikons, Fujis, and some others. If you make it an SD slot, then you leave some out, and so on and so on. Unless we get tot he point where flash memory only comes in one flavor (which is probably doubtful), then with any small form factor PC, this will be an issue.

I already stated why I don't see it as so much of a problem in another thread. But if you insist that your UMPC must have a flash slot that matches the flash memory your camera uses, you'll be limiting your UMPC choice to what matches. If you do the reverse (match the camera to your UMPC), you limit your camera choices. Cables and/or wireless (which most cameras will have at least one of) obviates the necessity of having to worry about that.

If you want to insist that you have to take the memory card out and put it in a reader, that seems to me an inflexibility on your part. And especially when other options have been pointed out to you, that makes it entirely your affair.

As they say in france: "Vive le difference"

Woadan

You are right, you should not choose your umpc by the slot it has...

.. in my case, i actually have almost all current umpcs, so i have choosed to use 7210 daily and one of the criteria i have is the sd slot. My canon is the older model with no wireless    (edit: it's this model, the wireless control is the remote it has, not for sending files wirelesly )    and the usb cable is on the desk station, which i don't want to carry... My laptop also has sd slot so for me it's so much more easy to just carry the devices without any adapters and move files with sd cards.

I often have to take pictures and send them right away so these tools are creat for me....

Ignar, thnx for honest comparison of the Q1b and R2H. I almost pulled the trigger on a R2H myself, but held back for some reason. You're experiences and f/b were very helpful to me.

 

There are other options. Some card readers are very small and you can plug it into a usb port. Also there are some SD cards that have integrated USB plugs in them (Sandisk has some). jkOnTheRun shows one of these cards in his article about using ReadyBoost in Vista on the Samsung Q1.

The CF port on the Samsung sounded like a big bonus when I started looking at UMPCs, but after reading how slow it is - it has rendered that feature almost useless imo, and I would carry a small CF card reader with me in the photobag to solve that problem.

Hello all,

We are thinking of buying a Q1b for my non-verbal 4 year old son to use as an assistive communication device.  I have created a flash application for him where if he touch an icon/picture on the screen the device would say what the item is.  It's to give a voice and also help with his learning.

When I try out the touchscreen on the Q1 (not Q1b) at a local store, it seems that you have to touch the screen with your fingernail for it to work.  This is an issue since my son would likely only use the tip of his finger, the skin part, to point at the icon, not his fingernail, so this solution wouln't work for him.  This would be a shame as I think the UMPC small form factor would be ideal for him (or us) to carry it around for him to use.

Could anyone with a Q1b, check to see if it has a light-touch screen that doesn't require using fingernail or stylus.  Btw, I did find out that the 7209/10 from TK has the light-touch screen, however these are more expensive than the Q1b.

Thanks in advance,
Hai

hvodinh:

Hello all,

We are thinking of buying a Q1b for my non-verbal 4 year old son to use as an assistive communication device.  I have created a flash application for him where if he touch an icon/picture on the screen the device would say what the item is.  It's to give a voice and also help with his learning.

When I try out the touchscreen on the Q1 (not Q1b) at a local store, it seems that you have to touch the screen with your fingernail for it to work.  This is an issue since my son would likely only use the tip of his finger, the skin part, to point at the icon, not his fingernail, so this solution wouln't work for him.  This would be a shame as I think the UMPC small form factor would be ideal for him (or us) to carry it around for him to use.

Could anyone with a Q1b, check to see if it has a light-touch screen that doesn't require using fingernail or stylus.  Btw, I did find out that the 7209/10 from TK has the light-touch screen, however these are more expensive than the Q1b.

Thanks in advance,
Hai

I don't think there is much difference between Q1 and Q1b screen. That said, I'm surprised you found Q1 touch screen is not sensitive since my Q1b is *very* sensitive. I have no problem touching the screen with my fingers without using fingernails. I also can type dial key with fingers. Maybe the unit in your loca store has defective screen?  On the other hand, Asus R2H has much less responsive touch screen, which is not necessarily bad thing, but you should avoid the model for your purpose.

 

Hello Hai,

I have a Q1b and have no trouble using the touch screen with my finger tip. For example, I can play a virtual piano (http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/music/piano/index.htm) by lightly tapping the keys with my finger tip. I've never used a Q1, but the Q1b does not require a lot of pressure to activate the touch screen.

 

Good luck with your purchase decision.

Chris

 

Thank you both, ignar and Chris, for your reply.  Much appreciated!

Maybe the version in the store still had the protective plastic over the screen and that made it less responsive?

johncl:

Maybe the version in the store still had the protective plastic over the screen and that made it less responsive?

I don't think that is the case as there were no plastic screen cover. I tried it again today and the Q1 at the store was very responsive to light fingernail touch, but doesn't even response to firm, even hard, press of fingerpad (skin only) so I don't think the screen was bad.  Do you think it may be something that can be configured, for example, to reduce the cursor jumping around, or to help deal with the palm resting on the screen while writing using the stylus?  I hope I can find the manual for the Q1b somewhere on the web to check this out further.  I coun'd find anything in the user manual on the Q1 at the store.

I have a question on screen brightness.  How is the Q1b in sunlight or in a car?  How does it compare to other UMPCs currently on the market?

One use I can see for a UMPC in my future is a combination navigation and tracking system (I'm a Ham radio operator that assists in high altitude balloon flight tracking).  It would be far easier to mount a UMPC in a car than using a laptop...

Thanks for any input.

Could someone verify that the Q1b does not have an external ethernet port? I was set to to purchase from CDW tonight but I was reading through the listed specs and they specifically list an rj-45 ethernet port for the q1b. If it doesnt have have the port then I might have to go with the q1 :(

Thanks,
bhds

From what I understand the Q1b has a few things removed compared to the Q1 Celeron and Q1 Pentium versions:

- No ethernet port
- No CF port
- Mono sound (instead of stereo)
- One microphone (instead of the 2 mic array)

I guess it was both to lower costs even further as well as saving power which is the strongest selling point of the Q1b.

Hi everyone with questions about the Q1b. I owned a Q1-b model recently but had to return it because of a problem with its particular harddrive. What I can say about it is the screen is very good for a 7" unit as the brightness is great and the colors also great. It was pretty fast too when opening up windows and programs and the unit itself was lite weight so easy to carry. The stylus was so-so but adequate for input.

I used a usb mouse and keyboard and propped it up with the built-in stand so it was almost like having a mini-desktop. The surpising thing was that the mono speaker had excellent sound coming from it. I also used headphones which output clear stereo audio but I have to say the mono one was good also. Even though mine was returned to the now "out of stock" newegg.com site I recommend it.

Jerry

Thanks johncl.
Did some searching and usb ethernet adapters can be had for under 30 dollars so I guess that wont be too much of a problem. I wish the online retailers would get their specs right. It would sure save a lot of time having to research the online forums trying to get the correct scoop on specs.