Mobile gadget enthusiasts can’t visit their favorite gadget news sites without being bombarded with news about the latest netbooks. Whether you want to refer to this category of extremely portable and affordable laptops as subnotebooks, ultraportables, UMPCs, MIDs or netbooks, is entirely up to you. What I call them is a whole lot of fun and convenience in a small package. The first netbook to capture our interest was the ASUS Eee PC, then it was the HP Mini-Note. Now it’s the MSI Wind. Let’s see if it’s worthy enough for a spot in your gear bag…

… [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Handheld PCs / Ultra Portables

Tagged: Handheld PC, Netbook, Ultra Portable, UMPC

MSI Wind Netbook Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 5, 2008 at 2:30 pm.

Last year, Asus rocked the UMPC world with their announcement of a small, ultra-portable laptop – for only $200. Several
revisions, image leaks, speculative reports, and price increases later, the eeePC line was officially released – with
$200 added to price tag and 512MB RAM pulled from the default specs. I’ve had the flagship 701 model with 4GB of
solid-state disk space and a 0.3MP (300,000 pixel) webcam. Other model options include the 2G ($300) and 4G ($350)
Surfs with 2GB and 4GB SSD and no webcam, as well as the 8GB SSD/1GB RAM 8G at $500.

… [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Handheld PCs / Ultra Portables

Tagged: Handheld PC, Netbook, Ultra Portable, UMPC

ASUS Eee PC 4G (701) Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 9, 2008 at 11:00 am.

In October of 1993, I bought what was then my ideal computer. It fit in my pocket, had a full QWERTY keyboard with dedicated numeric keypad, had lots of built-in apps, ran all my DOS programs with ease, had a gorgeous monochrome LCD screen and ran for 20 hours on two AA batteries. It was the HP 200LX. For years I used this machine for PIM storage, keeping grades for my students, writing a diary and keeping my important text documents on hand for easy reference. I moved to a new Windows-based grading program a year and a half ago, but I had used my 200LX for all that time. It still sits in my gadget cabinet, one gadget that will never see the light of Ebay.

… [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Handheld PCs / Ultra Portables

Tagged: Handheld PC, Netbook, Ultra Portable, UMPC

OQO Model 02 Ultra Personal Computer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 30, 2007 at 9:15 am.

Ultra portable PCs (uPC) seem to be really hot right now. With
Microsoft’s Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) / Origami devices being announced here there and everywhere, it looks like this product category has the potential to become as popular as PDAs were a few years ago.

Maybe… Exactly one year ago I reviewed the
Sony Vaio VGN-U71P ultra portable Windows XP PC. Despite a few minor complaints, that little guy made a very good travel companion. To this day I kick myself for deciding to get rid of it… Especially now that I don’t have even one Windows PC in the house any longer. Yes, Mac person here.

… [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Handheld PCs / Ultra Portables

Tagged: Handheld PC, Netbook, Ultra Portable, UMPC

Sony Vaio VGN-UX50 uPC originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 14, 2006 at 5:57 am.

Last summer I had the opportunity to review a very small Windows XP computer from Sony. The Vaio VGN-U71P made a good travel companion, but wasn’t perfect due to the fact that you had to also pack a folding keyboard, AC adapter brick and docking station with you if you wanted access to all its features. When it was all said and done, all of these components ended up taking as much space in my gear back as a regular … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Handheld PCs / Ultra Portables

Tagged: Handheld PC, Netbook, Ultra Portable, UMPC

OQO Model 01+ Ultra Personal Computer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 23, 2006 at 11:02 am.

I’ve always been a huge fan of very small computers and have had several such
devices throughout the years. A few notable ones come to mind… Remember the
REX PC Companion? It
was a PDA in a PCMCIA card form factor. What about the hard to find
IBM PC110 palmtop computer?
Then there was the
Toshiba Libretto. I … [visit site to read more]

Filed in categories: Handheld PCs / Ultra Portables

Tagged: Handheld PC, Netbook, Ultra Portable, UMPC

Sony Vaio VGN-U71P originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 13, 2005 at 7:34 pm.