-
CNET editors' rating:
3.0
stars
Good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 6 reviews
- See all user reviews
Product summary
The
good: Appealing, polished design; multiple input options, including a QWERTY keyboard; lightweight; big, bright screen; inexpensive for a UMPC; relatively roomy hard drive.
The
bad: Poor performance limits its versatility and appeal; battery life is still short of what's needed for a UMPC; no cellular broadband; the keyboard is an improvement over onscreen keys, but typing is still a challenge.
The
bottom
line: Despite making improvements to its UMPC, Samsung still has work to do. The underpowered Q1 Ultra is best used for on-the-go Web surfing, but there are better and cheaper devices for that specific task, including that new device from Apple you may have read about recently.
Specifications: Processor: Intel A110 (800 MHz) ; RAM installed: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM ; Weight: 1.5 lbs ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/05/2007
- Released on: 06/15/2007
| Price as reviewed | $1,199 |
| Processor | 800MHz Intel A110 |
| Memory | 1GB, 400MHz DDR2 |
| Hard drive | 60GB 4,200rpm |
| Chipset | Intel 945 |
| Graphics | Mobile Intel Express 945GM (integrated) |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Premium |
| Dimensions (WDH) | 9.0x4.9x0.9 inches |
| Screen size (diagonal) | 7.0 inches |
| System weight / Weight with AC adapter [pounds] | 1.5/2.4 pounds |
| Category | UMPC |
Despite shaving about a quarter-pound off the weight of its predecessor, the Samsung Q1 Ultra is on the large side of the UMPC scale at 1.5 pounds, but it weighs only a few ounces more than the Sony VAIO UX390, the OQO model 02, or the Vulcan Flipstart. It's a bit larger than these other models, which makes the Q1 Ultra feel lighter than it looks. It's easy to tote around, either in its cloth slipcase or by the included wrist strap. (The tie for the wrist strap seems suspiciously similar to the one on the Nintendo Wii remote's wrist strap, however, which is infamous for snapping at inopportune moments.)
Aside from being a bit lighter, the Q1 Ultra's overall design hasn't changed much from last year's model. A bright, clear 7-inch widescreen display dominates the glossy, black plastic chassis and features a native resolution of 1,024x600, which is higher than the original Q1's 800x480 native resolution. The screen might be the Q1 Ultra's most appealing feature; it's perfectly capable of displaying Web pages properly and giving you plenty of room for the Windows desktop.
The face of the Q1 Ultra is covered by a sometimes confusing array of buttons and controls, which require a little trial and error to use properly. Half of a QWERTY keyboard sits on each side of the display, positioned for thumb typing, as on a Blackberry or Treo. The buttons are even smaller than the Treo's--although not by much--and since they're made of the same slick plastic as the rest of the system, they can be hard to get traction on. Rubberized keys would be welcomed. Typing on the Q1 Ultra is a chore, but it does become easier with practice. But in practical terms, as discovered by writing part of this review on the Q1 Ultra's keyboard, lengthy text input will never be the system's strong suit.
Fortunately, there are other input methods, including a touch screen with stylus and a ThinkPad-style mouse pointer. The mouse pointer is located under your left thumb, while the left and right mouse buttons are under your right thumb, along with a four-way input that works like the arrow keys on your keyboard. That's the opposite of the setup on the Sony VAIO UX390, OQO model 02, or Vulcan Flipstart, all of which have the mouse pointer on the right and the mouse buttons on the left. Since we generally use our right hand to mouse, the Q1 Ultra's setup seemed odd at first, but we quickly got used to it.
The touch screen works with both the included stylus or a fingertip, and while it likely won't be your primary input method, being able to reach over with your thumb and click the submit button on a Web form after typing something in a text field is a huge help. As with the other UMPCs we've looked at, having multiple input methods is vital to making these machines even somewhat useful.
Additionally, a few touch-sensitive buttons sit above the screen, next to a Web cam. These include volume up and down buttons (but no mute control) and a button for bringing up Samsung's custom onscreen menu, giving you control over screen brightness, the Wi-Fi connection, and other options.
| Samsung Q1 Ultra | Average for category [UPMC] | |
| Video | VGA-out | VGA-out |
| Audio | Headphone jack | Headphone/microphone jacks |
| Data | Two USB 2.0; SD card slot | Two USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader |
| Expansion | None | None |
| Networking | Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. | Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN |
| Optical drive | None | None |
The ports and connections on UMPCs in general, and the Q1 Ultra specifically, are sparse but functional. With two USB ports, a headphone jack, an SD card slot, Bluetooth, and a VGA out, most of your connectivity needs should be covered, save for the occasional FireWire device. In addition to the built-in 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, we think a UMPC should offer cellular broadband for times when you and this highly mobile device aren't sitting in a HotSpot. A higher-end model, the Q1 Ultra-CMV, is scheduled to arrive next month with a mobile broadband chip from Cingular.
While we could see ourselves coming to terms with its various input options, the Q1 Ultra's deal breaker is its performance. While the Sony VAIO UX390N uses a 1.3GHz Intel Core Solo CPU and the Vulcan FlipStart uses a 1.1 GHz Pentium M, the Q1 Ultra features a relatively new 800MHz Intel A110 CPU. Although specifically designed for pocket-sized devices, the Q1 Ultra's processor simply can't keep up with the laptop CPUs in the other UMPCs. With its large display and touch screen controls, we thought the Q1 Ultra would make an excellent portable media player, but we found its performance in playing back media files--either streaming online or straight from the hard drive--to be spotty at best, with frequent stuttering, making the system less useful by far. The system also struggled to run Windows Vista--accessing OS menus regularly slowed things to a crawl.
The new processor, however, did help with battery life. The Q1 Ultra ran for two hours and 16 minutes on our DVD battery drain test, using an external DVD player hooked up to one of the system's USB ports. This is an especially grueling test, so you can expect longer life from casual use. We got a little more than three hours of battery life in our hands-on testing, which is still not acceptable in a device that can rightly be expected to stray from a wall outlet for long stretches.
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- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 6 reviews
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