Q1 vs eo – I’m happy with my eo purchase decision.
The Samsung Q1 UMPC US pricing was announced today. I called CDW and they are currently taking preorders for early June at a pricepoint of $1086.99 for the 900Mhz Celeron / 512MB RAM / 40GB, 4200 RPM Hard Drive. PC Mag has a review. Samsung’s site has more info on specs.
The TabletKiosk eo is $1000 for the 1Ghz Via / 512MB Ram / 40GB HD configuration (AllTP and TabletKiosk).
Based on what I know, the eo is the better choice for me, ignoring price.
- I’ve heard that the eo screen is sharper than the Samsung Q1 screen.
- The eo is a little faster (its CPU is faster AND its 5400 rpm hard drive should be zippier than the 4200 rpm version on the Q1).
- The eo has a touchpoint mouse (like the one you see on a ThinkPad) built in, where as the Samsung has an 8 way (not analog) joystick. The touchpoint is a much better fit with my lifestyle, although I don’t expect to use it much.
- The eo has a docking port. When a cradle is available, I expect to attach a few USB devices and a monitor. Then, I’ll just drop the UMPC into the cradle when I get home. Samsung chose to put the ethernet jack and the VGA port directly on the Q1, which means more cables to connect if you are always ‘docking’ at the same place.
So, I’m happy with my eo decision. Others, though, might opt for the built in CF slot, VGA port and ethernet jack on the Q1. It’s great to have choices!
More at GottaBeMobile (“[lack of a keyboard].. is in fact its strength”), OrigamiPortal , JupiterResearch (Michael Gartenberg has an eo and a Q1), Life on the Wicked Stage (“it sounds like the [PC Mag] reviewer doesn’t really get the concept”), Incremental Blogger.
John Tokash 
John.
I’m a big fan of the VIA-based UMPC devices but one thing that has me a little bit intrigued about the Samsung Q1 is the BIOS based instant-on software (“AVS-Now” I think they call it.) which I haven’t seen on any other UMPC yet. Could be a real plus-point for the Samsung. For me, a VIA-based Samsung would be the best choice. I’m not sure how long we’ll have to wait for that though!!
Good luck with the Eo. Eagerly awaiting battery life tests and info about the BIOS options (usb-bootable?)
Steve / Chippy.
I forgot to mention the ‘instant-on’ media player. I guess it’s a nice-to-have, but I assume you have to reboot after that to get back to XP. I’d rather not reboot my UMPC very often, because that will be a time/battery consuming process. I’ll be using standby as much as possible.
The 5400RPM drive in the eo is going to be a BIG DEAL in terms of performance. My ThinkPad X41 Tablet has a 4200 RPM drive, and though the machine is rather quick when everything is loaded into RAM, if I have to page anything (which happens a lot when I’m waking from hibernate) the machine is simply glacial.
I’m sorely tempted to get an eo when the demand dies down. In the meantime, once you get yours, be sure to make Gordon give you a recent build of Graphite to test on it!
Another of the features on the Q1 is teh built in mics for recording meetings, VOIP(i guess) etc…
I have ordered both(Q1/EO) so I will see which I like and sell the other on eBay…as I am imaging the demand will still be high and I can recoup 90% of my investment in one or the other.