TabletKiosk eo 7110 UMPC

[Brandon Miniman]

To many, project Origami from Microsoft means flexiblity and mobility. The project was all about developing ultra-mobile PC's, or UMPC's for short. It filled the void in Microsoft's product area between Pocket PC and Tablet PC: what if someone wanted fuller functionality over a Pocket PC, but found a Tablet PC to be a bit too large? TabletKiosk was one of the first to the table with its version of a UMPC. Today we'll review Tablet Kiosk's eo 7110, and determine whether this device has any merit in the mobile devices realm. Read on for the thorough review!

[ctitanic]

The button to change the resolution is or was a requirement from Microsoft. The reason for that button is that having this kind of 7" display with a resolution of 800x480 which is not common, you are going to need to switch between different resolutions very often to gain access to some screens that have not been prepared for this small resolution.

Talking about the screen resolutions. The 800x480 give you the best result but some screen do not fit in that resolution. The 800x600 is the one that I use most. The letter on the screen do not look that sharp but if you use Cleartype in your settings and you tune this font, you are going to see very good results. The 1040x600 has the worse results when you are taking about sharpness of the letters. I use this resolution only on those case where I need more screen real estate.

Another point. When we were talking the other night about the extended battery I gave you the information about the Mugen Power Extended Battery which is supposed to have 9 cells, so the battery live is going to be around 3 times what we see in the normal battery. The extended battery that will be sold by TabletKiosk only have 6 cells so the battery life is going to be two times what we have now.

I have been using this device for the last 3 months and I love it. Basically because if you shop around in the market you wont find any laptop that weight under or close to two pounds. The same with Tablet PCs. In another hand, the other ULTRAMOBILE PCS like OQO for example, cost you two times what I paid for this device. Another point that attracted me to this device is that TabletKiosk gives the option to select how much RAM and what kind of HDD do you want installed, in my case I selected 1 GB and a 40 GB HDD at 7200 RPM using the latest technology from Hitachi that use the same power than a 5400 RPM HDD. The HDD is very easy to replace in these devices and I soon replaced with a 100 GB 7200 RPM HDD. Having this configuration the device run a lot better than any device in the market with a 4800 RPM HDD which is the standard in almost all Notebooks/UMPCs/Tablet PCs in the market.

I agree, this is the first chapter of this book and there is a lot to do. But UMPCs brings IT professional a new world. In my case for example, it allowed me to carry my programs code to virtually everywhere. I have been programing in Visual Studio in my eo and that increase my productivity and it makes my tech support a lot better.

From the point of view of multimedia, I have not used my portable DVD any more. The eo brings me the possibility of having a full PC with me where I can watch movies and have my email/internet at any time. Something that I doubt can be done in any Portable DVD.

[Brandon Miniman]

Thanks for sharing, Frank.

Yes, the OQO is more expensive, but also quite a bit smaller than the eo 7110.

Good point about the screen resolution - I hadn't tried flipping on Clear Type while in 800x600, and it looked pretty good.

[ctitanic]

It's always a pleasure to serve your community in any way.

[ChrisSpera]

Its too big, too bulky, and too ugly. I'm looking for a new PC, and this, definitely is NOT it...

However, in all fairness, I'm not sure I'm a UMPC candidate. I'm actually looking at a 17" widescreen laptop...

[jlp]

Brandon,

I don't have a UMPC yet as my fav shop is supposed to be getting a cheaper GPS-less ASUS R2H in a week or two.

But I researched the subject quite a bit.

From what I understand, the D-pad and scroll keys are not really redundant; indeed it looks like they are cursor and page up/page down keys repsectively on a standard keyboard. As you know they behave a bit differently.

Try testing them in Word/Wordpad to assess that.

Also the rez key, if behaving like that on the Samsung Q1 I tested at the shop, it alows you to switch resolution in just 2 (or 3) keypresses: the first press brings the 3 icons on-screen and if you press it a second time fast enough it switches to the next screen rez. Whereas the settings button (if it works like the Asus R2H one) brings a screenful of different settings and you have to press on the screen to change (on the ASUS): screen brightness, volume, screen rez, ambiant light setting, (something like outdoor, room light, bright, games, etc.) and power mode; and for this you have to press the controls on-screen. Therefore the rez-button is an instant shortcut key.

The size problem comes from the need to have a large screen (7" for the first gen), yet they include many buttons and controls around the screen and that of course takes space, making the device larger.

For example the Samsung Q1 body is around 250% larger than the screen itself!!!

It was designed like a super PSP (Playstation portable) down to the cursor keys on the left and 4 "game" buttons on the right, stereo speakers, stereo mic, etc.

The newly announced Arima-built Medion MD RIM 1000 has a slightly smaller screen (6.5") yet packs a sliding keyboard and a front trackpad with mouse buttons and cursor and other control keys in a "pocketable" form factor.

I say "pocketable" because it's even smaller than my Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 I used to carry in my jacket pocket; it's even shorter by close to one inch (2 cm); the Medion weight is close to that of the MP2100 too, yet packs an integrated keyboard and a harddisk, plus the higher rez and more brilliant color screen.

10 years advances in technlology brings quite a bit more.

[jlp]

...
From the point of view of multimedia, I have not used my portable DVD any more. The eo brings me the possibility of having a full PC with me where I can watch movies and have my email/internet at any time. Something that I doubt can be done in any Portable DVD.

What option do you use to store DVDs on your eo? Do you rip them with a special program? Do you compress the files (divx, etc.?) or just rip the VOBs?

[ctitanic]

:eek: ...

[jlp]

:eek: ...


It would have helped if you had answered in a conventional way using text quotes!!

You said you used both ripping DVDs in DvIX and VOBs, but what is more convenient/offers best quality? etc.

Concerning the fact I mentionned the Q1 body is around 250% the size of its screen, you ask me how I calculated it: carefully. You know you take length multiplied by width and compare both results... :D

When I mention the fact I'm about to buy a GPS-less ASUS R2H, you say its quality is not soo good as the GPS antenna is not working. Obviously if I buy a GPS-less device I care less of the antenna's efficiency :p.

As far as the RJ-45 connector most certainly has to do with some series but more importantly I will not use it, So I don't care either.

Regarding your quote "performance is very bad", this means nothing... and everything. What is bad? HDD? CPU? RAM? Screen? Wifi? BT?

Please use text quotes instead of graphics and be more specific in your stance about performance.

Thanks.

[ctitanic]

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[jlp]

"inking" is faster and easier for me

Faster? Easier? Really??

Let's see, you need :
to clip image 4 times and write your ink answer
you need to save each 4 images separately
you need to go to Flickr.com
log in to your Flickr account
upload the 4 files individually
come back here
link the 4 images individually

Faster?? Easier?? :rolleyes: You can fool yourself all you want :eek:, you won't fool me :p!!

Regarding the calculations about the Q1 screen size vs its body size you said: You should recheck your calculations

The very fact you question my figures is proof enough you haven't done any calculations yourself. So instead of ironizing on my affirmation, DO calculate it on your own and post your number here!! Mine is 228.817% precisely; a hair from 230% so in line with my stance: "the Q1 body is around 250% the size of its screen."



Then concerning your position on the Asus R2H poor performance, you say that an expert can reduce the number of processes automatically loaded at startup.

Well, these boards are mostly filled with people more or less experts in the field of computing, of which I can say I am after over a quarter century working deeply in it. OTOH Google can help the rest :p.

Also The R2H RAM is upgradable to 1.3 GiB, not the Q1, nor the eo 7110 AFAIK.

Now if you want further answers to your subsequent posts, please play by the "rules" by using text instead of ink.

Thank you.

[jlp]

:eek: ...

Concerning the Asus R2H, you said: "GPS antenna not working"

Please read Josh Bancroft post about the R2H' GPS; Josh is an Intel engineer who publishes a UMPC blog:

Excerpt: Q: Have you tried out the GPS?
A: Yes, it works great....

Read here. (http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com/2006/12/more-asus-r2h-umpc-questions-and-answers/)

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