In an article "The Worst PCs" 03.20.07

Buyer beware: You'll want to stay away from this batch of laptops and desktops.
PC Mag names the Samsung Q1 among their list of the worst PCs.
PC Mag just doesn't get it, and they seem to be going out of their way to prove it.

You can read the whole article starting here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2105454,00.asp

The Q1 is on the second page:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2105455,00.asp
Quoting the PC Mag summary:

quote:
Product: Samsung Q1
Category: Laptops & Notebooks
Rating: 2.5
Reviewed: 5/1/06
What We Liked: Good speaker sound quality. Full-blown Windows XP operating system. Very portable. Resolution toggle button.
What We Didn't Like: No keyboard or optical drive included. Not very good for writing extensively. PDA-like stylus. Slow processor and nonupgradable RAM.
What You Should Know: Just another slate tablet that can't replace a true PC, but it makes for a nice portable media player that would be more attractive if it weren't so pricey.
Read the full review of the Samsung Q1.


But all this really tells me is that PC Magazine doesn't understand the platform. They don't understand that it is a separate platform.
Unfortunately this characterization of the machine is based on a model that has been updated twice since the initial review in May last year (and the information that places this machine in the Worst PC Category).

The specs for the version currently available (Q1P) are much better with a Pentium M 1.0 gHz and 1 gig of RAM standard.
http://www.samsung.com/Products/UltraMobilePC/UltraMobilePC/NP_Q1_V002SEA.asp?page=Specifications

The Q1 Ultra (announced last week) looks even better.

These goofs at PC Mag just don't "get it". They never have gotten TabletPC's and certainly won't get UMPC's.

"What We Didn't Like: No keyboard or optical drive included. " Duh! It's a UMPC... it doesn't come with these attached. This is understood. They are peripherals.

Chris...

Along a similar line, Motor Trend just slammed the new Honda Accord because it is incapable of space travel and furthermore, it doesn't come with a trailer. They were also upset because there other vehicles available that have 500HP and this car had less than half that. ;)

That review was written 05/2006. That makes it historical information that was recycled. Must have been a slow news month.

Everyone has their priorities-

I had a Sony C1XS soon after they came out and it was 2299 for a machine that was half as powerful as machines that cost half that.

It was the SMALLEST PC to date.

I'll admit I can't find a major use for UMPCs. Obviously there is a market- but I'd prefer the OQO with some kind of keyboard over none. However-

The machines key factor is size.

It's in a sense apples, to lemon drops.
You can fit one in your mouth- and aside from that nothing else matters.

I always thought the idea of laptops was to get MORE portable. Here all these magazines always tout the power of these 17 inch beasts.

To me 12' inches is big, and anything less than that is desirable.