<p>Don't buy more than you need. Laptops cost much money. $299 laptops are rumored to be released Q2 or Q3 though.</p>
<p>I managed to get a good used tablet for $600 (using money I got from selling an Xbox 360 I won from Mountain Dew ^.^). One of the best decisions I ever made.</p>
<p>I can't live without my desktop, so I'm planning on bringing that with me next year plus a mobile device.</p>
<p>Am I really the only one anxiously awaiting my chance to get a UMPC? It looks like the college student's dream - the 7" screen should be large enough to take notes on (about the size of half a piece of notebook paper) and it would be the perfect size for whipping out during a lecture and carrying around with you. They will run XP Tablet, so OneNote would work, and they will be priced $600-1000 (compared to $1000+ for tablets right now). The only concern right now is battery life, but if they can handle 3 hours before a charge that would suit me fine. </p>
<p>For those unaware, UMPCs (Microsoft's "Origami Project) are Ultra Mobile PCs. More information can be found here: <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/default.mspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/default.mspx</a></p>
<p>^^^
Only negative with those is they all have CELERONS... good luck with that, I was really interested until I read that.</p>
<p>whats wrong with celeron arnt they the one that are pretty good for battery life ect or ru talking about a desktop (Sry if this is a dumb questions)</p>
<p>They will either run Pentium M, Celeron M, or the Via VN800/VT8237. Asus, Samsung, Founder, and ECS have all 'taken sides' with Intel, whereas PaceBlade and TabletKiosk will initially ship w/ Via's alternative.</p>
<p>And the only difference between the Pentium M and Celeron M is that the Celeron M has less L2 cache and can't step down speeds (or be downclocked to save power, in other words). Therefore, the Celeron will almost certainly get the worst battery life while possibly costing more than the Via models.</p>
<p>But the important thing is that the Celeron M is NOT the only processor that will be offered.</p>
<p>um UMPC looks like crap IMHO... seriously I wouldnt even consider that thing a computer.. looks more like a gameboy</p>
<p>Its not the only one that will be offered, but it seems that Celeron Ms are favored over Pentium Ms as of now, for whatever reason, battery life, necessary speed, etc. All I know is every celeron PC I have ever used has been a nightmare for multitasking.</p>
<p>Again, Stunna7516, you are wrong.</p>
<p>As I said in my previous post, Celeron Ms cannot be downclocked to save battery life as Pentium Ms can. As it stands, the VIA VN800 models offer the best battery life (power consumption) followed by the Pentium M. Celeron Ms will be used in lower-end models soley because of price considerations (the manufacturer can save $75-100 going with a Celeron M over a comparable Pentium M). Pentium M models will probably cost $800-1000 whereas Celeron M models will start at $600.</p>
<p>And again, the name Celeron means absolutely nothing. It's a product line, and one generation can differ vastly from another. The ONLY difference between the Celeron M and Pentium M is the size of the L2 cache. The architecture is exactly the same.</p>
<p>There has been absolutely no indication whatsoever that manufacturers are "favoring" Celeron Ms over Pentium Ms in UMPCs.</p>
<p>Except for the fact that Ive seen the first four models for UMPCs 3 of them use Celerons... thats all I meant by "favoring". I didnt analyze the companies or the performance and battery life of each model. And to tell you the truth I dont know anything at all about Via.</p>
<p>And I dont know too many people who downclock their CPU, whether or not it might give them an extra bit of battery life.</p>
<p>No, downclocking isn't underclocking. If a PM processor isn't being used, it will downclock itself to conserve energy and extend battery life. However, Celeron M processors will keep burning a little under 30 watts, even when you're not using them. I think this is true.</p>
<p>asus w3 with duo core. my cousin has the solo core model and the laptop is nice. the screen is larger enough for games (14") but small enough to still be portable. asus laptops are generally $200-400 more expensive than similar models but if you want style and reliability, asus is the way to go.</p>
<p>Exactly slorg. This feature is also known as speed-stepping. Here is a pretty useful overview of the low-voltage P-M, Cel-M and Via C-7 M that will be used in the origami UMPCs:</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is these devices aren't built for multitasking. A 7" screen will make it relatively difficult to be, say, replying to CC posts while talking on IRC and listening to music at the same time. I am definitely not saying that these UMPCs will replace desktop PCs or laptops, but they look to be a worthy sub-$1000 ultra-mobile device for taking to class and carrying around. And considering the number of people who will spend $2000 on just a single laptop, if you were able to grab a Via UMPC that got 4 hours of battery life for $600 you could just spend that $1400 on a more powerful desktop and have the best of all worlds: you'd have a nice, powerful and upgradeable desktop as well as a mobile solution far more portable that the typical college laptop. This is what I'm hoping to do.</p>
<p>I love my Acer Travelmate, it is durable, reliable and high performance, many of them have dedicated good video card such as ATI X1200 with less than around $1000, you can play games on there...</p>
<p>live- : then why stop at UMPC? I would much rather wait until other companies release their competitors which would more likely be better than UMPC. Even if they aren't, you lose nothing. I would wait before buying a product off the shelves after release.</p>
<p>BTW: what IRC network/channel is you chatting on?</p>