Stone UMPC - First Look - Thoughts?

[ZeroHour]

Post here and discuss the possibilities of the stone UMPC here.

 

Original article: http://www.edugeek.net/index.php/component/content/article/37-news_hardware/50-bettt-stone-pc

[zag]

Wow that thing is ugly!

 

Props to them for looking at it but the beauty of the EEPC is its looks and cost. I don't want xp installed on it by default either. Linux is fine when its sold, just let the users do the software upgrades to XP.

[PeterW]

I think the cost may be prohibative on this unit if people are directly comparing it to the EePC, it is already available from a number of OEMs as well here is an example http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133791

[StuartC]

If i'm talking for personal use then the eee pc looks like more fun, purely for the gimmick of solid state and the customisations that can be done. I'd also use it as a cheap web browser/word processor on the go so linux is fine and the eee is cheaper.

 

I just want a slightly larger screen.

[PeterW]

It looks to be manufactured by FIC http://www.fic.com.tw/product/umpc.aspx if you google a bit for Everex Cloud Book, Packard Bell Easynote XS20 there are reviews apparently it was targeted to compete at the same price as the EePC when run with its gOS http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/10/ces_everex_battles_eee_pc/

[StuartC]

It looks to be manufactured by FIC http://www.fic.com.tw/product/umpc.aspx if you google a bit for Everex Cloud Book, Packard Bell Easynote XS20 there are reviews apparently it was targeted to compete at the same price as the EePC when run with its gOS http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/10/ces_everex_battles_eee_pc/

 

I have GOS 2 installed on the workstation next to me here. It's ok but not very flexible at all. I love the integration of web apps but you can just use web favourites. It's ubuntu without Gnome.

[john]

It looks to be manufactured by FIC http://www.fic.com.tw/product/umpc.aspx if you google a bit for Everex Cloud Book, Packard Bell Easynote XS20 there are reviews apparently it was targeted to compete at the same price as the EePC when run with its gOS http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/10/ces_everex_battles_eee_pc/

Correct Peter, it is the FIC unit, DB was telling me about it on Wednesday when I was down and he brought the info up on it.

 

As for it, in a way I do prefer it to the Ee

[Sylv3r]

I looked at both one of these and the RM equivalent and I think I prefered the Stone to the RM for school use just with the fact that it runs XP as that is what staff and students are more acustom to.

 

At £350ish the spec isn't fantastic and is not ideal for a main PC or laptop but it has potential for some tasks.

[torledo]

It looks to be manufactured by FIC http://www.fic.com.tw/product/umpc.aspx if you google a bit for Everex Cloud Book, Packard Bell Easynote XS20 there are reviews apparently it was targeted to compete at the same price as the EePC when run with its gOS http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/10/ces_everex_battles_eee_pc/

 

i was about to say that that thing reminded me of the easynote xs, although of the pictures i've seen of the pb easynote doesn't have the weird calculator holder space that the stone seems to have.

 

the trackpad and mouse click in the corners allows you to hold the device in both hands and is a novel idea, and something i'm sure i can get used to.

 

but i'm yet to be convinced the novel trackpad placement is as versatile as having a normal trackpad or trackstick in the centre. price is the wrong side of 300 quid and xp is bound to be very sluggish..although a plus is that it has a touchscreen and yet bizarelly no way to flip it into a true lay flat tablet...

 

the easynote xs was released with very little fanfair and the decision to offer only xp and not a linux variant has undoubtedly affected the final price of both products. the eee has nothing to worry about with these two....let's see what v2 has in store, although ihave a feeling the easynote might not get to version 2. seems packard bell are a bit embarassed by it, probably because of the eee's better value all-round package.

[farmerste]

i have a small set od 26 samsung q1 ultra pcs, whilst they look good, i have them running xp pro in an active directory domain. I would say they are generally good for whats inside them, but :-

 

1- returning one under warranty is a nightmare, you have to ring samsung and speak to two techies, then ring super unfriendly UPS to pickup the package, and then fill out a form for ups on their arrival.

 

2 the processor power, as with all laptops is quite poor, so its nice and slowand thats with xp, so god help you if you get visturd.

 

3 the wireless is also very slow, as you will find with all wireless connections, so dont expect high speeds.

 

4 the mini 'keyboard' has tiny buttons , and seems to have the key you are looking for missing, ( i now it sounds daft)

 

on the plus side nice clear screen, and for home use they would be fine.

[Grommit]

The register have have a review of the Maxdata Belinea s.book 1 here.

 

Verdit is it's a good UMPC but the Eee is better.

 

 

Thats not quite true... the only reason tthey said it was better was because of the price diffrence..

 

We bought an eee and a Stone UMPC...

 

We are now buying 15 Stone UMPC's as they are a better option..

[TechMonkey]

Thats not quite true... the only reason tthey said it was better was because of the price diffrence..

 

We bought an eee and a Stone UMPC...

 

We are now buying 15 Stone UMPC's as they are a better option..

 

Sorry, V lazy but could you list the benefits over teh Eeeeeee? I've only very quickly seen a few pics of the stone & it looked a bit like a laptop my nephew had when he was 2 so quite interested in the benefits of them.

[Grommit]

Sorry, V lazy but could you list the benefits over teh Eeeeeee? I've only very quickly seen a few pics of the stone & it looked a bit like a laptop my nephew had when he was 2 so quite interested in the benefits of them.

 

The eee has a 4 gb HDD ad the Stone has a 40

 

The eee is Unix and the Stone is XP

 

The stone has bluetooth

 

The stone has a touch screen

 

The Stone is only just over £100 extra

 

The Stone more RAM

 

The idea of these in our schol is for senior staff to take them to meetings..

[localzuk]

*The eee has a 4 gb HDD ad the Stone has a 40

 

Why do you need that much space?

 

*The eee is Unix and the Stone is XP

 

That isn't necessarily a good thing

 

*The stone has bluetooth

 

Which would be disabled as soon as we bought one at our school

 

*The stone has a touch screen

 

So will end up getting damaged by kids who prod too hard.

 

*The Stone is only just over £100 extra

 

£100 extra is a lot, considering it is 50% of the price more!

 

*The Stone more RAM

 

Only because it is needed to run windows properly The amount in the eeepc is more than adequate for what it runs.

 

*The idea of these in our schol is for senior staff to take them to meetings..

 

Our's have normal laptops if they wish to use them. We're only looking at umpcs for kids to use.

[TechMonkey]

The eee has a 4 gb HDD ad the Stone has a 40

 

The eee is Unix and the Stone is XP

 

The stone has bluetooth

 

The stone has a touch screen

 

The Stone is only just over £100 extra

 

The Stone more RAM

 

The idea of these in our schol is for senior staff to take them to meetings..

 

Cool. We have got a few Eeeee's for exactly the same reason. They have been a success so we are getting a few more. I'm going to (try) hold out untill the 900 is released

[projector1]

got one on tuesday, great for going around the site to troubleshooting.

judging by the size of is keyboard and screen ideal for field trips (lightweight, portable, excellent battery life)

and also for primary schools (small keypad, screen, tablet functionality)

 

I demo'd it to staff here and they seamed very interested.

 

It was a little slugish, until i adjusted it for best performance. Got it on the domain, running office 2003 & sophos.

 

Still testing!

[cookie_monster]

Just a side note.

 

The reviewer says

the screen seemed a little cramped running Windows

 

One thing i would say about that is to remove Luna and go for the 2K look it seems to make more space on smaller screens.

[torledo]

went into a pcw store the other day and they had the easynote (aka belinea aka stone aka ....) on display and i was really suprised at how small it was. I really liked the form factor and the build quality. i've no idea on performance and battery life compared to the eee, but first impressions were good. I preferred the design to the eee.

 

I personally wouldn't go with any of the variants that use the 'thumb' trackpad and buttons on either side. That is a truly disastrous idea....

 

i think the belinea uses the more conventinal placement of trackpad which is the one i'd plump for.

 

screen size is another niggle, the amount of space left unused is criminal, they could quite easily accomodate an 8.9inch screen like the new asus, instead of the bizarre use of the right hand side.

[jmcdermott]

Got 32 of these in the school now so thought I should comment.

 

They are ugly! They are slow!

I took one home over the holidays to play with and have to admit I found myself using this ugly, slow thing instead of my monster of a laptop, it is light small and for browsing the web and vnc it is perfect. It also fits very easily into a back pack.

 

I would be very happy carrying one of these around our wireless enabled school and using it to rdp to server, to allow me to do my job from anywhere.

 

As for having XP not Linux, I can see no point complaining about having the licence there to use if you want to if not these machines specs are good enough for running Linux.

 

 

 

 

 

Forgot to rant:

What is the point in supplying skype bluetooth phones to education?