The term UMPC stands for Ultra Mobile PC. The first UMPC that most people remember is the Toshiba Libretto, which is positively clunky by today's standards. More recently, small screened, SDD driven (rather than hard drive based), UMPCs have been released by many manufacturers, including Asus, Dell, Acer, and others.
The biggest advantage ought to be price, if the current market is anything to go by; unlike other systems, it seems that manufacturers are intent on undercutting each other to grab a slice of a very lucrative market.
Screen Size
The screen will be small; it has to be in order for it to fit inside the small space provided by the box. In fact, the size of the screen will dictate the portability, as well as the space available for the trackpad and keyboard.
The smallest screen for comfortable long-term use is likely to be around 10.2 inches. Even this, however, is pushing it for intensive use. Bear in mind, however, that the bigger the screen, the bulkier the end result will be.
For basic email and web use, a screen slightly less than 10.2 inches ought to be fine, as well.
Keyboard
Often the bane of many mobile users, the keyboard should have keys that are no less than 3/4 size. The Libretto had half size keys, making it very hard to type on at speed.
The later Asus EEE PCs replaced the smaller keyboard with larger, springier ones. This was made possible by the fact that the bigger screen afforded more case space.
Expansion
This will be via SD card slots. One or more is mandatory, as the hard drive is likely to be too small to contain work files as well as the operating system and applications.
Hard Drive
The hard drive is usually an SSD. These are based on SD technology (like a USB memory stick), and so are almost silent. The also ought to run faster, and generate less heat, all of which contributes to lower power consumption.
However, they tend to be limited in size, and so external expansion via SD slots is a must.
Summary
Battery life is always a concern for the road warrior, and this means that buying a UMPC will usually come down to a compromise that offers the best battery life for the features that make using the machine as comfortable as possible. The things that drain the battery are:
- Large, bright, screens;
- Hard drives;
- WiFi.
This isn't to say that those with a large screen, internal hard drive and WiFi should be steered away from. It's more that the WiFi should be disabled whenever possible, the screen shouldn't be too large, and an SDD based machine is usually preferable over one with a regular hard drive.
