KELLNER: Samsung’s new mobile PC a boon to travelers

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With good, serviceable laptop computers costing between $700 and $1,000, why spend about $1,300 for Samsung Electronics‘ Q1-UP01? Well, it’s not because the Samsung unit has a poetic moniker.

Instead, it’s because the Q1, as I’ll call it here, is an Ultra-Mobile PC, a 7-inch display wonder that will improve your mobile computing experience. Unless you like lifting weights, having a full-powered PC in a 2-pound package is a nice relief.

The computer - available mostly via mail order - is available with Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system; my test unit arrived with the Tablet version of Windows XP installed. It sports a 1.33 GHz Intel single-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, and an 80-GB hard disk drive. The display offers 1024 by 600 pixel resolution, which is rather clear and sharp in use.

There are three possible keyboards for the Samsung Q1. The first is built into the sides framing the display: If you use a BlackBerry or other communicator, you (and your thumbs) will feel at home typing with this. The second is an on-screen keyboard that works with the Tablet version of Windows.

The third is an option, an add-on keyboard that plugs into the USB port on the right-hand side of the machine. Coupled with a fold-out, stand-up carrying case, you’ve got a very nice, workable, portable computing solution for road warriors and others in specific applications.

For example, I could see the Q1 being used in many medical-office and hospital situations by people working on route sales and other mobile applications. Such users might not need the separate keyboard and can happily get by with the built-in keyboard and the stylus.

Moreover, this could be a potential executive computer - again, when configured with the separate keyboard and carrying case. Its sleek appearance will be enough to turn heads, and the built-in Wi-Fi will let those executives log into the corporate e-mail from hot spots across the globe.

In fact, the Samsung Q1 reminds me of nothing as much as it reminds me of Apple Inc.’s ill-fated Newton, also a small, portable device to which an external keyboard could be attached. The Newton also had a stylus-friendly screen, but was monochrome and didn’t have as wide a range of programs as a Windows computer would. However, I digress: The Newton didn’t accomplish as much in the market as it might have and is found only on eBay these days. The Samsung Q1 shows no signs of going away; the category of Ultra-Mobile PCs is one that Microsoft - and the hardware companies supporting it - have said is important.

Indeed, having a variety of computing platforms for a given operating system is, I believe, going to do a lot for the continuation and growth of those operating systems currently in the marketplace. Apple is doing this, in a very real sense, with the iPhone, which gets many of its features from Mac OS X. The UMPC class of devices run Windows XP Tablet or Windows Vista and has those systems’ strengths (and weaknesses) as well.

E-mail Mark Kellner