Will This Umid Kill Pandora

[Junebug7556]

Hi all,

Long time lurker here, but just felt compelled to let you guys in on this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUc5hqgp_LE

This is the UMID mBook from S Korea.

Will this device supersede the Pandora?

Any thoughts as I want to know which will be the better of the two systems before I splash my cash.

 

[Tom`]

Hi all,

Long time lurker here, but just felt compelled to let you guys in on this -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUc5hqgp_LE

This is the UMID mBook from S Korea.

Will this device supersede the Pandora?

Any thoughts as I want to know which will be the better of the two systems before I splash my cash.

No.

Well, maybe if you only want it for UMPC stuff (no gaming controls), and you can live with much higher price, shorter battery life, etc...this is really no different from all the other x86-based UMPCs out there, except for the clamshell design.

 

[Izolo]

Pandora's got built in gaming controls, a touchscreen, and will probably have longer battery life (mbook's advertised 6 hours is still decent). Mbook also appears to be X86 and runs windows.

Honestly, they're different devices entirely. You need to decide what features are most important for you.

 

[PoisonedV]

Is this our first clone? its all too convenient
clone or not...
first of all, stop making up terms. umid? mbook?
Anyway, no. first of all, korean aftermarkety-type stuff in general is shit. no support from the company etc. second, its form factor is different: yes, generally the same size but this is x86, and windows and all that. all these devices make stupendous claims but suffer from short battery life and high heat, not to mention no gaming controls. theres way to many problems with the umids or umpcs or WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT TO CALL THEM, because 86 architecture simply doesnt scale well

 

[Nova]

Holy shit, that's pretty fly - for a white guy.

Point me in the direction of the text box that I can plug my credit card number in.

 

[gruso]

Anyone mention the lack of gaming controls yet?

CODE
http://www.engadget.com/tag/UMID+M1/
Seems like an ok little device, if not a little cheap looking. Nothing for Pandora to worry about though.

(Welcome to the forums btw... now get ready for what happens when you're the 137th person to post a new product and ask if it will kill Pandora. )

 

[Chip]

Will this device supersede the Pandora?
Not a chance. As already mentioned, the lack of gaming controls makes this borderline useless for gaming. The claims of 6 hours battery life are borderline impossible. Half that seems more reasonable. The manufacturer also doesn't have any plans to sell it outside S Korea. It has the potential to be a great small MID, but it's still just a MID.

 

[RajTakhar]

This one has been touted for release for several months now

I even considered this at one point due to form factor however as UMID M2 was announced as being in development the same time frame as UMID M1 was released - I was a little wary

The device is okay on form factor

 

[Squidge]

Why do people feel the urge to post "Will XYZ kill Pandora?" on almost every clamshell device released or due to be released? As of yet, not have really competed in the same market, so the answer is always going to be "No" until they start doing so.

 

[Junebug7556]

Will this device supersede the Pandora?
Not a chance. As already mentioned, the lack of gaming controls makes this borderline useless for gaming. The claims of 6 hours battery life are borderline impossible. Half that seems more reasonable. The manufacturer also doesn't have any plans to sell it outside S Korea. It has the potential to be a great small MID, but it's still just a MID.

Hi Chip - I know I'm new here - but the link I put up - does exactly that. Shows the gaming potential. I can only imagine playing

Baldurs Gate,
Command and Conquer,
Myst,
Alone in the Dark,
Privateer,
Fallout,
Duke Nuke Em 3D
all the Tomb Raider games upto Chronicles - (I could keep going but you catch the drift),

as well as ALL the emulators you could possible want - including PSX. All controls for keyboard and pen input. I'll have to ask the question I suppose - do I want to play all the excellent DOS/Win games as a priority......

Is this our first clone? its all too convenient
clone or not...
first of all, stop making up terms. umid? mbook?
Anyway, no. first of all, korean aftermarkety-type stuff in general is shit. no support from the company etc. second, its form factor is different: yes, generally the same size but this is x86, and windows and all that. all these devices make stupendous claims but suffer from short battery life and high heat, not to mention no gaming controls. theres way to many problems with the umids or umpcs or WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT TO CALL THEM, because 86 architecture simply doesnt scale well

Yes, but these are the terms being used to describe this bit of kit. UMID means Ultra Mobile Internet Device, mBook is the model name in Korea. So there.

 

[Izolo]

Hi Chip - I know I'm new here - but the link I put up - does exactly that. Shows the gaming potential. I can only imagine playing

Baldurs Gate,
Command and Conquer,
Myst,
Alone in the Dark,
Privateer,
Fallout,
Duke Nuke Em 3D
all the Tomb Raider games upto Chronicles - (I could keep going but you catch the drift),

as well as ALL the emulators you could possible want - including PSX. All controls for keyboard and pen input. I'll have to ask the question I suppose - do I want to play all the excellent DOS/Win games as a priority......

Chip was making the point that you need an external game pad to actually play many of these things. And if you're going to bother with that, why even bother with ultra-portable at all?

 

[Junebug7556]

Pandora's got built in gaming controls, a touchscreen, and will probably have longer battery life (mbook's advertised 6 hours is still decent). Mbook also appears to be X86 and runs windows.

Honestly, they're different devices entirely. You need to decide what features are most important for you.

Hi Izolo - mBook runs Linux (no idea what distro - there is an running example on YouTube, saw it yesterday) and has a touchscreen with stylus - battery is claimed to be around 6 hours as you said - this is good I think.

 

[atomicthumbs]

I love the way Quake 3 seems to run worse on this Atom netbook thingy than on the Pandora.

 

[sindbad]

Why do people feel the urge to post "Will XYZ kill Pandora?" on almost every clamshell device released or due to be released? As of yet, not have really competed in the same market, so the answer is always going to be "No" until they start doing so.
Not just the Pandora. Every time an interesting smart phone comes about, there are talks about it killing the iPhone or the G1.
I don't get the need to label something 'the greatest'.

 

[Junebug7556]

No.

Well, maybe if you only want it for UMPC stuff (no gaming controls), and you can live with much higher price, shorter battery life, etc...this is really no different from all the other x86-based UMPCs out there, except for the clamshell design.

Hi Tom - to a ZX Spectrum, C64, Atari ST and Amiga fan (esp of Text/Graphic Adventure games - I know, I know!) the gaming control is the keyboard. I am interested in the Pandora keyboard too, but I think no clear videos of it yet...

Why do people feel the urge to post "Will XYZ kill Pandora?" on almost every clamshell device released or due to be released? As of yet, not have really competed in the same market, so the answer is always going to be "No" until they start doing so.

Hi Squidge, sorry about the Post Title - I thought you guys would like to know about this. I thought it would share a similar market niche - I've been looking at both anyway.

 

[fischju2000]

4.8-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen that's nice, wonder if I can buy one of those and hack it into my Pandora


(also, Junebug, you kinda sound like you are advertising for it at this point)

 

[Junebug7556]

4.8-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen that's nice, wonder if I can buy one of those and hack it into my Pandora


(also, Junebug, you kinda sound like you are advertising for it at this point)

Not at all, not at all - just thought it might impact the take up of Pandora. I am interested in the Pandora, what craigx, evil dragon have been showing is really fantastic BUT this baby plays all that the Pandora will play (Not linux ones, unless you have that instead) but Windows games too - which is not a small portion you understand.

Anyway some of your readers might like to know of it...

 

[gruso]

Hi Tom - to a ZX Spectrum, C64, Atari ST and Amiga fan (esp of Text/Graphic Adventure games - I know, I know!) the gaming control is the keyboard. I am interested in the Pandora keyboard too, but I think no clear videos of it yet...
You'll be happy to know that systems like these are the reason a keyboard made it into Pandora's design.

 

[Junebug7556]

Mbook also appears to be X86 and runs windows.

I know you are interested, so here is Linux on the UMID

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKEgsaXXatQ

You guys will know what distro. this is I''m sure.

Thanks for the feedback too.

 

[mcobit]

Well at least it is interesting, that you can put an atom chipset into a device this small.

So maybe, if Intel gets the Heat and Power consumption down, a future atom platform could be the choice for a similar projekt like pandora with gaming controls and everything.
Then all the Windows fanboys would be pleased at last.

But like it is now i would say arm is the better choice. Because of stated arguments.

Edit: A similar Interface like in the Linux distribution demo would be really neat for Pandora.