Samsung Q1 ultra-mobile PC - first impressions

Yesterday we received one of the first review samples of an ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) from Samsung .

We'll be posting a full review in the next couple of days, but for now we'll give you our first impressions on what Microsoft, Samsung and Intel hope will be a big seller this summer.

UPDATE: We have now posted an indepth review of the Samsung Q1 , otherwise if you just want an overview, read on.

UMPCs (codnamed Origami by Microsoft) are a brand new form of mobile computer intended to be carried with you wherever you go.

The Q1 is Samsung's first attempt at a UMPC, and we expect to see models from rival manufacturers very soon.

On picking it up for the first time we were impressed with the Q1's ergonomics.

A joystick sits under your left thumb and acts in the same way as the arrow keys on a keyboard, while shortcut buttons are placed under your right thumb.

In terms of weight, the 779g Q1 certainly won't cause you any problems when carrying it around.

The 7in screen, which has a native resolution of 800 x 480 but can also run 800 x 600 and 1,024 x 600, performs well making it suitable for watching movies.

Although horizontal viewing angles are good, the same can't be said for vertical viewing, which means you have to angle the unit carefully if you want to watch a film.

Since there's obviously no room for an internal optical drive, you'll either have to hook up an external drive or convert what you want to watch to a format such as DivX - the advantage of the latter being less battery drain.

In our initial tests (full benchmark results will follow later) we watched a half hour DivX video and the battery went down by just 20 per cent.