If you thought
UMPCs -- which early rumors said could go for as
little as
$500 -- were going to be bargains, think again. The first model to get an official price, the
TabletKiosk eo, is expected to sell
for about $900. And, now we get word that
Samsung's Q1 can be
pre-ordered from eXpansys for a mere £799.95 (about $1,400). While it's not unusual for specialty resellers such
as eXpansys to charge a markup over retail (and the price before VAT is somewhat cheaper -- £680, or about
$1,180), the price makes the Q1 more expensive than many laptops, and not all that much cheaper than some full-featured
tablet PCs. US pricing, once announced, will almost certainly be lower -- if not at retail, then on eBay, where these
will end up if they're priced too high for the market to bear.
[Via
Stuff]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael @ Mar 31st 2006 5:53PM
799.95 would probaby end up being about $700 in the US. People in the UK and Europe get overcharged for everything.
jimmy93211 @ Mar 31st 2006 5:58PM
This does scare me a bit. The only people to buy these is rich people as they have already said "if you wait a year or two then you can have one for half the price with twice the ammount of stuff on!" So they have brought them out before they should. But people will not buy them so they might think there is no point bringing our gen2 of them. But I would buy the 2nd gen!
Topmounter @ Mar 31st 2006 6:01PM
Stupid prices
for
Stupid products
(imho)
John @ Mar 31st 2006 6:10PM
The Samsung Q1 should be available on June 1st, 2006.
Brian @ Mar 31st 2006 6:10PM
UPMC >$500 = DOA
Vu Nguyen @ Mar 31st 2006 6:11PM
I'd be interested in the Asus only, since I can justify its purchase (it comes with an integrated GPS so I can use it for my car). Other than that, its hard to forsee any other situation where this would come in handy.
JJ @ Mar 31st 2006 6:13PM
Quote '799.95 would probaby end up being about $700 in the US. People in the UK and Europe get overcharged for everything.' - You got our number! and the stupid americans have to have a different plug, i will have my revenge on A.C. current you wait!
Scott @ Mar 31st 2006 6:38PM
Of course, if you're a billionaire like Billy Gates, any price under, say, $10,000 (US) is practically free!
Dennis @ Mar 31st 2006 6:42PM
I agree with #1's comment. A lot of consumer products cost more in Britain and Europe than in the US. The price of $1100 has been floating around for the Q1, if it is $1400 to start (with the Celeron M, who knows how much more for the Pentium M), no one in the States will buy one. At all. I'm sure Samsung knows that.
BadBatz @ Mar 31st 2006 6:52PM
So, in the selling price in the US will probably be $1180 minus the usual 30% Expansys markup = eight hundred fifty something smackers. Not bad. I need it therefore I'll buy it.
Josh Glaser @ Mar 31st 2006 7:11PM
I actually would dig one of these. PDA's aren't full-functioned enough, and laptops are big.
The thing is, if this is supposed to be in between PDAs and notebooks, than the price should be in between, as well. Like, $500. Since it's a new product, $700 might be stomachable, but anything more is suicide. You can get a laptop for under $600.
kibets @ Mar 31st 2006 7:28PM
I'm in line for one of these but my limit is $1099. Sorry to hear most engadget posters are so poor. Maybe if you spend more time trying to earn a living you could afford one of these too!
EnricoSwave @ Mar 31st 2006 7:34PM
13, Sarcasm or not, there was no humor in that post, and it was uncalled for. The users aren't all poor, they just need money for other more important things... say, oh, the mortgage? Yeah, we could all drive used Bimmers and screw around with UMPC's if we were willing to live out of a box, but some of us have priorities. By the way? More readers than you think are teenagers, or college kids, and even with a well paying job, they cant afford over 1000 dollars on one tech toy.
Atanas Boev @ Mar 31st 2006 7:45PM
Well, I have a Tablet PC on 933mhz which has 4h battery time. I bought it off ebay for 500eur, and you could find it even cheaper. How comes the UM part of the UMPC costs extra $800?
daexxon @ Mar 31st 2006 7:49PM
I think the form factor on these things is great, but the price isn't worth it. Why would I spend extra for this when I can get a Treo750 for half price. The Q1 won't be a true convergence appliance until you combine a cell phone with it. You want ubiquitous coverage, CDMA, WiFi, Bluetooth. Take cell phone about the size of a pack of gum with a single line readout for caller id, etc. and have it inserted into the device for all of your "smart phone" features, match a wireless headset with it and you're golden. I have yet to see it...
bazza @ Mar 31st 2006 7:51PM
I look forward to this. Is a step in the right direction towards the advancement of the ultra portable pc. the second generation of these will be great as the technology improves, but the first gen will be good nonetheless.
i'm a college student but i work too and save up enough of my salary after mortgage and some bill payments, to buy one of these. i wont buy one yet for a few months when all manufacturers have finaliized things.
i wish i had a bimmer tho, even a crappy one! haha
you guys, dont kill it cos it has microsoft on it. embrace the concept and help the technology evolve. you cant be so in hatred to see its potential.
peace out fellow readers :)
Jake @ Mar 31st 2006 8:57PM
Well put, Bazza.
One way to overcome the hatred of this device would be to paint it white and call it a video ipod.
Of course, then you'd have to make sure that the only content you could purchase for it came from Apple but that's just a detail.
Tim @ Mar 31st 2006 9:03PM
$1400 bucks for an "over-rated, bloated, probably going to bomb like the PMC" product? No thanks.
Tim Quernemoen @ Mar 31st 2006 9:20PM
When we all thought this thing was going to cost $500.00 all I heard was that it was a niche product. I on the other hand though at 500 bucks your only $200 more than the cheapest ipod and people would buy the for at least as a portable media player. The thing is at $900 or more this thing is niche. Only people who need something like this and I mean need will buy this.
At 500 bucks, skip the portable dvd player and buy this for the extra value, but $900 is crazy.
On the other hand the first of any kind of product cost a ton. So basically the price will come down either way.
Ok, my wife is on the phone and I've had a couple drinks. I'me just waiting to go out for dinner. I can't be responsible for anything I type right now.
Dennis @ Mar 31st 2006 9:42PM
"Well, I have a Tablet PC on 933mhz which has 4h battery time. I bought it off ebay for 500eur, and you could find it even cheaper. How comes the UM part of the UMPC costs extra $800?"
First, I don't understand your unit conversions.
Second, there aren't a zillion UMPCs around to drive the price down. There's no real competition. Samsung is covering Asia, the US, and probably the EU. All the other UMPC makers are small companies with limited production, distribution, and intended demographic. (One of the UMPCs is for Japanese golfers... it's hard to get more specialized than that.)
Third, there are some built in features that can cost you to add onto your tablet PC. Like BT2.0+EDR. A USB dongle with BT2.0+EDR, if you can find one, probably costs around $100, and then you'd have a USB dongle hanging off your PC. Using 1.8" HDs costs a hundred or two more but increases battery life and decreases size, so that you can use the built in joypad and mouse buttons, which are hardware controls that aren't on your tablet PC, which is probably too large to hold in your hands for long periods of time anyway.
More importantly, let's say 800 UK pounds is the UK MSRP. If you are willing to buy sometihng at MSRP, then that's just the way it is. But the MSRP has nothing much to do with the eventual cost to the buyer, especially as other factors change, especially the age and availability of the product. The MSRP of the Archos AV700 is $900, Amazon current regular price is $600 ("You save $300!"), and there's a $150 rebate on it, making it $450. Sharper Image has a discount on it, bring it below $400. Someone paid $900 for it when it came out, but they got it a year or so earlier, maybe. In which case it cost them $550 to have it a year early. Was it worth it? Who knows?
But this isn't the MSRP. This is expansys's pre-release price for something that the manufacturer hasn't announced a price for. This may be the MSRP, but this may not be. The pricing for the Tablet Kiosk UMPC has been gradually revealed (the accessories aren't priced yet), initially by a 3rd party distributor. But that price was lower at $900 to start and therefore less sensational. $900 sounds a lot less than $1400, because $900 is more than a third less than $1400, and a third less is a lot less.
Frankly, this post is just a little bit unnecessarily provocative (which is fine by me). The real information is that expansys is taking preorders for a device that has not yet been released, and that it's surprsingly expensive. But the author doesn't try to figure out why it's so surprsingly expensive and to derive from that what it would really cost at Best Buy in the US at release (which would maybe be a pointless exercise, since Samsung will in fact release the Q1 at a certain price that we'll hear about when they tell us). Intead, the author goes on to simply convert the price to US dollars and compare it to the desired price of the UMPC in one year as stated by MS/Intel: $500 to $900 or so. So 800 British pounds is about $1400 USD which is bigger than $500 to $900. Okay. That's true.
It's not going to cost $500. It's not going to cost $1000 if you want to upgrade it, it will cost you $1500. You can buy five desktops with extras for $1500. So why would anyone want a UMPC at $1500? Maybe you don't. Maybe you want a Fujitsu Lifebook P1510D instead. That's $1500 and it is a convertible sub-notebook. Maybe you want a dualcor cPc at $1500. Maybe you want three eight pound notebook PCs.
It will be sold in large numbers to corporations that need a carryable tablet; it will be subsidized for educational purposes; and one day, maybe it will go on sale. Like these $500 notebooks packing five year old technology.
play free games @ Mar 31st 2006 10:29PM
I really dig the form factor of the UMPC, I think it is something I would use a lot, especially outside of the home or office. At $1400, I think I'll wait until the second or third generation for prices to drop and features, speed, and usability to improve. Like others have said, $500 is the sweet spot. Hopefully, it's easy to input text, and this can be an easily portable communications and media device, with a high res screen, but without the bulk of a laptop.
Rick Person @ Mar 31st 2006 11:04PM
I wouldn't buy that Samsung. What idiot decided to make the shell out of the same black lacquer finish as the IPOD Nano. It would look like crap in less than a week. Hello?!? Can we get a durable case? Something rubbery would be nice.
SGOlsen @ Mar 31st 2006 11:31PM
Personally I don't really see a huge use for these things except maybe commercially, like a Toughbook version for use on construction sites or for shipping and recieving or warehouse use etc. I.E. places that people can pull up critical data quick on something that is small enough to fit in a cargo pocket or small pouch. Other than that I'd much prefer to have a laptop. I can't see doing any real work on one of these except maybe whipping it out in an airport or plane while you wait. On the upside, with some nice software, and that thumb keyboard, one of these would make a wicked home theater remote. Unfortunately it's about $1300 over my budget for a remote so I'll have to file these under "neat but useless".
alex @ Apr 1st 2006 3:15AM
Sony used to sell the U1, U3, and U101. All of them were great little laptops with excellent battery life. They were very small and you could type while holding them with both hands. You can find a second hand one for around 800 on Ebay. They come with Windows XP, at least 20 GB, full keyboard, and for the most part, wifi is included.
http://www.devicetodevice.com
Joshua @ Apr 1st 2006 3:17AM
$1400 for something you can't even fit in your pocket.. hmm I would be very afriad of carrying this, and that touch screen seems like it won't take a fall. What I am really looking forward to is this thing called the MAGIC phone.
http://www.geek24.com/entry/gadgets/252
If it is available for 1500$ I am pickin up one. At least this one will firt the pocket too.
brk @ Apr 1st 2006 3:28AM
1000$ would be a good price for this. I paid nearly 1000$ for my pocket pc and memory cards last year and it is much less functional than this. I used one of these things in CEBIT and they are easy to use, and much smaller than laptops. I would prefer a sony vaio tx but they cost 2500$.
In the website ipod 30gb costs 230 (400$), so I expect US price to be less than 1000$. In CEBIT they said price would be between 800-900 for germany. Also for people who think this would look like crap (like ipod nano) after 1 week use I can say the ones in CEBIT were really in good condition after 1 week of very extensive use.
I can not believe some of the people really expected this thing to come with a price tag of 500$. ipods with 60gb are 400$ and good pocket PC (with no memory card) is around 600$. I think some pocket pc users and some people who carry a laptop around will switch to this product as soon as it is available. Also this could be very useful for sales personal who is using their pocket pc to take orders. With this thing I hope they can run SAP instead of using crappy programs on 3,5 inch screens.
Steve @ Apr 1st 2006 3:59AM
I still can't quite figure out why you'd buy one of these unless a) You're a gadget freak (meant in the nicest possible way, I'm one myself after all) b) You need something for work / travel that you can use without having to open it up and that's a bit smaller than a tablet PC.
Thing is tablet PC's have been around for a while at not a great deal more than the 1st gen of UMPC devices and they've never caught on. I just can't see businesses deciding to fork over money on a device that basically does the same thing only smaller. Why? Because it isn't small enough to compete with a Blackberry or PDA solution for portability and isn't cheap enough (even if they cut the price in half) to compete on a price/performance basis with a full laptop. Plus a 7" screen isn't large enough to work on comfortably for long periods of time and that resolution (800x480) isn't anywhere near enough to work on most corporate documents.
Let me put this another way. We had a new director start work at my company about a week ago and had to supply all new kit for them. Our usual spec Dell laptop was 550 and we issued an HTC Universal as their mobile at 200 including a bluetooth headset. That's 750 total (all prices including VAT), 50 less than this UMPC would cost, and with far more functionality. Oh, and apparently, based on what we've been told by this director since we issued the kit, in the Executive Shiny Things competition the Universal (especially the O2 model, black with blue backlight) trounces everything else out there at the moment.
I can potentially see the UMPC becoming the standard format for media players in a few years time, but the price would have to be half of the first gen products for that to happen.
Dennis @ Apr 1st 2006 4:27AM
For the love of god, if you want to check out a UMPC with an actual US price, go look at the Tablet Kiosk eo, which is coming out first anyway.
Frank @ Apr 1st 2006 6:23AM
@1
I fully agree. US pricing is generally significantly lower as compared to over here in the EU.
Probably has to do with taxes and social security etc, adjusting for this leads to a higher average income in the EU. Pricing simply adjusts to this.
But 800 pound sterling is way too high.
A basic PDA is about 300 and basic laptop from HP/IBM/Dell starts at 650-700 . This would add up to approx. 700 and I do think such a PDA-laptop bundle would offer way more functionality.
In addition, one shouldn't forget that these UMPC's are the first ones on the market. Sure, it'll be pretty cool to have such a novelty but I do expect some bugs in the beginning.
My interest will start at 450 .
Aravind @ Apr 1st 2006 11:29AM
I like this device (not the price , yet) for a few reasons:
1. I can play any video at any bitrate as long as I have a codec for it. This is NOT possible using a PMP.
2. I envision it sitting on the console of my treadmill lettin me watch videos or listenin to music. Perfect for me.
3. Smaller form factor than a big honking laptop which is not suitable for relaxed settings, like leaning back layin on the bed surfing the net with a pen.
4. I can run firefox on it.
5. No re-formatted web pages like on a pocket pc
I can go on....
feet @ Apr 1st 2006 2:05PM
I never bought into UMPC breaking at $500. I mean, a nice pocket pc is going to cost that and historically sub-laptops have been priced high.
I would gladly use something like this rather than my ppc or laptop. I've thought about this for years. A laptop will never replace my workstation and I do not consider it portable, its more like easy to move to a new desk with the same time spent setting everything up again. My ppc is lightweight and portable but it's so small it is a giant pita to use for working.
Both the design and price of the announced UMPC offerings have definently piqued my interest. I was wafering between the OQO and Sony handtops out now when Microsoft made the UMPC announcement. I've put off my decision until these things hit the street but I think I'm leaning towards the Samsung.
Q DuB @ Apr 1st 2006 4:10PM
Think about it people. I dont think the price will be that much lower than that of laptops anytime soon, because there is really no "grey" area. There are PDA's which lack full PC functionality, and there are PC's. UMPC's are PC's with full functioning computer capabilities, so why should they be cheaper than laptops? they have the same specs and features - in a slightly smaller package.
Robert Bryant @ Apr 2nd 2006 4:33PM
I hear lots of people critisizing UMPCs because they cost too much or they are nothing really new. Our company is anxiously awaiting the release of these products because of their smaller size than normal Tablet PCs and lower cost. If they are $1000 and lower than they are quite a bit cheaper than new full size (true tablet style)Tablet PCs(not the foldable notebook versions). We have a use for these devices that cannot be filled by PDAs and we don't want to use the larger full size, more expensive Tablet PCs. I think over time these devices will come down to the $600 - $800 price range which will make them much more attractive. But if we have to pay $800 - $1100 from the start we will because our need demands than we do.
Liam Billington @ Apr 2nd 2006 9:35PM
A UMPC dock for a car would be good as long as the unit has GPS. Or what if it was mounted on to the back of car seats with a mini remote and a 3G link. T-Mobile have done 7.50 for an all you can eat data. Good for streaming small screen movies.
What if you got a UMPC with a broadband/wi-fi/mobile data package to discount the UMPC? I would switch to someone that did broadband an a discount UMPC.
I like the treadmill idea. I would love that in my gym. What about DVB-H tuners? Where are they? I would like support for the UMPC media centre to record and play DVB-H.
What about current Tablet PC owners? They have been left out I think. A software/firmware update should be made available to access the media functions. It also seems a bit too late... Vista is available in Jan (supposedly) and what about a Vista UMPC at CES?
dnl2ba @ Apr 3rd 2006 3:17AM
MS booth lady at Mix06 in Vegas told me $700-900 for the first-generation (pre-Vista) UMPCs.
Peter Herrick @ Apr 7th 2006 10:19PM
These products are perfect. With all the PDFs out there, these handhelds would be perfect for them as ebooks and even text books, yes textbooks are being turned into pdfs. I know that because my whole textbook is broken up by chapter into pdfs. I would put the pdfs on a PDA, but they are too small! I just bought one the very first (Mitshubishi amity VP) the other day from a yard sale and now i want one the new ones even more. BRING THEM ON