Raon Digital Vega UMPC reviewed
Even though it's been just a week since we saw a hands-on with the Raon Digital Vega UMPC, the first complete review has already come in from Carrypad. As a quick refresher, the Vega has an admirable compact form factor, a 4.3-inch screen, a max resolution of 1,024 x 768, 256MB of RAM, 30GB drive, and will stay juiced for three to four hours. Carrypad liked the Vega overall, but was deeply dismayed at the lack of WiFi and Bluetooth on the device, something that many of its rivals, including the Catcher, the Sony UX and the Asus R2H all have standard. The Vega does have a standard WiFi dongle that connects via USB, but that's not a very elegant solution, now is it? The site was also miffed at the missing stylus slot (which attaches via a lanyard?) and no key backlighting. That said, we can understand this panning, but it's probably worth noting that this is one of the most inexpensive UMPCs that we've seen thus far. No word on if like its namesake, the Vega either has a nuclear fusion core or has a fist-mounted claw. If not, we're pretty sure that Raon Digital is working on combining those features -- along with WiFi -- into the next version.Update: Carrypad now reports that official prices for the Vega have been announced. MSRPs for Oceania are AU$1300 ($978) for the 256MB RAM version and AU$1350 ($1016) for the 512MB version. For Europe, Vegas will start hitting the streets by late October or early November and will cost €815 ($1033).
Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dave @ Sep 21st 2006 6:44PM
1024x768 on a 4.3in screen Oo !
ouch
Charbax @ Sep 21st 2006 7:32PM
The native screen resolution is 800x480, not 1024x768..
The price in corea is around 800$..
If I'd get a UMPC, I'd wait for at least WiFi, bluetooth to be built-in.. And possibly wait for it to be lighter than the 480grams of this device.
Cyrus Farivar @ Sep 21st 2006 7:43PM
We've updated the post with the latest price information that we have.
Charbax @ Sep 21st 2006 7:54PM
I'm quite sure the screen isn't native 1024x768, it might be able to scale as a 1024x768 screen, but its native resolution is no more than 800x480.
Steve Paine @ Sep 22nd 2006 5:40AM
The screen is native 800x480. 1024x768 is using scaling and its very very small!!
Steve. (Carrypad.com)
mysole @ Sep 22nd 2006 9:38AM
In Korea, the price is about $750 for the 512mb Ram model for comparison.
Australia, New Zealand, Islands: AUS$1350 ($1,016.24)
UK market: 815 Euros ($1,044.10)
Americas(from Dynamism): Not Yet Determined but probably ridiculously near it not including the $58 S/H.
Quite a markup.
Jonathan Cohen @ Sep 22nd 2006 12:05PM
Without built-in WiFi and/or Bluetooth, they're really shooting themselves in the foot. Even a CF/SD/PCMCIA card with support for WiFi would be nice.
Too bad - this could've been a DualCor killer.
gmbowen @ May 31st 2007 4:27PM
I just bought one of these from dynamism. Frankly, I couldn't be happier. I installed portable apps (light footprint) because I can also use the vega as an external hard drive, run the portable apps on the external machine, and still access all my files. I installed fitaly (www.fitaly.com) as an onscreen keybd. Bought a "stowaway" portable keybd. Frankly, the need to use a thumbstick wireless adapter isn't a huge problem. I'm WAY happier with this than I expected to be. Setting it so that the power button hibernates the system (which hasn't crapped out yet in 2 weeks) means it boots up in ~20s. Essentially I'm using it instead of my "palm"....and it's way handier. I was going to buy a lifedrive or something else small with reasonable storage space, I'm glad I bought this instead.