Brule's Raon Vega: think Sony Vaio UX lite

Brule of Japan just announced what they're calling the lightest 4.3-inch Windows PC on the market -- yeah, they're lookin' at you Sony Vaio UX. The Raon Vega weighs in at just 350-grams / 160×80×27.5-mm compared to the UX's 544-grams / 150×95×38-mm. Of course, the Raon Vega cuts corners by shaving 0.2-inches off the screen, and delivering a 500MHz Geode LX800 processor, 512MB of memory, 30GB disk, 1.8 hour battery, and 800x480 (WVGA) screen resolution while opting for an externally attached USB WiFi adapter. In fact, the Raon Vega is bested by Sony in every category. We're tempted to call it the poor man's ultra-portable at nearly half the price of the UX, but with an expected retail price of ¥139,800 or about $1,178 when these hit Japan later this month, well, you'll still need a fistful to take 'er home.

[Via Impress]

[Helge @ Oct 18th 2006 9:51AM]

They (and you) could at least get the name right, it's "Raon"...

http://www.raondigital.com/english/product/product_s_1.asp

But still too expensive to be any success!

[Nick @ Oct 18th 2006 10:09AM]

I think by the middle of newxt year we might have some UMPC's that people will actually want to buy. It's always good when companies are trying to out do eachother offering the smallest, fastest, lightest version of a device.

[cm.marshall @ Oct 18th 2006 11:40AM]

Dynamism has had it for pre-order for a while, now - at under $900.

[Mark @ Oct 18th 2006 12:36PM]

1.8 hour battery life? Which probably means about an hour of real-world use. What a joke. This type of device will remain a toy until you can use them all day and have battery power to spare.

[Oddmanout @ Oct 18th 2006 1:09PM]

"...the Raon Vega is bested by Sony in every category."

Only if you don't count PRICE as a category, as I believe it bests the UX in that arena.

But my lord...the horror. WinXP on a 500mhz cpu....

*shudder*

[PEZ @ Oct 18th 2006 2:17PM]

There is no way that thing boots in less than 5 minuutes with that 500Mhz geode.

Total cost = $250.

[JK @ Oct 18th 2006 2:19PM]

The weight and battery life information is incorrect. With the standard (large) battery the thing weighs 480g with 5.5 Hrs and with the compact battery, it weighs 350g with 1.8 Hrs.

http://www.raondigital.com/product/product_s_1.asp

[Kesey @ Oct 18th 2006 6:43PM]

I can only imagine how painful it is to run Windows XP on 500MHz processor with 512mb of RAM. Yet another paperweight.

[Thomas Ricker @ Oct 19th 2006 1:44AM]

Thanks JK, you're right. corrected in post.

Thomas

[rccollins @ Oct 19th 2006 11:12PM]

A few corrections here:

the device boots in under a minute (not over 5)

the device ships with the extended battery which delivers over 4 hours of life under absolute extreme use (wifi, fully lit screen, xvid) The slim battery will eventually be available as an accesory delivering about a third of the battery life. look here for chippys article ---> http://www.carrypad.com/journal/2006/09/vega-umpc-425hrs-under-load.html

The 500 mhz geode processor may seem misleading but this is a new line of energy efficient processors from amd. 500 mhz doesnt mean its straight garbage. The capabilites have been compared to that of a pentium 4 and the smart selective power save shutdown technology is comparable to the core series of mobile cpus. Obviously you arent going to be galavanting through oblivion amidst lush environments but take a look at this vid to see some somewhat dated but none the less decent performing 3d of virtual cop 2 ----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRnMI9k27xc&mode=related&search=

I mean good god people, everyone is so damn critical of this early set of umpcs. Nobody considers just how much a device like this can do. I mean its barely over a pound for christ sake of course there are going to be compromises. Just think of all the places you dont bring a laptop despite how small and portable they're getting lately. I mean even the more portable laptops at about 3 to 4 lbs are still somewhat inconvenient compared to an item that is barely over a pound.

the bottom line is this: you've got 3 choices in this size class of umpc. the oqo+1 (100 dollars from a recent price drop, too hot, terrible transmetta, terrible battery, penabled if thats your thing), the sony ux series (awesome features, cool style, flash drive if your moneybags scrooge, very pricey overall), and the vega (no wifi, no bluetooth, sweet price, nice button layout, great battery).

I'm going vega baby. 903$ shipped to the usa from dynamism.com (thats the only place I've found that has this yet) Shipments are expected any day now!

[rccollins @ Oct 19th 2006 11:31PM]

woops, i meant the oqo+1 has dropped about 400 bucks to a reasonable 1100 dollars. check their website to see!

[Helge @ Oct 25th 2006 6:20AM]

After some research, I am more and more interested in this gadget. Can someone confirm some of the following points?

Is it really possible to watch 4 hours of video (Xvid, DivX, whatever)?
The cursor on the left side, is it a mouse stick (as in the IBM Thinkpads) or 'just' a four-way D-pad?

The oqo01+ is really interesting as well, but the battery life of the Vega is supposed to be better and it's still 200$ (or roughly 120� around here) cheaper that the oqo.

One device I would also love to try is the new Samsung Q1b, with a supposed battery life of also 4-5 hours, but then again it is a different class of devices with its 7" display.

[rccollins @ Oct 27th 2006 1:38PM]

Yo helge, acording to chippys battery test run 4+ hours of video playback should be no problem (with the bundled extended battery that is)

As far as oqo1+, it seems its biggest flaw for me is the outdated transmetta processor which aparently causes major heat and terrible battery life. It doesnt seem like the next oqo revision (which is just surfacing) will be changing up the processor type either. Its a shame and hopefully I'm wrong.

Also from what I've read the vegas battery geode LX processor performs better than the oqo's processor in terms of general speed overall. Amazing at a clock speed of 500 mhz! The geode series seems very promising from what I've learned so far. My vega should be showing up any day now so keep an eye on eternalclarity.com for a full review

[rccollins @ Oct 27th 2006 1:39PM]

Also the side mouse control is made to work as an analog presure sensitive joystick (much like the thinkpad navigation only wider and made for thumb use).

But aparently the vega has a feature to switch between these 2 control functions it seems. So you can have the analog mouse control like a thinkpad eraser and then switch it up for some 8 directional snes emulation. Hadouken!

[x_filed @ Oct 29th 2006 1:27AM]

I bought my old 500mhz pentium 3 laptop in September 2000 running Windows 98 okay. It had a horrible time running Windows XP until I upgraded it memory past it's puny 64MB. I think the Vega shouldn't have a problem if it ships with 512MB. The problem will probably be the AMD geode cpu only able to run software written for cpu's OLDER THAN pentium 2 level. Ten year old cpu abilities will not keep this product useful for very long.

[trinitrotriazine @ Oct 29th 2006 10:15AM]

I don't know where "x_filed" got the idea the AMD Geode� is less than a P2 it is based on there K7 processor line it they are better know as "Athlon" here is a link to the amd site

http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/ProductInformation/0,,50_2330_9863_13022^13057,00.html

just copy and past it

[x_filed @ Nov 2nd 2006 8:24AM]

My bad...

I meant Pentium 3 level. The LX doesn't have XMM registers and I was refering to it only being able to run Pentium 2 level software.

[rccollins @ Nov 6th 2006 4:49PM]

I'm having trouble even understanding what XMM registers even are, I've heard alot of computing terms over my years but never anything about XMM registers. From what I'm reading here it's better than MMX somehow? Does it have something do with 64 bit computing perhaps? What is the relevance of these XMM registers would you say amidst a device like this?

[Han @ Nov 7th 2006 3:43AM]

I'm using this device, Vega. I bought 2 weeks ago.

Geode@500MHz's speed is not horrible. It's capability is OK with Windows XP, IE6.
In fact, I didn't feel it's slow. I think CPU architecture is different, so speed is different regardless of clock speed. I think it feels like Pentium 700~800MHz

With Standard Battery, It works more than 4 hours(playing movie). I heard that 256MB model works longer(about 30~40 minutes? I have 512MB model).

[x_filed @ Nov 7th 2006 7:31AM]

I'm sure the Vega is very useful to many people. I would use a UMPC mostly for writing code when not stuck at a desk. The XMM registers are 128 bit memory locations inside the cpu that like the MMX registers can do 1, 2 or 4 copy and arithmetic operations at once. They are used to optimize the speed of things like 3d calculations, audio/video compressions and endless other uses if programmed correctly. I'd love to see a Vega with a AMD Geode NX chip or a Via C7-M soon. Running more efficient code on them could help make up for their higher power usage and probably run a larger base of current and future programs.

[rccollins @ Nov 9th 2006 2:00PM]

Well folks my vega arrived 2 days ago, I must say I'm pretty happy with it so far. If anyone has any questions I can answer them for you. The dpad cursor emulation works very well and the overall controls work great. The buttons feel very nice to press, and the overall build quality feels very solid. I'll have more detailed info soon but any quick questions I can answer so ask away.

[ArchiMark @ Nov 19th 2006 10:01PM]

Hi rccollins,

You've had your Vega for about a week now I think...as I'm toying with the idea of getting one, would really like to hear your thoughts about it now after using it for a bit....performance, usability, display, etc....

Thanks!

Mark

[gyffes @ Jan 14th 2007 11:18PM]

rccollins, a few questions, if you don't mind

1) How are you doing data entry? W/o bluetooth, you can't use the foldaway keyboards.. are you attaching an external USB keyboard? How about while away from the desk?

2) What's the heat like, w/no fan?

3) Have you, in fact, managed to jam it into your jeans pocket, yet?

4) Anyone here know if Ubuntu has a touchscreen component? I'd love to get one of these underpowered guys (the Kohjinsha SA1F00 REALLY appeals as a replacement for both my laptop and my aging Clie' NX80) and drop Ubuntu on it -- that should ease some processor burden, no? Obviously not an issue with the Kohjinsha as it lacks a touchscreen, but for the Vega?

Anyone? Anyone? rccollins?