Arima UM650UV1 UMPC: another XP ultra-portable that won't run Vista

It's been a long time since we've heard a notable peep from Taiwan's Arima... and then this. Meet the Arima UM650UV1 UMPC. This 1.1-inch thick / 1.5-pound UMPC delivers the, er, tricked-out specs of the UMPC poster boy -- Samsung Q1b -- only with a slim slidin' QWERTY always in tow. So we're talking a 1GHz VIA C7-M processor, 512MB DDR2 memory, VX700 UniChrome Pro graphics, up to 40GB of 4200RPM P-ATA disk, integrated webcam, and a 5-hour capable battery under a slightly leaner 6.5-inch 800x480 touch-sensitive LCD with LED backlight. Only thing is, you'll have to suck it up with your WiFi and Bluetooth jutting out the side on a USB stick. No? Us neither. You know, it's nice to see all these XP ultra-portables coming out of the woodwork suddenly, albeit, 6 months too late. What with Vista right around the corner, how 'bout announcing some of those v2 UMPCs running Vista we've been waiting on? Yes Acer, Averatec, LG, and Samsung, we're looking at you.

[Via Carrypad]

[Steve Paine @ Nov 9th 2006 10:08AM]

Wifi and Bluetooth appear to be included. No USB sticks required.

Regards
Steve.

[Scott @ Nov 9th 2006 10:14AM]

UMPCs seem to be dying a fast and unglorious death.

[Naveed @ Nov 9th 2006 11:11AM]

maybe microsoft will make a very light vista for umpcs

[Cody @ Nov 9th 2006 12:10PM]

Vista runs on the Samsung Q1 and many users are happy with the performance. They do say that it runs like garbage unless you have a gig of ram.

[KC @ Nov 9th 2006 1:44PM]

Why bother with Vista capable UMPCs? It does not appear that the UMPC has taken the market by storm, just let them die already. Tablets are better

[Jeff @ Nov 9th 2006 2:57PM]

I'm not going to call the Engadget editors stupid, or imply that they're Mac-using computer incompetents, but I'm not sure they fully appreciate the demands that Vista places on the hardware it's being run upon. Also, as a 1.0 product, I certainly don't want it touching anything I own until they fix a few things.

As for the future of UMPC, they're doing better than tablets did, but they have yet to produce a true flagship product.

[Thomas Ricker @ Nov 9th 2006 3:26PM]

Jeff, before not implying anything, try reading the linked articles.

Thomas

[myscrnnm @ Nov 9th 2006 6:54PM]

"Why bother with Vista capable UMPCs? It does not appear that the UMPC has taken the market by storm, just let them die already. Tablets are better"

UMPCs and Tablet PCs are made for slightly different purposes. The main point of the Tablet PC is to allow tradition notetaking in a business environment. Buth with the UMPC, it's about having all the features of a regular notebook computer in the smallest package possible.

I'm surprised there's been no mention of Sony here, cuz their VAIO UX-series is very Vista-capable, and people should just at least check it out.

[Jonathan B @ Nov 9th 2006 7:41PM]

Looks like the Medion umpc that appeared a while ago, it has the same looking keyboard.