Inventec's UMPC 7-A and 5-D get pictured

Our eyes may still be slightly out of focus from the complete lack of sleep obtained while at CES, but the two Inventec UMPCs purportedly going by 7-A / 5-D sure look a heck of a lot different than the model we peeked in Vegas. As you can glean from the image above, the UMPC 7-A sports a nifty slider design that supposedly places the QWERTY keyboard at a "more natural angle" for the user. As for the so-called UMPC 5-D (shown after the jump), it ditches the aforementioned design and takes a more modular approach to satisfy those who just adore buying a new dock for every handheld they own. Regrettably, we've no hard details surrounding the specs of these two machines, but we doubt we'll have to twiddle our thumbs for too much longer before finding out.

[Via Pocketables]

[foobar Posted Jan 19th 2008 11:26AM]

now thats sexy...

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2008 11:41AM]

Wow - that's probably the first UMPC I really find attractive. The combination with the audio system seems cool!

[Chris Aubeck Posted Jan 19th 2008 11:42AM]

This looks very cool indeed. I really wish my life depended on having one.

[rafer Posted Jan 19th 2008 11:46AM]

Thats a touch screen right?

Pretty sexy... /Jawdrop

[Denver80203 Posted Jan 19th 2008 11:58AM]

Pretty but, unless that screen pivots upright I don't know how well that would work. on the road

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:14PM]

There is no need to have the speakers so close to the front. Why not have them folded back with hinges?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:23PM]

Nice setup :>

[Superfresh Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:35PM]

Wow. This looks fantastic. I like the desktop setup with the additional iPod dock in the back...great functionality. The gaming pads look great too. I'm sure they made them white so you could see what you were looking at in photos, but they'll probably come in black as well. I am soooooooooooooooooo buying this.

[SimonRichards Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:45PM]

The first UMPC I would actually consider buying! I can't wait to get more specs on this.

[Armen Posted Jan 19th 2008 8:05PM]

Have a look at Samsung Q1U too. There is a newer version of it which the name escapes me. I own one and they're pretty practical.

[ustna Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:48PM]

Beautiful, yes. But does it have brains?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2008 12:54PM]

Wow,that thing is nice. I agree that this is the first umpc that i find very nice looking. Too bad I have no need for it right now, but maybe companies will continue making nice umpcs from now on and I may be purchasing one in the future.

[say592 Posted Jan 19th 2008 1:14PM]

Sexy, to bad you will have to sacrifice your first born child to be able to buy it.

[Kizorblade Posted Jan 19th 2008 3:01PM]

Very nice integration with the speakers there. Sexy indeed!

[LordBunson Posted Jan 19th 2008 4:07PM]

THE SEX!!!!!!!!!

[johnkzin Posted Jan 19th 2008 5:42PM]

Hm. Shows it running Windows. Probably wont have an officially supported Linux distribution, then. Too bad.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2008 7:09PM]

Vista happens to look really nice in pictures, doesn't mean they won't support linux (though they probably won't).

[johnkzin Posted Jan 19th 2008 8:02PM]

When i say support it, I mean that all of hte hardware features, including touch screen, WWAN radio, etc. are all fully supported by the hw vendor

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 20th 2008 8:41AM]

I'm hoping the specs and are as good as it looks, cause I want this.

[RichardBronosky Posted Jan 19th 2008 7:55PM]

Apple really needs to officiate the Hackintosh. It's getting harder and harder to say no to these kind of things. I refuse to use microsoft software, and unfortunately using Linux on edgy hardware is a full time tinkering hobby.

Some day we'll look back and say, "Can you believe that it used to be almost impossible to buy a computer without windows on it?!"

[ethana2 Posted Jan 19th 2008 9:54PM]

Apple needs to get their butts sued off for DMCA abuse, that's what they need to do. That law needs to be rewritten to more accurately convey its intent.

No operating system will ever reach the level of hardware support that linux will have in 4 months anyway. OSX? Nowhere /near/ it, even if they did license it like they _should_.
Yes. XP will never reach that level of hardware support. Vista will never reach that level of hardware support. I am completely serious.

Asking if Windows can run on the PS3 is like asking if the Black Knight can ride a dragon.
~Ubuntu user, 7 months.

[Quikboy Posted Jan 19th 2008 10:18PM]

Um...this has nothing to do with Apple.

So if you don't have anything to say about 7-A or 5-D, buzz off.

[RichardBronosky Posted Jan 20th 2008 9:47PM]

@Michael,
You didn't clarify who you were addressing, so I will assume it was me. The hardware is shown to be using windows. At that point, it immediately becomes about Apple for me. Unfortunately, I have to assume that if the manufacturer makes cool new hardware and doesn't offer Linux, it will be a full time hobby to make it work. I am not just shooting off. I'm an engineer, a developer, and a MythTV Hacker. I'm not the guy who whines when something is difficult. I research, tweak, and code until I get it to work. But now I'm fresh out of free time.

Oh, and ethana2 is off his rocker.

[Armen Posted Jan 19th 2008 8:17PM]

Why I can't post my comment? :| is there a size limit? I tried many times. I hope it won't appear in dozens all of a sudden :)

[Armen Posted Jan 19th 2008 8:23PM]

Part 1
I own a Samsung Q1U XP and I use keyboard shortcuts a lot! I can't imagine using it without keyboard shortcuts and mouse pointer (I use the pen too sometimes). Computer programs for Windows OS have been designed for and heavily rely on keyboard shortcuts and mouse pointer. Some frequently used examples in my case are: ctrl-c, ctrl-v, ctrl-a, ctrl-f, F11, space (scrolling), shift-space, page down/up, ESC, alt-tab, ctr-tab, shift-click, etc. So if I were using this machine (and a lot of other newly announced UMPCs) I had to keep the slider open all the time. So if it's going to be open all the time why sliding.

[Armen Posted Jan 19th 2008 9:07PM]

I give up posting the rest of the comment! :( I thought it was a size limitation or even time limitation between posts but I just can't post the second part of my comment :(

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 19th 2008 10:54PM]

Tablet PC needs to be easy to hold, even while typing on build-in keyboard. If you need to constantly put it down on the table, you might as while get a regular laptop.

[Avaron Posted Jan 21st 2008 5:48AM]

Looks nice, but I'd only buy it if it *doesn't* support linux...

I don't want my computers to even remotely support that crap...

:-)

PS: any specs ?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 21st 2008 8:50AM]

pretty cool- does it have a pen- if it is touch plus ink- wow - field force productivity sectors big.