Working at the office never felt so good
Just added the T-Mobile Hotspot service to my account this morning since I knew I'd be out and about. I'm sitting at our local Borders with my Samsung Q1P using the extended battery (good for at least 5 hours), my ThinkOutside Bluetooth keyboard, and the Beatles on my Zune. I'm a coffee addict, so I have some of Seattle's Best; I'm sure the WaWa folks will forgive me just this once. WiFi speeds are snappy enough: 1.5 Mbps up and down. With my spare, standard battery I can use the Q1P for another 2.5 to 3 hours if I needed to, but it's already mid-afternoon so I don't think I'll need that.
Making matters worse: the coffee-shop boys just walked around with free samples of Apple Pie and some kind of Peach / Mango concoction. I know I need to be home for dinner, but I might be late tonight....it's good to be mobile. ;) I'll be working here at Borders in Montgomeryville, PA for the next few hours, so on the off chance you're in the area, look for the UMPC.
Hi Kevin, have you noticed any difference in the battery life with the 2 gb ram in the Q1 vs the 1 gb?
Thanks,
Charlie Thomas
Posted by: Charlie Thomas | May 22, 2007 at 02:29 PM
Charlie, I haven't had a chance to test that yet, but I haven't seen any noticeable change in power usage. AFAIK, a PC is going to supply/use the same power to the RAM port regardless of how much RAM is in the slot. It's constantly in use at the same voltage from what I understand but if I'm incorrect, I'm sure someone will address my statement and set me straight. ;)
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | May 22, 2007 at 02:35 PM
Ahh, welcome to the mocha side, Kevin.
Posted by: James Kendrick | May 22, 2007 at 02:59 PM
That's just awesome, too bad i'm wayyy in the other side of the country or i'd join you with my Q1. I'm still trying to think up a name for it and i still need to make that overdue trip to fry's for the 2gb sodimm. I'll try to get vista ultimate installed this weekend. thanks.
Posted by: gonzalo | May 22, 2007 at 03:20 PM
Kevin,
You have me curious now. I hear tales of James blogging surreptitiously during long boring but bill-paying meetings at Big Oil Co., and Matt Miller is some sort of Marine Salvage, treasure-hunter dude. What does KCT do to pay the bills?
Tax Man, who does...taxes
Posted by: Tax Man | May 22, 2007 at 04:22 PM
Tax Man, you're assuming KCT pays bills. ;)
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | May 22, 2007 at 04:25 PM
No Bluetooth headphones? Color me unimpressed...
Posted by: E Money | May 22, 2007 at 04:43 PM
>>Tax Man, you're assuming KCT pays bills. ;)
I now understand why you are "on the run"! LOL
Posted by: Tax Man | May 22, 2007 at 04:45 PM
I think you'd be happier with a larger screen and built-in keyboard. ;)
Posted by: Dave Zatz | May 22, 2007 at 05:17 PM
Question from a pen freak: what's the pen in the picture? :)
Posted by: Cheryl | May 22, 2007 at 05:31 PM
Pen Freak, er Cheryl: it's a one of kind pen to me. Part of the Microsoft MVP Award package: stylus and pen one end and laser pointer on the other.
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | May 22, 2007 at 07:28 PM
{Pen freak/Cheryl}: Not to rain on Kevin's parade, but that looks like a Belkin Quadra 4-in-1 to me. I'd check your local office supply or electronics store, but don't expect to find one there with MVP branding. ;)
Posted by: Chris Magnusson | May 22, 2007 at 11:28 PM
Hey Kevin,
Why do you prefer a separate keyboard having the Samsung case with the keyboard included??
Posted by: Jose | May 23, 2007 at 06:20 AM
Thanks for the info, Kevin and Chris. :) I was just curious; it looked like a cool drafting pencil or something. Also not to rain on Kevin's parade, I don't think I'll be purchasing this particular pen, even though I'm always on the lookout for a new pen to buy (see, it's not just gadgets). :D
Posted by: Cheryl | May 23, 2007 at 10:45 AM
Jose, while the Samsung carry case / USB keyboard is nice, I opted to stay with my ThinkOutside keyboard for a few reasons. The USB cord is too short for the way I work. Example, I often like to have the Q1P to my side on a coffee table while I'm watching TV. I use the Bluetooth keyboard on my lap; with a short USB cable, I can't do that. Additionally, I prefer a full-sized keyboard which I get in the ThinkOutside unit, plus it folds up 4x for less space. This is also the reason I personally have zero interest in an integrated keyboard on a UMPC. I have a full sized keyboard when I need it and I can ink quite quickly when I don't need the keyboard.
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | May 23, 2007 at 11:48 AM
Hey Kevin, those are the perils of the caffeinated office... :) how was the pie?
Posted by: Rick Mahn | May 23, 2007 at 01:19 PM
Rick, I've never had free pie that didn't taste good. ;)
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | May 23, 2007 at 07:49 PM
Can I check what is the max video output resolution for the Q1 or Q1 Ultra?
I'm thinking of getting an external LCD monitor for the office and am eyeing for the dell 24 inch monitor with resolution of 1900x1200.
But i'm not sure whether q1 supports tat. i tried looking at the manual but it doesn't say anything.
also, will there be significance performance slowdown at the highest output resolution?
Posted by: heemeng | May 23, 2007 at 11:34 PM
heemeng -- I have a Q1P running Vista and it pushes the Dell 24" panel just fine (in some ways better than my Tecra M4).
My toshiba tecra M4 died a while ago and I am still fighting with the warranty department to get it fixed. While fighting that battle, I have been using my Q1 full time - pretty nice thus far. I currently use the "dual" monitor mode and leave some things on the Q1P and move most of the apps I am using (Outlook, Firefox, etc) to the 24". I haven't been able to get it to properly display ONLY on the 24" but now that I am getting used to the setup, I think I like the dual mode just fine!
Posted by: Brian T | May 24, 2007 at 12:36 AM
A million thks Brian for responding. now, i'm all set to get the q1 and the dell 24"! :)
Posted by: heemeng | May 24, 2007 at 07:27 PM