I don't really consider this to be a "competitor" for the NIT, anymore than I consider the EeePC to be a competitor (they're different enough to be in different categories). If anything, this is a competitor for the EeePC ... but it fills a niche I had been talking about recently:

Something I could use as an in-backpack file server and personal wireless gateway for my N810.

1) has wifi
2) has an express card slot (WWAN card?)
3) SSD storage option
4) no word yet on Bluetooth (and thus Bluetooth FTP)
5) choice between Linux (YES!) and Vista (boo!)

If #1 can be made to act as a wifi access point, and I can find a Linux based WWAN express card for #2, there's the personal wireless gateway. With a decent sized SSD, and bluetooth FTP, there's the file server. And this thing should easily fit in my mini-messenger bag.

Woops, forgot teh engadget URL:

hps-umpc-2133-revealed

I'm watching for a product like that. Something 'half-way between' a regular laptop and an N800.

Yup. And I think the HP UMPC might fit that niche.

My old Compaq Contura Aero 486/33 was called a "sub-notebook".

It literally was half the size of today's notebook computers.

It had great battery life and the form-factor was perfect for touch-typing from the seat-back tray of an airline seat.

What made it "special" was that it had an integrated thumb-ball on the right-hand side and the mouse buttons were on the right edge of the housing. Thus only right-handed people could use it.

But if you're squeezed into an economy-class airline seat with your elbows into your side you could still do work without too much trouble.

I think that the UMPC designation should only be for things that can fit in a standard size pants or shirt pocket.

Oh yeah, I had one of those. They were really ahead of their time - except they were real heavy for the size, and the passive LCD screens were lousy.

I believe you're thinking of "MID", not "UMPC". None of the self-branded UMPCs I know of are pocket sized. They're more like medium paper pad size (comparable to an 8x5 pad of paper, not a 8.5x11 pad of paper). Some of them have keyboards that slide out (Sony Vaio UX, OQO, GigaBit), or split side keyboards (Samsung O2, PepperPad), but I don't recall any of them really being pocketable.

Then last year (the year after the UMPC category was announced by Intel), Intel announced the MID category, which is basically a smaller cousin to the UMPC.

UMPCportal.com mixes the two definitions, but that's partly because they list products that are "ultra portable", but the product didn't call itself an UMPC. For example, the N800 and N810 ... whose features fit a MID much more closely than an UMPC. But the N800 existed before the MID concept was out there. At this point, I think UMPC portal is actually mixing in both concepts on their site.

The only reason I don't like calling the mini-laptop devices "UMPC"s is that UMPCs are tablets, not laptops :-) I think the only reason the EeePC is stuck into this category is that it's the same overall footprint size... which means that its cousins (Cloudbook, HP 2133, etc.) are getting shoved into the same category as well.


So, anyway, the title that should be reserved for pocketable is "MID", not "UMPC" :-)

I've ordered the hp 2133 pretty much because of the almost full keyboard alone. I really like the eee pc, but the keyboard for me was a deal breaker. I have an n800 and a bluetooth keyboard which is nice also, but I may be parting with it also if i like the hp mini enough as I enjoy using devices with near full keyboards.

I pretty much love this thing. Exchange the Via C7M CPU with either a nice Intel Atom or VIA Isaiah based processor (dualcore would be great too), and ditch the speakers (great as they may be) for a 10"+ screen, and it would be like custom-made for me

Anyway, I'll probably wait till the end of the year before I buy my next laptop, maybe I'll see what I want by then.

I think it's great how fast the cheap subnotebook market grows at the moment - Dell is also said to come up with their own device around June...