I hesitate to call it a competitor ($1,000, not pocketable, heavy and who knows what battery life will be), but here is the link.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/05/02/samsung_umpc_bestbuy/

lol. I don't mean to defame the Nokia 770, but I would have definetely bought this if the price was a whole lot cheaper... But then again... A submini PC would have been even better!

The Samsung Q1 handles local TV (i think), runs Windows XP (I'm a Windows freak), Has a 900 MHz Celeron M processor, 512MB of RAM (non-upgradable), A USB female port (as host), WiFi, 20 or 40 GB Hard Drive (I think), a 800x480 TFT touch screen and... Is really expensive.

Many people think this is a failed product right away without trying the product out. There are some cons that are true though... For example the plastic does look cheap and feels weak in hands. There is no keyboard or mouse and the basic controls are very limited. The Q1 is big compared to the 770 and the PSP. Also, many of the components are non-upgradable.

To my understanding, this is a great product. It is much more powerful then the 770 for example almost 4 times more processor speed and 8 times more RAM (that is more than enough for a tablet PC). This is supposed to be not a laptop replacement, but kinda like a mini-PC (Nokia 770 but a little more powerful). The 20 or 40 GB hard drive is more than enough. It doesn't need a memory card (especially the RS-MMC that is rare, provides little storage and is expensive). Also, this thing does Windows XP tablet PC. Which is awesome because I'm a Windows freak. However, if a person say, likes Linux, he can always install a Linux variant. It is also TECHNICALLY possible to run Mac OS because now Macintosh runs on Intel based processors. The USB port also means, keyboard & mouse support, thumbdrives, memory card readers/writers, USB hub for more USB devices, bluetooth... the possiblity stretches on. To my understanding, it supports instant on which loads a Linux OS and plays movies, music, etc. without booting into Windows. The TV standard is awesome too because I believe a TV tuner is built into the PC so you can watch TV that is being aired though (need to get more info on this though). One thing to note is that the big metal sticking up think DOESN'T LOOK like a antenna but a stylus while it's being taken out. Many people think it is an antenna but if you look carefully, it looks like a really long stylus. But, I'm not sure so you might wanna check it up again.

So to my understanding, this is a product with GREAT potential despite the cost. So to my rating, 5 stars!

It has many features, but I don't think saying "despite the cost" is really justified. The cost is a critical part of the product. Otherwise things like OQO or Vertu phones could be called great.

Throwing every feature imaginable - hard drives, fast processors, lots of ram etc. - into a product ends up with a product that: costs way too much, is big and bulky (over 700 grams), has many features that won't be used anyway by a large percentage of the users. Imho things like the ipod show that it's better to focus to a particular usage and do that really well, than to try to give a mediocre performance in many areas.

I can't see myself spending that much money on a device like that. I'd either buy a full laptop or then something actually pocketable. For 300 euros it would perhaps be a different story...

That is a question for Nokia and maemo developers when UMPC now reach the market. During my last trip abroad I took N770 instead of my laptop to see whether N770 can really replace a notebook (UMPC in the future?). The answer is yes, but with one exception: you can’t control your money. Internet banking software typically needs Java for its functionality and if internet is a killing application for N770, then Java (JVM) has to be available. The lack of Java is surprising for me, since N770 hardware (OMAP1710) is designed to support Java applications.

Conclusion: With UMPC you can control your account and transfer your money. With N770 you can’t (now?). I hope that developers will solve this problem quickly.

I guess that depends on the bank and/or the country. My own bank's net access to account management is rather plain HTML and works just fine in the 770's Opera over https...

Another problem with including lots of hardware is that it shortens battery life, which is as much a part of portability as size and weight.

The simple reason that I would never even consider lugging one of these umpc's around is simple. I shouldnt have to update virus definitions on a freakin portable device. Being a windows machine, its going to be just as vulnerable as every other windows PC out there. And by the time you set up spysweeper, Norton/McAfee AV, and automatic updates... That celeron isnt gonna cut it.

Now going back the the having things that do one thing really well...
Cheap latop = $499 (on sale, Toshiba celeron 1.2ghz, Great for webbrowsing)
Ipod = $299 (Great for music!)
Portable DVD PLayer = $129
Total = $930

It would actually be a bit cheaper to buy all these... Hell, they would fit in your pocket as well as that 7 inch screen would.

(Did anyone notice that at 7 inches, 800x480, That UMPC has the same resolution as the 770? Correct me if im wrong)

The display on this device is interesting because it is a single chip lcd panel

The 770 has the integral ability, however, to be a remote display device. That means that it can devote its processing to display and user input operations, and not have to actually run an application or store/access data. Side by side with a UMPC that is handling display and user input operations as well as running an app and storing/accessing data the 770 will outperform it.

A UMPC is limited to whatever processing power and storage it is equipped with while the 770 is limited to the processing power and storage of the various supercomputing clusters that the icons on its gui monitor and/or control. The 770 will win any performance contest that it enters because it is designed to produce a user experience that combines the 770's local display and input processing with any remote number crunching, i/o enhanced system it is authorized to connect to. It isn't a PC - it's a network display which has a versatile implementation of an OS that makes it much more than a terminal, too.

But when a 770 is not connected to the network, then its performance is overshadowed by a UMPC tablet that will appear in several months, you say? Well, yes, but now you've taken the fish out of the water and you would tell us that not only can it no longer swim but it will die.

Duh.

The 770 isn't a UMPC, costs about 1/3 what a UMPC costs, and is designed as a network device, so comparing performance of the 770 off the network to anything is senseless. It's a window on the network - make your comparisons when it is being used as a window on the network. Then we'll see what happens.

Can a UMPC, at three or four times the cost, outperform the 770 when being used as a window on the network? Only if it can somehow significantly lower network latencies and higher display rendition than the 770 to justify the cost difference. And if the network latencies and display rendition improvements exist and are perceptible, then the UMPC is a better network window. Unless and until that is demonstrated the UMPC is not a step forward except as a handheld computing device.

I think that Micro$oft and the UMPC makers think that the public is ready to embrace the 800x480 display factor in 7" handheld devices as a replacement for a PC. We'll find out, I guess. I'm sceptical about that. I hope we don't see too many reviews that express disappointment of how a fish out of water (a 770 not being used as a network window) can't swim.

I have just been too spoiled by the size of the 770. I can't see myself lugging around a UMPC of that size, I might as well just take my Sony U101 which has a keyboard.

The term for this used to be "thin client", and yes it's not fair to look at the 770 as anything but a networked device. But, as a practical matter, it's too hard to use my 770 this way, and especially in a VPN connection w/ a windows pc connected to my wifi router. It can't really do this at present for a wide range of applications.