Well, I couldn’t resist any longer. Best Buy will delivery my Sony UX180P UMPC this afternoon. Yes, you caught that right – I called it a UMPC, because that is what it is. I group all of these small form factor devices into one category: UMPC

You won’t be seeing an Out of the Box video from me ( there are more than plenty of those to go around ), but what you can expect is content centered around usability, price vs features, WWAN via Edge, how it operates as a companion device vs only computer, how it runs with Vista with a focus on Tablet PC and Media Center, perspectives on how this might fit in to an enterprise, etc. And of course, I’ll do an InkShow or two on it.

I’ll post my first impressions of the UX180P over the next several days, but I’ll be concentrating on actually using it day in and day out over the next several weeks to offer the above perspectives.

So…just a little something to look forward to.

As a precursor to my own thoughts, LisaG from MobileTechReview.com has posted a great hands on review. This quote, in my opinion, lays out the differences in the Origami devices and the Sony UX180P:

The Sony is more of a speciality item, suited to early adopters, those who need serious computing ability most anywhere (and EDGE connectivity), and those who hate carrying 5 to 9 pound notebooks. It's good for sales force automation, IT folks and consultants on the go. I seriously doubt that Sony thinks everyone will have one on the coffee table, which is what MS hopes for the UMPC.

Engadget has published a really decent review of Sony’s UX180P, including a lot high quality, close up pictures. It is interesting that as part of their review process, they determined that the Tablet PC OS needed to go on it, but had a lot trouble with drivers.

Every time I see one of these reviews, I come a little bit closer to biting the bullet. I can just picture myself walking around CES, snapping pictures, shooting video, and blogging from it. Then post it all easily because I’m connecte to EDGE or T-Mobile.  If I were to buy one, I’d immediately wipe it clean and put Vista on it. BTW: Dave Ciccone has published a How-To on replacing the Cingular SIM card with a T-Mobile SIM card.

So, what were Engadget’s concluding thoughts?

Despite its flaws, the UX is likely still the best thing going for ultimately portable computing, leaving the UMPC crowd and the venerable OQO in its dust. For those looking to take the plunge, we recommend keeping a pulse on the user community to work through these driver issues and make it a worthwhile second or third computer --

In one of the most detailed comparison reviews that I have ever read, MeanSquare’s Miscellany puts the OQO up against the Sony UX50. I wish we all the time put that kind of effort into a comparison review. Very well done, and worth reading even if you have no interest in buying a Sony UX or OQO.

It is worth pointing out that the reviewer mistakingly says that the OQO is a touch screen. It is not. The OQO has an active digtizer.

Via JkOnTheRun.

Dave Ciccone of MobilityToday.com has the sweet looking Sony UX180P in his hands, and is getting the review off to a good start with some pics of the unboxing. Watch MobilityToday.com for more detailed review info to come.

Man…that thing looks so nice. Too bad my wallet and I are not getting along too well right now :-(

Dave – install Vista on it and let us know what how the inking experience is.

The MobileTech Rounderuupers, James Kendrick, Kevin Tofel, and Dave Ciccone, held a meetup for their MobileTech Roundup podcast fans in NYC last night. I was at one point hoping to attend, but real life does intrude on these things, so I have been looking forward to enjoying the after-action reports.

And by the looks of things it looks like there were gadgets and geeks galore. Dave Ciccone has posted a series of photos  and a video of the experience on Mobility Today. I’m betting the entire evening was a blast as these uber geeks showed off their gadget array. I’m sure we’ll here more about this in the days ahead.

Julie Strietelmeier has published a hands on first look at the Sony Vaio UX50  on The Gadgteer. This little device sure has everyone talking. The review is illustrated with a dizzying array of hi-res pictures and screen shots, and some very interesting pro and con opinions. This one particularly caught my eye:

“The handwriting app seemed to be for drawing and not writing, like I thought it would be. I assumed that it would allow me to use HWR (handwriting recognition) to fill in fields or write lists. As far as I could tell (all the dialog boxes are in Japanese), it is just for drawing on the screen. Hmmmmm....

That brings me to a big grumble... Why doesn't this device ship with the tablet edition of Windows XP? The UX50 is a device that is perfectly made for that version of the OS... I don't get it”

Actually neither do I, Julie. From what I’ve heard and read this would have been the perfect device for Sony to go Tablet PC with. Check out the review here.

From everything I’ve seen and read about the Sony UX180P Micro PC, this looks to be a killer mobile unit. There are two things about this unit that make it stand out from the UMPCs – integrated keyboard and built-in WWAN. Throw in the video camera and still camera, and you are now taken over the top. You are paying for it, though.

Doing a quick price comparison ( not getting in to total feature comparisons) :

Q1

• 900mhz Celeron $1099
• portable usb keyboard: $99
• Total $1198

Sony UX180P

• 1.2ghz Core Solo – $1799
• integrated keyboard included
• Total: $1799

Price difference: $601

Like I said, it is on the high side compared to the UMPCs on the market, but it looks to be such a sweet device, capable of meeting the most important needs of going mobile without sacrificing much. Is it worth $601 more than the Q1? With Edge support (via a SIM card), video camera, still camera, faster processor, but no Tablet PC support ( yet ), I can honestly say that it approaches a “yes” in my corner. However, unlike James Kendrick, I have not had the pleasure of actually using one. I have used TabletKiosks eo, so this keyboarding option looks to be a better overall design. For the Tablet PC guy in me, though, there is one critical piece missing: the Tablet PC OS. Gotta have it, and Sony totally messed up by not including it.  That one should have been a no-brainer. That’ll change when Vista comes out, but I don’t ever see it being officially called an Origami or UMPC. I bet they continue to use their own interactive panel. BTW: since the WWAN is through a SIM card, it should open up possibilities of using other providers.

Is it on my horizon? If I had the money, I might do it. I’d seriously consider selling my TC1100 Tablet PC to help fund it. But I’d never consider selling my X41 Tablet PC.

Looking for more info on the UX180P Micro PC? Checkout www.MicroPCTalk.com – they have some good info. Sony has a cool interactive tour here. Amazon.com has the UX180P available for pre-ordering at $1799. And of course, JK has been bragging blogging about it, too.

I don’t remember posting this one, but this video review of the Sony UX50 by akihabaranews.com is really good. The guys commentary is hilarious. The video quality on this review is really outstanding as well – very clear. You can see the device really well, and get a glimpse of what the resolution is really like. Check it out.

Ok…this Sony Ultra Portable has got to be one of the coolest portables I’ve seen in a while. MobilityToday.com has more pics.

The specs that Dave Ciccone received are as follow:

• 7" touch screen,
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard,
• Core Solo,
• WAN,
• Biometric sensor,
• Dual cameras,
• “UMPC” with Windows XP Pro (not Tablet Edition)
• 3G Enabled
• Bluetooth/Wifi
  

JkOnTheRun.com points to this teaser campaign by Sony, which hints at a new ultra portable from Sony. Based on today’s teaser message “Is Your Finger really the Gate Keeper?”, it looks like it incorporates touch and it appears to be some sort of slate.

Jk has all the pictures, so check out the teaser and the sketches which might also point to a slide out keyboard. That would be pretty cool. I wonder if this device would qualify as a UMPC?