Finally getting the Origami experience

I installed an eval license Vista Ultimate on my Tablet Kiosk i7210 Ultra-Mobile PC that I got last year, along with the new Vista Origami Experience Pack and I have finally begun to “get” the whole UMPC companion device, multi-media consuming experience that has been suggested since last year.

However, I’m not totally buying the whole Origami Experience Pack aspect, yet. What is selling me on the whole thing is a UMPC coupled with Windows Media Center. This solution, to me, is what Origami Experience Pack is striving to be, but the whole package is done so much better in Media Center. Actually, comparing the two applications yields a lot of similarities with Media Center offering a much more cohesive, integrated experience for the UMPC.

Vista Media Center, to me, feels very well done from a touch experience and is actually a pleasure to navigate with your finger. It also delivers on the custom delivered content, too.  It integrates very well with movies, recording, videos, music, and pictures. Couple this with a device like Pinnacle’s PCTV HD, which I’m currently using an eval license courtesy of Microsoft, and you’ve got TV on the go, TV recorded that you can take with you (with no hassle), your movies, pictures, and music. The Pinnacle Software is bit slow and not tuned to the UMPC experience, but the hardware really shines when coupled with Media Center. Now if the Zune software also integrated with Media Center, a person would have the ultimate in ultra-portable music / video on the go, along with a companion device for a better entertainment experience.  

Anyway, just a few thoughts from someone getting back into UMPC and playing with it from a Vista persepctive. Anyone interested in Vista Media Center, it is available in Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate.

How are you using your UMPC as an entertainment device?