Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too - Gizmodo Comments

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

zudo — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:02:56 EDT

Price to me is very reliant on functionality. UMPC's so far suck with only pen input or thumb keys so then price becomes a huge factor. But if you design a UMPC like this where it is small enough to carry in a coat pocket and has more of a normal keyboard then it could be a main PC on the go and worth a higher price.

Personally Sharp has never had great keyboard designs but I like the clamshell design. What I would rather see is the same size but with a Psion keyboard or something close where not one milimeter is wasted.

zudo

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

zudo — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:59:32 EDT

I think this a very cool UMPC and the best so far. What is wrong with all of the others is they do not have a good keyboard if they even have one, they are too large to carry in a pocket, and just are not very functional for the money.

I know this is expensive but that is because we are looking at non subsidized cell price as this is not made for a US cell company. While expensive the form factor alone is so far superior than the rest of the UMPC's I just might buy it?

I'd like to see one made for a US cell company then we'd get all the features the Japanese people get along with a lower price.

zudo

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

AndrewShuttleworth — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:01:19 EDT

A couple of notes:
1) This won't hit the shelves until mid-June.
2) They haven't announced the expected battery life yet.

AndrewShuttleworth

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

pharmerchris — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:41:28 EDT

I think I just found something new to obsess over. Let's give it a year and maybe we'll see this state-side with some improved specs.

pharmerchris

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Ashe — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:26:24 EDT

@Kim98: I dunno what planet you live on but neither scenario that you paint is reasonable. For a device whose entire point is debatable, the pricing range is something that deserves to be looked at. I doubt many people would buy that device at the current price. At least, you can justify blowing 1000 bucks on an iPhone.

Ashe

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Kim98 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:22:24 EDT

@saych:

Well there's no one single "whole point" to Atom. It's about low power consumption, small size, low heat. It's about fast performance in a small device. It's about x86 (as opposed to ARM) in mobile devices. It's about new form factors like MID.

The pricing is an interesting thing for devices in the territory between iPhone to sub notebooks (e.g. MID devices, UMPCs etc.). On one hand they have the capability of notebooks and as such you could argue that they should be priced similar to notebooks (which is easily 1000+ USD/EUR). On the other hand at the lower range you have consumers used to subsidized phones where prices are a few hundred USD/EUR at most. IMHO $1000 for this is quite ok and I consider a non-subsidized price of an iPhone around $1000 to be ok as well. But I know I'm not main stream (after all, I'm a gadget blog reading person).

Kim98

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

neosoul — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:13:48 EDT

@Stacky Botrus:

Centrino is the moniker Intel uses for it's unified mobile 'platform'. To be labeled as Centrino, the device needs the Intel CPU, Intel Chipset for mobile devices, and the Intel approved wireless device.

So to answer your question Centrino is not a CPU but a platform.

I think this thing is sweet, as a consumer it's hard to realize the potential but think about it... Running the exact same application for the desktop and your mobile device. Even at 1k it's a lot cheaper than purchasing additional licenses for device xyz (if your license scheme is architecture limiting) or renting a programmer to port your application!

neosoul

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

saych — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:01:16 EDT

I thought the whole point of atom was to bring the prices down on such devices. I don't see $1000+ being cheap.

saych

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

riqgeez — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:41:55 EDT

I'd hate to say this but for that kind of money, you can buy 3 iphones and have a little change left over! And, don't have to install SP1.

riqgeez

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

jamar0303 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:02:18 EDT

PHS, huh? That's not too hard to overcome; I've seen one place in Japan that sells a gadget that plugs into a regular phone line and broadcasts a short-range PHS signal. No telling how the FCC will react, though, and you'd have to watch that phone carefully (dial-up + Windows Update = $$$ that you don't really want to pay).

jamar0303

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Mandatory_Field — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:51:26 EDT

Very cool even if the performance isn't the best, as it means that you can _almost_ have a desktop environment in your pocket.

Mandatory_Field

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Dark-Dx — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:36:12 EDT

Real men use 1920x1080 in a 3.5inch iphone screen.

Dark-Dx

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

nosauten — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:32:33 EDT

@Serolf Divad: Monocle? You need a microscope to see that screen!

nosauten

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

soggy_cheerio — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:58:54 EDT

235ppi, nice.

soggy_cheerio

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

OMG! Ponies! — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:52:21 EDT

You could always set this into the wall in the doll-house miniature version of Bill Gates' house.

OMG! Ponies!

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Kiteaton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:49:05 EDT

@Stacky Botrus: [gizmodo.com]

Kiteaton

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Gonzie — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:44:20 EDT

that thing is going to be impossible to use, look how many apps it's got running in the sys tray alone!

Gonzie

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Stacky Botrus — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:32:23 EDT

Are there two atom CPUS, a centrino and another type? This is the first instance I have seen a reference to ATOM being a centrino as well.

Stacky Botrus

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Mandatory_Field — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:24:58 EDT

If you build it, they Willcom?

Mandatory_Field

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

googlesmith — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:16:47 EDT

what about the battery life?

googlesmith

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

itchytooth — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:15:24 EDT

five-inch LED back-lit 1024 x 600 touchscreen

What?!!

itchytooth

Sharp-Willcom D4 UMPC First with Intel Atom Centrino, Windows Vista Too

Serolf Divad — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:03:25 EDT

On the plus side, I've always wanted an excuse to wear a monocle. I'm sure someone can grind me up one that magnifies the tiny screen so that it's usable.

Serolf Divad