My First UMPC
A little off topic…
In 1999, before the term “ultra mobile personal computer” even existed, I bought my first UMPC used from a friend. The Compaq C140 served me well for a year and a half before being forgotten to a random box. The C140 was a heck of a machine:
- Processor: 133 MHz SH-3 RISC
- Memory: 6MB (Used as system and file storage memory, originally 4MB)
- Screen: 5.25″ Monochrome LCD Screen @ 480×240, 2 Bit color depth (4 grey levels)
- Ports: Infrared, PCMCIA, Serial
- Windows CE
OK, it was no speed demon but for typing and solitaire it was great. I could play a mean game of solitaire on the C140 - single card draw completed in 90 seconds or less. You can see the wear marks up in the top left hand corner of the screen:
When I wasn’t playing solitaire the other main use was typing notes for my business law class. I got really good at touch typing with only three fingers on that tiny keyboard. (Yeah, keep crying eeePC users 
)
I remember how exciting it was to have this little computer in my hand and thinking about what sort of cool stuff would be coming in the future. The Mini-Note is the only thing that has even started to give me that same sense of wonderment since the C140. With this current wave of sub-notebooks I think we’re finally getting on the right track for the “perfect” portable computer. In another 5 years we’ll have nailed it.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I had a Diamond Mako (Psion Revo) that I had in 2000 that I loved. It was a great little machine that I used a lot, but eventually the case cracked.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Sorry mate but its not a UMPC. Google UMPC specification to find out what a computer needs to be classed specifically as a UMPC. Its a Mini Notebook. (A fairly new class to the industry).
J