Loren summarizes his weekend with a Samsung Q1 and compares it with other Ultra Mobile PCs he has used.
He gives the Q1 top styling points, the TabletKiosk eo top handwriting points, and the Founder top joystick/button points. Which one will he buy? Now, that’s a difficult question.
I wonder if he had time to install any of the MathPractice family of software on the Q1? I think teachers will want to know if they run as well on a UMPC as on a Tablet PC.
Loren let me play with the Q1 a bit while he took breaks. I’ve watched others use them over several months, but have done little more than watch.
I learn to use electronic tools the same way other teachers learn, one step at a time, with more errors and more tech support than I’d like to talk about. The Q1 seemed almost intuitive, much easier to use with my thumbs and fingers than I expected.
The Q1 is a nice machine for a teacher, as are the other UMPCs. They are light, easy to use and store in about the same space as a composition book or paperback novel.
The Q1 fits nicely as a communication tool between using a cell phone/PDA and a Tablet PC.
A 12 year old took over most of my time with it, demonstrating how easily someone can adapt gaming and Tablet PC skills to a UMPC.
Even though developers and manufacturers continue working through expected early production glitches, teachers now have a verticle array of useful mobile PC for our own learning as well as for guiding learning of our students.
I haven’t yet, but I want to figure out soon how to buy a UMPC. I like ’em to make my own learning easier.