Q1 Testing, September 4, 2009

So I have this friend that is almost as much of a gadget freak as I am.  Around two years ago he bought a Samsung Q1 UMPC and I was very jealous.  We had talked several times about how cool the form factor is and how useful it would be to have a full computer that size. He used it a little bit right away, but then I hardly ever saw him with it.  It turns out that he was very unhappy with the performance of the unit.  This model came with a Pentium M 1GHz processor, 1GB of ram and a 60GB hard drive, so I thought he was just too used to the better performance of his desktop machine.  After all, the specs are what we were using as gaming machines less than 4 years ago, however this Q1 came with Windows Vista Home Premium installed. While I personally like Vista just fine on my Core I7 machine, the specs on the UMPC were way to low to run it. I frequently asked about the Q1, and that if he was so unhappy with it, he should sell it to me.  He didn’t want to sell it, but was wondering if upgrading to Windows 7 would make it feel more usable to him.  Last month he decided to let me test it for a while and see what I could do to make it run like he felt it should, so I decided to do a multi-part review of the Q1 with Vista, XP Tablet Edition, and finally Windows 7 on it. My plan is to record boot up times, one of his biggest complaints, shut down times, run a few basic benchmarks and just use each OS for a week or 2 on a daily basis to get a good feel for each one. As I finish up with each OS I will write up a brief article detailing my experience and opinion.

Part 1, September 7, 2009

In the beginning, the Q1 was running SP1 still so I figured that I would record some times and benchmarks to see how much of a difference SP2 would make on it.  The first time I booted up with the ac cord plugged in.  It took 3 minutes and 47 seconds to boot, and be somewhat usable.  I say somewhat because the hard drive was still thrashing, but I could access the start menu and open my computer. Once it was completely booted and the hard drive quieted down, almost 4 minutes more, I told Vista to shut down.  It took right at 50 seconds to power down. Next I unplugged the power cord and hit the power button.  5 minutes and 5 seconds later I was able to open up my computer, but the hard drive was still rattling away.  After another 3-4 minutes smoothed out so I shut it down and about 1 minute 7 seconds later it was powered down. To me, these times were un-acceptable for an “Ultra Mobile PC”.  The whole point is to be mobile and have quick and easy access to your documents, media, or the ‘net. Vista was everything but quick. I then updated to Service Pack 2.

As you can see by the numbers, SP2 didn’t make much of a difference to the boot times, 3 minutes 39 seconds plugged in, 4 minutes 46 seconds unplugged, shut down time of 55 seconds, a little better but mostly the same. I think that part of the problem with the boot times is the way the screen resolution is handled.  The display would flicker several times before becoming usable.  I tried setting it to the native resolution of 800 x 480, but that didn’t change anything.  It still flickered and it still took just as long to boot. Overall, my time with the Samsung Q1 Running Vista Home Premium was not a great experience. I used OneNote extensively taking ink notes, as well as Firefox for browsing the web, and the Q1 performed ok, but there were several times that I was waiting for the HD to quit thrashing, or while Vista decided to go ahead and do what I had told it to.While I loved the form and size of the device, Vista has no business being on a device that is so underpowered.

In   Part 2, I will be installing Windows XP Tablet Edition on the Q1. I will then test the boot and shutdown times and spend some time using it on a daily basis.

Part 2, October 11, 2009

Well, XPTE is up and Running on the Q1. Tomorrow I will time the boot times, but so far they feel at least 2x as fast as Vista was!

This is a much more enjoyable device with XP The boot up/shut down times, the sleep/resume times and overall feeling of the device is so much better it almost doesn’t feel like the same computer at all. One Note works very well, and the inking is at least as good, as vista’s was. Web browsing is quick, the HD doesn’t thrash all of the time, and it makes me smile.

When Dan first handed over the Q1 for testing I was excited. I had lusted after UMPC’s for a long time, but my budget never quite had room for one, after using it initially with Vista I was very disappointed, but after using the Q1 with XPTE has re-affirmed my belief in Microsoft and small touchscreen devices. In daily use, I have used the Q1 while waiting at my wife’s doctor’s appointments, during lunch break at work and just in general I have taken it with me almost everywhere I go.  The improvements in the sleep/resume times makes taking it out for a few minutes use no problem, unlike when it was running Vista. It now really feels like a mobile device to me.  It isn’t of course perfect.  The battery life is only around 2 hours and the stylus is too small for the screen size.  Over all thought I am now impressed with the Q1 and can’t wait to try out Windows 7!

Dan took the Q1 back for 2 weeks to give XPTE a go, his thoughts on it:

“Q1: I once timed boot up at 7 minutes with Vista. Shut down took several minutes. UI was sluggish & seemed slow but not too bad. With XP the boot time is under 2 minutes & shut down takes a mere 10 to 15 seconds. The UI is responsive & the machine feels like I expected it to from the beginning. I have less than 5 hours of use on the machine since I bought it over 2 years ago. The reasons are;

1. It took way too much time to start up and shut down. (I’m an anal old geezer and like to power my computers all the way off.)

2. It wasn’t fun to use, felt sluggish and I wasn’t used to Vista anyway and preferred XP.

3. Although I love the machine, I don’t have a compelling reason to use the device. Anything I need to do, I normally use my desktop.

4. It needs a keyboard and it needs to not have one. I always thought it needed one on those laser projected keyboards built in.

If it had had XP on it to start with, I think I would have used it a little more but that still doesn’t fix #3 although I’m beginning to work on #1 since I’ve seen Mike carry it in the sleeve or his Scott E Vest and not burn up, I’m not quite as bad about shutting it down.

Vista; the resolution would jump around & go blank several times before boot up was complete and I still had to select the right size after boot up was complete.

XP; screen flashes while changing resolution once during boot up but it’s quick and after that, no problems.

Love this machine ten times more with XP on it.”

Now with Windows 7!

Part 3, March 20, 2010

My time with Windows 7 on the Q1 was very enjoyable.  It felt very similar to XP, but the new touch features of Windows 7 make a lot of difference.  The newer on screen keyboard is much, much better and the general feeling is much better, as you would expect from a brand new OS.  Windows 7 Retail also showed the fastest boot times of my testing. The only problem that I have with the Q1 at all is that as a slate device it is definitely more suited to content consumption rather than content creation. The lack of a physical keyboard helps keep the size small, but definitely makes long emails, or blog posts, or any type of text entry more challenging.  Overall though I love using the Q1, whether as a full computer browsing and blogging, or as an e reader or using Windows Media Center to make the Q1 a portable TV.  I also purchased an extended battery from Ebay which pretty much double the battery life of the Q1!