UMPC Roundup: Reviewing pocket-sized PCs

The handheld ultramobile PC, or UMPC is still in its early stages of development. Current models all have noteworthy features, mixed with one or more fatal flaws. If someone could magically pull together all of the best parts of the different UMPCs on the market, and add a decent battery--we'd have a product we could enthusiastically recommend.

Sony's VAIO UX390 has a handy slide-up keyboard, and we liked the multiple input options (keyboard, touch screen, and pointing stick), as well as the solid state hard drive. The device as a whole, however, is expensive, offers limited battery life and is a little too big for easy toting.

The OQO model 02 is slim and attractive, but the battery life is very short and actual performance is somewhat sluggish compared to other UMPCs. Good job on the outside, time to work on the inside.

The Vulcan FlipStart, the long-delayed UMPC from a company started by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, looks almost like a shrunken laptop. The blue clamshell design offers protection for the screen and keyboard, but you'll need big pockets to lug it around. It did, however, have one of our favorite features--a tiny 1.5-inch touchpad, which turned out to be the easiest way to manipulate the mouse pointer on any of these UMPCs.

The Asus R2H is closer to portable media player. It has a massive (for a UMPC) 7-inch screen, but lacks the most basic input device--a keyboard.

None of these systems is quite there yet, but hopefully the next generation of UMPCs will combine all the features we liked, and eliminate some of the more persistant problems.