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Apple Newton vs Samsung Q1 UMPC



Round 8: Special powers




This fight is a complete whitewash: The Q1 is wiping the floor with the aging, decrepit Newton. So for the final round, Team Q1 will take it easy by tying one arm behind its back and revealing just one of the device's secret weapons: At the rear of the unit there's a flip-down stand. Eat that, Newton!

Yes, with this stand, you can position the Q1 on a desk, table or even the dashboard of your (not very fast-moving) car and have it do whichever of the amazing things we've already pointed out--but at arm's length. This fight is all but over!



The Newton has 30 hours of continuous battery life provided by four standard AA batteries. This is a knockout punch! You can make the best ultramobile PC in the world, but what good is it if--like the Q1--it only works for 2.5 hours? Have we learnt nothing about mobile PC design in the last 10 years?


The Samsung is on its way down, but I'm going to give it one last slap before it eats canvas. The Samsung costs S$1,999 (US$1,471.77), but you can pick up a Newton on eBay for S$100 (US$73.63). What do you get for the extra S$1,899 (US$1,398.14)? A fraction of the battery life of the Newton, an inferior OS, vulnerability to viruses and a technology paradigm that's become less practical with age.

On top of this, the Q1 uses a proprietary battery pack, which you'll have to lug around with you when traveling. You'll also need to find a power outlet every 2.5 hours to keep the Q1 alive, while Newton owners only need to find a shop and buy a cheap pack of AAs to keep their Newton going for another 30 hours.

There's a well-known saying among Newton owners: "Newton never dies, it only gets new batteries".



Introduction: Let the battle begin
Round 1: Design
Round 2: Screen
Round 3: Applications
Round 4: Usability
Round 5: I/O and synchronization
Round 6: Reliability
Round 7: Networking capabilities
Round 8: Special powers
Conslusion: And the winner is...

 

 

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