Now a days sub notebooks, MID (mobile internet devices) and UMPC are the device of interest for manufacturers and gadget freaks alike. Today lets have a look at a innovative device from HCL called Mileap. It is a ultra small PC (can we call UMPC) weighing just 980 gms targeted at people who need a PC with them always. Its specification are pretty good for a device of this size. Device i had a chance to try was running Windows Vista Home premium.
Lets look at the specs first
Processor is a Intel A110 800 MHz processor which is a low power x86 processor derived from Pentium M processors. Graphics is taken care by onboard 945GU express chipset. It has a decent sized storage of 80 GB HDD (could be better if it is a SSD but, it might rise the price). HCL has added a 1GB RAM to the mix for a decent performance.
Display:
It has a 7 inch display which seems to be small but its better than 4-4.5 inch display in PDA’s. It has a 1200×600 resolution which is pretty good for a device in this form factor. The screen is touchscreen enabled and you can write on it using a stylus. It has a cool 180 degree swivel feature which enable this little device to morph into a Tablet PC.
Connectivity:
This device has a decent list of connectivity option like wifi, ethernet, bluetooth
Other features:
It comes bundled with integrated webcam which has a resolution of 1.3 Megapixel, 2 speakers for the multimedia experience, built in Mic for VoIP.
It has few extra buttons to the left and right of the screen which can be used by the user when they are using the device in tablet pc mode. Lets see what those buttons are for.
Launcher: This button is tied with media player and it opens media player when we press this button
Shutter: This opens webcam application when we press this button
Rotation: This button is present because this device lacks accelerometer which can sense rotations, flipping the device. This button help the user to rotate the screen to 0, 90, 180, 270 degree to view the device in landscape and portrait mode when its in tablet pc mode.
Brightness: This button helps us to increase / decrease the brightness. This can be handy when the device is in dark environment or in very bright environment like direct sunlight allowing the user to decrease the brightness or increase the brightness when needed.
Scroll: This button will help the user to scroll the window content.
Mouse buttons: The button in top is left mouse button and lower button is right mouse button.
Direction: This is D-Pad as found in most mobile phone these days allowing the user to scroll left, right
Pointer: This button helps the user to move the mouse pointer on screen.
Business Usage:
VGA out for your presentations
Extensibility:
SD slot for importing all you images from your digital camera, handicam
Compact Flash card reader and
2 USB 2.0 port for adding device like external mouse, keyboard, etc. Stereo out and mic in is also present.
Mobility:
It comes packed with 3 cell battery and its expected to last 3 hours on idle condition as per HCL. This seems to be mediocre battery life if it can last for 3 hrs on idle conditions.
Performance
I timed the windows boot process and it took 1 min 20 seconds to boot. This seems to be decent boot speed.
I timed the time taken to load Internet Explorer for the first time (i.e. Before it is cached) and it took 5 second to load.
Build Quality:
Build quality of the device was very good and the swivel hinge did not feel weak.
Other thoughts:
It features a full QWERTY keyboard. But, I feel this is not a daily use keyboard all keys are cramped and it will require some getting used to. The keys feel for good but the user will definitely feel the small size of the keyboard.
Price:
Rs. 35990 + taxes
$888.64 + taxes (Rs. 40.5 / $ conversion rate)
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