Handtops, UMPC - Flipstart Rules!!!! [first impressions]

01/23/08 + rr0123

I just got mine. I've only played with it a little, but I am already impressed. It really is like a smaller U101. Performance is excellent, video playback is awesome. The screen is great. The click-type buttons will make it much more difficult than the U810 to try to touch type, but with the smaller size I can see how why they would have made that decision on the conclusion that it might work better for most situations.

I did not buy I flipstart at its opening or initially reduced price, b/c I thought it was just too expensive, esp. for a mere 30 GB. But at $699 it is a truly amazing deal. It is a better machine than the U810, not even close.

I am thinking of getting another one!! At this price, it is the BEST handtop out there, IMO.

03/07/08 + rr0123

On the 80GB drive, it's not in stock anywhere I saw. I ordered it on CDW even though it was out of stock, figuring that they would send it to me as soon as they got a shipment. I think there's an ETA of a few weeks.

03/07/08 + funtasticguy

Pierro78, thanks for the link. I did manage to snag a 60GB hard drive off eBay late last night. rr0123, I did see them on CDW as well but nothing in stock. The price difference between the 60GB and 80GB was about $100 and a bit too high for my taste. I'll wait a few months to see if there are any price drops.

Nobody99, yes people have been successful upgrading the hard drive on the Flipstart. Look at FlyP's post here: link

03/07/08 + Nobody99

Do you think the Apple iPod Gen5 MP3 MK6008GAH 60Gb 1.8" Hard Drive will fit?

Manufacturer Toshiba
Series 1.8" ATA6 Emerald ZIF
Model MK6008GAH
Type Info
ZIF-40

Form Factor 71x54x8mm

03/07/08 + funtasticguy

The MK6008GAH drive has a height of 8mm. The hard drive inside the Flipstart is 5mm. While 3mm may not seem like much, in a small gadget like the Flipstart, it is. Of course, I don't have my Flipstart yet and I don't really know how much more room it could have for the drive, but again, I suspect it won't fit and wouldn't take chances.

03/08/08 + Nobody99

Thaniks, yes definately won't take any chances on the size difference. Didn't realise the Flipstart one was 5mm.

03/08/08 + mhoepfin

Got my first chance today to really use the Flipstart at the table (was doing some work while helping my son do some legos!).

With the trackpad, it's a joy to use on a table. Also, found no trouble using 4 fingers to type on the keyboard.

I normally thumb-type and use the trackstick, so it is really nice to be able to use the device in this manner as well.

03/08/08 + wodin

At work their paranoid that I might visit a porn site, gamble, or buy something for personal use on company time; so Harold, the preventer of information has pretty much free reign on what he blocks. So I have my FS sitting on my desk right next to my work computer with a cellular WWAN connection that Harold can't get to. Having a full size laptop would be too noticeable.

Four finger/micro laptop mouse is my standard usage pattern, works well for me.

03/08/08 + Nobody99

I have to say, I too am very surprised just how useable the Flipstart keypad, mouse stick and touchpad are. I do prefer to hook up a USB Mouse for gaming though, since I play Command & Conquer Red Alert and Renegade where the Mouse makes a huge difference. The level of thought that has gone into the design of the Flipstart is very evident and I don't even notice the lack of touchscreen. If you really do need a better keyboard, I have seen some tiny USB and wireless ones that look great and there are those ones made out of some kind of fabric, of course they can be folded up like a cloth too.

03/08/08 + mhoepfin

I got the stowaway keyboard and a bluetooth mouse a few weeks ago but have not had the need to open them yet.

03/08/08 + Picasso

the touchpad is great. and when I'm at work its only porn for me link Not work safe

03/11/08 + johnnyboy

Just got my Flipstart today and it is a wonderful beautiful piece of engineering. Has a long batterylife the keyboard is well designed and easy to touchtype on, the screen is great, clear and very easy to see colors are fabulous. The flipstart is light great to hold and 'flips' right in my pocket. It runs cool and noiseless. A person would never guess it has a mechanical drive and fan inside. It is also very fast runs programs in a blink of an eye. It has plenty of ram and hard drive space. It is the best handtop and palmtop computer out there. Beats the oqo and sony easily.

03/26/08 + heavyharmoni

Regarding upgrading the hard drive, I received my FS yesterday and swapped in a 60GB 8MB buffer drive last night. The actual physical part of the transfer was about a 15-minute job. Nothing exceptionally difficult, but being careful with the orange sticky tape and the ZIF "cable" takes patience.

I'll put the system through some more paces tonight, as well as doing some optimization.

Having experimented at length with a Vye S37 (Kohjinsha SH8 clone) and having just returned a Sony UX390N, I really am pleasantly surprised at just how responsive and perky the FlipStart is, given that it only has 512MB RAM...

03/26/08 + Joshua

Cool and noiseless? Did you get a liquid-cooled prototype or something? Not to criticise unduly, but mine's far from cool or noiseless :D Quiter than the OQO, which also has the fanholes WHERE YOU HOLD IT. Smart move, OQO.

I'm seriously considering the 80GB (or 60GB) drive upgrade now. I'm not sufficiently Windows-nerdy - is it possible to hook up the new drive to USB, clone my existing setup over, and then drop the new HD in?

03/26/08 + rr0123

Joshua said: "is it possible to hook up the new drive to USB, clone my existing setup over, and then drop the new HD in?"

That's what I did, using Apricorn software. Only problem is that I end up with a partitioned HD. That doesn't happen with Sony UX upgrades, not sure why it does with FS. But a partition mgr program can fix that.

03/26/08 + LMc

On the coolness and noise factors: hope everyone knows that through the FlipStart control software you can elect to change the fan speed through power management: faster = louder and "cooler". Also, you can slow down the CPU speed to half speed for cooler and longer battery life.