Unboxing the Samsung Q1P

Newegg is one of my new favorite places to shop. In addition to having outstanding customer service, fast shipping, and a great deal, they made my weekend quite lovely.

Much to the chagrin of purists, the following pictures are a re-enactment of the unboxing experience I had late last night, when lighting conditions were less than ideal for a photoshoot. 

Samsung did a nice job with the packaging. Removing the outer sleeve (shown above) reveals a thick cardboard box with flip-top lid. Above the seal is the phrase "imagine digital freedom: samsung's advanced pc technology expands your life to a new level of luxury and convenience."

Under this top layer is a box of accessories.

Samsung Q1P UMPC
Here are the quick specs of the device from the back of the box.

And the device itself.

More about the hardware after everything else is out of the box.

Included accessories
The Q1P comes with a decent set of accessories. First up, the requisite paperwork and restore/recovery discs (AVStation Now Restore, System Software Media, System Recovery Media). I'm abnormally pleased with the inclusion of the discs because Sony doesn't include them with their UX Micro PCs (and making them yourself isn't as easy as it should be).

You also get a hand strap, 3M microfiber cleaning cloth, AC adapter and power cable, USB data cable, neoprene slip case, stylus (not shown), and standard battery (not shown).

I say this all the time, but it bears repeating that I really love cases. This one isn't as nice as I expected it to be (Sony's neoprene pouches are of better quality), but it's not too bad.

Closer look at the Q1P
Now back to the black hardware. The front is glossy and very much a fingerprint magnet.

Surrounding the 7-inch TFT LCD are two speakers on the top and two array microphones on the bottom. On the right are the quick launch, enter, and menu buttons.

On the left are the joystick and auto-scaler button.

The UMPC is packed with I/O ports and other jacks, buttons, slots, and switches.  There's the DC-in jack, USB 2.0 port, and monitor port (covered by plastic door) on the right.

On the left are the external optical drive power port, another USB 2.0 port, headphone jack, volume control button, hold switch, and hand-strap loop.

The Q1P doesn't have any docking potential, so there's nothing on the bottom of the device. The same can't be said for the top.

On the top are the vents, power/AVStation Now switch, Windows security button, CF card slot, and ethernet port.

There's also all kinds of stuff going on when the UMPC is flipped over.

Sliding the two battery latches outward releases the battery pack.

At the top left corner is the stylus slot. The words "stylus pen" are even pressed into the plastic.

Another feature I'm abnormally happy about because of its omission on the Sony UX180P is the built-in stand, which can prop the Q1P at 20- and 80-degree angles.

The actual unboxing was very pleasant, but initial boot-up was not. A Windows XP Setup Wizard automatically launches alongside an on-screen keyboard that covers most of the subsequent screens and forms and will not move off the screen. If you try to move the keyboard so that any part of it is off screen, it snaps back to its original location. Annoying. Additionally, out of the box, touch-screen calibration was really off, so using the keyboard was really annoying.

To top it off, the wizard crashed! It sorted itself out eventually, but it's not a very reassuring sign of things to come.  I haven't deleted any of the preinstalled software (of the 60GB, only about 48GB is free) or installed anything of my own yet, so I don't have much confidence in the system right now.  I'm hopeful that this will change.

Samsung Q1 organizer
It will likely be a few months before I receive the free keyboard (and I'm holding off on sending in the form and UPC code until I know my Q1P is completely healthy), so I won't be using the organizer for awhile. Too bad, though, because it's really nice.

The device fits into place easily and is held in securely at each corner.

I'm not one to play favorites, so you can expect to see as much coverage of the Q1P as I've  devoted to the UX180P. Well, okay, maybe not that much, but pretty close.

Comments

[Jay]

Great photos! A lot of people's response to the initial software installation is the same. Once you get it tweaked out, it'll get better.

I've got a UX280P, and I've been curious about trying out the Samsung Q1P to see what it's like. I don't expect it to surpass my love of the UX280P, but I know a couple of folks that love their Samsung devices. That makes me curious enough to consider purchasing one and then selling it if I don't want to keep it.

I look forward to hearing how it goes. Have you tried an Asus R2H yet?

[Bobby Chapman]

Whew! Looks good. Thanks for the photos. I didn't know the Organizer had a stand. Now I'll definitly buy one... eventually. Very good review.
Have fun with your new Q1P.
-Bobby

[Jenn]

I've heard a lot of good things about the Asus R2H, but I'm not really interested in it. The only official UMPC I've ever considered has been the Q1. I expect this to change at some point next year since there should be lots of new devices to choose from!

I used my UX180P alongside the Q1P last night: the difference in screen size is pretty tremendous. My eyes tire and my vision gets a bit blurry after about an hour with the UX, but I swear I can look at the Q1P's screen forever. I almost always have the UX docked and hooked up to a monitor to use it, and I think the opposite will be true with the Q1P.

[MathProfJohnson]

I have the first version of the Q1 that I purchases in May. I have barely used it since the battery life 1hr 45 min is barely tolerable and the time it takes to boot is really bad. I hear the new Q1 (non-flash) is faster and with the extended battery the performance is greatly improved. I actually just bought the UX280P and found it amazing. I haven't used it enough for my eyes to go blurry yet, but I love that it fits in any purse and has integrated EDGE. I look forward to hearing your impressions after you have used the Q1 more.

[Jenn]

Have you tried NHC (Notebook Hardware Control) to monitor your battery drainage? It's freeware and can be found here: http://www.pbus-167.com/

I haven't run any drainage tests yet, but I think my Q1P is getting close to 3 hours with Wi-Fi turned on and screen brightness set at mid-level.

I keep my Q1P hibernating all the time and it does take longer to awaken than my lower spec'd UX180P. I haven't done a cold boot often enough to comment on start-up but I don't remember thinking that it was anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks for your comments :)

[MASTER]

"To top it off, the wizard crashed! It sorted itself out eventually, but it's not a very reassuring sign of things to come. I haven't deleted any of the preinstalled software (of the 60GB, only about 48GB is free) or installed anything of my own yet, so I don't have much confidence in the system right now. I'm hopeful that this will change."

I know it probably is, but is it safe to uninstall the pre-installed software? (eg. Will it wreck the warranty or the system? )