The Year of the UMPC

It is probably safe to declare 2008 the year that Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) came of age. I really like my ASUS Eee PC -- it's got a lot of rough edges, but it works very well for me, and I don't think twice about taking it with me. My first PowerBook with built-in WiFi changed how I use computers -- it was just "there" and "on" all of the time -- a quick lookup of something on Wikipedia trivial. The Eee PC has that same quality, but it goes one further because in goes with me more places so easily.

Lots of other manufactures are noticing the success ASUS is having, and are scrambling to release competitive products. Many seem to be crap, having made some questionable design trade-offs, but some look nice. Regardless, 2008 will see a flood of UMPC designs, and I'm absolutely sure I will switch from my Eee PC to something a bit better. Really there's only two things I want: a 9" screen of at least 1024 pixels width, and built-in Bluetooth.