At work today, I was looking for a piece of hardware to enable data collectors in the field to easily record data... inexpensively. Convertable tablet, too expensive. Subnotebook, not one handed. Palmtop (aka: OQO), brilliant but too expensive.

Then I found the UMPC. Gizmodo index for quick reference. A "new" form factor, or rather, new software on a rehashed old idea. Still, seems cool to me:

$900 "first kid in town to have one" price, bound to drop.
Thumb-enabled "polar" virtual keyboard.
About 2lbs. Non-bulky 7" screen.
Real Windows XP Tablet to run data collection software.
etc.

Models forthcoming from ASUS, Samsung (the Q1), Founder (Chinese?). But there is one model "available" now, for pre-order at least: The TabletKiosk eo UMPC. In a fit of early-adoption, impatience, and relief I wouldn't have to pay $1200 for 6 pound Gateway convertables or $1500 for Fujitsu convertable subnotebooks (the runner up)... I bought two, to pilot our data collection project at work.

They ship in 3 weeks and I'm pretty excited to have the newest gear on the block. If only I could afford an OQO 01+ for each collector. Any thoughts on UMPCs and palmtops?