The Mini-Laptops of Summer

The Supertiny UMPC

What's the main difference between an ultramobile PC (UMPC) and the MIDs we've been discussing? A couple hundred dollars. UMPCs get billed as higher-end, professional devices, but at bottom they're little more than sexy (and not very practical) gadgets. But if expensive toys are something you live for, you'll find that two good ones in the UNPC category are the HTC Shift and the Fujitsu U810.

The HTC Shift feels more like a supersize AT&T Tilt smart phone than like a fully functional computer. And yet it carries an 800-MHz Intel CPU and 1GB of RAM. The touch screen slides back and up at an angle to reveal a full keyboard for knocking around in Vista; the Shift also supports wireless data, so you can shoot off e-mail and text messages without loading Windows). That functionality sounds pretty sweet for someone who is always on the go--and the machine looks good, too, right down to a protective cover that wraps around the Shift like a leather burrito skin. All tha style provides some justification for the $1500 asking price.

Another hybrid of sorts isthe  Fujitsu LifeBook U810. This UMPC measures 6.5 inches by 5 inches by 1 inch, so it can fit in just about any pocket. Heck, the U810 is just small enough for you to try holding it in both hands and thumb-typing as if it were a T-Mobile Sidekick in sumo training. If the keys still feel too tiny, flip the screen around and you also have a teensy tablet. But like a real sumo, it's no speed demon. Pricing for the U810 starts at $1000 and varies depending on the amount of RAM, the hard-disk size (the model we looked at came with 40GB), and whether it includes WWAN support. Though these Intel-based machines are expected to run Vista, you can opt for XP instead.