I am on the lookout for a reasonably priced, say under US$800, UMPC type device and just saw the news that the Vulcan FlipStart has been dropped from US$1,499 to US$699. That is a whopping US$800 price drop on an ultra portable PC that runs a full version of Windows (XP or Vista). Obviously, it hasn’t been selling very well to see this kind of price drop. I have not had the chance to check one out myself and personally do not like the form factor or fact that it does not have a touch screen or active digitizer. However, dropping it down to this price range makes it quite appealing for someone looking for a portable device that runs a full version of Windows.
For those of you not that familiar with the basic specs for the US$699 model include a 1.1 GHz Intel Pentium processor, 512MB RAM (not upgradeable), 30 GB hard drive (not upgradeable), 5.6 inch SVGA (1024×600 pixels) non-touch screen display, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, integrated Sprint EV-DO Rev. A wireless modem, and USB 2.0 port. There is a port replicator accessory available too so you can get VGA out, more USB ports and ethernet. You can check out James’ video of the FlipStart in action to decide if the device is for you. I am personally going to evaluate the WiBrain B1 device first myself since I find that more compelling for my needs and it has the same starting price point of US$699. If it doesn’t appeal to me, then I may just have to try this FlipStart out.
Thanks to MobileTechReview for the heads-up on this news.
