Samsung Q1b UItra-Mobile PC

For today’s entry in my “Zscaler Logo on a Weird, Old or Obsolete Device” series, I present the latest addition to my collection of oddball gadgets: the Samsung Q1b Ultra-Mobile PC! 🔥

This is a tablet PC running Windows XP Tablet Edition, and was released in 2007. As a ‘flagship’ entry in Samsung Electronics’s line of Ultra-Mobile PC’s, the Q1b was intended to be a “pocket desktop” computer - small enough to go anywhere, but powerful enough to do real work.

To that end, it boasted some top-tier specs for the era: a 1GHz Intel-compatible CPU, 512MB of RAM, and a 40GB mechanical hard drive too. The display runs at 800x480 resolution, and is a resistive touchscreen - hence the little plastic stylus that slots into the top of the machine. To the left of the screen is a sliding control device similar to the “circle pad” joystick on the Nintendo DS, and to the right of the screen is a 4-way customizable input button.

The market for these kinds of devices was always a little fuzzy. Microsoft was absolutely determined to push the “UMPC” concept, and Samsung was one of their first hardware partners with the Q1 line. Unfortunately, outside of specialized business applications, very little Windows XP software was actually well-suited to touchscreen devices lacking a traditional keyboard and mouse, and the entire UMPC category basically evaporated in the early 2010’s with the rise of Apple’s iPad and similar Android tablets.

Of course, time is a flat circle, and today millions of gamers (including me!) are happily playing on platforms like the Valve corporation Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally, which are essentially direct descendants of Ultra-Mobile PC devices like this chunky Samsung Q1b.

That’s it for now - have a great weekend, everyone!