Inside the Asus R2H Origami UMPC (What few will have the stomach to do)

Regardless of the fact that an Origami UMPC is either out of your price range or simply impractical for you at this time, the fact remains that the technology most likely intrigues you. Now, I’m not going to review the unit or go through all of the functionality – that can be left up to legitimate reviewers with no bias. Given its functionality and the limited production UMPC’s on the market, there are sure to be plenty of reviews – that is, once there is supply for reviewers to get their hands on. Now, I’m as biased as they come, even though I can be the most outspoken and critical voice if Asus ever screws up, but this is one toy I’ve been dying for. Of course, once I was able to get my production unit, after a weekend of playing around with it and setting it all up, I figured I’d tear the entire unit down so that I could better know what’s really going on inside. As a totally new form factor, it’s just amazing to see what’s what. Below are a collection of images I took basically starting from the rear of the LCD panel and working back to the rear battery. I noted the images to point out some of the important things. Since I doubt I’ll see anyone else willing to do anymore than take off the memory door to check what’s behind it, I hope this is a treat into the inner workings of the coolest new toy on the block…. If you’re trying to keep up with the Jones’s – you better have an R2H.

(Click for Enlarged View)


One reason I wanted to give everyone a view of the insides of my R2H was to help everyone understand what the Origami design was all about. Anyone saying that they think this should be as powerful as their notebook can look at these images and hopefully understand what the unit is configured as it is. The three things that I find are common always revolve around the CPU, RAM, and HDD. Looking at the thermal envelope in a unit of this size, this 900MHz cpu is all I’d want because even a 1.2Ghz would be too difficult to keep cool given the restrictions. In terms of the hard drive, the unit has a 1.8” hard drive, which is what some of the ipods used to have. Actually, it was the ipod that basically ruined this size hard drive for everyone. They ate up the entire world’s supply of 1.8” hard drives a few years back and because of that, they weren’t implemented in many notebooks and therefore stunted their growth… We’re limited with a 60gb/4200rpm Hitachi drive (no one makes faster, however Toshiba just came out with an 80gb/4200rpm). On to the RAM, some ask why 256mb is soldered onboard and there’s only one open upgradeable slot. As with some of the notebooks, I tell everyone it’s either that or only have the one slot available. This is because the soldered RAM chips take about far less room thickness wise (close to 1/4" less). So think of the onboard RAM as something extra for video to compliment the so-dimm.










Just as a quick note about stock, we have about small quantities coming in every few days. However, the second large shipment won’t arrive here until the week of the 5th of November, with subsequent shipments coming every week or so after that. It’s my guess that over this time incoming supply will go to fill backorders, as I don’t think we’ll have stock in long enough to actually call it “in stock” and have units available for same day shipping until after Black Friday. For more information on the R2H, we have plenty on our site, so feel free to look around:

http://www.proportable.com/detail.aspx?ID=188

 

Good things come in small packages. I find the battery design to be especially interesting, the way it goes over the back plate.

I didn't even think about the iPod killing the 1.8" formfactor. I do remember when they bought the entire world's supply of 1.8" drives, though. That's why my Creative Zen Xtra has a 2.5" drive in it, no one else could get ahold of them in quantity for a few years...

 

Awesome Justin. For a couple niche markets, this thing is going to fill an enormous gap.

~ Brett

 

Once people get over the dork factor - like those who first used those t-mobile sidekicks - it'll be huge.

Basically, Microsoft comes up with some great ideas and it's other companies that screw that up by making junk that doesn't sell. The pocket pc market is dying for everything except GPS and the tablet market is still dismal outside of a few niche markets....... This is really the best of both worlds and yet really has many more uses than both. I took mine to the gym today, I was essentially this guy:



Anyway.... try doing that at 6mph... ain't happening. However, to watch movies, listen to music.... and even keep up on the latest news sites.... it's actually a great idea. However, you just need to be careful because I've seen ipods fall and get the treadmill and get flung back some unwitting guy behind them.... Personally, I set up my tivo to automatically download from my tivo to my server and then to my UMPC in it's proper format for the next morning..... so I keep up on the shows I miss.... I did this a lot over the summer with my P525 PPC Phone, but a 7" screen is a lot more fun than a 2.8" - especially when you're at the gym.

 

That's how I use my video iPod -I just wish it had a bigger screen

 

Well there you go..... it's a bigger ipod... in fact, with Asus' UMPC.. I wouldn't be surprised if Asus' inote or ipad.. whatever it'd going to be called actually comes out.

 

Why God, why do I have to be a poor college student?

 

I won't be for long. I suspect one of these will be making its way into my hands soon after. I owe myself a graduation present, after all

 

It's not bad of a price for this type of device. There's the Nokia 770 tablet but you can only surf the net, play some mp3s and not do much else on it. The R2H is probably way more customizable in terms of the programs and stuff you can install on it.

Btw, can you install another OS on this thing?

 

I'm sure you could..... but you'll need to program the buttons and stuff..... Microsoft does have a distinct advantage as they developed the form factor with samsung and asus..... but I'm sure it could be done.

 

There was a project designed to get Linux working on Microsoft's UMPCs but apparently their site got hacked. You can read a little more about Linux on the device here.

~ Brett

 

Humm.. imagine that... hacked? No way.

 

Thnx Justin for these photos! These were very informative and highly appreciated!

Questions for you since you've got some real world hands on time with the elusive R2H.

1. How is the battery life affected with the GPS unit on? Have you had a chance to keep the GPS on all of the time and see how long the 4-hour battery lasts?

2. How viewable is the screen when outdoors and dealing with sunlight and glare?

Thnx!

 

Answered you over on the UMPC side.

 

Hello, and thanks for posting these pics. I bought one of these mainly for sitting and surfing while watching TV, and it's really quite nice. A giant, overweight, Skype-enabled iPod, basically, since it plays all iTunes.

What I really, really want to know is, what is the wireless card like inside? I happily was able to throw a Dell 1500 802.11n card inside my Macbook Pro and it worked without a hitch. I'm wondering if the wireless card inside the r2h can be upgraded similarly? Your fine pics didn't seem to cover this that I could see. Can you give me any kind of clue about the size, what the antenna plug area looks lke?

 

Hi, thanks for sharing data about the inside of Asus R2H. According to http://www.cpufsb.de/FSB.HTM it's possible to change the fsb if you know the PLL. You're the only one who opened an R2H, so if you have better pictures or notes, can you tell me what PLL is used? Thank you very much!

 

Justin hasn't posted or come by the forum since April 07; I doubt you'll get an answer unless you try to contact him directly at PROPortable. He seems to have moved on to life in his architectural design firm.

 

I've already sent him messages, but who knows, maybe there are some other people who has same kind of pictures with more details.
I'm looking forward to oc my R2HV, just to know if it's possible.