If you take a look at the UMPCPortal.com Product Portal, you can see that there are a lot of players in this emerging market. No two are equal, though. Even UMPCs with nearly identical insides have different companies distributing them. A good example would be the Pioneer Dreambook, the TabletKiosk eo 7100 series, and the PBJ SmartCaddie. Remember this older article?
After all the specs and design considerations are in, UMPC purchasers should ask a few questions:
- How long does the warranty last and what does it cover?
- What is the return policy?
- What is the delivery timetable?
- Does the company offer technical support?
- How long has the company been in business?
- How familiar is this company with tablet and mobile computers?
If I have a USB port go bad and find that I have to wait on hold to someone in Bangalore for an hour, then box up my UMPC and ship it out to Taiwan - I'd rather have spent the extra money for local support.
Readers: Go over your warranties and comment with your support experiences. I can personally vouch for both TabletKiosk and Dynamism as being very kind, responsive companies. Their Sales and Support staff are both quite good.
1 comments:
I always look for the good support and backing stuff you mentioned. Dynamism recently made what was perhaps a mistake in upgrading R2H to Vista for $200 extra and distributing. I got first one---all the problems so many had with upgrade was occuring.
Dynamism has 5 day return policy with 15% restocking. While the first person was sticking with that, after talking to a tech person they quickly and easily gave me a full refund. I would go with a company willing to stand behind what they do anyday. Worth 10 to even 20 percent more in my opinion.
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