Introduction:
This R2H is the first ASUS UMPC, which means Ultra Mobile PC. It is a very sleek looking UMPC which is powered by a Celeron M.
The R2H has competitors like the Sony VAIO UX180P and Samsung Q1. The R2H is reasonably priced at $999 USD/$1149 Canadian. Let’s see what the R2H has in store for us.
Specifications:
Intel® ULV Celeron® M Processor 900MHz
Microsoft® Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition
Chipset Intel® 910GML
Main Memory On board 256MB DDR 533MHz +1 x SODIMM 512 MB
Display 7″ active matrix TFT(800×480)
ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology
Video Graphics & Memory Intel® GMA 900
Hard Drive 1.8 60 GB
Card Reader SD card slot push / pull type
Fax /Modem/ LAN/WLAN On board 10/100 LAN
Integrated 802.11b/g
Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.0+EDR
LED Status Indicator Power on/Suspend
LED off (Battery Full) /LED on (Charging)/Low(LED sparkle)
Bluetooth
Interface 1 x R2H Port Bar connector for external hub(S/PDIF, VGA, DC-in, 3 USB, LAN) / VGA function support via VGA Cable
2x USB 2.0A ports
1 x mini-USB2.0A port
1 x Microphone
1 x Headphone
1 x AV (Audio + Video) out
1 x RJ45 (LAN port)
Shortcuts Thumb Sticker
Page Up & Down Button
Functional Setting Button
4 Way Directional Button
WLAN/ Bluetooth Switch button
Log-in(SAS) Key
Audio Built-in 1 mono speaker and 1 microphone
Battery Pack & Life Polymer battery 6860mAh, 48W/hr
AC Adapter Output: 12V DC, 3A, 36W
9.3" x 5.2" x 1.1"
~1Kg/ 2Lbs (with extended battery)
Fingerprint Reader
Initial Impression:
The R2H come in a nice cubed shaped box, once you open it you will see two boxes, one for the R2H and one for the accessories.
The sleeve in which the R2H is protected is very sleek, even the Velcro won't scratch, it is a unique design.
At a first glance of the R2H, the 7" screen is jaw dropping gorgeous when compared to other UMPC with smaller screens.
The entire look of the R2H is very sleek, and ASUS has chosen the gun metal grey colour, just like the W3J and R1F.
Screen:
The screen is matte and 7 inches in size, it is bright and there are 16 brightness levels. On the highest brightness level the screen is good, I even feel comfortable using the screen at 8/16 brightness.
The horizontal viewing angles are roughly 105 degrees both ways and the vertical viewing angles are roughly 105 degrees up and down.
There is no visible light leakage when the black screen saver came on, also the contrast seems good, the blacks are black and the whites are white.
There are 3 screen resolutions, 800x480, 800x600 and 1024x600, I find that the highest resolution to be the best since you can fit as much as possible into the screen and still be able to read the text. I have tried all resolutions and they are all nice to read and use on, but I prefer the highest resolution.
In my opinion, there seems to be some sort of pixilation or slight screen sparkling, the screen doesn't look like my LCD or CRT, however the colours are fine.
The screen itself is very nicely protected by the entire chassis, the bezel around it is strong, and there is no flexing on the screen no matter how hard you press with the stylus, which shows the quality of ASUS products.
Buttons and Joystick:
Right when you hold the R2H in your hands you can see and feel that the buttons are recessed, so that you don't accidentally press them. I like this because this further enhances the sleek look of the R2H.
Looking to the left of the screen, you have the finger print reader, left mouse click, right mouse click, D-Pad, a menu button which brings the user to a variety of features, and a speaker.
Above the screen there is the 1.3 mega pixel camera and a mic.
To the right of the screen there's a joystick which is very fun, up and down buttons, screen options.
To the bottom right corner there are 5 LEDs, first one is power, battery, PC activity, wireless and Bluetooth.
The joystick is very easy to maneuver. It is very precise and if you tap it with your finger, which will resemble a left click.
UMPC Usage and performance:
The first time using the pen it feels a little off, for example the mouse seems to be above my pen by 1cm, after a while the pen and mouse become synchronized nicely.
The pen has a silo located on the back left corner, in which the pen fits nicely into it, not scratching the pen like the R1F. The pen has some nice weight to it, and it also retracts to be come smaller if needed.
When you select areas in which you can type, for example the URL bar for Internet Explorer, you can bring out a keyboard on to the screen. The keyboard has all the keys you need and you can even press them with your finger, but this is not advised. The pen does a decent job of keeping up with my typing. For example you need to take the pen and press "www.google.com" and as you press the letters appear. However, I felt this to be very slow in terms of efficiency and in terms of processor.
On a good note, when browsing internet articles, you can use the up and down keys on the right hand side to scroll up and down.
Loading programs, applications and even movies on the hard drive take some time to load. I wish it was a faster and had a better CPU in there.
Start up also takes some time because of the numerous amount of programs installed, some of them are useless and will be removed or replaced by better programs that use less resources.
The hard drive is a 1.8" 60GB @4200rpm and I transferred 1.5GB from an external hard drive to the UMPC hard drive and it took 2 minutes, this is very slow.
Overall this UMPC can only do the very basic and light work, however this does require a lot of CPU usage in order to do very basic tasks.
Sound System:
I was watching a movie called The Omen and the sound was very low even though Windows media player is at maxed and the volume setting is at maxed. No bass, but the treble seems ok for low volume speaker.
The sound in the headphones are great, the treble and bass are really good, no static problems or anything.
Also there's only one speaker, and it run in mono, at this price I would like to have two speakers running in stereo.
To access the volume on the UMPC you press the button below the arrow keys, and there are 16 levels for volume.
Build Quality:
The build quality is excellent, no flexing anywhere no matter how much pressure you put. The screen also does not ripple when you apply reasonable or a little excessive pressure. The entire UMPC feel very solid all around, everything is held perfectly in place.
Heat and Noise:
In terms of heat the entire UMPC is warm, it feels comfortable in my hands and on my lap, and the heat is not bothersome.
There is about a two inch vent located above the screen, and the heat that comes out of it is just warm. It doesn't matter whether you’re doing light or heavy related tasks; the air coming out of the vent is just warm, but not hot.
Furthermore, there is just a faint "whir" sound that comes out of the UMPC which is not bothersome at all; you will not hear this in many areas while using it. You may hear the "whir" sound when you’re in a library setting but others around you will not be able to hear it since you do have to be close to hear it.
(to be Continued) 
ASUS R2H Review (Pic + Specs) 
