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You're all no doubt absolutely delighted that you get the first review I'm writing of the Vulcan FlipStart V1.0! For those of you who aren't aware of this little device, it originated with the (often called "vapourware" MiniPC of 2004, demonstrated by Paul Allen). The concept has been refined massively, and is now on sale in the US for $1999 with the following specification:
Pentium M @ 1.1GHz
512MB RAM (not expandable)
Intel 915 graphics; 64MB Unified Memory Architecture
30GB HD (having spoken to the designers, at present this is all that will fit)
5.6" screen at 1024 x 600 pixel (220dpi) resolution
Webcam (VGA, I suspect)
Keyboard, trackpad and touchpoint
802.11b/g WiFi
Bluetooth 2.0
EV-DO cellular data connection
Windows XP Professional SP2
Additional features include media keys and an InfoPane; a secondary display of cellphone-like quality on the rear of the clamshell case which displays email, contacts, appointments etc. without opening the PC.
As shipped, the device comes with a large capacity battery, port replicator (providing Ethernet, Power, USB x 2, VGA and audio), small carry case and a screen wipe, plus the PSU to charge it.
Optional accessories are the slimline battery, a high-end leather case, chargers, and potentially high resolution camera or other devices connecting to a top-mounted expansion port (looks like it is USB but not a USB connector, just wire pads ready for devices using USB protocols).
It's really very hard to describe JUST how small this computer is. Most UMPCs are 7" screen, tablet or sliding tablet devices. Flipstart is a clamshell, and a very rugged feeling one at that. Finished in a fetching dark blue metallic with the distinctive InfoPane and slding metal "FlipStart" cover plate, the closed device is comparable to HTC's Athena, perhaps 3% or so larger. It can be slipped into the back pocket of your jeans with the slimline battery fitted, for example.
Opening the FlipStart reveals a thumb-type keyboard of moderate quality and good spacing; it has a backlight which is pleasant and even, and some handy quick access keys to zoom the screen, open the FlipStart navigator application, control media, and access the task manager. The shift keys are curiously large - you are expected to use your thumbs to type, and by placing the keys accurately and providing a large target, shifting with one hand whilst typing with the other is comfortable. Takes a while to adjust to this method, but it works very well.
Above the keyboard, from left to right, are two mouse buttons, a cursor pad with Page up/down, home and End functions, power keys, a small trackpad and a thumbstick-type device. The trackpad even has software to enable or disable tapping and tapzones, something woefully lacking on many fullsize laptops that assume you WANT to tap; pleasantly, this one has the right balance so tapping works without being obtrusive. The thumbstick device is very quick and convenient, but using the two as appropriate makes this a snappy PC to get around.
Of course, a touchscreen would be better, and when using the device with the Ameo the instinct to grab the stylus and tap the XP screen was very strong. A touchscreen would add depth and reduce the clarity of the insanely high resolution display, however.
Being in the UK, I am unable to test the EV-DO function, but the WiFi and Bluetooth work well - connecting "on the road" was painlessly accomplished via Bluetooth PAN and the Ameo on T-Mobile's 3G network.
Being a fully functional PC it runs PC applications. I've yet to find anything it can't handle, with the obvious caveat that I am applying common sense here and not trying stupid games, or HD video editing suites, or high-end desktop image editing applications.
Oh...
Wait, I did try that last one. It's running Photoshop CS3 adequately; let's say, CS3 on this is snappier (and obviously more capable and vastly more expensive) than Pocket Artist. Lightroom also runs well enough to use despite the FlipStart's display being relatively low pixel resolution for Adobe's recommendations. I'm tempted to try InDesign on it purely for the amusement of doing DTP on a pocket-sized computer - I have little doubt that it will be possible. The LCD's viewing angle is very critical in terms of tilt, but when you get it right the colour and evenness of the backlight is impressive; I wouldn't trust it for critical colour work, but it's certainly alright for previewing and basic adjustments or editing.
Quake 3 was included as a demo and at the default 640 x 480 resolution, was quite playable with an external keyboard/mouse combination.
All this CPU power comes with a cost, of course. Heat and power drain. The FlipStart features a little visible vent alongside the port replicator, and frankly, you'll love it if you ever get stuck in the frozen North with one; it's pretty warm! The fan is louder and more insistent than the dual fans in my XPS M2010 - which is really logical, given the large airspace available in the Dell. FlipStart's CPU is amongst the better ones you'll find in a "UMPC" device, most of the Origami/tablet type units sporting Geode or VIA CPUs. Sony's UX-series has more MHZ, but is larger and costs more.
Battery life is around 3-6 hours with the bulkier "extended" (actually standard) battery, and a mere one and a half hours with the slimline battery. Charging is via a small and delicate looking jackplug - given the amount of charging this device needs, I'd like to have seen a contact-based charging solution like a dock. No provision is made for this, the port replicator clips on and isn't significantly better in terms of wear and tear - plus, you'll want it with you to have access to the 2 flat USB ports. The standard USB port is under the hinge for the display, and bulkier items like memory sticks may not fit.
Overall, the FlipStart is a surprisingly usable "marvel of the modern age" - not only does it convincingly demonstrate just HOW much power you can cram into a small package, but outside of that demonstration, you can run serious applications on it. With remote desktop for the fiddlier file management, or an external display and keyboard/mouse, it's a perfectly functional computer - and if you have good eyesight, the display might not be an issue for extended use. The robust physical design points at a device designed for real world use, instead of geektoy chic - and as such the flexibility of it makes it a lot 'cooler' than you'd initially expect. As the Ameo has demonstrated, there's an upper limit to the size of device that you want to carry about, and this really does stay within it where larger UMPCs may fall foul of the "never take it anywhere" problem that also held back the better Handheld PC machines.
And on that note, that's where this device sits, in my opinion. This is the 21st century "Handheld PC", whereas Origami in the purest form - the tablets - are more confused about their purpose. Are they computers, or just powerful media players?
Having seen the games performance of this, I can envisage devices like it in 3 or 4 years time for high-end mobile gaming, where keyboards are replaced by game controllers, and titles like Gears of War or World of Warcraft can be made truly portable with no loss of quality over their PC or high-end console counterparts. With a desktop OS, and a port replicator, they could even be used for real work. The question is, would the costs come down sufficiently if they sold in large numbers?
At a good $800 or so premium over the HTC Athena, itself one of the most expensive WM consumer devices around, you'll need a good use for it to justify owning it. In isolation, though, FlipStart comes VERY close to bringing true desktop computing power to the genuinely "pocket sized" device. And this is just version 1.0...
One of the nicest aspects of the FlipStart is the contining number of "surprise and delight" features. For example, the zoom key is inherently a bit clever, zooming the window you are looking at to fill the screen, but you can also quickly adjust the zoom level by holding the key and using the scroll wheel. Is this a standard UMPC-like feature? It's really neat! I've never used a screen so sharp and small, yet so comfortable to work on before.
(Pictures will follow eventually, but there are plenty around if you Google!).
hi,
this question because i really think the vga screen is very good for some issues but in tomtom we really need big glasses to see correctly poi for exemple...
and also maybe we can set up the diamond as Qvga for native mode ? like that performance will be better maybe ?
People in xda say than they hav lag in tomtom, maybe it's because of using a lot a cpu for tomtom (tomtom i think is not optimised for diamond) in vga mode because i also encounter lag with tomtom and no lag with igo 8 who is very "luquid"
sorry for my bad english
lomiz from France
Usually, lcd panels "don't like" another resolution, then the native.
The "native" screen size of the diamond is 640x480 and this will never change - unless you replace the screen. As mentioned above, if you wanted the screen to work in a lower resolution and you found a way to do this, you would probably use up extra processing power (and so more battery) "down scaling" the picture. This would almost certainly mean things would be slower.
That said, as I understand it, we do have custom graphics chips in the diamond and if they have driver support (almost all phones with the Nvidea chipset don't have driver support) then it maybe possible i suppose? Again, it would push things out of scale though and probably still use more power in the long run as you are asking the chips to work harder - even though its a lower res.
Monty Burns said:
The "native" screen size of the diamond is 640x480 and this will never change - unless you replace the screen. As mentioned above, if you wanted the screen to work in a lower resolution and you found a way to do this, you would probably use up extra processing power (and so more battery) "down scaling" the picture. This would almost certainly mean things would be slower.
That said, as I understand it, we do have custom graphics chips in the diamond and if they have driver support (almost all phones with the Nvidea chipset don't have driver support) then it maybe possible i suppose? Again, it would push things out of scale though and probably still use more power in the long run as you are asking the chips to work harder - even though its a lower res.
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As VGA is an integer multiple of VGA resolution, there should be no GPU time problem for this (it lites 4 pixels instead of 1). But the GPS lag seems to have nothing to do with graphic processing. If you try to simulate a trip, you'll see that there's no screen lag. And lag problem on diamond seems to be more a GPS chip problem : your position seems not to be updated very often, that's why TTT or any other GPS app lag : it's jumping from one position to another, according to GPS chip informations.
(sorry for my poor english... i'm french)
Araldwenn said:
As VGA is an integer multiple of VGA resolution, there should be no GPU time problem for this (it lites 4 pixels instead of 1). ....
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Exactly. BUT Its not a case of just "knowing" that 1 pixel = 4, it would have to calculate that for EVERY pixel, for EVERY refresh. Obviously, its not a huge demand, our TV's do it all the time but it will add extra work load which will take time and battery.
i have got my new 42 Inch Toshiba 1080p Full HD TV
i am having problems with it connecting to my laptop using a HDMI cable
whatever screen resolution i am using, i am not getting the output in right way.
either the screen is overfilling the screen or it is going different direction but not filling the whole of the screen.
can anyone help me with this plzzzzzzzz
chowdarygm said:
i have got my new 42 Inch Toshiba 1080p Full HD TV
i am having problems with it connecting to my laptop using a HDMI cable
whatever screen resolution i am using, i am not getting the output in right way.
either the screen is overfilling the screen or it is going different direction but not filling the whole of the screen.
can anyone help me with this plzzzzzzzz
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i could never get the laptop or the pc downstairs to display in 1080p even though the tv is well upto the job, ended up change the res to 1280x720 and it filled the screen i never did find a solution sorry, does the tv have like a format mode you can change, zoomed, super zoomed etc??
...
on my uncles laptop i set the display to monitor & hdtv output.. (bottom right by the time & date, you should have your graphics properties..)
it works perfect..
Hi fellow KFHD owners, I just had a strange experience trying to output video from the device via microHDMI to my TV. Basically it could not get the full screen and the resolution seems to be messed up as well. So in landscape mode, I have two black bars on each side of my TV screen.
I tried to play with my TV's setting (set as "just scan" which is the mode I always used for external devices, such as computer and tab). What puzzled me was that this same device used to output fine to this TV, I used it for Amazon Instant Video and the 720p HD videos played fine in full screen.
I'm on stock rooted and it's been a while since I played this device last time so my knowledge might be a little rusty. Can you guys give some advices pls?
Thanks.
I have the same issue. I set my display resolution to 720p with the command "wm size 720x1280" so it would at least be 16:9 aspect ratio, but it's still outputting the display pixel to pixel over HDMI. If I could set my monitor to overscan a large then I'd at least be able to get around the wasted screen space, but it can't do that.
I have a dell WQHD monitor bought to use, specifically with the note 9, but after I plugged the note 9 I found that I do not get the option for the WQHD, it is grayed out? is anyone able to get it to work? please help!
iyas87 said:
I have a dell WQHD monitor bought to use, specifically with the note 9, but after I plugged the note 9 I found that I do not get the option for the WQHD, it is grayed out? is anyone able to get it to work? please help!
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Your monitor cannot handle the resolution.
Sent from my Blackberry Bold
Brava27 said:
Your monitor cannot handle the resolution.
Sent from my Blackberry Bold
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the monitor resolution is 2560x1440, it handles the resolution. I am using the laptop on it with this resolution. The dex show the option for 2560x1440 but it is grayed out?
Same here, even though the monitor and cable is 4k/60Hz capable. Supposedly the Samsung dock and pad work in WQHD, so that would mean they are using a chip ID verification to make sure the 3rd party gear doesn't give full resolution. Just guessing though.
Same problem here... All cables used that came in the box, using a Sony Bravia XE90E.
That panel is well capable of all funky resolutions, certainly 1440p as well.
Mirroring works fine, but what good is mirroring worth really. Nobody bought a DEX Pad to just mirror.
I wondered this too few days ago when I first time tested it with a cheap adapter from Amazon. I also read somewhere that the highest resolution is only available with those "pad" device(s). Not a biggie for me, since the 2560x1440 doesn't scale nicely to a 4K monitor, but the lower FullHD resolution does. It is not like I'd be doing my main work with the phone anyway, but it is a "nice to have" in some random situation where I didn't drag my heavyweight laptop with me.
Would be nice if the resolution selection would give a clear text explaining why that choice is disabled, though.
I read somewhere that only the original samsung pad with the fan allows resolutions over full hd because going overheats the phone too much and damages it, I do not know if it's true or not though.
Well I'm using the official DEX Pad and still no luck. Go figure ?
Sent from my Samsung SM-N960F using XDA Labs
Glassed Silver said:
Well I'm using the official DEX Pad and still no luck. Go figure ?
Sent from my Samsung SM-N960F using XDA Labs
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This dex pad ?
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1ktcwIG3gL._SL1500_.jpg
babak said:
This dex pad ?
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1ktcwIG3gL._SL1500_.jpg
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Yes, that one. There is just one DEX Pad afaik and I don't mean the DEX Station.
The latest update (about 1.5gb) got it working, at least via the dex pad.
I've got 3440 X 1440 matching my display
jesadac said:
The latest update (about 1.5gb) got it working, at least via the dex pad.
I've got 3440 X 1440 matching my display
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@jesadac Are you able to test with a regular cable, and see if the resolution support drops to FHD ? My cables work fine on a MacBook Pro for WQHD, but when connected to my Note 9 with latest version, won't go higher than FHD, even if everything supports it. I am trying to confirm that Samsung locked the higher resolution to their products.
They seem to have at least tried some partial locking, or it may be a technical reason (e.g. ability to drive higher bitrates in specific situations), or whatnot.
I managed to get the highest resolution with one 3rd party USB-C hub, but it allowed DEX mode only when that hub got external power (and thus also charged the phone). Another hub (claimed to support 4K) didn't give highest resolution even when it was also getting external power, so it is obviously a bit hit/miss..
EDIT: The better working hub shows mirrored screen without external power, at that 2560x1440 resolution. There are some random temporary screen artifacts with that hub, though, at least for a while after DEX gets turned on, and sometimes phone-hub-monitor protocols don't quite get it right, showing some really low resolution DEX view with a popup saying something about that too low resolution
6thtry said:
They seem to have at least tried some partial locking, or it may be a technical reason (e.g. ability to drive higher bitrates in specific situations), or whatnot.
I managed to get the highest resolution with one 3rd party USB-C hub, but it allowed DEX mode only when that hub got external power (and thus also charged the phone). Another hub (claimed to support 4K) didn't give highest resolution even when it was also getting external power, so it is obviously a bit hit/miss..
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Ah.... that's very good info. If a 3rd party can, then it's likely a capability support issue. I don't see why on earth a different device could display a higher res than the Note 9, when all is the same, except the source.
I'm ok in FHD on the monitor. While not as sharp, its workable. But on a 70" 4K TV, its so pixelated, it's not funny. I would pretty much like the higher resolution to make the movie playback and picture browsing a nicer experience when the out laws are in town.
lbarouf said:
I'm ok in FHD on the monitor. While not as sharp, its workable. But on a 70" 4K TV, its so pixelated, it's not funny. I would pretty much like the higher resolution to make the movie playback and picture browsing a nicer experience when the out laws are in town.
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I actually prefer the FullHD on a 4K monitor, because otherwise non-integer scaling makes some things worse, at least for text. OTOH, movies and photos are indeed likely better with higher resolution even with non-integer scaling. I did use it at highest resolution on a 4K monitor for a while using 1:1 mode on the monitor, so that there was no scaling (but lots of black margin). I'd naturally prefer 1:1 at 2560x1440 to my older 2560x1600 monitor (so just a little black on top and bottom), but seems that the older monitor does not support the full resolution through its HDMI inputs or something
EDIT: Oh, and at work I connected the phone directly to 4K monitor with the monitor's included USB-C-to-USB-C cable, with keyboard and mouse connected to the monitor's USB ports, and phone being charged by the monitor through that cable. Everything worked just fine, but I'm not 100% sure did it allow the highest resolution.. I think it did.
6thtry said:
I actually prefer the FullHD on a 4K monitor, because the non-integer scaling makes some things worse, at least for text. OTOH, movies and photos are indeed likely better with higher resolution even with non-integer scaling. I did use it at highest resolution on a 4K monitor for a while using 1:1 mode on the monitor, so that there was no scaling (but lots of black margin). I'd naturally prefer 1:1 at 2560x1440 to my older 2560x1600 monitor (so just a little black on top and bottom), but seems that the older monitor does not support the full resolution through its HDMI inputs or something
EDIT: Oh, and at work I connected the phone directly to 4K monitor with the monitor's included USB-C-to-USB-C cable, with keyboard and mouse connected to the monitor's USB ports, and phone being charged by the monitor through that cable. Everything worked just fine, but I'm not 100% sure did it allow the highest resolution.. I think it did.
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Ah... bliss. That is the example of why I love USB type C so much now. A bunch of thunderbolt 3 rated cables is all I need really now. Likely hitting the menu can confirm the resolution. I like the wide resolution as its native on my monitors and TV (16:9 aka WQHD). I just ordered a DeX pad. I will sell the old dock if that works fine at the higher resolution. It's not bad and compact. I found a good price on Amazon, so it's not too bad in the end I guess. Pair it with a portable keyboard trackpad and I may leave that in the living room.
I'm using a third party USB-C hub that allows Dex to work on Galaxy S9 with and without external power. The thing is that my S9 only works at FHD while using the same setup with a Galaxy S8 allows for 2560x1440. It's frustrating. Sadly I can not provide detailed info about the TV set and the S8. If anyone has any suggestion on how to set up my S9 to allow higher res it would be much appreciated.
Filip
@6thtry what 3rd party USB hub are you using?
RustyFlanMan said:
@6thtry what 3rd party USB hub are you using?
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Based on my Amazon order history, it was this:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07FRZCLGB/
Whether it is still the exact same hardware, who knows (sometimes these no-name things change technically without revealing it), but at least it is "Amazon's Choice" (pfft) and "Dispatched by Amazon", and seems to still get good ratings (and bad ones, too).
As it is such a no-name thing, it is totally up to random chance whether it can be found in other amazon sites or not. If no luck with direct name and model, then with some extra luck, one might find it by the exact same look (and possibly even exactly same photos) but with different brand.
6thtry said:
Based on my Amazon order history, it was this:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07FRZCLGB/
Whether it is still the exact same hardware, who knows (sometimes these no-name things change technically without revealing it), but at least it is "Amazon's Choice" (pfft) and "Dispatched by Amazon", and seems to still get good ratings (and bad ones, too).
As it is such a no-name thing, it is totally up to random chance whether it can be found in other amazon sites or not. If no luck with direct name and model, then with some extra luck, one might find it by the exact same look (and possibly even exactly same photos) but with different brand.
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Click to collapse
@6thtry
Appreciate that. On Reddit/SamsungDex I'm trying to put together a list of non samsung hubs that give greater than 1080p resolution in dex mode.
If you remember, do you mind sharing what phone and monitor you were using with that hub and what resolution was selectable in dex mode?
Much appreciated.