Samsung Q1 in the buff!
Brace yourselves, because this isn’t pretty. It’s one thing to have an unboxing video of the Samsung Q1, but viewing the UMPC stark naked is a whole ‘nother matter. In fact, just to keep it clean for those under 18, I’ve only put a thumbnail pic here; a virtual UMPC peep-show if you will. Assuming you’re of age, you’ll have to click the jump for the full thrill ride.
Why is the Samsung Q1 in the raw, you ask? Well, for one thing, I have a very bad habit of wondering how things are engineered. After all, we’re talking about a full-fledged Windows XP machine in the size of just a hard drive some eight years back. It’s downright scary when you think of it that way, no? Another reason to crack the case: Samsung states that the Q1 can handle up to a gig of RAM, although it’s currently only available in a 512 MB configuration. Since Kingston’s memory configurator now shows the Samsung Q1 for a 1 GB SODIMM module, I had to see how difficult it would be to upgrade.
OK, if you clicked to get here and can read this, don’t say I didn’t warn you. For the technically squeamish, you might want to turn your heads now. Here’s the guts of the Sammy:
I only had to remove six tiny little screws to see this X-rated view. In the pic, you can see how tightly packed the whole contraption is; it appears that there are actually two circuit boards in the unit; one on top of the other. You can clearly see the 40 GB hard drive in the upper left, the wireless module under that, the 512 MB SODIMM RAM module in the middle, and Intel chip and the fan on the right.
Looks like this will be a snap to upgrade to 1 GB for folks that choose to do so. I’m not sure what Samsung will charge for a 1 GB Q1, but the prices I’ve found for the 1 GB module are in the $145 to $185 range. Of course, since this is a single slot, the 512 MB module becomes worthless to the Q1.
Since you made it this far in our peep show, we’ll leave you with a full, in-the-buff view of both the bottom and the top half of the unassembled Q1, along with the battery as an added bonus. This Q1 will be appearing at Hef’s mansion later this month; we’re under negotiations for a centerfold spot.
-kct
Could you post some hi-res fotos?
CYA warranty!
Looks like Kevin’s keeping his Q1… *grin*
— Steve
Don’t worry, man… Best Buy will still take it back.
Hi-res photo’s would be really cool.
We need hi-res naked action!
Great info though. Thanks.
Regards
Steve.
Looks to me like there’s still a lot of work to do on miniaturisation, if we’ve going to get the pocketable UMPC’s that Bill Gates and the Origami team say is their product vision.
High-res photos of full frontal mobility usually cost extra, but I’ll see if I can break out the teensy-weensy Phillips-head again later this weekend. Stay tuned.
Wow, I did not realize that you were this bold.
Now, can you fit a large capacity 8mm Toshiba hard drive in there?
I’m with jk, I think you voided your warranty.
You don’t mention the type of SODIMM it is. from the Kingston link I assume it is SODIMM DDR2 PC4200 533Mhz Ram. If so, you could find other 1G SODIMM for a bit less, ~$85-$110.
have you looked into finding larger hard drives as well?
check out dynamism as they are offering the q1 for 1499 for a 1gb upgrade. hmm 300 more for the q1 with 1gb installed or should i do it myself to save some cash?
anybody made the upgrade yet? im thinkn about it, is it worth it?
Kevin can you take a look at under the fan and hard drive? Is there any mainboard parts under those or it’s just space?
Hello, Could you take closer micro shots of the hard drive area, the connectors, the memory. Thanks. This is amazing to see. Wow.
I have done the upgrade I bought a 1Gb 667 module for £39. Took about 10 minutes and has worked flawlessly. l did it the same days I got the Q1 and have had no crashes at all. Go for it.
Quick question on the Q1, have you tried the tablet tutorials? I cant get the interactive ones to work. The basic tablet intro says tap the start button in the window, but nobutton is shown!
Yeah, I hope you didn’t just invalidate your warranty…however, if there isn’t a spot in the case for you to access the RAM slot, you might be ok, since taking the whole back off will be the only way you can get to it.
You’re a brave man Kevin – I ‘ve restricted my “taking things apart to find out how they work” on things that are old and/or cheap
David Keppler, this is a known problem with the Tablet tutorials, they run at a fixed window size and can’t be resized for smaller screen resolutions.
David Keppler, try using the resolution switcher and setting it to 1024 x 600 emulation. That should let you use the tutorials… that’s how I finally got to see them.
— Steve
I bougth a Kingston SODIMM DDR2 PC4200 533Mhz and dont boot the “AVS Now”.The screen is locked showing the message “Starting AVS Now …”.
This memory same dont compatible?.
Ramon, I don’t think it’s the memory but instead an issue with Windows XP embedded or a setting within it. I’ll have to research, but I’m wondering if this is why Samsung doesn’t have a 1GB version of the Q1 for sale yet.
Samsung was very eager to have crack on the UMPC’s: they even did not wait for their own 1.8 inch HDD’s to enter production! I have no doubt the disk guys now are tasked with domination on the market and we might see first samples of them in the upcoming Q1B.
And Intel chipsets suck for UMPC: having two PCB for two chips/bridges greatly increases the cost. VX700 rules (or must do so
Installing the 1GB module was simple. For novices, (1) be careful with the case screws-these are blue Xylan coated, so don’t overtighten [I use a torque screwdriver], and (2) make sure those wire are not caught underneath the replacement module. Also (3) don’t get rid of any tape that had secured the bare wires. After a fan noise developed in the case, I had to look inside again to reposition one of those wires.
Incidentally, I was looking at the cpu; seems it is secured to the socket by two solder beads at one edge. Shouldn’t be a problem hot-knifing the bead so that the Pentium M753 could be substituted. Thoughts?
if you can switch the cpu then you can try it for all of us. what kind of socket is that anyway?
hi! have a question. is it possible to completely remove the front face plate of the Q1 from the board/LCD? need to know coz am planning of repainting the Q1’s case to FLAT black. thanks!
Hi, I have a Q1 that a customer dropped and destroyed the screen. I have been able to remove the cracked one but am having some trouble finding the replacement LCD screen. Any ideas? I am a very expierinced laptop tech and this was tear down was fairly simple and straight forward. All ideas are appreciated….
Thanks!
Brad
i am trying to replace the hard drive on my q1 with a new 120gbyte samsung drive. The problem is that my unit, like the one shown, has the hitachi thicker connector. is it possible to shave the connector to fit a toshiba thickness?
Thanks