The Deep Blue H1 mini notebook had an early mover advantage in the UMPC market but it seems it wasn’t able to hold its ground against the newcomers. Let’s check out and see if this unit would have made a good competitor to the Asus Eee PC 701 series.
Blue Digital Systems went with a Via processor with the H1 — a 1.0GHz Via C7-M. It also has 1GB of RAM pre-installed and a 40GB HDD. In my 7-inch UMPC Rounds-Up last April, the Blue H1 came out on top as the cheapest and feature-packed among the four. (See unboxing pics here.)
Many claimed though that the Via C7-M processor was no match for the Celeron 900MHz. Of course, I had to test this myself. Using SuperPi, it took 48 secs. on the Celeron 900MHz and 7 mins. 26 secs. on the Via C7-M to run 1M digits. Either Via CPUs are too slow or they’re not built for floating point calculations (my guess is the latter).
The Blue H1 has a compact built though the battery pack is protruding from its back side. Like many other 7-inch laptops, the screen real estate is barely enough and with a body that’s 9.5″ wide, the screen’s 6″ horizontal width seems a bit small which made you think the space was under-utilized. It’s a little heavier than my Asus Eee PC but that’s because of the extra weight from the HDD (1.2kg).
The trackpad looks a bit small but after measuring, it’s actually the same size as that of the Asus Eee PC (1.75″ x 1.25″). The distinctive left and right click buttons helps for easier navigation. And while the keyboard size and orientation is the same, the Blue H1 has more space for palm rest which makes it easier to touch type.
The 0.3 MP webcam sits on top of the screen but it’s a little distracting to see the text that states “Digital Camera” beside it, in bold all-caps print.
The Blue H1 is cooler (less hot) too, maybe because of the low-power Via and the good ventilation at the bottom (there were 4 grill slots in there).
The default OS is Window XP and is quite responsive despite the low SuperPi results. It’s complete in connectivity too — 2 USB ports, 1 LAN, 1 modem, a 4-in-1 card reader and WiFi 802.11 b/g.
Over-all, this is a good 1st generation UMPC and could have easily surpassed the Eee PC 701 had it been marketed properly. It’s also 15% cheaper than most UMPCsd when it first came out. If Blue Systems can drop the current price down to Php9,995 today (compared to the 701’s Php13k curent price tag), I’m sure people will find it a good great bargain.
may mabibilhan p b ng brand new nito?
wala n s pccorner, pcx, pcgilmore. san p kya?
pls help…
I just bought a Blue H1 notebook from a friend and it had XP installed. It had issues with its graphics when goin to full screen. So I reformatted and installed Windows 7 Ultimate OEM. Whats great about Win7 is that it finds the latest and best drivers for this laptop. So far so good and no more problems going to full screen.
My only complains are it lags in most applications. Does anyone know if the memory on this notebook or HDD be upgraded? If yes, could you please give me some sites or contact numbers to where I can get this upgraded? Thanks.
here’s the contact number for servimax
Servimax Technologies, Inc.
Unit G, Gillmore Commercial Plaza
#10 Gilmore Avenue, New Manila
Quezon City, Philippines
Phone : (+632) 721-9102 and 722-2992
Fax : (+632) 721-6819
E-mail : ****@****.***
anyways, i bought mine last year, december, so far ok naman sya, ang main problem ko ngayon is yung adapter nya kasi parang nadidisconnect sya. nagtanong ako sa pc corner, 2K daw isa yung charger.
Good for you. I dnt have time to bring it pa sa Gilmore kaya dun ko na lang dinala sa bulok na PC CORNER MEGAMALL. tutal warranty period pa. sabe nila bibilin pa daw parts para sa nasirang LCD. it’s been 3weeks na asa PC CORNER pero palpak service.
Kaya do not buy products sa PC CORNER kung wala kayong tiis mag antay tulad ko sa matagal na service. Sayang lang pera and time nyo.
Sino may number ng Servimax sa GIlmore?
I had the same problem last year. I bought my H1 in September or October, and after just about a month, the monitor won’t turn on, yet the LCD shows that there is power. If I remember correctly, I also bought mine from PC Corner, SM Megamall.
Anyway, when I had that problem, I brought the unit to Servimax, the Blue Service center, which is at Gilmore. I didn’t waste my time coming back to the store. When I bought the unit naman, the people at the store told me that if there are problems, Servimax na ang kontakin.
When the unit was being checked, the woman at the counter just removed the bat, put it back it, and restarted the unit while pressing Fn F1, F2 (I forgot) – and the unit worked.
My fault is that I did not note what the woman did to correct the problem. I am having the same problem now, and I don’t know which keys to press. Does anyone know?
Pinaservice ko yung BLue H1 ko sa PC CORNER MEGAMALL last September 3. Kapag LCD Screen ang Problem aabutin ng more than 1 month ang service. Ang panget sa PC CORNER wala masagot sayo ng exact date kung kelan maayos yung netbook mo. til december na lang ang warranty.
And i bought a piece of s-h-i-t!
Hi! I bought my BLue H1 last December 18, 2008 and as of August 2009 I have problems with it’s LCD screen. It’s total blackout. It has power on its LED, it’s charging because it has still lights. But i can’t use it anymore. Time to drop by the megamall branch where i bought this piece of shit.
BLue H1 is not a good product. if you’ll buy a netbook don’t choose this one.
you’ll regret your 10K for this.
+ i was chatting on facebook when all of a sudden the monitor turn blackout.
ung pinakawire s adaptor. un ung may problem… so wer can i buy kya. its hard to charge, gagalawin ko p maige hahanapan ng magandang pwesto. pero ok nmn ung deep blue ko i love it..
hello po, i have also deep blue.kya lngsan po kya makakabili nung s charger kc ang hirap mag charge. parang may poblema n un, kailangan galawin p maige.ung pinakawire n kinokonek s laptop.para magcharge.
I Have this notebook and selling it for 9,500 only, for only slight usage, with installed OS and programs, and with complete on the box accessories if you are interested. we make our deals asap…… for complete information please email me at sanctuary_pi****@****.*** for questions or you can text me at 091544*****.
thanks!
I recently installed XP professional SP2 and im having problems configuring the video card, ive already installed the latest adobe flash player. java and direct x but when i browse the internet the pictures wont appear, plus if what Mr. Client said that he was able to adjust the resolution to 1024×768 can somebody help me do that, i’ve been to different websites (s3graphics, via, etc.) but i still cant the correct driver for me to adjust the resolution, I cant even run dinner dash which is a low resolution game..! can someone pls. help… tnx!
Anybody here where I can buy blue h1 keyboard? I’ll appreciate any info regarding this. thanks!
where can you buu the notebook at the price of Php9995?
good afternoon, in terms of durability and performance combined, alin ang mas okay? kasi im willing to buy an external hard disk to compensate for the small memory of the eee pc as long as it performs better all around…what can you say guys? maraming salamat sa mga magrerespond. God bless. :D
hi guys no complains with my blue h1 been with me na for almost a year. still functioning as it should. running on windows flp. office 2007. happy with it so far and very useful for my school work. microsoft one note is very useful tool too!
buy first gen eeepc. lots of support at eeeuser.com.
iv tried h1, its fast if only linpus.
oh, may i know where i can buy this? i need one asap. :(
where can i buy this now (june 2009)?
thanks.
My personal experience with it.
Sobrang bagal; is it just me or as in ang tagal mag respond nito even slower than my cousin’s very old sempron 900mhz with 700mb+ ram desktop.
Ginamit ko sa MS-Powerpoint for a group project.
Pag press ko ng play slideshow, ang tagal magrespond; then while playing, slow motion or rather very laggy.
I only used it for a few hours coz sa classmate ko ito so hindi ko na i-test any further and I wasn’t able to tweak the system but my first impression of it is very slow. Btw, I tested this more 5 months ago. Also, since di akin yung notebook, chances are maaring mas mabilis pa pla to if tweaked.
However, yung 4-4.5 battery life is tempting. Kung aus naman ang playback ng 200-300mb HD mkv, then ayos na rin siguro to. Otherwise, yung Asus with N280 kaso more than 2x yung price nun.
this thing is really really slow..