Review of HCL Mileap V India’s low cost tablet UMPC
I purchased my HCL Mileap V UMPC / tablet laptop for Rs 35,350 which is inclusive of 4% VAT (its retail price is Rs 33,990 exclusive of tax which is approx US $850 this version comes with Windows Vista Home Premium preloaded, the same hardware but with Linux as the operating system is a bit cheaper at Rs 29,990 about US $750 without tax it is known as the Mileap Y Leaptop and it is one of the cheapest tablet UMPC in India, other comparable products similar to the performance of Mileap V cost almost one and a half times.
| The laptop was preloaded with Vista Home Premium the first time you run the laptop it would complete the installation of Vista and you can assign a user name and password, the laptop was also preloaded with Microsoft Works and Kasperksy Anti-Virus, it detected my Wifi network protected via WPA and I was connected to the same after entering my password in a snap, the Wifi reception of this UMPC is pretty good. |  |
Before we move ahead with the review I wanted to list the hardware specs for the HCL Mileap Y / V UMPC
800 Mhz Intel A110 Ultra Mobile processor, 512 KB L2 cache – 400Mhz FSB
1024 MB DDR2 SDRAM, Single slot max of 2 GB is supported
80 GB 2.5” 5,200 rpm SATA Hard disk
7” Swivel WVGA LED touch screen supporting 1024×600 / 800×600 res with 16.7 million colors
2 USB 2.0 Slots
Wireless Lan (Wifi b/g) with Bluetooth v2.0
1 VGA out port
3 Cell Li-ion battery pack (gives a backup time of approx 2.2 hrs with Wifi on, the battery charges in about 2.2 hrs)
4 in 1 Memory card reader
1 RJ 45 100/10 Mbps Ethernet Lan port (do note there is no RJ11 modem port)
1 CF card slot
1.3 Megapixel webcam
Built in Microphone
80 Keys US English keyboard (The keys are a bit small and will take time to get used to but the feel of the keys on the keyboard is good)
1 Plastic Stylus (which is stored in the silio provided at the right hand corner of the screen)
Touchpad with 2 buttons
Built in 2 stereo speakers
Carry case (only with Mileap V series)
Weight: 980 grams (0.98 Kgs)
Things that came with the package apart from the UMPC itself are the carrying case HCL also gave the CD’s for Vista Home Premium, Microsoft Works, Warranty Card, Kaspersky Anti-Virus serial key, User Manual and a driver CD, the good thing was I did not need any of these discs, Vista was able to get all the required drivers and updates from Windows Update service also do note that in the Manual it states that this UMPC can run Windows XP tablet edition too.
The overall hardware overview of the Mileap tablet UMPC
The first thing that would amaze you is the size it’s so small you got to see it to believe it, most of the exterior body is made up on glossy plastic and it looks gorgeous, but again is a finger print magnet. I have to say the build quality is quite good and it looks and feels nice to hold, as it can also function like a normal laptop it also has a touch pad but it’s a lot smaller than what we are used to see in laptops but is quite good to use, I got used to the touchpad within 15 minutes, there is also a stick / thumb pointer on the left hand of the screen and direction pad that can be used to navigate in the tablet mode when the keyboard is folded down, on the right side to the screen we have some hotkeys, brightness controls, 2 dedicated buttons for scrolling, and the mouse left and right click to be used with the Stick thumb pointer in the tablet mode.
The screen which is a 7 inch LED type with touch support, the screen is sharp and very bright it has a native resolution of 1024×600 can also support 800×600 being such a bright screen and you can easily work even in day light with the same, indoors I had to keep the brightness to the second lowest setting also the internal speakers are pretty good for such a compact UMPC you can also plug in your standard headphones and a microphone if required, I connected my headphones and the sound is very loud and clear, there is a dedicated switch from which you can control the volume directly, also there is a small switch for Wireless which control the Bluetooth and WiFi, the 80 GB hard disk hardly makes any noise and there a led to show activity for Hard disk, battery charging, Wifi, Bluetooth and power mode overall everything that you might need in such a small form factor.
Performance of Mileap V with Windows Vista Home Premium
I was a bit pessimistic and also worried how a 800Mhz processor would handle Vista coz we all know how Vista is and can bring down very good computers to its keens, and I was surprised with the performance of this UMPC with Vista, needless to say it’s very functional and quite snappy for its size, it does take time to boot up but after that multitasking with 3-4 applications running at the same time is no problems, the laptop is also very silent and hardly makes any noise, It ran Vista with Aero Glass graphics without any problems thanks to the Intel 900 Graphic chipset, when you run on battery the Aero graphics are disabled to conserve power, I don’t shut off the UMPC using the shutdown command but use the hibernate option as it boots back from hibernation to Vista in just 29 seconds.
The changes that I made to the default software setup was that I uninstalled Kaspersky Antivirus and replaced it with Avast Anti Virus (Free Home edition) and also I installed Firefox
These Mileap Y / V series of UMPC also support input using the stylus using the touch screen in the tablet mode and this machine doesn’t disappoint you in that area. I am fairly new to tablets so I am just getting used to the stylus but the tablet thing works, you can also change the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape etc a total of 4 modes are available to suit your needs there is a dedicated button for this on the right hand side of the screen and it works without any issues, I used it a as a slate and the handwriting recognition is surprisingly good in Vista, as it weighs just 980 grams it was nice to use it like a slate to browse the web, but if you need to type a lot of stuff I suggest going back to the laptop mode as its much more easier and faster that way at least for me, moving on the keyboard it’s the standard English US keyboard that is provided in most laptops, but the keys are a bit smaller in size so you just need to get used to the same, I was making a lot of mistakes first using the keyboard coz the shift key at the right is very tiny in size and is very near the cursors I was always hitting the top cursor button instead of the shift key, now getting used to use the left side shift key which is much wider in size!
One thing to note is that the laptop warms up after some time and if you run many applications at the same time it gets quite hot, there is a heat vent at the right hand side of the laptop and you can literary feel some hot air blowing via the same again it doesn’t make any noise.
Some simple benchmarks on the Mileap V UMPC
For benchmarking reference, I will be comparing it with my primary desktop and my HP 14” Core2duo Laptop.
My Primary desktop Config: Intel Quad Core Q6600 processor running at 2.4 Ghz, 2GB DDR2 RAM, 320 GB 7200 rpm hard drive, Geforce 8600 GT 256MB graphic card its is running Microsoft Vista Home Premium with SP1 RC1.
My HP Laptop config: Intel Core2duo dual core 1.6 Ghz processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB hard drive and a geforce 7400 graphic card, running Microsoft XP media center edition.
One thing that I have done to the Mileap UMPC is that I have upgraded the RAM from the standard 1 GB to 2 GB it has just one slot for memory so I replaced the 1 GB with a 2 GB stick (Standard 2 GB DDR2 667 MHz ie PC25300 RAM) as you might know Vista loves RAM, for more info you can read my article on Vista’s RAM usage.
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were the performance values with a 2 GB RAM. will it void the warranty if we install 2GB RAM. Is Windows tablet PC edition available off the shelf. If installed will the drivers have to be installed for the touch screen to work.
what is the free dos that they provide on the mileap Y version.
Hi Arun,
All benchmarks were done with the 2 GB setup and plugging in the laptop to AC power.
Regarding the question on if it would void the warranty I don’t know about the same, It was very simple to upgrade the RAM just unscrew one screw and you can change the memory module, but even with 1 GB RAM it should give good performance.
Currently HCL is not selling the Windows tablet PC edition, if you want to save some money you can get the Mileap Y version and then install XP on the same, HCL provided has all the drivers for both XP and Vista on the driver disk.
Regarding the free dos I don’t know coz I did not get it with this V series as Vista was already preloaded, my best guess is it’s freedos.org
I would also like to mention that under Vista I did not need any of the installation disks provided, Vista was able to update and get all latest drivers via windows update.
Thanks a lot. the review was very helpful. A planning to buy this. and this review has helped a lot
Wat if I remove Vista (or Linux)and install XP home? Would I be able to use the touch screen then?
[Ranjit] Mohit I guess you can use the touch screen with the stylus like a mouse but with XP Home edition you don’t get support for the extended tablet features and hand writing support, If you want to use XP I recommend that you use Windows XP Tablet Edition.
Is windows XP tablet PC edition available for sale anywhere or on the internet. Also how do we load the software if there is no optical drive on the system? How do the tablet PC features of XP compare with that of vista?
Hi Dr Arun,
Regarding the availability of XP tablet edition in the retail market, I will get back to you regarding the same after inquiring about it with my hardware dealer.
BTW Vista’s tablet functionality features and handwriting recognition are much improved and better than Windows XP tablet edition.
Also as there is no built in optical drive in these Mileap Series laptops you would need to purchase an external USB DVD / CD drive to load any new OS or softwares / drivers from the Installation disks.
It can be done via loading the installation files to the local harddrive of the laptop using an external USB harddrive, but if you don’t know how to do the same any local hardware vendor that you know should be able to do the same with ease.
Hope the above info helps!
Thanks a lot
Hi Dr Arun,
I just spoke to my hardware vendor and he told me that Microsoft does not sell XP Tablet Edition separately in the retail market, the only way you get it is with pre-installed on a new computer.
thank you . the reviews and the information is extremely helpful. I hear ACi is coming out with a similar model. will you have a review
Yes ACi is also coming out with umpc there is not much info but there is going to be one for around 15,000 with the following specs
7-inch LCD screen
• VIA 1.0 GHz ULV Processor
• 512MB Memory
• 40GB HDD
• WiFi & Bluetooth
• Webcam
• No Optical Drive
Again i guess it would use Linux or other open O/S at this price point. I cant promise if I will review the same coz i could do this indepth review with Mileap V as i purchased it and I can’t purchase all the UMPC that come in the market but if I can get a demo piece my hands I will surely do the review.
But the reason why I did purchase this Milep V UMPC coz just around 4 months ago smillar machines were in the price range of 55,000 - 70,000 last year something like this would cost almost a lakh and I felt that this Mileap is true value for money as of now
I do not need the handwriting thing. Wat other extended features are there in the Tablet thing?
And wat about the Vista discs you got were they install discs or recovery discs? Was there any OEM branding in the installed version like it comes in Dell?
And wat about the preinstalled software? Was it only Kaspersky AV and Works or did you get some other crap like Adobe’s PDF reader and unwanted toolbars and demos an the sort.
Sorry for recommenting so soon but are XP drivers included?
The main features of tablet are hand writing recognition you also get the virtual keyboard and the screen rotation features bywhich you can change the screen orientation.
I did not open the disk of the Vista home premium disk but they are with HCL branding, also there is not much blotware installed on the system apart from the anti-virus, IE live toolbar and a simple HCL tips notification that can be easily disabled.
There is a seperate disk provided that contains the drivers for XP and vista, uder vista I did not need even this disk as Vista updated to all the latest required dirvers via the windows update.
Dear Ranjit,
Thank you for your review and other information. What about extended warranty and customer support?How much would it cost for the upgrade into 2GB RAM?
Your reply would help me to make a decision.
Thanks
Jose
The default warranty is for 1 year, there was a thing for extended warranty in the warrant book but I dont recall about it now.
Regard the 2 GB Ram I dont think so its offically supported via HCL but I can be wrong you should check out with your HCL dealer, I did the Ram upgarade myself I bought a 2 GB DDR Ram stick for around 2,200 bucks and installed the same.
I am indeed facinated by the Mileap V. Was wondering if the PC could be used for voice dictation using dragon dictate. considering the slow processor.
Any info on this would be highly appreciated.
Piran
Hi,
Saw your reviews about HCL Myleap UMPC. Hav you run any of the falvors of GNU/Linux on the same? If so how was the experience? Am an open source s/w developer planning to buy an Ultra Mobile PC but a machine which is not compatible with Linux is a strict no for me.
Please share your thots.
Thnx
_raghava_
Piran: I don’t think so this Mileap V is suitable if you would liek to use Dragon dictate with its as the CPU is just 800Mhz.
Raghavan: I haven’t personally tired to install Linux on this machine as Mileap V comes installed with Vista and I use Vista as my primary OS, but Mileap Y comes installed with Linux so these machines should not have any problems running linux.
What is the procedure for install Windows XP using USB DVD RAM. my usb DVD not support at booting time.
Hi Kalyan
Looks like your USB DVD Ram doesn’t support booting via the interface, did you try booting via a USB Memory stick, you can load XP on the memory stick and install from the same.
Here is a article explaining exactly how to do the same http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6346-5928902.html
You can also check this one http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html
cheers,
Ranjit
Thanks Ranjit, I will try it.
[…] installed the USB modem on my HCL Mileap UMPC running Vista Home edition and it installed without any issues, the software used to connect is […]
800 Mhz Intel A110 Ultra Mobile processor….how fast is that?..
i have a dual core 2.6 ghz processor in my desktop and i find it fast enough for me..
i multi task and use heavy applications like maya photoshop and some games on my desktop…
how will it be with mileap v series….
Hi Manoj,
My primary desktop is a Quad Core 2.4 ghz Intel processor that I use as my primary computer.
Regarding the the Mileap with 800Mhz processor it is not a machine to run heavy media softwares like photoshop / Maya but or even games but it is to be used as a portable second computer not as your primary machine.
This UMPC is great for everyday tasks like checking emails working with medium-small office documents, browsing websites, blogging, playing videos etc.
Incidentally I also have a proper 14″ laptop computer with a Intel dual core 1.8 Ghz processor and for the last couple of months I have noticed that I am using this Mileap UMPC more than the laptop while traveling just because of the awesome portability that it offers.
Hi Ranjit,
Very interesting and informative posting, looks like you are enjoying the new gadget.
I am looking at his as replacement of my notebook, so primarily looking for
- Blogging
- MS Office
- Notes - to take notes of meeting and etc..
- Browsing
Do we get MS Office and Notes with this from HCL? If so how much would it additionally cost? Also I travel a lot to Europe, US. Does HCL itself provide a connectors to these countries or have to pick adaptors? Planning to pick this when I travel to India next month!!
Regards,
Partha
Hi Ranjit,
One more question does this come with Origami Software’s like Origami Central and Origami Now?
Origami - copyright Microsoft, are set of software built specifically for UMPC kind of devices on top of Vista.
Regards,
Partha
Hi Ranjit
I am Planning for HCL UMPC model V, and would be using my
Application which is developed using C#2005 and uses SQL Server 2005 Single User exculsively for me for testing and debugging the application and checking reports.
Would you recommed me to buy the UMPC of HCL
I will put a 2GB RAM and XP Professional OS
Can you tell me from where did you buy the same so that i can contact the same
mileap v series is very attractive to look & to use it is very easy to carry one place to another weight is vey low it looks like a personal diary
only one bad thing is there :
optical drive required then it will get good market all over india
Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the delayed reply I was out for station for a while and became a bit busy after returning.
Partha this UMPC is good for - Blogging, MS Office, Notes - to take notes of meeting and etc.. and Browsing again do note that the keyboard is a bit small so it will take a couple of days to get used to the same.
The UMPC is not preloaded with Office, it comes loaded with MS-Works, regarding the power adapter its universal accepting 100 - 240v so it should work everywhere.
Origami is not present on this Mileap Laptop, I tried to install from downloading from Microsoft site and it did not work, there is a work around to install the same but I did not try it.
Viraj: With 2 GB RAM I guess you can install SQL Server 2005 but again remember it will be a bit sluggish in performance, you can buy this laptop from any HCL retail outlet, again big Electronic Retail shops like, Reliance Digital , Croma.
i have been looking for a good tablet pc fujitsu 2010 model was good but it costs 1lakh+.
hai ranjit your review is good, have you installed pdf reader(adobe) how is it to read i mean when we open a file do we have to scroll a lot bcoz of small screen size, also while browsing same thing.
hi ranjit
was there any problem reading the pdf files and internet explorer bcoz of small screen.
do we have scroll a lot to read these documents
Hello,
i am concerned about the finishing of the product( i mean the body). but i am attracted by HP’s UMPC 2133.but it lacks touch sensitivity.what is ur opinion about the HCL product?
Dear Ranjit,
Firstly, thanks for putting up a review of the Mileap on the web. It will be very useful for anybody who is surveying on the MiLeap and planning to buy it.
I, too am, planning to buy it. I am a lecturer in a college. So, the investment of about 37,000 plus to buy MiLeap V is quite significant for me. So, I must be very careful before I buy the product.
The following are the purposes for whoch I will buy it:
1) Surfing the Internet to Read research paper abstracts
2) Emailing
3) Reading PDF research papers
4) Playing continuous music while reading
5) Data Analysis with Perl programming and Excel
6) Running MATLAB programs for modeling and simulation
That means, fundamentally, I will use it for:
1) READING LONG HOURS
2) SMALL SCALE PROGRAMMING
and
3) MUSIC LISTENING
I will use the TABLET functionality (marking with stylus on folded screen) while READING on the NET or PDF files.
I want to buy this product primarily because of its A) smallest size and B) lightest weight. So it will be easy for me to handle and carry. I want to make it my constant companion.
My questions are:
1) Will it be suitable for reading for long hours?
2) Will small programs run with reasonable speed?
3) Will the laptop last (statistically on average) 5 years if I use to for reading, playing music, and small programms SIMULTAENOUSLY for say 10 hours every day?
4) Will it become extremely hot after 2 hours of such continous usage?
5) Will the touch screen degrade in 5 years with such usage?
6) How are HCL laptops in general? Till how many years they are problem free in general? Will HCL be able to replace parts if the need be?
7) Should I go ahead and buy it now or should I wait for 3 months till HP/DELL comes with such a product?
Well, I now that I have asked so many questions. It will be very nice of you if you can help me because I will be investing my 3 year savings to buy it.
Sincerely,
Deb Mukherjee
Hello everyone sorry for the delay in replying, I will try to answer a few of the questions that have been posted.
This UMPC can run adobe PDF reader without any problems, I personally use Foxit PDF reader and as mentioned earlier in the review the screen is very sharp with a resolution of 1024*600 and off very good quality so no issues of side scrolling.
The finish of the product is pretty good, better than I thought. I suggest you personally have a look at the same at any gadget store before purchasing.
Deb Mukherjee this UMPC is good and can do all the stuff that you wanted but from what you really want is a more powefull laptop, you can find many today in the rs 30,000 price point, I havent used the mileap for 10 hrs straight as I have my normal PC to work on and I use this UMPC only on the move or which sitting in front of the TV. I normally work with it on battery with wifi and it gives about 2.2 hrs of battery life, before i need to charge it again.
The touch screen functionality is mediocre at best, I hardly use it in the tablet mode, do note that this UMPC gets pretty hot, as hot as normal laptops get and you can feel the warm air blow out via the heat vent, but as far as my experience it has never shut down itself due to any heat issues and its pretty stable it has never crashed itself till date.
Mr.Ranjit , thanks for your review of MiLeap V Series. I read it completely after seeing the MiLeap HCL Website.
I will have a Look at it and Buy it . But I want to know whether the HCL will help me to Upgrade to 2 GB RAM if I Email them the requirement or should I allow some Technical people to do it.
I will update what I did . But please let me know.
Abhinandana
Guwahati.
Abhinandana I dont know if HCL might help you with upgrading to 2 GB RAM, even if they don’t its pretty easy to upgrade the same.
If the HCL guys refuse to upgrade to 2 GB, I suggest you first try with 1 GB RAM coz its pretty good even with 1 GB RAM (do note the laptop will be pretty slow for the 1-2 days until all the Vista updates have been done).
Hi Ranjit,
Thanks for the great compilation. Have been running around asking people for reviews for MiLeap V and finaly landed here.
I am a B-school student, wud need to run office stuff, internet and music at the same time (can avoid the music part). I am looking between Dell Vostro 12.1″ and MiLeap. The price differential is something like 8-9 K. Can u suggest which wud b better?
Tell u frankly I have picked the MiLeap and as u can imagine fell in love with it at first sight and touch