Sony UX UMPC Gets Massive DIY Upgrade: CPU, 3G, GPS, TV & More

Sony's UX-series of UMPCs may not be in production any more, but they're still like catnip to modders.  After the beastly upgrades applied to one UX490 late last year, now here's another which has seen the stock CPU switched out and a 3G modem squeezed inside, together with GPS, a TV tuner and a USB hub.

It's the handiwork of Anh from Micro PC Talk, and it's certainly not as straightforward as upgrading your average desktop.  For a start, replacing the stock 1.2GHz Core Solo CPU with a 1.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 required reballing the new processors pins, and then in order to connect up all the various internal peripherals a tiny USB hub needed to be crafted.

Externally the UX looks just like it always did, which means you get a 4.5-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and WiFi b/g, only now Anh can use it to watch TV while on the move, hook up to 3G mobile data and more.  No word on what the new components have done to battery life, however.