In a word, superb. It was such a pleasure to be using all that modern technology could provide in a 4.5KG package. The Kohji performed perfectly, the S2 IS too and I didn’t charge anything all day. I was able to roam completely cableless.
Just to re-cap, I had a Canon S2 IS, A Kohjinsha SA1 and a 3G phone (see previous post with overview video.) Although I took an HSDPA modem I found that the advantages of Internet access over Bluetooth far outweighed the bandwidth drop so I used my 3G phone for Internet access. I also took along a tripod and some AA batteries for the camera. The idea was that I could take pictures, blog and even live-blog wherever and whenever I wanted and the whole thing worked well together as a one-man live blog and image capture kit. Read on…
Not only was it a pleasure to have so much capability in such a small package but it was fun and a big buzz to have people watching me, taking pictures of me and even asking for business cards. The high point was reporting the Intel Mobility press conference when Pankaj Kedia was talking about usage scenarios and said ‘…you can even use them for live blogging like Steve here.’ I lost my thoughts for a minute or two after that!!!! I even appeared on the Intel press photos CD! [Below-right: Live-blogging the Intel press conference.]
There were no catastrophes but there were definitely things that could have been better. The keyboard on the Kohji is the first thing that needs to be improved on. Right now its the only option I have but as soon as something else is available, I’m upgrading. I’m getting faster and faster on the keyboard but I now know how much better it could be (take the wonderful keyboard on the Flybook V5 for instance. Its the best keyboard on any Ultra Mobile PC I’ve tried and that includes the P1610.) The need for keyboard speed also calls into question the size. Would it be better to take a lightweight notebook instead of something as small as the Kohji? Not really. If I took something bigger, it wouldn’t fit into my bag. The other alternative is to split up the processing unit and keyboard. I could use something like the Q1B with a small keyboard. I’ll have to test this out.
The other things I need to improve on are:
- Audio-only recording. The Kohjinsha has a small problem with audio recording. When you plug a mic in, the internal mic does not mute. There’s also the problem of CPU power. I don’t think I can guarantee skip-free recording while I’m taking images, typing and uploading posts at the same time. Either I need a more powerful computer, an audio-only solution or a different camera that is able to audio-only recording while taking images via PC.
- Video recording. Taking images and video at the same time on the same device isn’t that good. It only works manually and it disrupts the video recording. This is going to be a tough problem to solve with a single camera.
- I need some form of table on which to place the Kohji. My lap is OK but as with all notebooks, its not comfortable for extended periods of time.
- Image uploading slow. This is probably because I was only using a 64kbps uplink at the time. Moving to HSDPA should fix this.
- Video processing on the Kohji is slow making it very difficult to quickly edit and post video clips. I need to move to the GHz class of processors and stay with XP (Vista won’t allow you to use Movie Make unless you have an aero-capable GPU.)
- HSDPA USB modem was a pain. As I said before, the USB modem was annoying. Its too big and I hate the plugging and unplugging. If it was a Bluetooth capable modem it would be better. I will probably solve this by buying an HSDPA capable phone. Nokia E65 is the current favorite.
All-in-all it was a success and shows just how much of an advantage mobility is over processing power. I’m looking forward to enhancing the kit as outlined above and have a shortlist of devices that I’m looking at. I’m also planning my next Ultra Mobile project and its going to be more than just a mobile reporting challenge!
Update: Oct 2007: I have updated the kit. See here for details.
