One of the members here, Hanno, has just been reminding me of a netbook from 2005 that would still raise eyebrows today had it not been killed-off over two years ago.
With a beautiful design and an 8.9" 1024×600 screen, Intel Pentium-M 1.1Ghz processor and up to 768MB of RAM and running XP the JVC XP741 was way ahead of its time. Yes there were other ‘netbook’ devices around but none of them had the style of this one.
When it launched, the XP741 from JVC cost over 2000 Euro and people are now complaining that the Eee PC 900 is too expensive at about 1/4 of the price! How markets can change. I wonder if JVC (or Victor, i’m not sure who finally had ownership of the device before it was EOL’d) have thought about selling the rights for this one. Drop a new Atom-based mobo in there and it would probably sell like hotcakes. Here’s what I wrote about it in March 2006 when I saw it being sold-off in a local electronics superstore:
Off we went to ‘MediaMarkt’ where we found the sister device. The 841. It looked great and had a DVD drive in addition to the 741 specs. However, what we thought would be a tiny device, turned out only to be ’small.’ We left without a purchase. Back at work, I did a further comparison of the two devices and found out that the 741 was in fact a lot smaller than the 841 simply because it did’nt have a DVD drive.
If the 741 had been in the shop, I would have bought it there and then and never have pondered over the Carrypad.
This blog might not have ever started if that device had been in the shop on that day! James Kendrick reviewed it back in 2005. He loved it too:
The JVC Interlink XP741 is awe inspiring, jaw dropping gorgeous…The JVC Interlink XP741 is a beautiful, capable computer that can be easily carried virtually anywhere.
Its the model of a modern netbook. It even lacks Bluetooth. Just how visionary were JVC! Has anyone got one of these? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts about the device and how you think it compares to netbooks.
I bought the predecessor, the JVC MP-XP 3210 (http://www.xonio.com/artikel/Test-JVC-MP-XP-3210_30595460.html), several years ago at a bargain price – still far more expensive than today’s netbooks. That old mini-notebook still works, repaired with lots of duct tape.
Several times on a train, random people used to ask me about the machine and if it ran “Windows CE or something like that”. It was Linux, but they were usually very surprised when they heard that the device was able to run XP as well.
Btw, as far as I know, the JVC devices were actually made by Asus. An old forum thread on ppc-welt.info claims:
JVC MP-XP3210/7210 = Asus S2A
JVC MP-XP7230/7250 = Asus S2B
JVC MP-XP731 = Asus S2N
JVC MP-XP741 = Asus S2Ne
Thanks Hanno.
That ASUS were involved makes it even more saddening that it was EOL’d.
Just goes to show how price is such a big factor in whether a device succeeds or not…I remember wanting to buy a Toshiba libretto, but baulking at the >$2000AU price premium for a cramped laptop with a tiny screen. I hope that UMPCs get a second chance like the notebooks in a few years time – fortunately, devices like the iPhone are bringing touch computing more into the mainstream now , so people can start letting go of needing a physical keyboard for input/interaction.
Cheers
(This post written on an Asus EEE 701 4G)
“Its the model of a modern netbook. It even lacks Bluetooth. Just how visionary were JVC!”
hehe, nice one ;)
I don’t understand why people keep ignoring the Fujitsu lifebooks, which were probably one of the first subnotebooks to start the “netbook” trend.
The Fujitsu P1032 was released in 2001 with a 700 MHz Crusoe processor, touch screen 8.9″ 1024×600 display, wifi. Very well made.
Seems to me that there is alot of excitement over reinventing the wheel. These “netbooks” have been around for a long time. How can you say the JVC was “ahead of it’s time”? Fujitsu BTDT, and is still doing it.
I think the P1032 lifebook would still “raise people’s eyebrows”. Various modern successors to this line have been released, and are available cheap on ebay which duplicate the capabilities of the “cutting edge” netbooks produced today.
I’ve bought a XP741 at Mediamarkt for 999 Euro a couple of years ago and never regretted it.
As said above it is a relabled Asus S2Ne, which was sold only in Asia. In Europe and USA it was sold as JVC and dropped soon by JVC for the lack of success. Sadly JVC stopped the support immedatly.
Luckily i never need any Service for i never encountered any problems with this neat little device till today. (Drivers can be downloaded at Intel or Asus)
I use it as a laptop on business termins, or as an easy to use entertainment (mostly sofa/bed/garden surfin’) device at home. A slightly tweaked XP runs like a charm on it, booting the device up in under 20 seconds.
Funny: In 2005 most people thought of this device as a useless toy for rich business people, which is way to small to do any serious work on it.
Three years later, all of a sudden the same design concept proves to be a hit: Easy Computing, surfing, communicating with small devices like EEEPC or others where ever you want. The Size/Performance is the same. The only deffernce is the price.
Baught a MP-XP731 back in 2004 and am still using it. Unfortunately there are no cheap replacements for the battery available. Otherwise I wouldn`t even be looking at all the Atom-powered devices ;-)
And the quality of the casing (metal hinges) is just outstanding and the display is so much better then the one the eee uses. Still love this device.
The MP731 as well as the precedessor MP-XP3210 were sold for about 950€ in MediaMarkt and Saturn in Germany, once the models had reached end of life.
And yes, Asus was really involved in this. This was even mentioned in the heise newsticker back then
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Computex-Asus-zeigt-12-Zoll-Notebook-mit-Centrino–/meldung/40598
It’s just a matter of “educating” the masses. Most people are like little dogs, they have to be trained. Even if they SEE something with their own eyes, they still need to be told by an “expert” that: “Hey, you really need this device, it’s really useful…you’ll love it!!”
Once they get permission from those they feel to be more knowledgeable than themselves, then, like sheep, they’ll clamber to the troth to feed. Quite pathetic, really.
Anyway, I had never even heard about this tiny JVC laptop until today! From what I can see from the pictures, it’s design quality alone is far superior to any of the new “cloud books”. I would love JVC to pop an Atom in this baby and rerelease it!
JVC – the original netbook pioneers! :D
You know, mentioning Toshiba’s Libretto… If they were to re-release it upgraded to Atom with XP, it might very well be a huge hit. I remember loving that device and playing with it at CompUSA, but finally balking at the price.
It’s all in how you market it. This made me think of one of the original MIDs which I own and which also came out in 2005. It’s the Palm TX – 3×5 inch touch screen, wi-fi, bluetooth, browser, media player, and even Java support. But nobody cared in 2005.
I have a Palm TX! I still use it, mainly as an e-book reader (I have about 20 books stashed on an SDHC card). I also use it to stash selected e-mails for thoughtful response during the day. The browser, however, sucks quite badly. But I agree, it was probably the 1st MID.
In fact, this is not JVC, but Asus S200N (known as S2N in some countries). I am using it for almost 3 years now as my primary laptop and I am extremely satisfied with it.
Until this year the industry was not able to produce anything that I would consider as a suitable replacement. This year I’m betting big on Willcom D4, although the ideal form factor for me would be Gigabyte M528, but with 1024×600 screen (my experience shows that anything less is suboptimal for web surfing), 1.3GHz Atom processor (otherwise it’s too slow), and some for of a mouse pointer.
I bought a JVC 731 on EBay in December, 2003 from someone who had bought it from Dynamism in NY. Cost about $1800 and change. I’ve never done anything to it except (with difficulty) adding some memory, and it has performed flawlessly. It has been to Jaipur, India, and sailed along the Turkish coast. I was looking at this forum because with the current travel restrictions I was hoping for a UMPC that is smaller than the Interlink, but at this point I think I will stay with the 731, a super little machine. I use a bluetooth dongle and my cellphone, by the way, to connect to the Internet anywhere, including on a Turkish gulet.
Hey its great to hear from the netbook ‘pioneers’ here. I really wish i’d bought the 741 back in 2006 having heard these stories. I note that some of you are now looking for new devices so it will be very interesting to hear if you go for even smaller devices next time round.
Hats off to you guys.
Steve.
All the ones mentioned above are just the new kids on the block compared to the daddy of tiny PCs. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the IBM Thinkpad 701C (the “Butterfly”), an example of which I have at home. It neatly solves the problem of having a tiny case but with the benefit of a full size keyboard. And it was fast enough to run a Visual Studio development environment (back in the day).
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:701C
Well if we are going to throw it that far back…the year is 1995…the very first real “netbook” would have to be the IBM PC110. 486sl 33mhz, 4.7″ color VGA LCD, no internal HDD, booted from CF or PCMCIA slots. All in 1995. How many of you actually owned a computer in 95? :) Through all the subnotebooks I have ever owned, and I have owned many, this is by far my favorite.
http://www.basterfield.com/pc110/pc110idx.htm
Yeah, I was bit hasty Brandon… however, if we set 7″ screen as UMPC then the Thinkpad 220 of 1993 has got to be the first, or near enough.
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:220
Weight 1Kg
386SL processor
Size 226x166x32
7.7″ VGA display
Im sure many here will have had PCs earlier than me but I started with a VIC 20 in 83.
By 95 I had already spent 7 years on the Internet!!
My first foray into the portable world was wih the PSION 5. I guess that was later than 95 though.
Steve
While we are reminiscing about OLD tiny computers, was I the only person in the US who bought an Epson Geneva? This little machine had a tape drive of some sort. I was also dismayed when Psion stopped making consumer products for us. My 3a had a much better operating system than my current Treo, no down time, and a great database that was completely searchable. After they made the series 5 they were going to have a new model (7?) but it never came out. Right now I’m keeping my JVC 731, and will be taking it to Europe soon. I have been thinking of smaller, like the Fujitsu U810, but am not willing to deal with its Vista OS.
Nice to see the JVC here. I bought it about 1.5 years ago, before the whole netbook craze, used, when similar computers were 2000-3000E new. And used it daily since, upgraded with faster HDD and more RAM (the mobo unofficialy supports up to 2GB if you can find the rare 1GB microDIMMs, it has two modules). Slimmed down XP it runs quite fast, even photoshop fast enough for editing news photos on a deadline. And I love it. When it gives up the ghost I hope I will get the Willlcomm or similar. The only sign of its age is that the batteries are holding less charge now. I love the second clip-on battery, good concept. I am still surprised it holds up to daily journalist (read: abusive) use. And it even has a firewire port, for ultrafast card readers or hdds.
As others have mentioned, there have been a whole slew of such “netbooks” for years. The only new thing with the current netbooks is the price, 5x less when new ;-)
Just to add, as far as I know it was sold as JVC in Germany and France, as Asus in Russia, and Victor/Interlink in Japan.
Any thoughts on where to get the mini memory module? I know I added 256 megs at one point, but don’t remember where I found it. I’ve used the 731 a lot, too. I’m an academic and have taken it all over, given lots of PowerPoint lectures, etc. It seems that most of the new machines I am not buying are really not that tiny or light. My JVC weighs just about 2 pounds.
Besides the ol’ Librettos, there was the granddaddy of them all, the ol’ IBM PC110!!!!
That was a real beauty!!
;)
Hi all
I am using a XP7230 since 2003 and still use it everyday. I bought it to be able to carry a very light laptop in my backbag when riding my motorbike to go to customers. I bought another one last year on ebay. The best is when I am performing a training session, I have my JVC connected to a beamer infocus lp120. The package wheight less than 3 kg and is very efficient for ppt presentation.
I am using using the JVC story to expla
Padmapada, you can use these modules:
http://www.memoryx.net/jvcxdu1024.html
Actually, I bought a 512MB PC2700 module for my 731, although it supports just PC2100 speed, most PC2700 modules downgrade gracefuly to PC2100.
You can change the one on the bottom trough the slot, for 1248MB total, or you can even change the internal one, if you disassembly the machine, for 2GB total (it’s not soldered just slotted, but need to remove the keyboard and other parts).
Specifically, the memory needed is 172pin microDimm, DDR-1 PC2700 for 741 and PC2100 for 731 (but as I wrote, the faster ones work in 731 too).
see more here:
http://www.jvclaptop.com/memory_upgrades.htm
http://home.hccnet.nl/pr.nienhuis/jvc/JVC-main.html
Frantisek, thanks for the added information. I looked at my records and found that the 256MB I added a couple of years ago was from Memoryx, and it was at that time a PC2100 module, but now they have only PC2700 so I am glad to hear that it would work. I had trouble getting the tiny piece situated, but it has been working well, so I may try to upgrade again…better than dropping $2000+ on an unknown new machine
Hi All,
I have an ASUS S200N notebook.
Just wanted to let you know that I bought a 1GB 172pin microDimm, DDR-1 PC2700 in EBAY for 90$ but it didnt work in my laptop.
I thought that ASUS S200N and JVC MP-XP731 are the same notebooks but its seems there are not :-(.