We are actually rather intrigued by the Kohijnsha dual screen DZ series netbook as a pro-focused mobile productivity device and hope to be bringing you some first hand coverage soon. For now you can take a look at some good videos from Wow-pow-blog which has a three part DZ series video review. We’ve got the first embedded below, and you can view the other two parts by jumping over to Wow-pow.
[NewGadgets.de] via [Liliputing]
You may have seen the Kohjinsha dual screen netbook concept floating around the web recently, but apparently they are actually going to be putting this thing on the market. The unit will go on sale as the Kohjinsha DZ, and at first I saw this unit as novel, but after seeing it function on video I realize that this could really be useful for some people out there.
Maybe I just missed it before, but this thing is also a convertible, and while it doesn’t have a touchscreen, the screen will still spin around like you’d expect. See toward the end of this promotional video from Kohjinsha’s site.
Looks like the DZ will be running Windows 7 Home Premium, an AMD Athlon Neo CPU, 160GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, and have BT/WiFi.
If I was shopping for a new netbook for blogging, I’d seriously consider the Kohjinsha DZ. If you’ve ever had to write a paper while referencing other sources on a single screen, you know it can be a major pain to flip back and forth between the two. I’ve got a dual monitor setup at home, but if you need this same functionality on-the-go, the DZ can actually provide that in a netbook sized package. Have a look at the impressively designed DZ screen below. There are no goofy steps to go through, just slide and you are ready to work.
The only issue is that you are getting a unique feature, and you are going to have to pay for it. The Kohjinsha DZ will apparently be sold in Japan starting December 11th for ¥79,800 which is aprox. $925 or €617. Hopefully we’ll see some importers pick this one up to make it easy to purchase in the US and abroad.
via Liliputing and Netbooked
Jenn over at Pocketables.net is getting ready to take a break from the site to become a new mother, but she isn’t leaving the internet empty handed as she goes. She recently got the Kohjinsha PA [Portal page] series convertible which might just be a device so ugly that only a mother could love it — yet still she managed to dish out a mini review of the PA series as her last post until she returns sometime next year. Jump over and have a look at the smallest convertible in town.
Don’t forget to check out the M1 size comparisons as well. I certainly didn’t realize that the PA series was nearly the same size as the UMID M1 [Portal page] until I did so myself!
Eeek!
The Kohnjinsha UMPC isn’t going to do the UMPC segment any favors if it turns up looking like that, for over $800!
I’m usually very positive about any UMPC entering the market but I’m finding it very difficult with this one. Mouse pointer and stereo speakers are nice but surely there’s a prettier way to do it?
Via: Kohjinsha PA series available in November.Source: Wow-Pow
An interesting device popped up at JKKMobile yesterday. A new Kohjinsha device that, according to JKK, could be based on the existing UMID M1. It looks a lot deeper than the UMID, about the same size as a netwalker. Should perform faster than the netwalker too. It’s based on the Menlow platform and will be running XP.
4.8 inch convertible touch screen
Intel Atom Z520 (1.33Ghz) with 512MB RAM
32GB SSD
Wifi and bluetooth
One-Seg TV tuner
1.3 mpix web cam
Micro SD
1 x USB
7 hour battery life ( forget it .. 4 hours is real )
161 × 111 × 10 ~ 26mm 400g
XP Home
We’re trying to get detailed info right now so stay tuned.
jkkmobile: Meet new Kohjinsha UMPC, PA series convertible.
Source: PC Watch
The UMID Mbook (#11 in the charts today) represents one of the smallest most efficient PC’s in the world. The Netwalker (#8 in the charts today) represents one of the most powerful ARM-based devices in the world. Both platforms are capable of running desktop operating systems and being designed into a handheld form factor. This comparison photo proves that.
The image comes from a side-by-side photo set and review that appears on PC Watch. It’s actually the new Kohjinsha PM on the right but it’s the same device as the UMID. Check out more images and thoughts on their site. [translation] (Via JKK)
The question is, how does XP on the UMID compare to Ubuntu (ARM version) on the Netwalker? PC Watch focuses on the UMID in their article but stay tuned because JKK should be getting a Netwalker very soon so he’ll be able to answer that question.
I suspect that the differences between the platforms will become very clear when using Firefox which is available on both systems. On the Netwalker you’ll be waiting 50% longer for page loads and wondering why flash doesn’t work everywhere. On the UMID you’ll be happy that the browser is quick because you’ll get less runtime when using it. The classic ARM vs X86 trade-off.
Several days ago I put up a post asking which device was most anticipated by readers of our site. 648 of your responded and I’m here to share the results. Take a look at the graph below:
For readers who didn’t have a chance to participate in the poll from the previous post, here is the list of devices which readers could have chosen from (click the link to be taken to the product’s Portal page).
Crunchpad | Asus Eee T91 | Archos 9 | Always Innovating Touchbook
As I watched the results roll in, the Eee T91 stayed the leader for nearly the entire duration of polling. The CrunchPad came in second, followed by the Archos 9 and then the Always Innovating Touchbook. There was a good amount of ‘other’ responses. in fact enough to tie the CrunchPad for second place (I’ll add more devices to the poll next time!). What I found interesting was that some people filled in the ‘other’ dialogue with existing devices, and some filled it in with devices that they would like to have, but might not be products at this point. Here is a short list of ‘other’ entries for existing products:
And a short list of ‘other’ entries featuring devices that don’t yet exist:
Interesting suggestions everyone. Thanks for participating in this poll. Its good to know people are looking forward to these devices. We have quite a few nice products lined up that we’ll be reviewing for our readers. Chippy has the Viliv S7 coming eventually, and we’ll also hopefully have our hands on the Asus Eee T91, and the Always Innovating Touchbook in the near future.
I’ve been giggling for the past hour. I just can’t work out if that portfolio case is a masterstroke or just plain silly but one thing’s for sure, it highlights how small this device is.
We got hold of the Kohjinsha SK3 a few hours ago and ripped straight into it with an unboxing video that you’ll find below. So far we’re impressed with the build-quality, the size and weight, the features, the bright and crisp screen and of course that portfolio case. We’re not so impressed with what looks to be low-end battery life (largely due to the tiny battery) and the Japanese language XP build (a nice challenge!) although the speed of the device seems to be good. XP is helping here. The keyboard is exactly the same as found on the SC3 so you’re limited to pecking on the desktop although thumbing and single hand-hold pecking is also possible. The screen mechanism is solid.
We’ll be testing more over the weekend so watch out for a full hands-on early next week. A live session is tentatively planned for Monday evening (Central Europe time.)
The Kohjinsha SK3 that we reported on yesterday has been formally launched for the Japanese market at a local price, including taxes, of about $730. Before I put some thoughts down though, here are the full specs:
Physical Interfaces
Wireless Interfaces
Additional Specs
We’re clearly looking at the evolution of a good quality UMPC here. The SC3 was well built and had an excellent (arguably the best in the market) screen making it downright stunning for 720p playback and very useful for high-end navigation duties. The SK3 will be just as good if it has the same screen. The size reductions are quite considerable considering it’s got a swivel screen and the weight reduction to 720g is class-leading for a 7” ‘laptop.’ It will be noticeable if you’re using it with one hand. The local price of $733 seems reasonable considering the huge array of connectivity options that the SK3 offers. Finally, it looks Kohjinsha might have changed the keyboard slightly. If i’m not mistaken it’s taken cues from the Everun Note keyboard and enlarged the main character keys. This will help a lot.
On the negative side we can’t ignore the extremely disappointing battery life figures. 3.2hrs battery life on a Jeita-based test is nothing exciting at all and will translate to between 2 and 2.5 hours, possibly less under heavy load. The battery pack is a tiny 17wh and there’s no indication of an extended battery option. This alone is going to be the deal breaker for many. Add the fact that it’s running a 4200 1.8” 60GB hard drive too and you’ve got too very significant reasons not to buy this and to wait for the Viliv S7 (much much bigger battery and battery life, bigger keyboard, ssd options) or even to go for the Viliv X70 and buy a portable keyboard.
Kohjinsha have a habit of creating impressive designs but losing focus on battery life. Two years ago when the SH8 was released I expressed disappointment at the 2hr battery life. That was 2 generations of device ago. Then, the SC3 was released and it was at that point we decided to run a poll. Under 3% of people found 2hrs to be an acceptable battery life. It looks like the SK3 won’t be much better and with new UMPCs turning in 5hr+ battery life, it appears worse than ever before.
We’ll be tracking specs, links and details in the SK3 information page. There’ are already a set of images in the gallery.
We’ve just had an unofficial tip-off that Kohjinsha will be launching a new 7” UMPC this week. It will be an improved version of the SC3, one of the few remaining 7” UMPCs with a keyboard. The changes look to be fairly subtle with differences in appearance, size and weight (down to 720gm) and the same 1.3Ghz Menlow platform with similar specifications. The GPS and SD card slot remain along with the PCI-Express, VGA-out and LAN connection that other 7” UMPCs don’t have. Wifi is upgraded with 802.11n support which is a good sign that they’ve dumped the horrible inefficient WiFi module that was in the SC3. Windows 7 support is also being mentioned in the information that we’ve got. The only significant new feature seems to be a dual camera but from the fuzzy Japanese-language info we have here, we can’t work out the resolutions. The letters ‘AF’ give an indication that the quality could be fairly high. There’s no information on the screen touch technology but the pen in the images indicates that its resistive.
Nice case. Looks much less deep than the SC3. No rear battery.
My immediate thoughts are that this is a good improvement over the SC3 and a better choice than the Raon Digital Everun Note if the battery life and disk speed is improved. The SC3 is hampered by a slow HDD so an SSD option on the SK3 is a must. Battery life also needs to be improved over the SC3. Notice that the there’s no rear battery on the SK3 indicating that Kohjinsha have switched to the Li-Poly battery technology. That means they can design the battery into the casing which reduces the depth and provides a bit more flexibility. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that its a 30wh module that can drive the device for 4hrs but only a hands-on and price will reveal the truth and tell us whether this is a truly all-round UMPC that will compete with the ‘7hr’ Viliv S7 that we are also expecting to hear about soon.
It’s confidence-inspiring to see that Kohjinsha are continuing to push forward in the UMPC market. With Windows 7 on the horizon, we hope that others will follow the lead and we look forward to a busy Q4!
Update: Some new info is coming in. (See and thank Larry in the comments) “First the Screen is 1024 x 600 and it is a touch screen. It will be on sale from June 26th in Japan and should be in the 7-800 USD range with the current strong YEN. Same Intel Atom Z520(1.33GHz)CPU and Intel US15W Chipset. Sadly the battery is only rated at 2.3 hours. It will be selling with Windows XP Home SP3.”
If you had dropped by the live page earlier you would have seen me having some fun with the new publicly available release of Windows 7 Release Candidate 1. I’ve been testing it on the Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M and the Kohjinsha SC3 today and so far I’ve been impressed by how smoothly the install process has been. On both devices, almost everything is working and on the SC3, even the tablet features are available.
Gigabyte T1028M Touchnote.
I have a modified Touchnote netbook here with 3G, 2GB and SSD and it appears that most things are working out of the box apart from the 3G driver (fixed with standard drivers) the screen brightness and battery indicator. Smart Manager, the touch control panel, doesn’t install but Wifi, BT and WWAN can be enabled and disabled via the FN keys. Installation was smooth and quick (expected with the SSD) and the touchscreen worked immediately. The WiFi needed a Windows update but after that it was working perfectly. Standby, hibernation, SD reader, USB, WLAN, LAN, audio, multitouch pad, BT. Even H.264 and Divx videos work out of the box which is a real bonus. I haven’t tested the ExpressCard/34 slot but I’m not expecting a problem there.
Kohjinsha SC3.
The SC3 is based on the Intel Menlow platform which includes the Z-series CPU and the US15W chipset (AKA Poulsbo – Exactly what you’ll find in a Sony Vaio P) It also contains a VIA wifi module, GPS hardware and, as with the Touchnote, an ExpressCard/34 slot. The SC3 required some drivers from Kohjinsha but after installing all missing hardware, only the redundant DMB module doesn’t work. As a bonus, after I installed the Pen-Mount touch drivers, the Tablet features of Windows 7 were enabled which means floating tip, handwriting recognition and a few other features are now available. With rotation working perfectly and a very usable OSK, the SC3 has suddenly turned into quite a usable little tablet device. Slower than with XP but faster than Vista and with all the additional features that were missing from XP. One thing I really love about Windows 7 is that it connects with the hardware decoding on the chipset and due to the built-in H.264 codec/filter, it can play 1080p out of the box. I tested a 12Mbps H.264 1080p video and it was working extremely well with only a bit of tearing to distract me. Unfortunately, the HDD on the SC3 is as slow as an old dog and there’s still the 2.5hr battery life to contend with. Windows 7 isn’t a magic wand!
In terms of overall performance, Windows 7 has slowed both machines down slightly from their previous XP installations but with more going on in the background, that’s to be expected. On the other hand, its a much smoother and quicker experience than Vista and the trade-off could well be worth it, that is, if you have a fast disk of 32GB or more, 2GB of memory (to be safe) and the money for what will be quite an expensive OS. Clearly Windows 7 is a nicer working environment and I’m sure that after a while on the Touchnote I’ll find myself locked-in to those little extras that make all the difference but I can’t see myself using Windows 7 on a UMPC or MID simply because of the drive footprint, memory footprint and the number processes running. Which begs the question, what happens when XP is gone? I still don’t see a Microsoft option for UMPCs and MIDs beyond 2010.
I’ll be keeping W7 on the Touchnote, working through the Windows 7 features and trying to fix the important battery indicator and screen brightness. If I can fix that i’ll be using it as my daily notebook unless I find other problems. As for the SC3, its there, its working. I don’t use the SC3 because of the slow HDD and short battery life so that’s that for the time being.
Update: It looks like we got the model name wrong. It says S32 on the product info sticker underneath the device!
Kohjinsha weren’t present at CeBIT but we found a few of their products on the Taiwan Excellence stand. The SX3 was there (Sascha and JKK have a video of that that they will post soon) but I took the time to take a closer look at the SC32 having heard that the pricing has been slashed and that a 3G version is now available in the UK. You can see in the video how Kohjinsha have implemented the 3G module. After we did this video we popped off the battery but couldn’t see a SIM card slot so I can’t guarantee that this is how it’s happening with the KJS-UK version. Looking at their spec sheet (PDF) it shows images of a removable 3G card so it could be the same. We’ve got a query out with KJS-UK to confirm this.
With the built-in 3G module and rotating screen, this could make an interesting car navigation device or photographers tool (great screen, geo-tagging with the GPS, good storage, fast SD slot) but with just 2hrs battery life (standard battery) its difficult to use it as a long-term mobile device.
More details, along with our review and images are available on the
SC3 information page.
Vye Computers in the UK have long had a relationship with KJS/Inventec who design and manufacture the Kohjinsha range of Ultra Mobile PCs and netbooks but they have now decided to tighten that relationship by becoming a direct distributor of the KJS devices in the UK.
We’ve spoken to Vye and picked up information on their first offerings under the Kohjinsha brand prior to their launch next week. The first devices will be the SC3 and SX4, 7″ and 9″ convertibles. While these might be known models (I have an SC3 myself and the SX4 is based on the existing SX3) there are a few important differences that make them more interesting than they were before.
For example, the SC3 with Windows XP and embedded 3G will be selling for an RRP of 699 pounds making it a much cheaper option than the Sony Vaio P that it shares many specifications with.
Other models will include GPS and Vista options.
Having tested the SC3 extensively I can tell you it’s got a fantastic screen (bright, rich) and the convertible touch screen rotation gives one of the best reading experiences I’ve had yet on a UMPC. The device can handle 1080p H.264 given the correct drivers (Cyberlink PowerDVD works well) as the chipset has built-in video codecs. The build quality is very good and there’s a good range of expansion ports. Memory is easily upgradable too. On the downside, the battery life can drop down to the 2hr level (an extended battery is available) if you use the device hard and there’s very little 3D graphics power. We’re going to contact Vye to see if we can get an SC3 with XP and 3G because it could be a good alternative to the Everun Note and Sony Vaio P and with XP, a much leaner and faster-booting system.
Launch is planned for 26th Feb so we’ll have reseller/url details then but in the meantime, check out our SC3 and SX3 product pages, keep an eye on http://kjs-uk.co.uk/ and follow http://twitter.com/lwrigglesworth on Twitter for updates.
Update: In related news, JKKMobile reports on lower cost SC3 import options.
A great overview video from JKKMobile on the SX3. Its attractive, has a good hardware design and impressive set of specifications and features. Does it perform though?
My take-away thoughts from the video are that its a stylish, useable form factor but if its going to use Vista, a 1.6Ghz is the entry point, not the 1.3Ghz provided. I also question the need to include a DVD player when they could have slotted a bigger battery into that space. Slightly too heavy for comfortable one-handed use. Inventec, Kohjinsha, Intel GET THOSE DRIVERS SORTED OUT! People should not be expected to put up with sub-standard drivers.
More info and links on the product page.
Source: JKKMobile
Following on form the previous highs and lows with the SC3…
The SC3 really works well in portrait mode and
makes a great crossover e-reader / web reader.
The user interface, 10 minutes after booting. Mouse pointer and TIP only.
The problem appeared after I tried readyboost (which hung.)
Now trying to find a way to recover (safe mode has the same problem.)
Direct From Japan, the guys I bought the Kohjinsha SC3 from, just pinged me with an unboxing video of the Kohjinsha SX3, the 8.9" touch UMPC based built around the Intel Atom platform. Again, Kohjinsha have squeezed in features that you won’t find on many other mini notebooks, let alone netbooks because this one has a DVD writer built in. Yup, its the same size as an Eee but has a DVD writer built in!
We also have some CrystalMark scores which show almost exactly the same results as the SC3 but remember that this one has the 3-cell battery rather than the 2-cell you find on the SC3. I don’t have any battery life figures yet but i’m expecting 3.5hrs with Wifi off and 3 hours with Wifi on. Official figures state 4.5hrs.
Other features include the 1280×768 hi-res LED-backlit screen, dual cams and ExpressCard slot. All in 1.2KG.
|
|
|
Copyright © UMPCPortal – Portable, Mobile and Handheld Computers.
Powered by Wordpress. Live Wire Series Theme by 
.
