I can’t believe i havent written about this device yet. It was because of this device that I started analysing my mobile computing needs, making notes, lists and eventualy turning them into the Carrypad journal. Me and some of my colleagues sat having our mid-morning cuppa and I was boring them with my quest for a mobile device (again) and how i’d found this JVC XP741 device. I knew I needed a keyboard and from the possible choices (OQO, Libretto etc.) it had stuck out from the rest simply becuase of its price. 999 Euro – a good 500 cheaper than the nearest competitor. I showed them the printout and a whole new level of interest in my quest was born. We decided we needed to see it in the flesh.
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 ponderd over the Carrypad. But it wasnt! After that I was concentrating on the Carrypad and never looked back at the XP741. I was far too interested in the Nokia 770, the OQO and the rumblings of an ‘Origami’ project by Microsoft.
XP741 is a UMPC.
Today, I was scanning Geizhals again (mental note – don’t spend Sundays browsing price comparison sites!) and, I re-visited the device specs. Somehow, having seen the Origami’s, this device appeals again. It really is an Origami with a keyboard and putting the specs side-by-side shows an extremely close match.
Processor: Pentium-M ULV 1.1Ghz (same as origami spec)
Chipset: Intel 855 GME (same as Origami spec)
8.9″ screen (outside Origami spec – but see overall dimensions below!!!)
40GB Hard drive – Check!
256MB memory (expandable to 768) – Check!
Wifi 802.11b/g – Check!
Weight – 900g (1000g with battery) – check!
1024×600 resolution – better than origami
Price: Euro1000 – check!
What it lacks – Touch screen, touch pack and bluetooth. It also only has XP and obviously not tablet edition.
But wait – look at the dimensions of this thing.
Samsung Q1 ‘Origami’ 228 x 25 x 140 mm 7″ screen
JVC XP741: 225 x 29,5 x 152 mm 8.9″ screen
Its got an 8.9″ screen and the overall dimensions are the same as the Samsung Q1!! It also has a pc-card slot and flexible battery options. For an extra 200grams or so you can clip on the supplied extra battery and get a confirmed 5 hours life. 5 hours! Linux is known to run on it and in my opinion it even looks cooler than any Origami to date. If I was in the market for an Origami-like device, i’d buy this with a bluetooth dongle and be very happy!
James Kendrick did a great review of the device back in May 2005. He loved it.
“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.”
Hold on a minute. Did I say May 2005. Thats an Origami-a-like nearly one year ahead of Microsoft for the same price. What have they been doing for the last year. Did it really take that long to develop the touch software.
Take a look here for specs and google images for some nice pictures.
Just a re-run of the dimensions then:
Samsung 228 x 25 x 140 mm 7″ screen, 800×480
XP741:225 x 29,5 x 152 mm 8.9″ screen, 1024×600
Its not a carrypad so its not really for me but if you’re in the market for an Origami-like device, this could be your dream. The price seems to be a special at the moment as the list price is over Euro2000! and it is only available online in Germany at Mediaonline. Actually, having checked it out on a number of US comparison sites, I can’t find it. JK, in his review, said it was an import. Mmm. Maybe i’ve just given a little German secret away.
Keywords: umpc, origami, jvc
V1.0. 19th March 2006.
Wow never realiized this, good one. Everythig except the touch screen yes – but don’t you think the touch screen makes a whole lof of difference.
So this device is called a subnotebook.
They’ve existed for more than 10 years.
Typing is a bit cramped because it’s a smaller layout, but this is a great little device comparable to the Sony T-series.
@anonymous. Yup the form factor has existed for a long time. Hell, even the Zx81 back in 1982 was smaller than this. The difference now is that there’s so much more useful stuff you can do on one now!!
@onlyumpc. I’ve yet to try out the on screen thumboard but yes, for me, a touch-screen is important. I want to be able to remove the keyboard and use the device for browsing in bed, controlling TV, etc etc etc without having a flap-down keyboard getting in the way.
Thanks for the comments.
Steve/Chippy
Thanks for the review mention. I should point out that the Fujitsu P1510D has the same form and size as the JVC and is available with the touchscreen and the Tablet OS.
Yup. James is right. The P1510D is actually nearer to Origami spec than the JVC. The problem here in Germany is that it costs nearly double the price of the JVC. However, maybe they will be considering a price reduction given the new competition on the scene! I’m going to add it to my ‘nearly carrypad’ product list.
Steve.
I wonder if this confirms my suspicions that carrypads and UMPC are just inferior mini-laptops? We indeed do have multiple products in the category of mini-laptops, apparently there is a market though it’s only a tiny segment for now. But the technology has been there for years and is optimized to be fairly competitive – compare that to the upstart UMPC which is really facing a technical challenge here!
I just came back from a cruise with our local Unix user group, and 10% of the people had mini-laptops with them, both users rather satisfied with them, one of them was a Sony Vaio from ’99 which is still seeing heavy regular usage!
I would really like to try out a mini-laptop once again, I had some less encouraging initial experiences but the cost is a turn-off factor. 1000 eur does not sound that bad!
No Touch screen, touch pack and bluetooth. No tablet edition. And on top of that it has a keyboard! I pass on this one!
P1510 has touchscreen and is the same size , but DOES NOT HAVE PCMCIA!!!
Whoever was advice-ing this one, forgot to mention that..
If you want really small and no PCMCIA, go with Sony UX or OQO (even smaller)