Following on form the previous highs and lows with the SC3…

HIGH

The SC3 really works well in portrait mode and
makes a great crossover e-reader / web reader.

About 3 hours later…LOW

 
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.)

SC3 specs, info and links here in the SC3 info page.

Jenn from Pocketables  shows us a press release from Fujitsu making official the latest iteration of the Lifebook UMPC. We already knew most of the details regarding the Atom based U2010, but the press release has shed light on a few new bits of info. The U2010 will be available in five different colors: Ocean Black, Pink Gold, Cool Silver, Fuchsia Red, and Luminous Blue. Fujitsu is also saying that the U2010 will run for 8 hours on its extended 4-cell battery, or 9 hours with the 4-cell battery and the announced 64GB SSD option. The U2010 looks to be shaping up to be a good sequel to a pretty popular line of UMPCs. Lets just hope that press released 9 hour battery figure is true!

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 ultra mobile PC 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.

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The important element of this little report is that, for the first time, I’ve been able to play with a Menlow-based ultra mobile PC (Atom 1.33Ghz Z520, Poulsbo) running Windows XP although I have to say, the Panasonic CF-U1 is an awesome device that needs to be talked about first. Lets get my excitement about the CF-U1 out of the way…

• Dual, hot-swappable 20Wh batteries. Now that’s a feature I want, with an external charger.
• Dual high-brightness LEDs around the camera. For that night-time report or just to scare young boys!
• Fingerprint reader for security and speed benefits.
• Modules all over the place! This one had a laser barcode scanner and RFID reader.
• Hand strap options.
• Amazing Wifi and Bluetooth reception. I didn’t get a chance to test it out but apparently a lot of time was spent getting it right. The person showing me the U1 [Hi Jason. Thanks for breakfast!] had done some tests to confirm this.
• Peace-of-mind ruggedness.
• High efficiency build.

More after the images below…

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I’m in the ‘BUX (as my fellow US-based bloggers say!) with the SC3 and having a fun, productive time. Watching that battery level of course but really enjoying the form factor. To most people round here I guess it looks like ‘one of those small notebooks’ but they are so so wrong!

Things you can’t do with a netbook..but can with an SC3.

• Thumb the keyboard. Yup, it feels comfortable for one-lines, IM, passwords and URLs.
• Hold it in one hand and drive it via the touch screen while leaning  back.
• Leaning back with a coffee in one hand and the SC3 converted to tablet mode reading feeds in the other.
• Slipping it into my ‘man purse.’ [Yes, a debateable advantage ;-) ]
• Bluetooth teathering to my phone (OK, some netbooks do actually have Bluetooth)
• Feeling really happy that you have one of the smallest and most adaptable PC formats ever.

Problems you must cope with…

• Battery life
• Keyboard not as good as a netbook but im happy to sacrifice a handful of words per minute.
• Vista keeps slowing me down with its disk activity and inability to be slim and fast. I checked out an XP-based 1.33Ghz Silverthorne-based device this morning. It was so much better.

I have decided to give the SC3 another chance. My Tekkeon and Samsung Q1U died last week so rather than shell out $1400 for my ideal Q1 Ultra, i’m going to get a slim, 30hw external battery pack that will fit in my gadget bag and provide some badly needed energy. When I get the chance, i’ll try out the Kohjinsha extended battery. It should save me $1000 while I wait for a new device. In the meantime i’ll have to put up with the rollercoaster of emotions that the SC3 gives me. 2hrs mobile happiness followed by massive frustration that device is unuseable without mains power! A bit like the HTC Shift but with a much, much better screen.

[Note about that rollewrcoaster: I was tethering to my N82 rather than using WiFi to save battery power and the battery on my phone died before I had a chance to post this. Battery life, battery life, battery life.  Grrr!]

JKK uncovered something nice on his daily FCC rounds today. The U2010 that seems to be shooting up the UMPCPortal charts (#4 as I write this), is going to be available in the U.S. as the U820. Jkk reports that there doesn’t appear to be any differences in spec apart from an FM transmitter (for in-car audio transmission) and a good-to-see, XP Tablet Edition option. Bravo Fujitsu!

Details: JKKMobile.

Meanwhile, over at the UMPCFever offices, JOE has been doing some more testing with the U2010. He’s completed 2 battery life tests which proce that it’s running more efficiently than the SC3, the other Menlow-based laptop-style UMPC. Playing a movie with 50% brightness, Wifi on and power saving mode returned 2hrs and 30 minutes. 3hrs browsing might be a little difficult to achieve at 50% brightness but it’s going to be very close. Is it going to be enough for people though? Joe continues testing and promises some CrystalMark results tomorrow where we’ll probably get a good feel for disk speed; another important factor.

Specs for the U2010 are available here.

The Q1 Ultra has been my main mobile device since I switched from the Raon Digital Everun some months ago. It has been a near-perfect solution for me and having the SSD, HSDPA mods and optimised Windows XP solution has elevated it above all the other UMPCs I’ve owned or tested. It’s even convinced me that a 7" Windows-based ultra mobile PC is more suited to my business needs than the 4.8" Carrypad device I wanted before. That’s a very significant change in my requirement that I’ve already started to write an article about because it means that i’m no longer looking for a MID as my single Ultra Mobile computing device. I’ll try and finish that article this weekend.

But…the Q1 Ultra is dead now (RIP, friend) due to an accident with my charging solution last Friday. The overheated MP3400 charger appears to have shorted and killed the battery charging circuitry in my Q1 so now the Q1 only works on mains power. The Q1 Ultra charging circuit appears to be beyond repair (see image.) so now I’m in the position of having to choose a new UMPC. Here’s what I’m looking for…

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It takes some courage for a small company like VIA to go head to head with Intel so you have to hand it to VIA for putting this video out. Apart from the fighting-talk in the first 30 seconds, it shows the 1.3Ghz Nano (I have this confirmed) against the 1.6Ghz Intel Atom (Diamondville.) in a 1080p HD video test. I recognized the video being used (Try it – Robotica) and checked it out on my Akoya/Wind. Sure enough, it doesn’t play perfectly. Not surprising as it’s about 9Mbps of 1440×1080 video.

If the Nano is doing this in CPU-alone then I’m really impressed because the 1.3Ghz Nano is perfect for 7" UMPCs.

Here’s the video. Meet you all outside for the fight later :-)

More info on the Nano range and performance here. Information on the VIA Openbook, the reference design that the Cloudbook Max is based on, is available here.