My Kohjinsha SH8 convertible tablet UMPC review posted, as promised.

[fuzzybabybunny]

http://www.fuzzybabybunny.com/articles/kohjinsha.html

7" 1024x600 swivel passive touch screen with no palm rejection technology

800MHz Intel A110 Processor

1GB DDR2-400 RAM (single slot, upgraded to 2GB DDR2-667)

120GB 5400RPM 2.5" Hard Drive (Hitachi)

Intel 945GM/GU Graphics Chip (Vista Aero capable)

Bluetooth Ver. 2.0 + EDR

RT73 IEEE 802.11 b/g

Realtek RTL8101 10/100 Ethernet

1.3MP Webcam

VGA out (1600x1200 max)

2 x USB, 1 x SD/SDHC, 1 x CF I/II

Mic and headphone jacks

2lb 3oz with the standard battery (as read by my scale)

8.58 x 6.42 x 1.0 [inch]

Windows Vista Home Premium

NO CD/DVD drive

 

[heymrdj]

Sweet Review Fuzzy. It has it's cons, but I'm liking this mini a hell of alot more than the eee or cloud or air. I still think the HP1000tx is more my style, but this is a consideration for me. An ultralight touchscreen tablet, with Office Ultimate 2007, Vista Premium, 2-3GB of RAM, and a 20GB SSD would be the *bleeps* for me. Get a mobile alltel data card with my plan, and I'd junk carrying around a smartphone and just take him everywhere in a little carrying case.

 

[Parasitic]

For some reason it seems that the eeePC and the Kohjinsha share a lot of the same parts, like chassis, keyboard, etc. This could be good if you even decided to venture in modding and need parts to fit?

 

[corkyg]

Good work, Fuzzy!

Definitely a good candidate machine to carry when backpacking on a photo foray.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: heymrdj
Sweet Review Fuzzy. It has it's cons, but I'm liking this mini a hell of alot more than the eee or cloud or air. I still think the HP1000tx is more my style, but this is a consideration for me. An ultralight touchscreen tablet, with Office Ultimate 2007, Vista Premium, 2-3GB of RAM, and a 20GB SSD would be the *bleeps* for me. Get a mobile alltel data card with my plan, and I'd junk carrying around a smartphone and just take him everywhere in a little carrying case.

Initially I was thinking about the HP1000TX as well, but after going to the store and comparing the 4lb HPs and the 2lb and 3lb Fujitsus, I have to say that interestingly enough, I felt a very noticeable weight increase going from 3lb to 4lb. 3lb felt featherlight compared to 4lb. Going from 2lb to 3lb was a little less of a difference, but 2lb felt almost impossibly light. Right then and there I decided that I needed to get a lappy around the 2lb mark. Coming from a big, heavy-ish laptop that just sat around all day because I was too lazy to carry it around, I knew that I needed a laptop that was as light as possible for me to use it all the time. For me the weight criteria was that I wanted to be able to read it like a book - a semi-regular book, not a big honkin' textbook. I put the 1000TX in the book orientation and I frankly felt that it was too heavy and would get on my nerves real fast (4.2lb is right around the weight of a medium hardback textbook).

I know that for my purposes I couldn't handle just a 20GB SSD. My BASE installation with all my programs weighs in at 25GB already... but the ability to be mobile and have internet everywhere via a cellphone data plan is pure heaven.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
For some reason it seems that the eeePC and the Kohjinsha share a lot of the same parts, like chassis, keyboard, etc. This could be good if you even decided to venture in modding and need parts to fit?

Really? I can't see the similarities.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Good work, Fuzzy!

Definitely a good candidate machine to carry when backpacking on a photo foray.

Thanks! Now I only wish the damned card readers on this thing didn't suck. I didn't think that the CF reader would just flat out not work... I also don't understand why integrated card readers always have to be a great deal slower than your typical $15 card reader...

 

[DaveSimmons]

Thanks for the review, this looks like the perfect Vista/XP ultraportable if you aren't on a budget. Even then, the 9" competitors are $500-600 and lack the tablet features.

It's too bad Amazon isn't making a Kindle reader for Vista, this would be a good eBook reader for people who want color or are like my brother and can't stand the e-ink page refreshes (the negative-then-postive screen messed with his mind)

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Thanks for the review, this looks like the perfect Vista/XP ultraportable if you aren't on a budget. Even then, the 9" competitors are $500-600 and lack the tablet features.

It's too bad Amazon isn't making a Kindle reader for Vista, this would be a good eBook reader for people who want color or are like my brother and can't stand the e-ink page refreshes (the negative-then-postive screen messed with his mind)

The most perfect ultraportable if you're not on a budget is actually going to be something like the Fujitsu P1620. It has everything that I said I wished the Kohjinsha had at the end of my review: Core 2 Duo, larger and higher res screen with palm rejection, and better battery life. The problem is that the thing is at least $1,600, and upgrading from 1 to 2GB of RAM is $350!!! because they use some brand new micro DDR.

I never knew that e-ink does that kind of crazy refresh... why does it do that?

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Parasitic
For some reason it seems that the eeePC and the Kohjinsha share a lot of the same parts, like chassis, keyboard, etc. This could be good if you even decided to venture in modding and need parts to fit?

Really? I can't see the similarities.

I think the keyboards are identical in dimension and look.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...aphics+Eee+PC+-+Retail

 

[DaveSimmons]

The most perfect ultraportable if you're not on a budget is actually going to be something like the Fujitsu P1620.

That does look nice. But I don't really need a laptop right now so that's way outside of my hardware toy budget

I never knew that e-ink does that kind of crazy refresh... why does it do that?

The black e-ink pixels in e-paper stay on even without power, so I guess it's part of clearing away old ink before setting the new ink.

I haven't seen it myself, but my brother described it as seeing a flash of a negative image of the old screen then the new screen.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Seems like Vista is hogging the battery life majorly. If you had used XP nLited, maybe you could get an additional hour on battery. Nice review by the way. I think it did better than expected. You are kind of making me want to install the touch screen mod on my Eee PC.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: runawayprisoner
Seems like Vista is hogging the battery life majorly. If you had used XP nLited, maybe you could get an additional hour on battery. Nice review by the way. I think it did better than expected. You are kind of making me want to install the touch screen mod on my Eee PC.

I'm actually not using the touchscreen all that often. Scared of scratching the screen, but mostly because there are so many other ways of controlling the screen. Regular touchpad, pointer stick, directional keys on both screen and keyboard, pg up/down on both the keyboard and screen, and mouse buttons on both the keyboard and screen. The swivel tablet feature is what I use the most.

I feel ya on the battery life. It's just that Vista seems to ALWAYS be doing something in the background... but I think I can live with it.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: runawayprisoner
Seems like Vista is hogging the battery life majorly. If you had used XP nLited, maybe you could get an additional hour on battery. Nice review by the way. I think it did better than expected. You are kind of making me want to install the touch screen mod on my Eee PC.

I'm actually not using the touchscreen all that often. Scared of scratching the screen, but mostly because there are so many other ways of controlling the screen. Regular touchpad, pointer stick, directional keys on both screen and keyboard, pg up/down on both the keyboard and screen, and mouse buttons on both the keyboard and screen. The swivel tablet feature is what I use the most.

I feel ya on the battery life. It's just that Vista seems to ALWAYS be doing something in the background... but I think I can live with it.

Well, Just a bit over two hours to three hours seem reasonable to me for something that small. Although... I guess I'm just spoiled by my Eee's 3 hours life. Is there any way to update the battery of that laptop?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

What do you mean by updating the battery? There's an extended battery available that can give you close to double the battery life of the standard, I just haven't tested it yet. As for making the battery last longer... don't run Vista I guess. Although Vista does have different power modes. I guess I'll need to test them when I have free time.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Updating as in... substituting the battery pack that you currently have with one of higher capacity without drastically modifying the overall shape and weight of the device? But I guess 2.5 hours is good enough. Well, assuming you tested that with continuous use.