Kohjinsha's SA1F00V adds touchscreen -- still less than $1k

So you liked Kohjinsha's sub-$1,000 SA1F00 ultra-ultra portable, eh? But man, if only it packed a touchscreen. We hear ya brother, we hear ya. Check it, Kohjinsha just announced the SA1F00V which not only adds a 100GB disk option (up from 80GB) but also slams in a touch-sensitive 7-inch panel for use with its built-in stylus or your conveniently built-in finger. Other than a slight increase in heft to 990-grams (2.2-pounds) and wee jump in MSRP to ¥99,800 ($843), the rest of the specs, including the 5-hour battery, remain unchanged. Yeah, same 500MHz Geode LX800 too which is quickly aging next to the latest class of UMPCs, MIDs, and mobile Intel procs. Still, if you want über portability on the cheap then this is about as good as it gets in this price range.

[Moumoune @ Apr 23rd 2007 6:55AM]

This one is not new, as you can see in Geekstuff4U:
http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=504
I bought mine tree weeks ago and I have very happy with it ^o^

[Thomas Ricker @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:41AM]

Moumoune,

You are looking at model H/E. This is model V with a touch sensitive display. The model you linked to is old and is not touch sensitive. This is new.

Thomas

[Luke @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:19AM]

Any idea where one can get this for less than $1300?

[smr @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:38AM]

It reminds me of the old Tandy 1400 laptop...

[alexq @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:40AM]

Luke, you can get this for US$900 + shipping from conics.net :

http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=207

Hope that helps :)

[Luke @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:48AM]

It does. Thanks a lot, Alex!

[Jake Lockley @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:53AM]

I gotta ask, with all the comments I've seen on ultra portable machines, why hasn't anyome made us one we really want? I mean the OQO2 looks the part, but why hasn't someone created us a super PDA with a touchscreen, stylus, fold out microkeyboard and pointer? The pocketpc phones are closest I've seen next to the Sony UX, but both require those walled garden networks and data plans unless you want to pay twice the cost for one that doesn't come with a service provider and contract. Why can't I just get a wireless device I can use on any wifi service to make voip calls anywhere without paying for three different phone or internet access services? I want to buy hardware liek I buya computer, I don't want a bundled pack with all kinds of hang ups and requirements that only add to my bills and don't save me money, especially when everyone knows there's no reason we can't have free wifi everywhere and a single phone service account. Really feeling exploited by these cel phone, cable, phone, and computer corporations.

[Don\\\'t Panic! @ Apr 23rd 2007 10:20AM]

The closet I've seen to what you want John Lockley is the HTC Universal. A GPRS/EDGE Windows Mobile Phone Edition device. It has everything you listed except the pointer. http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=257

It's very expensive though and as far as I recall they never made a CDMA version that would work with Verizon or Sprint in the US.

[OddManOut @ Apr 23rd 2007 12:57PM]

"Why can't I just get a wireless device I can use on any wifi service to make voip calls anywhere..."

Simple, because you want to do it "without paying for three different phone or internet access services?", and if you did, the companies that make these kinds of devices wouldn't make much money off of you.

Remember the days of the internet boom ? And when Broadband service to your house started getting popular (that's right kids...there WAS a beginning to all that...) ? Remember those ISP's that offered to *give* you a *free* PC if you signed up for 2 year or more contract ? That just shows the money is in the service...not the hardware. Just like how in video game console, the money is in the game sales, not the console itself. With the exception of the Wii all the consoles this gen debuted at a loss per console. It's the games, the thing you KEEP PAYING FOR that make it worth their while.

[rektide @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:26PM]

frankly i much prefer these form factors sans keyboard. BT keyboards take up a lot less space than having two pieces of computer hinged to each other (the second piece being nothing more than a display).

[DerekPowell @ Apr 23rd 2007 1:26PM]

But did they fix the keyboard?

[Sam @ Apr 23rd 2007 3:12PM]

With that processor, can this thing handle compressed video playback?

[Jamar @ Apr 26th 2007 9:30AM]

How do they stuff a 100GB drive in something that small and keep the price below $1000? Man, that's cheap!