You could guess the specifications with your eyes closed -- a 1.6GHz Intel Atom, 1,024 x 600 resolution panel, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, WiFi, Windows XP and a battery good for around 4.7 hours -- but at least Kohjinsha busted out the paint gun on its ML6 netbook. The 8.9-inch Japanese rig is available in a whole slew of colors including black, white, gold, blue, pink and a few other hues that only Crayola experts could explain, and the inclusion of audio in / out sockets and an ExpressCard slot adds just a wee bit of personality. Of course, we're none too impressed with the ¥38,900 ($393) price tag, but we guess that's the premium you pay for such a wide variety of color options.

[Via Pocketables]

Generally speaking, Kohjinsha is better known for its dabbling in the UMPC / convertible tablet arenas than netbooks, but there's nothing like a retina-searing lime green shell to bring attention to your latest. Reportedly, the outfit has teamed up with famed toy maker Bandai in order to create a Gachapin and Mukku netbook aimed at kids with no sense of style and a simple desire to smile at all times during the day. As for specs, everything's pretty much par for the course, with a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 160GB HDD, 8.9-inch display (1,024 x 600 resolution), WiFi, a 3-in-1 card reader, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and 1GB of RAM. We must say, the inclusion of a 1Seg digital TV tuner is a nice touch, and one we're sure your TV-loving youngsters will greatly appreciate. The bad news is that this rig is selling for a whopping ¥79,800 ($866), so you can be certain those fuzzy cartoon characters are getting some serious royalties.

[Via PortableMonkey]

The WOW-POW folks gave us our first taste of the Kohjinsha SC3 on video, and now they're back with the SX3KP06MA convertible "UMPC" (SX3 for short) in a full video review. We'll let you watch the 10 minute review at your leisure, but in summary they found the computer faster than its SC3 sibling, despite identical Atom chipsets, and are of course general fans of the DVD-RW drive, 1280 x 768 glossy screen and pretty much all things Kohjinsha. Video is... wait for it... after the break.

[Thanks, Larry]

Shortly after the Kohjinsha SC3 was removed from the comfy confines of its packaging and exposed for all to see, said UMPC has managed to get reviewed. Initially, impressions were quite positive, as the reviewer noted that build quality was "superb," the size was adorably small and the display satisfied all expectations. As for sheer performance, the Menlow-based rig excelled as it churned through applications with no huge lag issues; however, all that computing made the unit exceptionally warm, though it did remain quiet even when breaking a sweat. Battery life was shorter than advertised (only 2.5 hours), but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot to gripe about. Think it's too good to be true? Head on down to the read link for videos, benchmarks and impressions.

Kohjinsha's cranked out some interesting convertible UMPCs, but the new SX-series pushes the definition about as far as it can go with its chunky looks and packed feature set -- this bad boy is probably even too loaded / expensive to be properly called a netbook. You're looking at an 8.9-inch convertible tablet running Vista on a 1.33GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 60GB drive, built-in dual-layer DVD drive, WiFi, Ethernet, dual cameras, ExpressCard/34 slot, VGA out, 1seg tuner, card reader, and 2 USB ports, with a 4.2-hour battery life (8.2 hours with the extended unit), all in a 2.7-pound unit about an inch thick. Available soon in Japan for €650 ($1,000) to €850 ($1240) depending on options, let's hope it follows some of Kohjinsha's other devices to our fair shores.

[Via jkkmobile]

Kohjinsha's UMPCs have remained largely unchanged over the years -- an SSD here, Intel CPU boost here -- but the firm's latest has managed to accomplish something few UMPCs would even dream of. That's right, this 7-incher includes a full-fledged dual-layer DVD writer, which tags along nicely with the 1,024 x 600 resolution LED-backlit panel, 1.3-megapixel camera, 60GB hard drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth and 800MHz A110 processor. It's also filled with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Ethernet, a duo of USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, audio in / out, 3-in-1 multicard reader and a pair of battery options promising 3.5 / 7.2 hours of life. The 2.4-pound machine looks to be available at the end of this month (albeit rebadged as a Vye Mini-V S37) for around $1,500.

[Via Ubergizmo]

Kohjinsha's UMPCs might have gotten a little overshadowed by the Eee, but the company is making a renewed push with two new models. The new L series replaces the SA series, retaining the aging AMD Geode chipset but upgrading the keyboard and bumping the touchscreen resolution to 1024x600, while the V series replaces the K series, keeping the Intel A110 chipset but adding GPS and a 7mm optical drive. Both models should be shipping in the middle of the month, but there's no word on pricing -- we'll let you know if we hear any numbers at CES.

[Via jkkmobile]

[Via Impress]

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.

Nice, we got to spend a few fleeting moments with the Kohjinsha SA1F00A convertible tablet UMPC. It's kind of pushing the boundaries of what a UMPC actually is since, well, as we said it's a convertible tablet, but it's a damned tiny and small one. It's also rather solid-feeling (hey, Japanese engineering at work). Image gallery, hop to it.

We finally have an english review and video of that hot little SA1F00 ultra-portable from the company behind the budget Sotec line-up of PCs in Japan, Kohjinsha. It's all what you'd expect: lots of love for the portability, spec-sheet, "nice" keyboard, and pivot screen for tablet folding action; knocks for "cheap looking" materials and a 500MHz Goede LX800 processor which Akihabara assumes won't be up to decoding DVD and DivX videos with high resolutions and bit rates. This was not tested in the review, however. Now, as Carrypad points out and we're happy to underscore, both the Raon Vega and PepperPad 3 which sport the same LX800 chipset can handle XViD/DivX at over 2Mbps just fine -- no frame drops. Still, everyone agrees, that little Geode is all you need for web surfing, email, and common MS Office tasks and should help eke-out 5 hours from the battery in the process. With a $1,000 pre-order from Dynamism, it's also the cheapest 7-inch ultra-portable, UMPC-like, XP thingy out there with a QWERTY keyboard. Now get over to Aki for all the pics and video.

[Via Carrypad Journal]