Kohjinsha’s PA-series MID may have satisfied us that the company is at least listening to critique about form-factor and usability – unlike other mini-notebooks, such as the UMID mbook m1 and Sharp’s NetWalker, it has a rotating touchscreen for use as a slate – but they still seem to have their fingers in their ears when it comes to pricing. According to WOW-POW, the PA MID will come in at 69,800 yen, which works out to a whopping $760.
Kohjinsha may have filled their MID niche with a rebadged UMID mbook m1, but that hasn’t stopped their own engineers from coming up with a homegrown alternative. The Kohjinsha PA-series takes the same mini-clamshell form-factor of the m1 and Sharp’s NetWalker, but throws in a convertible display for using the MID as a slate.
Sharp’s NetWalker PC-Z1 may not be the device for everyone – after all, a 5-inch touchscreen clamshell MID with a tiny QWERTY keyboard and 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor makes it a pretty niche handheld – but most people can appreciate a mini-laptop so we’re pleased to see the first unboxing over at Pocketables. Jenn of course is no stranger to MIDs, in fact she has a UMID mbook M1 on hand to compare the PC-Z1 with.
MIDs are, despite the extra attention Viliv’s range has drawn to the segment, still very much a niche within a niche, but most of us can at least admire the hard work that goes into squeezing a full PC into a tiny little chassis. It’s with that in mind that we’ve been enjoying PC Watch’s comparison photoset of the Kohjinsha PM MID (aka the UMID mbook M1) versus Sharp’s PC-Z1 NetWalker.
Sharp’s diminutive PC-Z1 NetWalker impressed us when we first spotted it, and Charbax’s video hands-on with the compact MID has done nothing to disappoint. The ARM-based device has a 5-inch touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard and optical mouse, and will land in Japan sometime this month; according to the Sharp representative interviewed, they’re hoping to bring it to Europe, too.
Video demo after the cut
Looking surprisingly like UMID’s mbook M1 MID, Sharp have unveiled their newest clamshell ultraportable and – thank goodness – it’s not just an e-dictionary. The Sharp NetWalker PC-Z1 has a 5-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard with optical mouse, and Ubuntu 9.04 as the OS; connectivity includes WiFi b/g, both a USB and mini-USB port, and a headphone jack, but there’s no integrated 3G.
More images – plus size comparisons – after the cut
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