Kohjinsha SA1F00 UMPC Hands-on

Portable computing devices has been more affordable over the past years thanks to chip manufacturers 'recycling' lower-spec chips making them worthlessly affordable. The Kohjinsha SA1F00 runs on AMD 500MHz, which compared to the latest multi-core CPU, is a crawl. But the slow CPu speed also means lower power consumption, an important factor in portable computing.

You can read about the usual reviews all over the Internet. What I always like to do is to provide first-person usage experience. Theoretically, a UMPC allows you to do computing on the go, but how practical is it, in this case, on the Kohjinsha SA1F00?

How Small:
SA1F00 is small enough to fit in an A5-size notepad organiser. With a zip around it, you can use that as a carrying case instead of the one that comes with the retail set.

Processing Power:
SA1F00 runs on Windows XP Home, one reason why I choose it over the newer models SH6 and SH8. Although the new models run on higher processor and comes with more features, running on Windows Vista negates the processor boost.

Capacity:
With a 40GB harddisk space, you should always keep the harddisk free from applications requiring excessive processing power. I can safely assume that the UMPC is purely a tool for mobile computing, so restrain from storing too many junk files like what we always do in our home PC. Only upload files that you need for the day. If you need to do a lot of intensive computing, it's better to invest in a larger 12" laptop.

Screen resolution:
The 800x480 screen isn't OS-friendly. In fact, most of the pop-up screens will overflow off-screen. Fortunately, you can toggle to the non-native resolution of 1024x600 to see the full window. At this mode, the fonts are interpolated so the screen looks unsharp.

Input devices:
Kohjinsha UMPCs are never short of input options. There is the touchpad, the trackpad, and the touchscreen for you to manipulate the mouse. The keyboard layout is just like a laptop, but some keys are reduced to a very small footprint, like Tab, Caps Lock and Shift. Also, the SA100 is known to have a less-responsive keyboard. Coupled with a small screen, you sometimes may not be aware of typing mistakes until you look closely.

Connectivity options:
Kohjinsha UMPCs comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet port, so connecting to the Internet is a breeze. With 2 USB ports on both sides of the laptop, you have no worries about adding external devices with it.

Battery life:
Although the manufacturer claims almost 4 hours of battery life, you cannot expect it to last more than 3 hours on normal on-the-road usage with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, lots of web surfing or running of applications. Be mindful of the heat too: the SA100 can get quite hot when used excessively.

Compact Flash slot:
I am appalled to find that the Compact Flash slot runs very slowly. The estimated time to copy 4GB worth of data is almost 60 minutes. The design also make it hard to remove the CF card after inserting. Due to the close proximity to heat vents, the CF card gets extremely hot after a mere 3 minutes. In addition, using the CF slot causes the touchpad to stop function, and I have to resort to other input methods to navigate my mouse.

What Do I Use UMPC For?
Initially when I purchased it, my intention is for mobile web surfing as well as doing photo editing on freewares. 2 obstacles I faced: low screen resolution and slow processor. But when you think about it, it's pretty amazing to buy a full-function computer at a price of a high-end PDA phone that struggles even to do the simplest computing application. Quite often, you really need a portable PC that lets you do what a home PC can do without the bulk and fanciful processing power. Kohjinsha provides a VGA port so you can connect to an external monitor for presentation or desk-bound use. From how I see, Kohjinsha's UMPC is probably one of the most comprehensive low-priced UMPC in the local market.

The SA1F00 is a good buy because of its low price. If I were to spend more than $1000 on a laptop, I might as well pay for a more powerful 12" one that gives you better computing power and a more usable keyboard.