Kohjinsha SA1F00B Review at Akihabara.

Update: Carrypad unboxing, gallery and review notes available now.

Akihabara have a review and video up of the SA1F00B AMD-based Ultra Mobile PC.

I’ve read through the review and watched the video. Its quite brief as Akihabara only seem to have had the device for a matter of hours. The bootup shown on the video was about 40 seconds which is slightly quicker than the Raon Digital Vega (also AMD LX800 based)

Akihabara mention the processor speed in their notes and also say that decoding DVD’s could be a problem. True, I wouldn’t expect it to be able to cope with that but I’ve run XVid encded films at 2mbps on the Vega (another LX800-based device) without a single frame drop. 2mbps on a 7″ screen gives you fantastic quality. I have no reason to believe that the Kohjinsha would be any worse. The other LX800 based device, the PepperPad 3, is able to play Xvid/DivX at over 1.5mbps, again giving you superb quality on the small screen.

Carrypad specifications sheet for the SA1 is available.

I want to know what battery life is like. The Vega drains just 8W so if we assume that this is similar and you add the WiFi (1W) and slightly bigger screen (1W) to that, you’re in the region of 10w. That’s pretty good. Intel-based UMPC’s take about 12W with WiFi on. Battery life is claimed to be 5 hours. I’d expect 3.5 hours under normal use.

The plastics do look a bit cheap it has to be said and when it’s open it doesn’t look very chic but I really like the look of the SA1 when its closed.

There is a docking station available for the SA1 although I don’t think the SA1 will really have enough power to perform as a desktop. Its more of a hotel PC if you ask me. I could se myself taking this to a conference for writing reports and reviews and Internet access during the daytime and then using the media functions in the evening. It could also do well as a tour PC. If you’re planning a long holiday or need something for the caravan/motorhome this could be a good option. As a digital photographers/photo journalists companion it could be good too. Of course, this all requires justification. You have to be prepared to use the SA1 as a second PC.

Dynamism have the Kohjinsha SA1 available for order now. Pricing starts at $1000 dollars which is a hefty price. The JVC XP741 was around the same price just before it got taken off the market and would have been a better choice but that’s not available any more so if you need the keyboard, you are looking at the Flybook and P1510d/P1610. These 2 solutions cost over 50% more than the SA1. The other option is the HTC universal which is much smaller, runs WM5 and costs only a hundred or so dollars less. Simply put, there is no comparable device to the SA1 so its impossible to make a value for money comparison. Its the cheapest 7″ sub KG laptop there is!

Steve