Japan's major personal computer makers will be unveiling their
latest notebook computers at this week's World PC Expo show, which
begins tomorrow (Wednesday) in Tokyo. The latest products range
from sub 1-kilogram ultra portable notebooks to A4-size machines
intended to replace desktop machines for power users.
Among products at the small end, Matsushita Electric Industrial's
Let's Note Light R1 machines weigh 960 grams. The machines measure
240mm by 183mm, and are 23.5mm thick at the front and 37.2mm thick
at the back.
They are based on Intel 's Pentium III-M processor running at
866MHz and include a 10.4-inch TFT LCD with 1,024 pixel by 768
pixel (XGA) resolution, 128Mbytes of SDRAM (synchronous DRAM),
20Gbyte hard disk drive, SD (Secure Digital) memory card slot and
two USB 2.0 ports. They are expected to cost around ¥200,000
(£1,027).
Coming in slightly lighter is Sharp's latest addition to its
Muramasa range of thin notebooks, the PC-MM1-H1W, or Sharp Kitty,
at 950 grams. The slim machine is 13.7mm in depth at the front and
19.6mm at the back. Equipped with a Transmeta Crusoe TM5800
processor running at 867MHz, the computer has a 10.4-inch LCD with
XGA resolution, 256Mbytes of DDR (double data rate) DRAM, a 15Gbyte
hard disk drive, internal wireless LAN and two USB 2.0 ports.
The machine also comes with a distinctive charging cradle into
which the machine is inserted on its end. It will go on sale in
Japan later this month and will cost around ¥170,000 (£879).
Fujitsu also announced Transmeta-powered notebooks, choosing the
933MHz version of the TM5800. The machine, the latest member of its
Loox T series, has a 10.6-inch widescreen TFT LCD, 256Mbytes of
memory, 30Gbyte hard disk drive, CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, wireless LAN
module, IEEE1394 port and two USB 2.0 ports. It will cost around
¥210,000 (£1,086).
Fujitsu's FMV-Biblo NB18, a multimedia computer, includes a
built-in TV tuner and DVD-R/RW drive. Based on an Intel Pentium 4-M
processor running at 1.8GHz, its features include a 15-inch TFT LCD
with XGA resolution, 256Mbytes of memory, 60Gbyte hard disk drive,
four USB 2.0 ports and slots for both SD and MemoryStick memory
cards. It will cost around ¥290,000 (£1,500).
Toshiba has also built a TV tuner into its G6/U18PDEW notebook
along with wireless LAN, Bluetooth, a DVD-R/RW/RAM drive and
512Mbytes of memory. The machine has a 15-inch TFT LCD and 1.8GHz
Pentium 4-M processor and will cost around ¥360,000 (£1,862).
NEC announced a wide range of computers including the high-end
Lavie C. With a 2.0GHz version of the Pentium 4-M processor, the
computer otherwise has similar screen, memory, hard disk and port
specifications to those listed above for Fujitsu's Biblo NB18, but
without the memory card slots. It will cost around ¥400,000
(£2,069).