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HagakiPC - "Postcard" PC
captainJam writes "The HagakiPC, Hagaki meaning postcard in Japanese, is a tiny PC with dimensions of 135 x 109 x 18mm and weighing in at 340g making it by far the lightest and 2nd slimmest handtop. Only 128MB RAM and a 640x480 VGA screen, plus there's no hard drive -- it's meant to run OS's from CF cards (great for D.S.L. and the like). Still only a prototype, so not much info is available, but what we do know (and a few photos) are here." Update: 09/01 12:14 GMT by T : Link to D.S.L. upgraded to a form that doesn't make some browsers choke.
From a corporate standpoint, the development costs of making this sort of product are very high. The sales from these are fairly low as the only people who buy them tend to be impulse buyers, most of whom are scared away by the high price needed to make a profit.
Between CF cards and actual pen-and-paper notebooks, this type of machine is entirely unneeded.
Nothing to see here, please move along.
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Thank you.
...wondering at what point you start to hit diminishing returns for miniaturization? C'mon, how small do we need? Anything smaller than a laptop gets you into major trouble with input devices (as another poster already mentioned). I have enough trouble with existing Palmtops. There's gotta be a point at which modern technology can be miniaturized further, but benefits no one in doing so.
Call me a luddite, but this level of shrinkage strikes me as being more of an PITA than lugging around a larger unit. What someone needs to develop is a method of interfacing with a device this tiny that doesn't require tiny keys or voice input. I have absolutly no idea what kind of interface could fill that role, even theoretically (never mind realistically).
Anyone have any ideas?
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
Reconsider a little bit: 400 MHz, 384 MB RAM. Pentium II, manufactured in 1998. Running SuSE 9.1.
I'm probably at the karma cap. Mod up a funny troll instead, it lightens the mood
Well, okay, perhaps Linux, but realistically, are the majority of people who are going buy this device actually going to use Linux? Alas, the answer is no. Also you have 384MB of RAM, which is much more roomy than the platry 128MB on this box. XP and KDE both feel perky on 128, IMVHO.
Did anyone else notice that they recommend small footprint versions of Linux but show XP in the screenshots? HA! Good luck fitting Windows on a CF card and keeping the total cost down. Sure if the thing is $500, you still have to buy a microdrive of some sort then to have a normal-footprint OS.
The selling point seems to be the x86 compatability, but linux already works on many embedded processors, and the thing is to slow to run windows.
That was probably an OQO. There was a prototype at CES earlier this year. I held it in my hands for a few minutes. I thought about slipping it in my pocket, but then remembered the security guards and metal detectors at the doors. I did get a cool brochure though...