Slashdot Mirror
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.
HagakiPC
.71") body, weighing in at a skimpy 340g (0.74lb) and giving it a total volume of 264,870mm, making it just a touch bigger than the OQO but considerably smaller than the FlipStart. Without battery, the unit weighs 220g.
Similar to the old proof-of-concepts and prototypes from years ago for the OQO, Tiqit and FlipStart, a new entrant, the HagakiPC (H-PC) has reared it's head. Hagaki means postcard in Japanese. It's a considerably less powerful device and won't interest those on the prowl for full functionality. However, it could have some interesting uses in non-consumer applications.
Specs
Utilizing a AMD Geode SC1200 CPU running at 266MHz. This CPU is capable of TV out, video in and has Macrovision copy protection built in. There is 128MB of built in RAM and 128MB of flash memory, 1 x USB 1.1, 1 x CF Type I / Type II slot.
Hagaki PC in red
The battery life should last for nearly 3 and a half hours, running on a 2500mAh with 3.6W of power consumption. There also appears to be an optional model HPC-BA-64MB with only 64MB of RAM as opposed to the HPC-BA-128MB model's 128MB. The 64MB model has no flash mem.
The LCD screen is a simple 640x480 VGA resolution with 16bit color with touch screen capabilities. Unfortunately no information can be found on the LCD brand/model.
All of this in a 135 x 109 x 18mm (5.31 x 4.x29 x
Who's it for?
You'll notice we didn't include a hard drive spec, because it doesn't have one. The H-PC is built to run any x86 OS from a CF card. Thus you could install and run WinCE, Linux, DOS, XP and any other OS that can run from a CF card. The interesting implication is that the OS will be instantly on since you can simply swap out cards to switch OS's. The obvious downside is the large cost you'll have to pay for Microdrives and their possibly shorter life span when compared to a regular HD.
Linux users of Embedix or Emdebian may be interested in this device. There is also Damn Small Linux which is a distro that can run on a CF card. With an OS such as these that are designed for much smaller footprints, the price of use would be considerably smaller than those wanting to run XP, which requires a considerably bigger CF card or Microdrive.
Thoughts
We've seen prototypes before and then been made to bear years and years of waiting. The lack of a keyboard is passable -- neither the Antelope or Sony U50 have one but they seem to be fairly popular. However, the lack of a HD clearly puts it into an even smaller niche of potential handtop users. CPU power and RAM do not necessarily spell the H-PC's death, there are plenty of people making do with old PDA CPU's. While this may not be a device for the casual consumer, it could possibly make it's way into industrial or even commercial (advertising? kiosk?) situations. It's great to see companies already developing niche products. This investment of time and money into the handtop market is an encouraging sign. Overall, the HagakiPC is interesting, but time will tell what market will make use of the device.
That's interesting that DSL has its own TLD now: http://www.damnsmalllinux/
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."