I'm surprised no one has mentioned this strange beast yet, as there have been announcements and threads on the mainstream news and forum sites for quite a while.

I don't think it's a direct competitor (again!), but rather something that fits in, price-wise and usage-wise, between the 770 and the UMPCs, much like the Pepper Pad III does.

It has the same Geode CPU, but in a (refreshingly) different form factor : a clamshell with keyboard, like a giant mutant Zaurus without a touch screen. Runs XP by default, probably Linux-hackable...

If it ever comes out of Japan and if the price doesn't baloon in the process, I think the concept is interesting.

http://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=21917

Yeah, it's the price point that really makes this one interesting. You've got the Fujitsu 1510 still around as a much better machine, but it's 50% more. If I was limited to about $1k I would get the SA1 over any of the original UMPC's, but not sure whether it would win over the Vega.

That's definitely getting in the area where ultra portable notebooks live with that feature set, all without the astronomical price that's been keeping people away from buying them. I doubt it will come to the states though, and because of that, this may be the first and last you hear about it here.

The Zaurus clamshells were never sold outside Japan by Sharp, nevertheless I own one and I bought it in my country, so where there's a will, there's a way :-)

http://www.geekstuff4u.com (mind you that I don't know anything or havn't any experiences with this shop) accepts preorders for the Kohjinshas, with the smaller model at 775 € Windows OS included and at 675 € without OS! (who knows how well ths thing is supported by linux , a lot of control seem hardware since there are single buttons for them). Shipping is around 50 €.
Now that is really a nice price for such an ultraportable at 1kg weight.

Bye, tira.

P.S. I forgot, what about customs/ national taxes?