My employer had a few Fujitsu ultra portables in the circa 2007 timeframe. One of our internal customers mentioned to a salesguy that they needed a particular port in a particular location on the laptop, not expecting anything. Two weeks later, they Fedexed a loaner/prototype with the port.
Really an amazing experience. We were buying 5-6 figure quantities of Dells and HP, and they could barely handle trivial requests re packaging, etc.
In a way, they were pre-Netbook Netbooks--although their processors and memory configurations were often closer to "regular" laptops than netbooks were.
This was always my experience in electronics - you, as the development engineer, set up small-scale production (going from prototypes to EV or engineering validation articles, which are basically the final product produced by these manual/slow methods), and then manufacturing engineers work with you to transfer your processes to an automated assembly line making who knows how many units a minute.
It's not unusual to produce a special prototype in the small/experimental floor; I mean, Apple probably goes through hundreds (or whatever) of prototypes and test articles before releasing their next phone, and they are certainly not stopping their million-per-day manufacturing plants to make them. However, it does show impressive commitment to the customer on the part of Fujitsu.
Also, electronics is more cyclical than cars (3-year-old model may be completely different and useless compared to the current one), so it is common to produce everything in batches rather than "the Toyota way" with just-in-time. In other words, if a laptop model is sold for 2 years, the whole run may have been made in 6 months, and then you have that manufacturing equipment sitting idle while the next prototype is worked on, so you may have equipment and engineers to spare. Only a few of the highest-volume factories (e.g. Apple again, I assume) run at full capacity all the time.
Quote:
Principle 3
Use "pull" systems to avoid overproduction.
If it's the former, I'm surprised they didn't package them anyway you want. If the latter, I'm not surprised they wouldn't make any changes.
In 2007, I picked up a Panasonic R6 (10" LetsNote/toughbook). It was a great little machine, and I ran both Windows and Debian on it. The keyboard was a bit cramped, and the circular trackpad was pretty lame, but overall I loved the machine. Everywhere I went people would notice it and ask about it. After about 14 months, the logic board failed, and I discovered that as grey-market import, there was no warranty. This was a hard lesson, as I had paid almost $2k USD for the machine. Fortunately, I was back in the states when it happened, so I wasn't stranded abroad without a working laptop.
Earlier this year, I was in Japan and picked up a Japanese chromebook 10" for under $200. The keyboard is both english and Japanese which makes it a bit of a conversation starter. I installed Debian on it via Crouton (alongside ChromeOS). When I travel, I usually bring both my MacBook Air, and the Chromebook, and particularly in the developing world, I leave my MBA back in my hotel or apartment and bring my Chromebook with me when I'm out and about in the city.
So, Japanese, then? Or does it have English labels on the modifier keys?
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSH1YLn...
I had one in my apartment outside Nagoya in 1996. Still can't believe I have never seen one in the states. I wonder if they just can't justify the potential marketing friction.
The same Asus stuff or other brands?
I live in Spain and although I haven't looked recently, Asus was the best quality-price relation here. In particular, batteries duration similar to macs, for half the money. If I needed a laptop now, I would see their offer first for sure.
Time ago, I read that Asus doesn't sell in the USA, what explained how little comments I saw in specialized webs about their laptops.
It was incredibly lightweight (1.53kg at 14" with an optical drive!) and built like, well, a Sherman tank. It wasn't only the casing reminiscing it. In a weird little apartment overcrowded by all startup coders attending a conference someone accidentally kicked it off the table and yet it was completely OK.
I could only afford it because the CF-Y7 just got out and for a while I couldn't afford them and then the B10 was no longer so incredibly tough (although the current models do mention a drop test and a pressurized test). Anyways, I am back to ThinkPads ever since. The keyboard is much better but the weight is worse. I am currently using a T420s upgraded with an 1080p screen and waiting for the Retro to happen. Our last hope.
Wasn't Apple always ahead of the Japanese laptops in terms of sleekness and aesthetics?
Apple had the Powerbook G4 at that time which was a very high-end machine but much much bulkier of course.
Never bought another Vaio.
And this is why I just buy Macs now. Repair is easy - a couple hours at the Apple store. And the things are built well. They can take a bit of a beating, which you need in a computer you're moving around, have in a backpack that'll inevitably be tossed around a bit, etc etc.
The product design is quite nice as well, which was an important factor for me. When researching the model before purchasing, I found a YT video with one of Sony's industrial designers disassembling the entire laptop, describing all the components and a few of the design decisions, to a tech reporter. There was definitely a level of design consideration and technology craft that reminded me a lot of Apple, albeit not as sophisticated with material science. But it was the nicest 13" PC laptop at the time.
That said, there are issues with it: small key travel, flexible plastic body, bendy screen, out-of-box Sony bloatware (which I formatted away), lack of dedicated graphics, and it has absolutely terrible speakers.
Limitations I'm coming up against right now:
1) Cannot upgrade from 8GB RAM which is soldered to the board. I want to run more VM's!
2)I want two bigger SSD's to replace the current 2x128GB scenario. Once again, these are soldered to the board.
3)My sim tray broke and if I remove it it will definitely not be usable any more.
4) would love to install linux on it but not sure what the RAID0 story is there with this machine.
There might be a way to do it, I just need a guide to parts etc (for ssd and hdd).
The OQO was from that era too.
Good times.
https://deviceatlas.com/blog/android-vs-ios-market-share-201...
I'm not sure if Japan is ahead of the curve or on a whole different curve altogether. If there's any modern country more full of contradictions, I don't know of one.
For laptops, the biggest brand (other than apple) is probably Asus (based on retail floor space ;-) ). Sony, Panasonic, Fujitsu and Toshiba pretty much share the rest. Toshiba is apparently exiting the market soon, though. From my perspective, it seems that the market is split between very high end, large format, desktop-replacement machines and tiny machines. There is not very much in the middle. I live in the countryside, though. It is very possible I don't see the interesting models where I live.
When I worked at a high school, all of the machines were actually Dell. It surprised me greatly.
One thing that most people don't realise is that Japanese electronics are expensive compared to the rest of the world. If you have high end purchases (like a computer), you can fly to Korea and the money you save will pay for the flight, easily. Especially with the insanely high yen, American machines are also a pretty good deal.
I like to support the local economy, but when Toshiba exits, I might be stuck finding the kind of machine I like to use.
This is pretty interesting because my experience has been that electronics were pretty expensive in Korea, as well. When my wife's laptop died while she was working in Korea, I ended up bringing her a new Samsung laptop from the US on my next visit because it was considerably cheaper here than buying it there.
The Panasonic models still have optical media. I can't think of a single western laptop that has a Blu-Ray burner in it. There might be some gaming laptops with that, but they would probably be 17 inch monsters and not extremely lightweight laptops.
Windows still reigns absolutely supreme in native companies, though.
One other highlight I remember about this machine: Despite not having any international warranty that I was aware of, when the machine developed a problem, I called Toshiba Europe and they picked it up and send it back repaired a week later for free.
I was in Japan this summer and also had a look at the notebooks on sale there but nothing really caught my attention. With the arrival of Netbooks and later the Macbook Air 11", small notebooks are no longer hard to get in Europe.
I've also got a GPRS modem for my 100CT and it makes a nice portable IRC machine.
Still the best "touchpoint" interface I've ever used, since you worked it with your thumb rather than an extended index finger. And the keyboard is just adorable. The whole thing fit in a pocket if you had very large pockets.
a) of a 128GB SSD, only 90GB was left after Sony took wat they thought was necessary
b) the fan was incredibly noisy, it would crash randomly and would eventually die and take the notebook with it
c) when put in a less performant mode, it's really less performant and still gets really hot
d) the touch screen freaks out and other issues once it gets hot
e) it still ran Windows
That's what happened to Japanese laptops in my personal experience. Now I could eventually fix a) and b), e) was still required for Adobe software and it's still a freaking hot slow laptop that freaks out once in a while.
Sony was floating in the bowl during the mid-80s and becoming a content producer was what flushed them into the sewer.
The quality, innovation, engineering and thoughtfulness that Sony Electronics worked so hard to build their reputation on did not disappear overnight, but it is all gone now.
Today, Sony Electronics is a junk factory and a remarketer of junk. Your life will be better if you simply avoid anything with a Sony nameplate or that incorporates Sony components.
Sure, but I was still expecting to get a Sony
I love Japanese stuff in a lot of other categories. Can't beat Korg or Roland in terms of price and quality, even the cheapest stuff.
> e) it still ran Windows
Your "e" item indicates that it was not Sony who took 90G of the 128G SSD, but rather it was Microsoft who took 70% of the drive space.
Lay the blame where it belongs, on Microsoft, they created an OS that consumes 90G of disk space. Sony did not create mswin, Sony just installed it because it is what most of their target market believes they want pre-installed.
Was it some sort of Sony-only release? I've run every major version of Windows over the years and never had one come anywhere near this sort of size.
My fingers were small enough to touch type on those keys.
After I grew out of TI-BASIC, I always wanted something like that for computer programming, too, but I never managed to find one.
A laptop in regular-laptop shape that was 6" or so would be ideal for me. I've also been considering a phone/phablet with a keyboard case or keyboard cover, but none seem to be touch-typable. :/
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-11-07/business/fi-1099_1_co...
I have fond memories of the Toshiba Satellite Pro models that had the battery charger built into the laptop. The power cord was the same figure eight lead that you could find powering radios and other home electricals. If you worked in server rooms, meeting rooms, your own desk, at home or in the field, the lack of power brick was a huge bonus.
The desktop models 'failed' but look how advanced some of them were:
https://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/1996_09/pr1101.htm
Here you get a remote control and a home media centre that I wouldn't mind having today!!! It is like a desktop version of what a mobile phone offers, functionality wise.
Another Toshiba special were the Portege tablets that they brought out before iOS/Android tablets redefined what a tablet computer was. One had to pretend that the pen input was viable, pen to text was theoretically possible but not what you would use. Superb engineering including a 12" 1400x1050 screen and their own HDD.
Another retro Japan favourite is the Canon BN22. This was a laptop with a printer built in. There were models of laptop + printer than what made it to the UK market, the first one failed to find a niche in the UK and there were none coming to the UK after that, in Japan the concept was updated with the times into the Windows 95 era. I can remember seeing a Canon BN22 and being genuinely awed. It had the same form factor of laptops of the era, i.e. ungainly with the keyboard at the front. The space at the back had a printer sneaked in and the paper path went from the front to the back of the machine. Looking back the dimensions of this machine were a bit nearer what you would expect for a printer rather than a laptop.
They were very nicely spec'd machines, but I'd never recommend a Toshiba based on the support experience. Hopefully they improved over the years.
I've seen on the news that Toshiba plans to shut down its laptop division in the near future. Some people have told me that it isn't 100% for sure, so I'm hanging on to some hope. I've been looking at offerings of other Japanese makers (I live in Japan) and there is nothing else comparable. I'm not sure what I'll do when I need to replace this one. Toshiba has been my go to maker for the last 10 years or so because virtually everything they make "just works" on Linux.
This is honestly a pretty shocking statement for me, because Toshiba has long been my go-to example for the worst-case scenario of installing Linux on laptops. I have never once had a Toshiba laptop that "just worked" out of the box with Linux. Whether it was power management, display drivers, or wifi, there was always something that was broken out of the box and needed to be fixed. Heck, I have a Toshiba A305 for which Linux still doesn't have proper power management drivers, even though the laptop is about a decade old.
When people ask me about Linux on laptops, I say that they should go with either Lenovos or (more lately) the new Dell XPS models. Never Sony, never Toshiba. I've never heard of anyone having a good experience installing Linux on laptops made by those two manufacturers.
My little Toshiba has been very reliable, runs Linux perfectly.
I would never buy anything else so I hope they manage to restructure so their talent survives. It is increasingly difficult to get quality products these days. More and more it is a choice between constantly breaking crap and unaffordable. It's in cars, houses, everything.
Small spaces make desktops not a very good choice.
I have a lifetime prohibition on any Panasonic products after experiencing the most craptastic DVD recorder ever to grace this Earth. It crashes at random, takes forever to boot, won't boot reliably with a disc in the drive, can't play Audio CDs without locking up, responds to remote button presses with multi-second lag, and gets the tuner channels out of sync with the OSD. Basically a complete fuckup. Their "fix" in the successor model was to add a reset button. Never again Panasonic.
