Dear Sharp:

Why don't you offer more of your products in countries other than Japan? I particularly like the DirectHD feature, which is o­nly available to those in the USA with the "Actius" notebooks.

Sincerely,
zmcnulty

Sharp Corporation will release the "Mebius PC-MC30F" dual-spindle notebook with a 12.1" display o­n May 12th. While it is officially listed as Open Price, indicators suggest it should be closer to 140,000 yen.

This laptop features the "DirectHD" function, which consists of turning off the power to the laptop, then connecting it to another PC with a USB cable, and having the host PC recognize the laptop as a hard drive. Included with the Mebius is the "Relief Easy Easy Move Pack for DirectHD" which uses DirectHD to move mail and other data from a different computer. Since DirectHD uses the USB 2.0 standard, transfers up to speeds of 480Mbps are support.

The CPU is a Mobile Athlon XP-M 2000+ (actual clock 1.667GHz), the memory is 256MB (PC2100, max 768MB), the HD is 40GB, and a DVD-ROM-CD/RW combo drive is featured.

For a display, the computer uses a 12.1" TFT LCD capable of displaying XGA (1024 x 768). Furnished interfaces are Ethernet, 56kbps mode, 1x Type2 PC card slot, 4x USB 2.0, 1x DirectHD connection, and 1x mini D-Sub 15 pin.

Using the JEITA 1.0 measurement system, the battery life is 1.8 hours. The main body size is 281 x 262 x 22.5 - 33.5mm (W x D x H), and the weight is 2.5kg.

Translation software, TV phone software, and DVD-related software is included.



Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0422/sharp.htm

Press Release:
http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/040422-2.html