Hi, recently I'd had similar thoughts.  I'd promised myself a new handwriting recognition dictionary when I finished RTK1 but couldn't make up my mind which to get.  Then I read an article on how pda's can be used as a great dictionary and was leaning this way after having installed anki on a usb memory stick to use at school cutting out my big rock of a notebook. Since I have access to anki at work(shh, don't tell anyone), I thought the pda was a good route to take for in between time.  The problem is that they are almost non-existent here in Japan.  Then I saw the UMPCs, the step between a pda and a full notebook. There are a bunch out there now.

FINALLY, I decided and picked up the Kohjinsha sh8 last Tuesday.  It's pricier  by far than a pda, but I'm killing a few birds here.  I can run any software I want, pc dictionaries, keep all japanese study goodies, it has touch screen, plays vids, music, has wireless and bluetooth, 1 seg tv, web camera/mic, 120gb hard drive and 1gb ram. I've had it a week and I love it.

I know I went overboard, but I do that. Check out some of the smaller UMPCs out there with similar pda prices.

Good Luck!

awesome!  that thing is perfect.  I just bought it!  Should be here in a few days.

nerdjnerdbird which one did you get? the Kohjinsha sh8 or the asus eee.... id like to know what a fellow japanese learner thinks of it as i may get one this christmas. Actually tell me about the other one as well as i could be tempted either way.

the tv tuner, web cam, touch screen with higher 1024x800 resolution and windows vista all drive up the price. 200,000+yen for the SSD option is really expensive. i wish they had an 8-16GB SSD option.

(I'll probably just get the HDD version and put an SSD drive in there in the future)

I got the Asus eee.  I'll let people know how I like it for studying Japanese.  If only if would get here sooooner!

Nerdjnerdbird, congrats on the Asus!  I'm sure it'll do everything you need for Japanese and then some!

I use Anki daily and have stopped worrying over RTK1 now that my reviews have FINALLY tapered off to a manageable level.  I knock 'em out in my morning meeting everyday at work. No, I don't listen unless they say something interesting.(The Japanese teacher beside me puts his head on the desk.)

I've got all my stories in a file plus RTK 1,2 and 3, JLPT files and past tests, assorted verb, grammar, kanji charts, and any Japanese info I've ever thought was interesting and saveable from the internet. Call me a packrat.

I keep software dictionaries on the desktop and rikai-chan with firefox is really handy, too.  I started with kanji in context and after I read through a chapter, I input all the words I don't know into a file to be imported into anki later.  I was using my Heisig list for writing practice with graph paper, keeps everything really balanced, and I was using a fountain pen which made it kind of brush-like and fun, but now I can write it on the screen.  Ooh, I'm saving the planet! and writing the new vocab from Kanji in context, and afterwards I do the workbook section as a test.

I'm still thinking on ways to use the touch screen and haven't settled into any sort of pattern or rhythm, but I hope it'll become second nature like my canon wordtanks were(4 in total).  I'm still itching to find a nice dictionary that accepts handwritten input.

Study kanji while you wait!

Hi TG3, that's a good question because I've run into the same thing when I completely flip the lid. But yes, you can ALWAYS type on the screen. And it is a little difficult at some angles, but this thing opens to a flat 180 degrees for access to both screen and keyboard so I think you'd be okay.  How you write might be a factor, right or left hand, resting it on the keyboard, etc. Of course you can change the rotation very simply, there's a button on the right side of the screen, so you can rest your hand on the desk and spin it around to type real quick.  There's also the virtual keyboard if you're into that, a straight one and a curved one in left and right corners.(Unless I completely imagined that from another device.) A little tedious for my tastes.

Now, if you mean can you draw anywhere within a program, yes and no. Mostly you write on a little box, it gets recognized and you hit insert and off it goes to it's place at the cursor. There's a little journal program that shows a white looseleaf sheet of paper and you can write whatever, wherever you like in that, kinda of a freestyle wp. I have a free trial of a program called Evernote that seems pretty versatile and organized. And there is a little post it note program on the side bar where I've started to keep a to do list. I've found it very handy since I'm constantly on the pc.

I have to say though, that I'm pretty impressed with the handwriting recognition software. It's my first time at it, other than very old pda's, it picks up pretty much everything I write. I have the Japanese version and loaded english Office on it and I've had no problem inputting both English and Japanese.

I wish Wakan recognized input kanji. I tried but it somehow doesn't recognize the characters/fonts?

An interesting video of the other one aikiboy was considering: http://cdn.libsyn.com/gottabemobile/Fuj … nkShow.wmv

I think I'm sold on the Fujitsu one for about 250,000yen. Damn you, Aikiboy! ;-)

頼んじゃった＾＾；

They had a 16% discount if you took a 5 minute survey, so I saved 4man. If I'd gone with the celeron processor instead, it would have come to a total of 176,000 or so. Not so bad in the end! But I ended up splurging on the core 2 single for the better powersaving support it has.

楽しみ！

are those umpcs comfortable enough to do stuff like programming on them?

so what about the reviews of your new toys mr nerdjnerdbird, aikiboy and resolve?

can you attach a monitor and keyboard to these things? That way these machines could become primary devices..well maybe the asus might be stretched for any programming but the others may manage it.