[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Replacement for ThinkPads? :-)

"Guy Farrell" <gfarrell@oasis.vpia.uconn.edu> writes:
|> >   IBM Japan has been shipping Palm Top PCs in Japan since October. No U.S.
|> > launch is planned.
|> 
|> How do I get one?!  Anyone with Japanese contacts or Japanese Mail 
|> order (with English speaking sales reps, please)

It's my experience that IBM will not sell a product outside its intended
market. IBM Japan told me no-way when I wanted to order a US-market 755CX
(I didn't want the Japanese-market keyboard), and IBM USA told me no-way
when I asked that they ship one here.

<<That's the sum total of my experience, so maybe it's not representative
  of reality>>

I just checked IBM-Japan's home page (http://www.ibm.co.jp/) and the
Japanese pages are really rinky-dink -- no information at all.

The English pages seem to have more, including a link on the Palm Top.  The
PT page (http://www.ibm.co.jp/jpccinfo/thinkpad/palm_110) is in Japanese,
but it has a picture.  I wonder why this wasn't on the Japanese page??? 
Mmm, the English page hasn't been updated for four months -- maybe they
just never took it off.

Now that I've seen the picture, I remember seeing (and playing with) this
thing in the store once. I remember being impressed with something about
how you can very quickly zoom to the area around the cursor to make things
more readable. Don't remember much else. I do think it was smaller than it
seems to be in the picture (the model must be very dainty, or at least have
a hand that is), but it's not in the same league as HP's Palmtop, in either
size (much bigger than HP) or power (much more than HP).

Anyway, on http://www.ibm.co.jp/ibmj_eng/contacts.html I find:

   Japan Product Support Desk (JPSD) -
      The JPSD's mission is to provide question and answer support for IBM
      customers and business partners outside Japan using Japanese versions
      of IBM products (primarily PC and workstation software such as DOS/V,
      AmiPro/J, Win/J, etc.). Please contact the JPSD by FAX or Email.

      FAX: 81-44-200-8646 
      Email: jpsd@vnet.ibm.com 

so go for it.

Note that Japan is 14 hours (half a day + two hours) ahead of EDT...
Monday, 9:30am-4:00pm JST is Sunday 7:30pm - Monday 2am EDT.

	Jeffrey
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey Friedl <jfriedl@omron.co.jp> Omron Corp, Nagaokakyo, Kyoto 617 Japan
See my Jap<->Eng dictionary at http://www.wg.omron.co.jp/cgi-bin/j-e
                           and http://enterprise.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/j-e