Sharp Actius MM20 Overview - The Ultra Ultra-Portable (pics)

During CeBIT America I was given the chance to play with the Sharp Actius MM20 Ultra Portable laptop. It weighs 1.99lbs (yes, under 2lbs) and has the latest Transmeta chip, the Efficeon 1.0GHz processor. Transmeta was actually demoing this machine to show what their processor could do. While watching a fight scene from the movie The Matrix you can actually watch a processor performance chart show it's dropping power used when Neo slows down his fighting moves.

The Sharp Actius MM20 was released in the United States in March. It competes in the ultraportable notebook arena with such other notebooks as the IBM ThinkPad X40 and the Sony VAIO TR3A. However, the MM20 is the only notebook that has the Transmeta Efficeon processor. Transmeta claims that this chip is the most power efficient on the market, outdoing the Intel Pentium M chip. Because of this fact Sharp is able to include a smaller battery and further reduce the weight of the notebook. In the ultraportable category of computers, the battery is always a major challenge in trying to keep weight down as batteries are inherently dense and heavy.

Let's take a look at how the Transmeta Efficeon works:

1. During a fight scene from The Matrix you can see the Transmeta Efficeon processor power usage in the top window above Windows Media Player. During this scene the two fighters are bouncing around the room and there are quite a few spikes in the chips power usage: click for larger image

2. We hit pause on Windows Media Player to stop the fight scene, look at the processor power usage now. It has flatlined. The Efficeon processor is essentially sitting idle and doing no work, therefore saving power. Click to view larger image.

3. According to the engineers at Transmeta, the Efficeon processor uses 8 times less power than the Intel Pentium M when it is in an idle state, a major savings in battery life.

4. We resume the fight and the Transmeta processor kicks into action again! Click to view larger image

Outside of the cool processor features of the Efficeon that comes with the MM20, there are other reasons to like this notebook. At less then 2 pounds, (well, 1.99lbs to be exact) and barely half an inch thick, the Sharp Actius MM20 is remarkably portable. The light weight makes this machine a joy to travel with. It literally feels as light as a paper notebook. However, because of the small size and weight Sharp had to scale the keyboard down to 86% the size of a full keyboard (17mm), so typing is somewhat challenging.

The MM20 ships with 512MB of RAM, as well as a 20GB hard drive, two USB 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, and an Ethernet port. The MM20 also comes with built-in 802.11g wireless.Sharp has also provideda ratherunique cradle solution and synching software. The Actius MM20 has a proprietary connection port on its left side, which plugs directly into the cradle. The cradle attaches to a desktop PC via a USB 2.0 cable. Once the MM20 is docked your desktop will automatically recognize the powered-down MM20 as an external hard drive. Then using the SharpSync software, you can easily sync the MM20 with the desktop, transfer files, or run backups. Plug the notebook's AC into the cradle and it will charge the system while docked. A battery life indicator tells you when the battery is fully charged.

The Actius MM20 includes a unique docking station for easy synching and backup to your desktop PC

Another cool and innovative feature is the hardware Mobile Mode switch located on the keyboard's upper right. It lets you dim the screen and enable power-saving capabilities in order to preserve battery life whenever the system is undocked.

However, this notebook has drawbacks in the performance arena. It's fairly slow due to the 1.0GHz processor speed. The battery life also tops out at 2 hours and five minutes, which is not all that good. Remember, even though the Transmeta Efficeon chip is very power efficient, the battery included with the MM20 is small. You can get an extended life battery that adds .5lbs to the notebook weight (for a total of 2.5lbs) and you'll get 9 hours of battery life.

The Actius MM20sells for $1499, not a bad price at all for this type of notebook. So althoughthe Sharp Actius MM20 is no speed demon, its portability, decent price andinnovative cradle sync feature make this avery good portable machine and complement to your desktop.

Links:

Sharp Actius MM20 Pricing: Actius MM20 Pricing

Overview of the Transmeta chip: http://www.transmeta.com/efficeon/features.html

Sharp Site for Actius MM20: http://www.sharpsystems.com/products/pc_notebooks/actius/mm/20/

 

Yeah, I contemplated this line for about 20 minutes when buying my ultra port. It just seems a little hokey though...kind of like a big PDA. The lack of optical drive was a problem for me, plus the build quality seemed a little chinsey. Of course sacrafices have to made to get under 2 pounds, that part is pretty sweet!

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

did sharp ever replace this model with something similiar? if not, anyone know where i can find one of these?