Last week, someone in the forums asked if anyone made a netbook with an integrated DVD drive. "No," we replied, in a fit of ignorance, "that's not possible." But David Gilson, another forum user, proved us very wrong.
He pointed us to the Kohjinsha SX3 -- the most ambitious mini laptop we've seen. Not only does it come with an integrated dual-layer DVD rewriter, but it also has a twisting touchscreen, which can be folded against the keyboard to create a tablet mode.
Oddly, the twisty screen and optical drive don't add much weight to the SX3. It tips the scales at a mere 1.2kg, which leads us to believe the machine is made mostly of candyfloss.
In truth, it's actually made of an Atom CPU, but not the 1.6GHz N270 most netbooks use. Instead, it has a 1.33GHz chip, whose lower clock speed helps it achieve a claimed battery life of 4.2 hours -- or 8.2 hours with the extended battery. You also get 1GB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, a 1seg TV tuner, dual webcams, and Wi-Fi. Oh, and Windows Vista, so it'll probably be as slow as the HP 2133 Mini-Note.
Unfortunately, the SX3 is available in Japan only. If you're lucky enough to live there, you can expect to cough up between £570 and £700 depending on spec -- hardly netbook territory.
Still, we thought you'd want to know about it. -Rory Reid