Unboxing the Willcom D4 (Sharp WS016SH) UMPC
Guess what came in the mail today!
Oh yes, it’s the Atom-based Willcom D4 UMPC I ordered from Conics. There’s bubble wrap, cardboard, and plastic strewn throughout my living room right now, as I literally just ripped open the box and poured out all of the contents. The D4 is charging right now and has yet to be turned on, so all I have at the moment are a round of photos to share with you below.
Packaging
Contents
Inside the box are a headset, AC power adapter and cord, standard battery (extended battery will be here in August), soft Velcro pouch, screen protector, Microsoft Office installation discs, and all manners of paperwork and manuals in Japanese.
Here’s a closer look at the case:
It’s actually pretty nice.
The screen protector has the words "Willcom D4" printed on it. I removed it immediately after installation because it’s too reflective.
Quick Look
All I can say is Oh. My. God. I’m completely enamored. The D4 is beautiful.
One of the first things I noticed after I completed my dance of joy was the Intel Centrino Atom sticker. You may remember that the Kohjinsha SC3, which has the same 1.33GHz Atom processor as the D4, had a different Atom sticker. Centrino Atom is actually just the official name of what was previously codenamed Menlow (I don’t think there’s an actual CPU called Centrino Atom), though, so there’s nothing to be curious about here. It’s just an observation, as I believe the D4 is the first device in the world to have the Centrino Atom sticker stuck to it.
Details
Now let’s take a tour around the device.
The back of the D4 is covered in a very smooth rubber not unlike the Raon Digital Everun and is home to the battery compartment, an air vent, and four rubber feet.
At the top are a telescoping antenna, camera button, screen rotation button, power button, and headset port.
Beneath the antenna is the stylus slot.
Also at the top of the unit is another air vent and a covered power port.
The W-SIM and microSD card slots are located on the left side.
And on the bottom are covered dock connector and mini USB 2.0 ports as well as a sliding lock/hold switch.
Noticeably absent from the D4 are a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and host USB port.
Slide-and-Tilt Display
Like the HTC Shift, the D4’s display slides up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard and can be positioned at various angles. Here it is at its middle and max positions:
The sliding mechanism isn’t spring loaded, but it still glides up smoothly. The hinges feel sturdy and allow the display to stay in place securely, regardless of the angle.
On the back of the display is a 2-megapixel digital camera. Directly below it is a mono speaker.
Surrounding the display are mouse buttons on the left and a touch pad that glows red (haven’t seen this in person yet) on the right. Both sides include a set of indicators that also glow at the top. By the way, the glossy surface is actually much more fingerprint resistant than that list of shortcomings indicated. The iPhone 3G and most glossy DAPs are significantly worse in this respect.
And that’s it for now. I’m on my way out the door for the rest of the night soon, so I’ll put up a size comparison gallery and some preliminary wi-fi battery figures tomorrow. Stay tuned for various features, benchmarks, and a full review in the coming weeks.
