This WEIRD Japanese Laptop LOOKS 20 Years Old… - Panasonic SF-SV2

Are you a sucker for good laptop IO? Do you need every single port? Well turns out there's still devices out there with things like optical drives, full sized SD card readers, and VGA, while also having modern comforts like Thunderbolt 4. But...they're only available in Japan. Why does this market still exist in one place while being completely forgotten everywhere else?

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MUSIC CREDIT
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Intro: Laszlo - Supernova

Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
1:40 Let's Note!
2:08 What is this thing?
3:04 Back in my day...
3:38 Our trackpads were circular
4:50 Japan: Florida of the East
6:42 Mourning our loss
7:43 What it lacks
8:40 Conclusion

[kanishkasarkar]

The VGA port makes sense since it is unbelievable how many organizations use projectors with no concept of HDMI whatsoever.

[slools]

Loved this computer. The motto of this computer's design is literally "if it worked for 20 years it works"

[johnappleseed]

I comment as a Japanese person
This computer is mainly used for sales when going to customer sites instead of the office.
Its armor, which looks old, is made of aluminum and is made very rigid, making it very difficult to break if dropped.
This is why users who use this machine outside rather than in the office prefer to use it.
In addition, some older hotels in Japan (few of which exist these days) do not have Wi-Fi, but instead have wired LAN in each room.
(In some cases, wired LAN is more stable than Wi-Fi, so it is preferable.)
Also, to some extent, companies in Japan contract and use computers on a lease basis instead of purchasing them. Therefore, it is very convenient to be able to replace the battery yourself.
This old-looking computer is actually a supercomputer that is quite specialized for business for Japan.

[sfkxeup]

I am a former Panasonic employee. The model of the laptop has not changed much from the past. Panasonic's laptops are very powerful, because the laptops are used in CNC machines where conditions are very oily and wet. Miraculously, the laptop still runs normally even though the laptop machine is full of oil and collent.Even though it's not a though book series. I've never seen a laptop with such power in any brand. 😁

[BlakPhoenix]

As a helpdesk guy, I've actually had to help out a few Japanese students who had this kind of laptop. It's always interesting whenever one pops up.

[treennumbers]

That port to blow out the heatsink dust is the most genius thing I've ever seen and I am now angry that it wasn't considered a standard QoL thing on all laptops for decades.

[Key-vtwn]

It should be mentioned that Let's Note is designed with durability in mind. Indeed, it resists 100kgf. Would you know the importance of this specific value in Japan? It is, the maximum force measured on the Tokyu Denentoshi Line, known as one of the busiest rail lines in Japan.

[GierlangBhaktiPutra]

Those technology is prepared for many legacy format that are still commonly used in Japan. It adds so many weight but it helps them to avoid the hassle of bringing so many extra adapters.

[CoolestUserEver]

This is so useful as an on the go maintenance machine. And the port to clean the exhaust is genius. That's usually ultra tedious to dismantle a machine just to remove a layer of felt that has formed.

[uchikoshi-TL]

Let's note was always the premier domestic laptop for businessmen in Japan because of all the different ports it had and it's lightweight design. It was ungodly expensive, but made sense for business use. It also helped that other domestic competitors like NEC and Toshiba really dropped the ball in the 2000s, and it's only real competitor going into the 2010s were Thinkpads, and later, the X1 series. I used to work part-time at a Japanese company as a tech support, we did have a bunch of Let's Notes, but we eventually shifted to X1 Carbons as we no longer really needed the extra drives like the optical drives, and was much more cost effective. The current models still are great, but not many people can justify its price, even for business use. Their sister series, the Toughbooks, are still a great choice for extreme environments.

[myautuu]

This pc is sold in most universities in Japan. It seems like university co-op ties up with panasonic. Sometimes university's equipments only have old type of socket, or digital documents in the library are only available in CD or DVD, so it may help students to do their work in school.

[_penguinsonthego]

This kind of laptop is being used by one of the Japanese professors in our lab. I was stunned when I first saw it. Thank you for making this video!

[FinnDarius]

I work at a Japanese company and our bosses all had these, and the first time I saw it, I seriously thought it was just some old laptop they stubbornly refuse to replace...
...until I saw them charging with USB-C cables to some Anker power brick and running windows 11 more responsibly than my own current-gen laptop.

And when we were briefly assigned in Japan, pretty much everyone had these in the office. Something we never got to see before going there since our company would supply Dell laptops for those working elsewhere outside Japan

[Xaddre]

That scrolling thing actually seems really really useful as scrolling is one of the most annoying things on a trackpad. Especially if you are trying to select text at the same time.

[ToadyEN]

Japanese 90s aesthetic > current days minimalist trends.

[seraphinw]

I liked laptops better when they actually had ports and you didn't have to manage so many dongles. Good on this model keeping up the practical design.

[acronychal]

I lived in Japan for over 15 years from the early 2000s and this series was everywhere. It was also always pretty expensive. I don't think keeping the design and some of the features the same is due just to the aging society, though. It's kind of how things happen in Japan. Once there is something that works, then it's used forever and its hard to change. The government is still using floppy drives and it's not because they are scared to use USB drives or newer storage media. It's just because they've done it that way since they can remember, and it works, so they keep doing it, regardless of newer and more efficient options.

[thebloo]

I love it when they release modern stuff which looks like old hardware, extremely cool!

[Arei-riif]

It's actually bulky, but only Panasonic decided to trade off thickness for lightness. There's no other laptops around 1kg have plenty IO and long life batteries. Both are essential for business in Japan.

[zidanemalic]

Most of the ports and peripherals are very useful. The lan port for modem/router configuration, optical drive for installing old and new apps. More ports means its better in terms of service, most of modern laptops today doesnt have more ports, you need to buy a lot of plug ins and it cost more.