Need to Know Blog

Written on April 23, 2008 – 9:33 am | by peconi | (No Ratings Yet)
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Starting with announcements last year, and first version of EEE PC’s and OLPC’s hitting the market, the world of under-powered Sub-Notebook mobile PC’s is getting quite a stir.

A lot of people are in the market for getting one, but the choice has now become really hard.

Here’s the current line up of all of these Mini PC’s which came out, and some newer modes and brands coming out this year. If any new one is announced or if I’ve missed any, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.

OLPC - One Laptop Per Child Project’s XO Laptop

Starting at the beginning, one of the first real products which users could buy was the OLPC. The mission of the One Laptop Per Child association was to develop a low-cost laptop ($100 dollars) - the XO Laptop - and to provide the children around the world with a computer. The incentive was to buy one for a kid in a 3rd World country and get one for yourself. It worked more less well even though it ended up costing way more than $100 USD, but the cause was good and specs were not too shabby either.

Wireless B/G/S network (supporting Mesh Networking) which enables kids to chat with other users on the closed network and share single Internet connection.

OS: Fedora-based Linux

Comes with: microphone and camera integrated and runs on AMD’s Geode LX700 CPU. Has a 1GB Flash Drive and 256 MB of Ram.

All in all - this was and is a nice computer for kids around the world who had nothing before, but how I see it, the main thing this little laptop did is start a little revolution.

Link: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

EEE PC - Easy to learn, Easy to Work, Easy to play PC (EEE 900)

Before we knew it, ASUS announced the super famed EEE PC last year. People eagerly awaited and as soon as it came out it was instantly sold out at many places. In just five months Asus has sold over 1 milion units! Since the new model with a larger screen and more memory has been introduced, I will not talk here about the first generation of Asus’ EEE PC (the 700 series), but rather about the Second Gen EEE Pc, the 900 Series.

The new version of EEE 900 was officially launched in Hong-Kong on April 16, 2008 starting at about $513 USD (in US it will cost a bit more most likely). While it is a tinny bit larger than it’s predecessor, it does offer more. It has a multi-touch trackpad (similar to MacBook Air) allowing two-finger scrolling and zooming via the “pinch” gesture. It is also finally available in both Linux (Xandros) and Windows XP versions.

The Linux version is named EeePC 900 and comes with a 20GB of storage (4GB built in and 16GB flash), while the XP version is named EeePC900 Win - and it comes with 12GB of storage (4GB built in and 8GB flash). Microsoft Works and Windows Live Suite come pre-installed on the Windows version.

Besides the larger 8.9″ 1024×600 pixels screen (vs. 7″ on previous model), and a faster CPU (full 900MHz vs. 630MHz on 700 Series) the specs are more less the same. Asus promised Intel’s ATOM CPU in these machines at launch (instead of Intel Celeron-M ULV), but this is not yet the case. If you decide to get the EEE PC, do yourself a favor and wait just a bit longer. New faster Intel CPU’s are just around the corner (most likely coinciding with the June release of Intel’s Atom).

Here are the specs of these machines: 1GB of RAM (up to 2GB??), 1.3Mpix web camera, Intel GMA 900 graphics, integrated wireless 802.11b/g network, 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, SD card slot, Line out and mic in, all weighting in at 940 grams (~2 pounds).

This laptop is very tiny so if you’ve got some big fingers like I do you might wish to read on and see some other machines.

Here’s a review: http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2008/04/16/Asus-Eee-PC-900/p1

Everex Cloudbook Max

Announced at CTIA in April 2008 with no launch date available, it will be part of Sprint Xohm product range in the US. It’s based on the VIA Platform and will support DirectX 9 natively.

Other than this, Everex states it will use VIA C7-M 1.6GHz CPU, have VIA Chrome9 graphics, run Windows Vista (slowly most likely), and will come with 2GB of RAM and 80GB HDD. You should expect to enjoy the 8.9″ 1024×600 screen (same as Asus EEE PC) all totaled at 1KG (2.2 pounds).

As for connectivity, it comes with SD card slot, 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA, Analog Video Out, Built in Ethernet, Line out and Mic in ports. Wireless B/G and Bluetooth 2.0 radios are included as well as Sprint’s Wi-Max.

The main feature of this machine besides the Wi-Max, will be a possibility of integrated GPS and both front and rear cameras.

Hands on pictures and some Engadget thoughts:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/01/everex-cloudbook-max-hands-on/

MSI Wind (funny name, really) but lots of promises

This is one pretty gadget. Sporting LED back-light, 8.9″ or 10″ screen, 1024×600 resolution, and 80GB, 2.5″ Hard Drive and backed up by MSI’s claims to have a superior keyboard and battery life compared to competition, it sure raises some eyebrows. There is no word on exact price (yet), but it’s rumored to be coming out around June of 2008, with Intel’s ATOM CPU (ranging from 1.0Ghz to 1.6Ghz), 1GB RAM,  and should cost around $470 and $1100 USD.

It’s rumored that it has a 7-hour battery life, compared to Eee Pc’s 2-hours.

In my opinion, definitely worth waiting for and seeing how it turns out. MSI is known to have fairly good products. Let’s see how they do in UMPC market.

ECS G10L - Elitegroup Computer Systems

Coming from Taiwanese Elitegroup Computer Systems, this interestingly looking device will sport Intel’s new ATOM CPU, 8.9″ or 10.2″ screen, up to 2GB of RAM, 7.2Mbps mobile broadband (HSPA, i.e. 3G), and a choice of Linux or Windows.

Also, you will be able to choose either an SSD or HDD, and it comes with: 3 USB 2.0, integrated 1.3Mpix camera, Ethernet port and modem, Wireless and Bluetooth capabilities and a 4-in-one card reader. Graphics are run by Intel GMA 950 chipset.

It’s also very white and pretty, though I wonder how will that flush keyboard really feel. It seems they keys do not go too far, but I hope I’m wrong.

Pricing should be announced any day now (April, 2008) so we’ll see if it will be Asus Killer or not.

Kohjinsha’s SR8KPO6S UMPC (with a DVD writer!)

What cough my eye about this machine is that it is the only one (as far as I know) which has a built in DVD Writer! This makes you really wonder HOW in the world did they manage to put in a DVD Writer in such a small computer and Apple could not put it in the Air? Lies I tell ya, lies.

So, here are the specs: 7″ screen, DVD writer, 1024×600 rez on LED backlit touch-screen, 1.3Mpix camera, 60GB HDD, 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth and 800MHz A110 CPU. It comes with 1GB of RAM, Ethernet port (screaming: look at me MacBook Air), two USB 2.0 ports, VGA out and a 3-in-one memory card reader.

At 2.4 pounds (just over 1KG) and promised 3.5 or 7.2 hours of battery life (depending on which battery is used), it’s rally not too shabby. It will cost you around $1,500 though and for this reason I do not recommend it. I just included it here because it is very unique and to show off what can be done with a small package.

Check it out this PC repackaged at Vye Computers, USA.

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC - The Best Choice in my opinion (for now)

This machine is simply a beauty. The new 2133 UMPC from HP is my favorite UMPC on the market right now. Sports a VIA C7-M CPU ranging from 1GHz to 1.6GHz, Via Chrome9 graphics, Linux or Windows, 8.9″ 1280×768 LCD, up to 2GB of RAM, either a Flash drive (4GB), or a 7200 RPM 120GB normal HDD, and weighting at just about 1.2KG (2.64 pounds), this machine is amazing.

Keyboard is beautiful and seems very easy to type on considering the small footprint of the laptop. Furthermore it comes with ExpressCard 54/1 (great if you use Verizon’s EVDO) and something not seen often enough on these little machines intended for business people, 2 USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, GIGABIT Ethernet Port, Line Out, SD Card Reader and Mic in.

Together with 802.11b/g and BlueTooth 2.0 (on some models), and built in camera (optional), I really think that only HP has hit the target when it comes to the specs and options.

Starting at $499 and going up to $799 HP has created a plethora of models to choose form to fit your needs and your budget.

Check it out on HP’s site.

Conclusion and some suggestions

There are two machines out there which are also cool but overpriced considering what the laptops above offer for far less money. They are the HTC Shift, and MacBook Air.

Mac: Yesterday’s computer in Tomorrow’s Body
HTC: BoyGenius Review

If you are going to pay over $1500 for any of these two, why not then get yourself a real laptop with a lot more power, connectivity options, speed, and for far less money. MacBook Air is an underpowered, overpriced CONCEPT for which Apple is making you pay the money. It has no Ethernet port, tucked in USB ports so you can’t even connect your EVDO Card, no ExpressCard slot, sucky performance (compared to even MacBook), but boy does it have the looks.

HTC Shift is simply slow. It comes with Vista but it struggles with it. If you want a small laptop, cool looking one too, but you like to wait for things to open, then go for it.

Affordable, real Notebook (not Sub-Notebook PC) Toshiba U405

If none of sub-notebook PC’s above work for you, consider getting the new Toshiba U-405… It starts at $950 dollars, though I’d definitely recommend a step up to $1150 version since it comes with 800MHz Front Side Bus, 3GB of RAM, and Intel Penryn Core 2 Duo. I just got this for my girlfriend a week ago and it’s really an awesome, affordable machine with everything you need. It runs Vista fairly fast as well and it looks beautiful.

Note: It looks 50 times better than the picture above! If you stop by your local Microcenter you will immediately fall in love with it. It is girly though, I would not necessarily use it, but my girlfriend loves it She agreed to we sell MacBook Pro and get this one, so, go figure

Here are the Toshiba choices:
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?coid=-35445

Toshiba U405-S2830 (recommended):
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?seg=HHO&poid=411006&coid=-35445

And you can buy it at: Microcenter

Good luck shopping, and remember, patience is a virtue especially when choosing a Sub-notebook PC. New models will be coming out more and more, and remember, XP will run a lot faster than if you get it with Vista.

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