Join for free!!
Join GadgetCentre now
| | |
|
Forum Hot Threads
 | 2553 Total Messages |
|
Latest Reviews
 | 147 Total Reviews |
| |
|  |
Ultra-portable notebook round-up - Part 2By Jamie Strachan | | | |
In Japan, where UMPCs (aka Origami devices) are just about flood store shelves, they are on the brink of national craze. However, I'm beginning to sense a little disillusionment from both the UK and the US in the wake of the big CeBIT unveiling. The few prices that have emerged so far are pushing more into the $1000 range rather than around $500 as Bill Gates had hoped. The potentially huge problem of battery life doesn't seem to have been addressed properly yet and, with all things considered, it simply makes more financial and practical sense to stick to a very small notebook PC rather than try and fool yourself into thinking a UMPC would ever actually fit into your pocket. Here are three more incredibly compact, light weight solutions to consider if you want to take your computer on the move.
|
The Flybook
A clear winner of smallest in category by sporting dimensions of just 235 x 155mm. Also unlike the other's we've looked at, this compact device features a fully rotating 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display to give it an extra edge. It has a 1.0GHz Transmeta Crusoe TM-5800 CPU and 512MB of RAM used to run a Windows XP Home OS.
Connectivity options consist of integrated Bluetooth, GPRS and 802.11b, Ethernet and 56k modem. The 'b' standard now seems a little underpowered, but Flybook has recently announced a new V series range which upgrades to 'g' standard and improves the processor to an Intel Pentium M.
Somehow it is even possible to squeeze up to 80GB of storage into these tiny machines; they weigh in at just 1.2kg and are also available in a range of wacky colours. They should set you back something in the region of £1,600 depending on storage options. Keep an eye out for the V23i and V33i which are being introduced in the near future too.
Read more here
|
|
|
Averatec 1050
Another company that you'll be forgiven for never having heard of before, this recent start-up has big foreign backing and has actually been producing some neat looking laptops for a while. The 1050 is the company's take on the ultra-portable end of the market but this time choosing to play off the 'less weight = higher cost' equation in the other direction. While these aren't the lightest of the bunch at 1.6kg, the sub-£1000 price tag should help keep your mind off that burden on your arms.
The design is quite distinctive with its burgundy colour and under the hood you get a 1.1GHz Pentium M ULV 733 processor backed up by 512MB RAM to keep the Windows XP OS up to speed. Storage consists of a generous 80GB but the connectivity options are slightly limited with 802.11g Wi-Fi being the only thing of note. The integrated 4-in-1 card reader helps to remedy that failing a little.
Dimensions consisting of 266 x 203 x 29 mm make it a little bulkier than some of the more main stream offerings and the 5 hours of battery life is another slight weakness; however all these things should be weighed up against that brilliant £999 retail price.
More info can be found here
|
|
|
LG Xnote TX
Returning once more to mainstream manufacturers, this is just a taste of what we could get, were the UK not lingering around third place in the new technology pecking order. Lucky Koreans are the only ones who can pick up this 2.3cm thick laptop which weighs in at only 1.1kg for the moment.
The weight itself isn't the most impressive part, it's what is under the hood that is amazing; despite the Xnote's small stature you still have a very good Pentium M 753 1.2GHz, 400 MHz FSB, CPU and 1GB of 533MHz RAM. And even though that is pretty much mopping the floor with equally sized competitors, the 1280 x 800 pixel display is driven by an nVidia GeForce 7300 graphics card with 64MB of video RAM. Hell, you could probably run World of Warcraft quite happily on this thing.
Other features include virtual surround sound speakers, 60GB of storage, Bluetooth and 802.1b/g connectivity. There is no indication of any of these ever making it to the UK but if someone happened to be stopping off in Korea in the near future it might be well worth trying to get one.
|
|
Zoodex
|
|
| | Want to send this article to a friend? Please join here | | |
| | Comment on this in our forum: |
| | Read member reviews:
| | Related articles:
| |
| |
|
