I was just reading Kevin’s article about how big the netbook market has gotten in just a year. It’s really amazing to me how the category evolved and expanded. I have maybe once seen a ultra mobile PC in use in the wild. That was someone using a UX in a coffee shop. But that’s it. Now however, netbooks seem to be all over the place. In school I regularly see people typing away on Eees. Just last week when going through Airport security a woman behind me pulled an Eee 900 out of her handbag. What surprised me the most though, is my visit to the mall here in Italy. I went into a small electronics store and looked at the laptops on display. There were two Acer 15′ notebooks which looked pretty old and as if they were sitting in the store for a long time. In a big display cabinet however where 3 Olidata JumPCs proudly displaying their 299 Euro price. The JumPC is an Italian Eee-like device that runs on the 900mhz celeron and is marketed at children. I think it might actually be the Classmate design. Definitely not what I expected to find in such a small store! I might have bought if only it wasn’t slightly bulky and err… orange :)
It sure looks like a Classmate.
This device is also available in german online stores since a few weeks.
http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a342997.html
Half a year earlier, competing only against the eee701, this might have been worth a second look. But today, at this price?
Perhaps it would work as a notebook for a child. It sure looks like it would withstand a lot. But in no way would it work as a personal mobile machine.
If you had to recommend one netbook, today, which would it be?
eee 901 if you have the cash. msi wind if you want performance and larger screen. aspire one if you want cheap and good value. :)
I would need it with Windows XP or Vista if the performance is acceptable. I will need 20+ GB of disk and 8.9″ screen. BT is a must.
You think that eee901 is better for me than the aspire one?
And price is less of a concern.
I would be interested to know how is it better regarding performance, ease of use (typing, screen …), weight, battery life, …
Thanks!
EEE is the lightest and has best battery life. XP will perform same on both. Wind has best keyboard, also has the ability to overclock the atom processor. so it will be slightly better. EEE is the lightest. We will hopefully do a test of the acer sometime soon.
I’m surprised that you are surprised that Netbooks are everywhere!
Where are the AMD netbooks? True, that they are the processor used in the OLPC XO… but, other than that where is AMD in the netbook space?
take a look with your netbook http://www.thelaptopadvice.com netbook forum there you will found the extended article