The M700 I previewed earlier looks like a normal 7″ slate ultra mobile PC but it’s got quite a few unique features that set it apart  from the average UMPC.  It’s aimed at mobile media usage and includes the VIA 1.2Ghz processor with the new VX800 chipset which has Chrome 9 graphics and video decoding hardware in it. The main feature though is the docking station which is ‘IPTV’ capable. That is, it has a digital TV decoder in it (the type will obviously depend on  the territory that the […]

The 901 is ussemed to be the Atom-based version of the 900 which makes sense but isn’t 100% confirmed yet. There aren’t any more details to accompany the images either but I feel sure we’ll see more of this and many other Atom-based devices at Computex in a few weeks. It looks nice apart from the shiny plastic buttons up by the battery. I’m sure it’s going to look even better in black though. Blogeee.net have a whole load of images so check out their site.

Last week I highlighted some reseller pricing that was appearing for variants of the Gigabyte M704, the ultra mobile PC with the 1.2Ghz CPU and 7" 1024×600 screen in a casing that’s smaller than even the HTC Shift. The M704 is now expected to be in stock at the beginning of July and the confirmed Euro-price, based on real Gigabyte retailer prices is just Euro 745. If you’re looking for a slider or 7" 1024×600 UMPC, this is very competitive compared to the 1200 Euro Shift and 1100 Euro Samsung […]

Gigabyte are getting a good slice of the news cake this week! Tucked inside a marketing PDF received the other day were more details about the new Gigabyte M700. This one is going to take a little explaining because the M700 isn’t just a slate UMPC, it’s part of a mobile media system that Gigabyte have created by building a special IPTV-capable docking station. Think of it as a souped-up Slingbox with client player included. I have a presentation video from CeBIT that I’ll put together with a more detailed […]

While we fuss about MID pricing, the cost of UMPCs is dropping quickly around us. The Q1 Ultra EL which comes with the 800Mhz processor, 1GB RAM and 40GB drive but leaves out the Bluetooth and cameras is available for $659 at Buy.com right now. With the lowest pricing in Europe at around 1500 dollars I’d recommend everyone in Europe who wants a Q1 Ultra to make friends with someone in the U.S. and get them to ship it over. Even after paying the tax, you’re going to save over […]

This must be a typo right? Buy.com are offering an Eee PC 900, SKU EEEPC900-W012X, with a 1.7Ghz Celeron processor. Click the image on the right to see the details. [Buy.com product link.] The same is also appearing at ZipZoomfly. I wonder if this is an attempt to sneak a high-end Eee PC 900 out of the door with Windows XP before the rules change! Thanks, whatever7, for the tip.

My daily wake-up ritual usually comprises lying with one eye open, scrolling through emails from Asia on my N82 and this morning was no different with an email direct from the marketing team at Gigabyte showing up and raising my eyebrow a little bit higher than usual. According to the email from the Gigabyte notebook and ultra mobile PC marketing group in Taiwan, there are final discussions going on worldwide but there’s no pricing structure set for the Gigabyte M528 yet. All will be revealed at Computex in a few […]

Thanks to Expansys last week, the UK prices and specs for the MSI Wind were revealed but the only US prices we had until now were import prices. Today, LAPTOP magazine has revealed the US-local specs and pricing and rather than charging similar prices for both the Linux and Windows versions of the Wind as in the UK, the MSI US marketing team are choosing to offer an Eee PC 900 12G (Linux) competitor at $399 with the 80GB drive, 512MB and Novell SUSE Linux. If you want XP you’ll […]