My country-mates, the Germans, are quite the netbook nuts. They love a quality, good-value product (don’t we all!) and they’re also pretty damn good at doing their research. Sascha, the top man at EeePCNews.de is getting huge numbers at his German language site as a result of all this. When he goes live with a netbook unboxing he can count on about 300-500 concurrent viewers. I tried joining the live video and chat once and it was impossible to answer questions as the chat session was a constantly moving stream of messages. Its mad!
So how much would Germans pay for their dream netbook? Sascha is asking his users right now and after 1000+ responses, it’s clear that the sweet spot lies somewhere between 300 and 400 Euros. Thats $400-$530 at todays Dollar rate. (Max $430 if you take the local taxes off.) I’m not certain but it feels a little higher than the prices U.S. customers would pay. Any comments from the U.S. crowd on that?
I’m guessing the Black Samsuing NC10 for Euro 349 would be the absolute killer price and product here in Germany right now. Am I right German readers?
349€ for a blue or black NC10 would me force to buy one since MID’s with the same awesomeness factor aren’t in sight yet.
I paid $570 (USD) because I had to have the Eee PC 1000H right now.
I will never pay that much again.
I also think, for Germany, the “magical” price is 399€. I would never pay more for a standard netbook.
But the NC10 is not the Netbook of my choice… I preferr the Lenovo S10E for the same Price.
Jornada 600/700 series are the reference model for UMPC or PDA or MID keyboards. Fortunately I am following the NASA strategy – as they do for the shuttle computers – because I collect Jornadas for later reassembling.
My current architecture contains Jornada 690 with Windows CE 2.11 (since Dec 1999) and Libretto ff1100v with Windows 2000 on a 266MHz (since May 2002). The Libretto ff1100v is like a netbook. I bought the second Libby MINT for $400 including transportation from Corea in September 2005. I restored my image from the former Libby and that’s it.
Since 2002 I wait for a A5-size mini-notebook with touchscreen (the Fujitsu P1630 is a dream), and I am asking myself, wether I should have bought a Palmax 1100 with 640×480 touchscreen. I would have bought a Libretto U100 series, if it had had a touchscreen.
But I changed my mind: Now I look for an UMPC with enough power for a real Windows, e.g. an improved HTC Shift X12000 or so, a viliv or Kohjinsha, or OQO, which could replace my Jornada, and a convertible like the announced convertible DELL XT2 12inch, which I could use for real work on a daily basis.
I will not compromise the keyboard: Jornada is the reference. Though I am within the 1 percent above 500€.
If my german comrades are serious about the price, they have to wait for many long years.
Suplemental: I can do 10-finger blind-type. That is why I do not compromise the keyboard. Today’s keyboards like the HTC Shift, the OQO or so, are out of bounds.
I bought the Libretto in 2002 in order to replace the Windows CE 2.11 Jornada. But I could not replace it because the Libretto was not instant-on like the Jornada. And the A5-size Libretto mini-notebook is difficult to carry – it needs a shoulder holster for the 1kg ~ 2.2 lbs. That is why I look for an UMPC instead of an A5-size mini-notebook or netbook.