At CES, Everex launched a new sub-notebook PC. It seems the booming success of the Asus Eee PC has sparked a new worldwide obsession with super-light and ultra-portable computers. It's a trend Apple has now joined with yesterday's launch of the astonishing MacBook Air.
But while the ultra-portable high performance MacBook Air weighs 1.36kg and costs £1,200, the new budget Everex Cloudbook is super-lightweight and will cost around £200, the same as the Asus Eee PC.
Eee PC set for battle?
Weighing just 910g, the Everex CloudBook is actually marginally lighter than the Asus Eee PC. It's based on VIA's NanoBook reference design and, with its 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV mobile processor, the laptop averages 5 hours of battery life on a 4-cell, lithium-ion battery. That kicks the ass of the Eee PC which cannot get within 2 hours of that time.
And unlike some of its competitors, the CloudBook also features 30GB of internal storage (four times more than the Asus), DVI output, 4-in-1 card reader and 1.3-megapixel webcam.
"The overwhelming success of our gPC desktop generated countless inquires from customers seeking additional Open Source mobile platforms," says John Lin, general manager of Everex. "With the launch of the new CloudBook our vision remains the same: provide mainstream users with their favourite applications wrapped in a no-compromise, low-cost, consumer friendly product."
No Windows XP
Just like Asus did, Everex decided to ship the first version of its ultra-portable range with a special build of the Linux operating system. The main reasons for choosing this software are two-fold: firstly, it's open source, so it's free, keeping costs down. And secondly, it is less processor-intensive than Windows XP and thus the battery lasts longer.
It also comes with an array of open source and free software from the likes of Mozilla, Skype, Google and OpenOffice.org.
So there's something for everyone, it seems - sub-notebooks are flooding onto the market. With modest specs and budget prices, they cater nicely for those who just want a small laptop to fit in a handbag. Meanwhile those with a lot more money and a hunger for performance and a full-sized LED backlit screen can plump for an ultra-portable MacBook Air. A sign of things to come?
The Exerex CloudBook is slated for a 25 January launch in the United States, and you can bet that if it's a success you'll see it on UK shores pretty soon too.
Key Features:
* Operating System: gOS V2 Rocket
* Processor: 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV Processor
* Display: 7-inch WVGA TFT Widescreen (800 x 480 native resolution)
* Memory: 512MB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (1GB Max)
* Hard Disk Drive: 30GB, 4200RPM PATA
* Graphic: VIA UniChrome Pro IGP
* Audio: VIA VT1708A High Definition Audio Codec with built-in speakers
* Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g
Your comments (4) Click to add a new comment
painwithjain
February 7th 2008
4. Apparently most Air buyers are finding battery life falls way short of the claimed 5 hours - more like 2.5 hours. That is a real killer for a ultra portable notebook.
The Air is sexy enough, but compared to the 11-inch Sony TZ which is smaller, if not thinner, has a higher res screen, an optical drive and genuine 7-8 hour battery life, well, it's not much of a contest.
Shaving a quarter of an inch off the thickness of the TZ but adding a fair bit of width and depth hardly makes the Air more portable. I think this is one product with which Apple has probably made too many sacrifies in the name of trying to get that superficial wow factor.
I was really looking forward to apple producing a great ultra portable. The Air is extremely disappointing.
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nicolasmerritt
January 21st 2008
3. Find it hard to take the MacBook Air seriously. Smacks a little of Apple's Cube (if you can remember that) - all aesthetics with no real functional benefit. Seems more like a tech testbed for something else.
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reload
January 17th 2008
2. Cat, your comparing Apples to Oranges (pardon the pun). Sub-notebooks will appeal to consumer that are primarily concerned with value for money.
The MacBook Air on the other had appears to be aimed at Technophiles. Although in my opinion Apple have missed a trick by not including an optical drive. A slot loading dive would have kept a thin profile.
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cat
January 17th 2008
1. Maybe the still rather exotic Mac Tablets provided by a 3rd party could for some, but most of the rather bulky and ugly looking Sub Notebooks probably even powered by a propriatory OS (or is gOS a Linux distro?) are hardly a match for the MacBook Air.
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