New mini-laptops challenge Eee PC

Eight low-cost mini-laptops from seven manufacturers are on show at Cebit08 following the success of the Eee PC and Asus is showing a revamped version with an 8.9in 1024x600 screen

The new Eee PC 900 has 1GB Ram, 12GB solid state storage with Windows XP and Microsoft Works 9 preinstalled for €399 (£306 – UK pricing has yet to be confirmed). That's €100 (£75) more than the 7in 701 Eee PC, which came with with 512MB Ram and a 4GB drive.

It also came with Linux and the open-source Openoffice.org, presenting a challenge to Microsoft to offer a comparable software package at this price level.

Microsoft was at the launch of the new version to highlight the inclusion of the stripped-down office suite Works, as well as Windows Live services. Microsoft marketing director Alex Dale described the Eee PC as a lovely machine: "It’s portable, it’s light, it’s great for the family.”

But Thomas Bauer, general manager for Microsoft, said the Eee PC wasn’t suitable for Vista or the Origami interface, which is designed for ultra-mobile but not ultra low-cost notebooks.

The other mini-laptops on show are from Packard Bell, Medion, Gecube, Elonex, E-Lead, Clevo and Amoi.

Gecube showed two Genie PC models aimed at school pupils and home users. The smaller Junior, at $229 (£115 excl Vat), uses a 7in 800x480 display, a 2GB solid-state drive and a completely detachable keyboard. When detached, it can be used like the Q1 Ultra UMPC or as a digital picture frame thanks to a retractable foot.

Gecube, a major graphics-card vendor in the UK, says its product has a five-hour battery life, uses an unspecified v86 processor (not from Via or Intel) and weighs 0.94kg including the keyboard and a carrybag. The Junoir looks almost identical to Elonex's recently announced £99 notebook.

The larger Senior Genie PC has a 10.2in 800x600 screen, comes with a 1GHz C7 processor, 60GB mechanical hard disk and Windows drivers and costs about $279 (£140 excl Vat).

The Noahpad, developed by E-Lead, has a 7in 800x480 display. Its range of ports, wireless networking and styling is similar to the Eee PC, with the exception of a 1GHz Via C7 processor, a 30GB hard disk, a fully rotatable screen and the keyboard, which is split into two rigid, touch-sensitive panels.

The right panel contains half the keys and also acts as a trackpad. Both panels depress when you want to type and the dual-purpose design saves space compared with regular trackpad and keyboard setups. E-Lead says the device will go on sale in April for about $600 (£302 excl Vat).

Medion showed an early prototype of its 10in notebook behind closed doors. It has a similar resolution to the 8.9in Eee and retains a Linux operating system. The Medion model’s chassis has a matt-white outer clam-shell design with a black keyboard. UK product manager Rick Munday said that, depending on the price of Intel’s upcoming processors, Medion may choose Via components instead.

It will cost about the same as an Eee PC and the company is toying with the idea of fitting a flash and mechanical hard disk. The end of 2008 is a possible UK release date.

Dixons will soon be receiving Packard Bell’s latest 7in notebook, which has a similar chassis to the Belinea S.Book, reviewed here, but has a webcam instead of a Voip phone and places the trackpad in the top right corner, above the keyboard. With a 1.2GHz Via C7 CPU, 1GB Ram and a 30GB hard disk, it will cost €599 (approx £450).

Clevo, a chassis manufacturer responsible for many Rock, Zoostorm, Evesham and Mesh designs, released a 7in 1,024x600 touch-panel LCD laptop, its first to support Intel’s Atom processors running at 1.33GHz, 1.6Ghz or 1.86GHz.

The laptop will go on sale in June and weighs 990g. Its other features look identical to the Asus Eee PC but it has enough processing power to attain the Vista Premium Logo.

Another chassis manufacturer, Amoi, showed off a 10.2in 800x480 resolution notebook, which emphasised a full sized 25.5cm wide keyboard. It will go on sale this summer for a similar price to the 8.9in Eee PC.

After announcing to the world that it would release 7in and 10in notebooks this week, Gigabyte has now put the plans on ice until Autumn at the earliest. Gigabyte is sceptical of devices selling for less than £300, saying it would rather aim for £350 as a minimum price tag.