With a 12-inch screen and 1.5kg weight, Samsung NC20 is pushing the limits of the term Netbook.  Didn’t we all used to call a 12-inch portable computer a laptop or notebook?

Sylvania MAGNI Netbook makes it the 17th rebranded MSI Wind.

• Operating System: Windows(R) XP
• Processor: Intel(R) Atom
• Main Memory: 1Gb RAM
• Display: 8.9-inch screen (1024 × 600 pixels)
• Storage: 160 GB HDD”
• Network Interface: 802.11 b/g
• I/O Ports: 3 x USB 2.0 ports
• Card Reader: 5-in-1 card reader
• Webcam: Integrated
• Options: 6-Cell Battery and 3G module
• Availability: From November in Europe
• Pricing: Starting at an estimated street price of €399

The full press release:
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Battery life isn’t great, either, though no worse than most rivals. Under light use, the Elonex lasted just over two hours, similar to the MSI Wind and the Acer Aspire one that we tested last month. This compromises the point of having such a very portable PC.

One area where the Elonex trumps other contenders is on price. This class of computers was originally envisaged to sell for under £200, but in reality prices have edged towards £300 and beyond. You can buy this one for £264, or if you’re willing to sign a £25 per month Orange mobile Internet contract with Carphone Warehouse (currently the exclusive suppliers in the UK), you can get the webbook for nothing, not counting the £15 delivery charge. However, the minimum contract is two years, over which you’ll pay £240 more than you would for 3’s comparable Broadband Plus service, at £15 a month. So what the deal is really giving you, rather than a big discount, is two years’ interest free credit.

Only a short while ago, the webbook would have seemed remarkable, but in today’s netbook market it looks average. If you want to spend as little as possible, the Elonex could fit the bill, as long as you don’t expect too much of it.

Another excellent review is written by Dan of Adventures in Open Source who is generally impressed with the Elonex Webbook.

Overall I really like this little machine and in a way it’s opened my eyes as to why the world seems to be going potty for netbooks. I was worried that it wouldn’t be fast enough or wouldn’t be big enough but it works well. So you’re not going to be rendering any large Blender projects on it or running lots of virtual machines but for web surfing, email, multimedia and word processing this can do the job. That’s all most people want to do on a computer anyway. We buy these big super computers with enough processing power to make Shrek 4 and then we open Firefox and maybe a media player, type a letter or something, it’s a sledgehammer to crack a walnut often. I had dismissed some of these UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs) in the past as toys or gimmicks but I was wrong, they have a function and a role to play. Personally I have a nice light and powerful laptop that can do pretty much anything and for my style of computing that works but others have different needs. This machine is aimed at people who want mobile broadband really, 3G connections with a little USB dongle and there is even some brand new open software which has been born out of the project. When they needed some software to make 3G hardwar work with Ubuntu 8.04, Elonex and Canonical turned to Spanish company Warp Networks. They wrote the software in Python and it’s licensed under the GNU General Public License which is amazing. Elonex funded this effort and they deserve huge credit for that. For £250 you get some decent hardware and software in a nice little package and I’d be interested to see how it performs with other Linux distros. I haven’t tried many other netbooks yet but if you’re in the market for one the Webbook seems well worth a look to me. If you’re thinking of signing up for 3G broadband then why not get one free? It’s a cool little machine and I don’t want to give it back…

For users who has problems with the Webbook, take a look at Webbook Blog which contain fixes for some Webbook issues. The blog is created by Alan Lord from The Open Learning Centre who have worked with Elonex and Conical on the Webbook.

LaptopMag might have rated the mini notebook 2.5 out of 5, but Wired was less kind. They gave the Sylvania G NetBook MESO a dismal rating of 3 out of 10. In the whole article, Wired kept refering to the laptop as Sylvania G NetBook. But from the description of its specifications, I am guessing it’s the MESO they were reviewing. It doesn’t help that their photo link is broken.

 Anyway, here’s what Wired has to say about the Netbook that would make a great replacement for your desk calculator.

WIRED Has a real hard drive (80 GB) instead of flash storage. Includes three USB ports and an SD card reader. Comes in colors. Bright screen for this category.

TIRED Slower than a sedated slug at just about every app despite 1.6-GHz Atom chip and 1-GB RAM (standard $399 model includes just 512-MB RAM). Cartoonish styling. Considerably heavier than advertised (and the Eee PC 900) at 2.6 pounds. Far too buggy to be taken seriously.

In the video, we were introduced to the Polish Aristo NetBook which VIA said was based on the Nanobook platform. From what I can see, it is the same as the 8.9 inch Everex CloudBook. It appears that the Nanobook reference design extends to the FIC CE2A1. Other mini-notes we see in the video are the VIA OpenBook prototype, Elonex Webbook, One Mini Notebook and HP 2133.

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• Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Processor: Intel Atom 1.6GHz N270
• Chipset: Intel 945GMS, ICH7-M
• Main Memory: 1GB DDR2/667MHz (onboard)
• Graphics: Intel 950 GMA
• Display: 10″W (1024*600) LCD with LED backlighting
• Storage: Western Digital Scorpio 80GB / 2.5″ SATA / 5400 RPM
• Network Interface: 802.11 b/g, Onboard LAN 10/100 Mbps
• I/O Ports: 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x VGA port
• Card Reader: SD
• Battery: 3-cell, 2200 mAh: 2.5 Hours or 6-cell, 5200 mAh: 5.5 Hours
• Weight: 2.3 lbs (1.04 kg) for 3-cell, 2.6 lbs (1.18 kg) for 6-cell
• Dimensions:  260 x 180 x 19-31.5mm (10.23″ x 7.08″ x 0.748″/1.24″)
• Bluetooth: No
• Webcam: 1.3 megapixel

I have compiled a list of the rebranded MSI Wind. Most of them are actually cheaper than the original MSI Wind.

 (Updated 01/10/2008)

Everex Japan has announced two new UMPCs, the CloudBook CE1220J and CloudBook CE1221J. These mini laptops come with a very usable 8.9″ screen at 1024×600 resolution and yet, they are about the same size as the earlier 7-inch CloudBooks. These CloudBooks run on the Windows XP operating system and feature VIA 1.20GHz processor, 1Gb RAM, 60Gb HDD and an express card slot. If I am not wrong, they should be the FIC CE2A1 which was announced a while ago.

CloudBook CE1220J and CE1221J appear similar in specifications. The only difference is that CE1221J comes with an extra battery (If I didn’t understand wrongly from Google Translate). Here’s a glance at the specifications:

• Operating System: Windows(R) XP Home Edition SP3
• Processor: VIA C7(R)-M ULV 1.20GHz
• Chipset: VIA(R) VX800
• Main Memory: 1Gb DDR2 SO-DIMM (up to 1GB)
• Graphics: VIA(R) VX800
• Display: WSVGA 8.9-inch TFT color LCD touch screen (1024 × 600 pixels)
• Storage: 60 GB 1.8”
• Sound: VIA(R) VX800 (chipset built-in), Audio-compliant HD, Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone
• Network Interface: 802.11 b/g, Onboard LAN 10/100 Mbps
• I/O Ports: 2 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x VGA port, 1 x Express Card Slot
• Card Reader: 4-in-1 card reader (SD / MS / MMC / Ms Pro)
• Audio Ports: 1 x headphone / line out jack, 1 x microphone in jack
• Dimension: 230(W) x 172(D) x 33-41(H)mm
• Weight: 1030g (including battery)
• AC Adaptor: AC 100-240V, 50-60Hz, 65W
• Battery: Lithium Ion, 3.5Hr (Battery life), 3Hr (Charging time)
• Keyboard: 80 Key Japanese
• Webcam: 1.3 megapixel
• Software: Norton Internet Security 2008 / KingSoft Office2007

Will we get to see similar models in U.S soon?