Review: Everex Cloudbook vs Asus EeePC vs Thinkpad X31

by atticus ~ March 2, 2008

If you are wondering why IBM Thinkpad X31 is included in the review, it is added in as a control and to see if the old laptop can fulfill the roles of UMPCs. A second hand X31 probably cost around US$400, which is about the same price as Everex Cloudbook CE1200V and Asus EeePC 4G.

PopSci.com calls the review the Battle of the Ultra-Mobile Linux Laptops. Actually, it is not much of a battle because Asus EeePC was crowned as the hands-down winner. Here is their conclusion:

When only considering the EeePC vs. the Cloudbook, the hands-down winner is the Eee: better, more polished hardware, a great customized OS with the proven flexibility to run others, all in a much more appealing form factor at the same price. The only area it concedes to the Cloudbook is storage space, but in all likelihood a Linux UMPC will not be your primary machine, which makes storage much less important.

Whether you should consider an older, ultra-portable-at-the-time laptop like the Thinkpad X31 is a more interesting question. For me, things like the full-size screen and keyboard, the well-documented, more powerful and more easily expandable hardware, widely available spare parts (including from third parties) and service options, and the added flexibility to edit the occasional photo—basically its closer resemblance to a full-fledged laptop—are more advantageous than the increased portability offered by the EeePC. But man, the little thing sure is good looking, and if you’re always on the road, a little less weight in your bag is always welcome. Plus, you’ll likely find that you’re able to carry your EeePC around in places you normally wouldn’t have a computer, which could be interesting. Asus also has larger-screened EeePCs in the pipeline—those will almost certainly be worth looking out for.

So in the end, like almost everything, you should go with what best suits your needs. But no matter what, it’s exciting that a very capable laptop in a sleek, ultraportable form factor can be had these days for 400 bucks. And with a little love, an older machine may now more than ever prove more useful to you than the greatest new thing. In that case. the electronics companies lose. You win. And in the end, there’s nothing more satisfying than that.