14 DAY TRIAL // There are countless netbooks currently available on the market, but only a small part of them is not featured with an Intel Atom processor or a VIA nano CPU. This is the case of the eCafe Hercules or the Hercules eCafe Netbook, which has been built with an AMD Geode processor running at a top speed of 500MHz.
Besides the vast Eee PC line and other netbooks from major manufactures such as MSI, Acer, HP or Lenovo, this segment of the market includes a considerable number of small-sized portable computer systems designed to compete with the already established names. One such product is the recently released Hercules eCafe Netbook, which, unlike most of the other netbooks currently available on the market, is based on an AMD processor. Unfortunately, it isn't the low-power Athlon CPU that has succeeded in beating Intel's Atom to the punch, but rather a 500MHz Geode LX 800 processor that has a power consumption slightly lower than Intel's Atom, at only 0.9 watts.
Aside from the netbook's computing power, the eCafe Netbook features 512MB of system RAM, upgradeable to 1.5GB. The 8-inch display is capable of outputting a maximum resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels, while the 20GB of storage space should prove more than enough for the netbooks' targeted users. Furthermore, the eCafe also sports a built-in sound card, a card reader and a webcam, meaning, pretty much what you would expect from such a device.
Unfortunately, no details regarding the wireless and Internet capabilities of the netbook are currently available. However, according to PC Games Hardware, the Geode LX800-powered netbook features a highly customized Linux operating system.
Regarding pricing and availability, the netbook is expected to become available in Europe sometime in September with an SRP of approximately 300 Euros. We are not sure if the netbook will be made available on the US market as well, but given the stiff competition here, US users will probably not have the chance to get their hands on it.