14 DAY TRIAL // The Asus Eee PC has proven in the past few months that low-cost, low-performance alternatives are extremely appealing to both adults and children. More and more PC manufacturers jump in the ultra-portable notebook bandwagon, and Everex is yet another player on a more and more crowded playground.
PC manufacturer Everex decided that it could easily take advantage of the next-gen Eee PC missing in action at the CES, and released their own version of a "small-form factor monster". While Asustek's Eee PC 4G comes with a 7" 800x480 widescreen display, 630Mhz Celeron M processor, 512MB of DDR2 memory, a 4GB solid-sate disk (SSD), the Everex Cloudbook PC features improved hardware at an even lower price.
The Cloudbook UMPC features a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor, 30GB (4200RPM) HDD, 4-in-1 media reader, two USB 2.0 ports, DVI output, a 1.3MP webcam, 4-cell battery (good for 5 hours of battery life) and the gOS V2 "Rocket" operating system. Similar to Asus' bestseller, it also comes with a 7" 800x480 widescreen display, 802.11g wireless and a 10/100 network port. The price difference between the Eee and the Cloudbook is absolutely insignificant ($1 - one dollar), yet it also exists.
"The overwhelming success of our gPC desktop generated countless inquires from customers seeking additional Open Source mobile platforms," remarked Everex General Manager John Lin. "With the launch of the new CloudBook our vision remains the same: Provide mainstream users with their favorite applications wrapped in a no-compromise, low-cost, consumer friendly product."
This would be a good time for Asustek to accelerate the release of its next-generation of Eee PCs, as Everex is sure to advance on the UMPC battlefield. It has also proved its supremacy by managing to stuff all these updated pieces of hardware in the same form factor as Asustek's Eee (9.06" x 6.73 x 1.16" for the CloudBook versus the 8.9" x 6.3" x 1.3" for the Eee PC). Moreover, the 30GB of HDD are more appealing than a 8 GB of SSD storage.
The CloudBook PC has been scheduled for sales through Wallmart's online retail shops starting January 25. If the Everex PC turns out to be as popular as the Eee PC, Microsoft might want to re-consider its options for developing a light-weight UMPC operating system.
