The Archos 9PCtablet Touchscreen Netbook
Archos is blurring the line between netbooks and portable media gadgets with its new Archos 9PCtablet. It’s a 9-inch Atom-powered tablet PC, and promises more in the way of entertainment than your average netbook.
The 9PCtablet has an optical trackball, and looks a lot like a Viliv S7. Of course, the Viliv devices have tiny screens in comparison.
The Archos 9 will be out this fall with Windows 7 as the OS. It uses a 1.2 GHz iteration of the Intel Atom, which may or may not give the kind of performance we’re used to from the 1.6 GHz Atom N270 or 1.66 GHz N280.
Archos supplied specs for the new 9PCtablet:
- Processor: Intel Atom Z515 1.2 GHz
- Video Chipset: Integrated US15W
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7
- System Memory: 1GB (DDR2 400/533)
- Display: 8.9” touch screen – 1024 x 600 pixels
- HDD: 60GB or 120GB
- Communication: Ethernet 10/100
- WiFi: PCI-E interface, 2 Antennas, Support IEEE 802.11b/g
- Bluetooth 2.1
- Optional 3.5G HSUPA – Huawei EM750M 7.2Mbts module
- Audio: 2 stereo speakers
- Built-in Microphone
- Optical Finger Navigation System with Right and Left click buttons
- 1 USB 2.0 port
- Audio/headphone output
- Web cam: Built-in 1.3MP camera
Archos will be releasing black and white versions of the new tablet netbook. Other options include a 60 or 120GB hard drive and a 3.5G HSUPA antenna.
Via CNet.
Raon’s Everrun Note a Change of Pace
Korean manufacturer Raon Digital’s recently released Everrun Note is a bringer of new things indeed. The dual-core CPU of the new netbook will run AMD’s 1.2 GHz Turion X2 in favor of the all-too-common Atom, the Intel chip that has all but owned the market thus far.
Weighing in at 1.6 pounds with a 7-inch display, the new Raon computer is one of the tiniest on the market. The display, however, is an exceptional 1024 x 600, the same as by similar netbooks with even 10-inch screens. To compare, the 7-inch ASUS Eee PC displays a mere 800×480 pixels.
And the best part? The display is a touchscreen. This feature, until now unheard of on netbooks, is a fun addition to the miniscule device. An optical nub acts as a mouse with two buttons to the side for navigation.
The usefulness of the dual core in such a tiny machine is somewhat questionable, but by no means unwelcome. I imagine prospective users will want to plan exactly what they’ll use the added power for, that they not waste their money.
The only downside here (you knew it was coming) is of course the price. An Everrun Note configured with the Turion X2, a 60GB HD, and no OS costs a whopping $799. It’s another 50 bucks for Windows XP Home Edition. If you move up to the 24 GB SSD and XP Pro the price goes all the way up to $999, far beyond the range of most netbooks on the market.
Another option is the entry level model featuring a Sempron chip, 16 GB SSD, and Ubuntu Linux. This version is $659, closer to a standard price but still high-end.
Despite the exorbitance of the price, I’m still interested by the tiny machine. While sacrificing some of the affordability that has until now defined the netbook category, the Everrun pushes the boundaries of what is possible with a netbook by giving it some fancy features and excellent capacity.
