> One year later... Things are a lot calmer this year... There doesn't
> seem to be a mad rush to buy Netbooks. The Elonex site is no longer
> offering any of their machines directly for sale, suggesting you can
> buy their 10 inch Webbook from Carphone Warehouse...
> Maplin don't quite have the CnM Minibook available either - but they
> do have two machines from the same family:
> The DataWind UBISurfer -http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=261613
> - is currently available for £139.99 including a 12 month GPRS
> contract to give you Internet Access everywhere you can connect to the
> Vodafone network - or you can connect to WiFi or Ethernet - the
> DataWind approach overcomes many of the Internet limitations of these
> machines as you view your Internet as seen on a fast DataWind server
> running Internet Explorer with all the latest add-ons (video is still
> likely to be a problem over GPRS but pages that reject your browser
> should be a thing of the past...).
> The Windows CE Minibook Silver -http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=257308
> - is available at £119.99 (or £99.99 for a B-grade machine) - this is
> the variation of the machine with an ARM processor running Windows CE
> - great if you prefer to see the world through Windows - but the 128
> megabyte memory of the machine limits you to an old version of Windows
> CE - so while they have fixed the WiFi and SD card support, support
> for USB ports is minimal - not even understanding flash memory cards
> or printers...
> Alibaba -http://www.alibaba.com/product-tp/101509462/World_s_Cheapest_Laptop.h...
> - and Bestlink -http://www.bestlinkeshop.com/index.php?p=1&s=d22cdbe0e93f1af27a3e55bf...
> - still claim to have the original Skytone 400 for sale (that's 1
> Gbyte flash storage and optional WiFi) if you want to buy direct from
> Canton or Hong Kong - but their prices no longer appear too
> competitive.
> There are more machines on offer from other manufacturers and their
> prices are coming down slowly, so there are sometimes good offers out
> there - for example Morgan Computers currently have an Asus Eee PC 900
> for £149.99 -http://morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=5569&CategoryI...
> - and with a 900 MHz processor, 1Gbyte RAM, 16 Gbyte flash storage, a
> 1024 x 600 screen, SD card reader and webcam this should far
> outperform the machines above.
> So, the key is to shop around, know what features you want, and how
> much you are prepared to pay...
> Do keep the group up to date with your news about the machines - any
> new software you have found - any new source of machines - meanwhile:
> Have fun!
> Ed
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