Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Um freakin' awesome:

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/0...ag-along-with/

Qualcomm went and blurted off news about a $299 machine that will run Windows Mobile 7 on its Snapdragon mobile chip set. Qualcomm's senior veep Luis Pineda boasted that the machine will run WinMo7 and is more efficient than its competitors from the likes of Intel, AMD, and Via. When pressed, he wouldn't give up any additional hardware specs, but he promises a "big presence in Snapdragon-based devices at CES 2009".

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

NICE! 4 more chars...

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

If only it wasn't running a flavor of Windows...

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Not only Windoze, but also "blurted off news about a $299 machine".
Same time last year the prices of the EEEPC etc were supposed to be cheap, and elevated to expensive by time of intro.

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

That's exactly what I was thinking too.

The EEE PC was supposed to launch for $199, which would have been absolutely revolutionary.

By the time it hit the shops though, the specs were severely reduced and the price was severely inflated. Here in Europe it costs nearer $450 for the cheapest model, and even in America I believe it starts at $300 plus taxes.

Either Asus completely miscalculated their manufacturing costs, or else they upped the price because of the sudden interest in their product. The trouble is, for a lot of people the interest was based entirely around the low price, so raising the price destroyed one of the main selling points.

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

This wiki page on how "easy" it was to mod the EEEPC was the only thing that interested me the Asus after they raised the price so much:

http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index...ernal_Upgrades

I'm still wondering whether some of these mods would be possible with my N810 ;)

My current dream mods are:

1) port for external GPS antenna (just an extension of the internal antenna)

2) blackberry-esque scrollwheen in the side of the screen :) (I actually think this might be easy to do, on the software side at least)

3) Larger internal flash to replace the 2gb one. (Impossible I know but hey, we can dream :P )

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

@krisse: Looking at how they fast the products fly off the shelves even at current prices, it seems that Asus didn't miscalculate on the selling price. They still can reduce the price later to clear the remaining stock..

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Actually, I think #3 is the easiest one; if you can get the chip off, and solder some ultra-fine wires in it's place, you chould be able to hook up a regular SD slot... On the non-WiMAX, at least, you can probably find room inside, if you want to permanently mount, say, a 16 GBer.

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

my thoughts exactly... and wm is a particularly disgusting flavor of windows.

Also, once a device gets that big, is it unreasonable to expect a full blown OS?
Edit: nm, it looks exactly like the n810... laptop my ***

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Well, yeah; that's why I have a Nokia IT; they're in the $299 range, and have a full-blown OS, with a restricted top layer for "nice" mobile device behavior. WM, on the other had, is different underneath, so it's a much more serious restriction; and they don't
come out appreciably cheaper.

It's this sort of thing that makes one appreciate the ITs...

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Depending upon which moviNAND chip the N810 uses (KMBDG0000A or KMAKG0000M), either the 4GB KMCEG0000A or the 8GB KMCMG0000M should be a drop in* replacement.


* "Drop in" requires the use of a hot air soldering station, sold separately.

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

I'm not attacking them in business terms, I'm attacking the hype surrounding this.

The hype promised something special, something revolutionary, a computer that everyone could afford, a Model T of the computing world. But none of that has come true.

Instead we've got a pretty standard mini-laptop which happens to be fashionable right now.

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Really! It lacks all kinds of features that you could get on a laptop for about $70 more! For example, look at these specs:

Model: EeePC4G-W011 SKU: 8625295
Intel® Celeron® M processor; 512MB DDR2 memory; 7" widescreen; 4GB hard drive; built-in Web cam; only 2 lbs.; Linux operating system
Price: $380

Model: C762NR SKU: 8780081 (some Compaq laptop)
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core mobile processor T2370; 1GB DDR2 memory; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 15.4" widescreen; 160GB hard drive; Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1
Price: $450


And this is from Best Buy(!!!); you could probably get a better deal elsewehere!


This eeepc is pretty crappy! Of course, the plus is that it's slightly smaller than a regular laptop; but thats about it!

Re: Qualcom $299 mini-laptop...
 

Yep... I've never understood the appeal of these "mini laptop" things. When they were talking about selling them for $200 a pop, maybe. But come on.. full sized laptops aren't that much larger, barely cost any more money, and can do anything a desktop can do. These mini laptops are designed primarily for web+email while with a laptop you can do all that plus have a mobile video editing studio or music recording studio.

To me it just seems like a transparent attempt to create a new consumer "need". Here's a device they've placed directly between IT's and laptops in both size and price. The fact remains that IT's are just as capable (read: more capable because of Linux v. WM limitations) and more portable.

I'm pretty confident I made the smart choice going for a Nokia. :D