Sub Notebooks

A whole slew of companies are coming out with these sub-notebook computers for $400 or less. The most popular one is the Eee PC from Asus. There's also the Everex, which has gotten some bad reviews. Now comes one from Intel, who you might recall had a competitor to the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) computer. It's called the Eco PC and will get you a 900 mhz Celeron, 512MB ram, 40 GB hard drive, Wifi, and ethernet. Engadget has some pics of the machine.

These machines are basically internet devices. You're not going to be doing any video rendering or playing Crysis on them. So why the hell do I want one of them? Again, as I discussed with the Chumby, it's not anything I need. I have this desire to have these gadgets and anything that looks cool is something I want.

With that said, if you're looking for a notebook to have at your home that you want to be able to take around and have the ability to surf the net, these are the ideal thing for you. It won't set you back a lot and it will satisfy that desire of wanting to be always connected without having to be attached to your desktop.

One note: Keep in mind that most of these sub-notebooks, under$400 are primarily run by Linux. Asus is supposedly going to give you the ability to purchase it with Windows eventually, but that will also raise the price. So YMMV.

Why do I want one of these?

I am a complete and total gadget geek! If I had the money, I would buy virtually every mildly amusing gadget on the market. Alas, I do not have the money so I have to pick and choose. For now, I have to be content with my iPhone, iMac, Macbook, PSP, Nintendo DS Lite, and my original 4G iPod. But dammit, I want this toy too!
It's called the Chumby and I really want one. It's a Linux based device that you can sync via WiFi with the internet to get personal updates on news, sports scores, etc as well as function as an internet radio device. If it were only a little cheaper. $180 is a little steep for this kind of toy, though.