Everex CloudBook First Thoughts Review

by Jerry Jackson

The Everex CloudBook marks the latest entry to the expanding world of UMPC-type subnotebooks at affordable prices. With a 7-inch display, 1.2GHz processor, and 30GB hard drive, the CloudBook certainly doesn't make a very good desktop replacement computer, but it does look like one impressive little road warrior. What did we think of the CloudBook after one day in our office? The answers may surprise you.

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The Everex CloudBook (starting at $399) is available in just one configuration at the time of this writing. Our CloudBook has the following specifications:

• gOS Rocket operating system (Linux variant)
• 1.2GHz, VIA C7-M Processor (ULV)
• 512MB DDR2 533MHz, SDRAM
• 30GB Hard Disk Drive (3600rpm parallel ATA)
• 7" WVGA TFT Display (800 x 480)
• VIA UniChrome Pro IGP Graphics
• VIA High-Definition Audio
• 802.11b/g WiFi
• 10/100 Ethernet Port
• DVI Port
• Two USB 2.0 Ports
• 4-in-1 Media Card Reader
• 0.3MP Webcam
• Headphone/Line-Out Port
• Microphone/Line-In Port
• 4-cell Lithium-Ion Battery

Build and Design

The Everex CloudBook is an impressive little machine at first glance. The innovative grip-through LCD hinge design and compact form factor come together with smooth matte black plastics and a hint of metal reinforcement in just the right places. Weighing in at just two pounds the CloudBook was built around the VIA Nanobook reference design ... a subnotebook prototype developed by VIA as a platform for their new mobile technologies.

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Despite the impressive compactness of the design, the CloudBook is reasonably solid and durable thanks to the fact so much was packed into such a tiny space. We don't recommend dropping the CloudBook but it should survive the average use and abuse that any other $400 notebook can handle.

The CloudBook does not have a latch to hold it closed, and while the hinge mechanism generally works well at holding the lid in place it is very easy to move the lid by slightly shaking the notebook. On the bright side, there is almost no flex to the screen or chassis. While we're on the topic of the screen lid, the hinge was designed so that you can reach under the CloudBook and grasp the back of the notebook with one hand (wrapping your fingers under the display) and type with your free hand. While this is a nice idea, it's hardly practical since the CloudBook uses a non-standard touchpad interface which requires two hands to use (more on that later in this review).

Below is a video overview of the Everex CloudBook for those who want to take a closer look.

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Performance

The CloudBook has generally acceptable performance based on the 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ultra low voltage processor. That said, initial benchmarking suggests the performance on this processor is comparable to much slower 700MHz Intel processors. We will have detailed benchmarks in our full review coming in the near future. In a nutshell, Everex had to sacrifice some performance in order to bring this ultra-mobile laptop to consumers for only $400.

The VIA UniChrome Pro integrated graphics processor should provide adequate performance for some games with minimal system requirements. That said, don't expect this notebook to play the latest graphics-intense games ... we're not dealing with a dedicated graphics card here and in some cases the UniChrome Pro is less powerful than Intel integrated graphics.

The 30GB hard drive in the CloudBook provides a reasonable amount of storage but isn't anywhere near the amount of storage that most consumers are likely to want in a modern laptop. Sure, you've got enough storage for travel needs, but if you download tons of music, movies, and TV shows from iTunes and store them on the CloudBook's hard drive then you'll quickly run out of space. Additionally, the slow 3600rpm speed of the 30GB hard disk means the CloudBook wastes a large amount of time trying to access data.

Although the CloudBook offers significantly more storage space than its main rival, the Asus Eee PC 4G, the Eee PC uses a much faster integrated flash drive/SSD. In short, the hard drive on the CloudBook is yet another handicap this system didn't need.

Below is a video with a side-by-side comparison of the Everex CloudBook and Asus Eee PC 4G.

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Screen

The 7&quot; WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) matte screen on the CloudBook isn't ideal for extended use and certainly isn't designed for HD video, but it does offer sharp contrast, excellent color, and reasonably even backlighting. Horizontal viewing angles were excellent although vertical viewing angles were only average. The screen itself didn't suffer from ripples or stuck pixels, but we did notice some minor light leakage from the top edge of our display at maximum brightness.

Another interesting problem we encountered during our first day with the CloudBook involved connecting an external monitor to the built-in DVI port on the side of the notebook. After connecting an external display and changing the settings in the default gOS operating system the CloudBook responded with an error message and refused to display anything on the external monitor, after we disconnected the external monitor the built-in LCD could not be reset to the native 800 x 480 resolution and would only work in 640 x 480 mode ... not acceptable for much of anything.

After several hours of work we were forced to format the hard drive and install Microsoft Windows in order to restore the display to the correct default resolution. Again, that's just not something you expect from a brand new notebook.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the CloudBook is cramped to say the least. It will take most users several hours or more to get used to typing on such a small area. The keyboard is virtually identical to the keyboard used on the Asus Eee PC and is probably the same part provided by the same OEM. However, unlike the keyboard on the Asus Eee PC the keyboard on the CloudBook has significant flex that makes typing somewhat like pressing down on a plastic trampoline.

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As mentioned previously, the touchpad interface on the CloudBook is quite unique compared to other notebooks currently on the market. The actual touchpad is located above the keyboard on the right side of the notebook and is a small area about the size of a US postage stamp. There is no dedicated area for scrolling (thank goodness) and the touchpad is so small that precise control is extremely difficult.

The left and right touchpad buttons are located above the keyboard on the left side of the notebook and are likewise much smaller than typical touchpad buttons. Both buttons have deep feedback and well-cushioned clicks, but they are so small that it's easy to press the wrong button or both buttons at the same time.

Touchpad buttons on the left side. (view large image)

Tiny touchpad on the right side. (view large image)

Input and Output Ports

Although the ultra-mobile form factor of the CloudBook cannot accommodate the standard array of ports you'll find on other notebooks. Everex did manage to include a reasonable number of ports. The complete list of ports includes:

• DVI out
• Two USB 2.0 ports
• Audio out
• Microphone in
• Multi-card reader
• 10/100 Ethernet

Although VIA and Everex engineers deserve serious credit for developing the CloudBook it's safe to say that most consumers would have rather taken a third USB port or FireWire port instead of the DVI out ... particularly since the VIA integrated graphics aren't particularly powerful. Here's a quick tour of the notebook:

Front: No ports or indicators. (view large image)

Back: Just the hinge and battery. (view large image)

Right: Microphone in, headphone out, two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, DC power jack. (view large image)

Left: DVI out, 4-in-1 card reader. (view large image)

Audio

The built-in stereo speakers located beneath the display hinge are the very definition of bad notebook speakers. Most budget laptops have terrible speakers that sound like someone speaking through a tin can, and indeed so does the CloudBook. The difference here is that the speakers on the CloudBook sound like someone speaking through extremely tiny tin cans.

The good news is that the audio out port (headphone minijack) provides excellent audio output. There's little or no distortion or static and the sound on my earbuds was quite enjoyable.

Battery

The CloudBook uses a four-cell lithium-ion battery. Everex claims five hours of battery life on the CloudBook, but our tests under gOS suggest the battery life is closer to three hours, and after installation of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium the battery life was likewise looking closer to three hours.

First Impressions

The CloudBook is an impressive design with some innovative features and some reasonably impressive specs for the $400 price tag. However, it's clear that VIA and Everex had to make the number of sacrifices to bring this ultra-mobile notebook to the market for such a low price.

The low-capacity slow hard drive, and slow overall performance make the CloudBook a less than compelling purchase compared to the current generation Asus Eee PC 4G ... despite the much smaller storage space. We reserve final judgment for our full review, but we certainly hope the CloudBook performs better under Windows Vista than it has under the default gOS version of Linux. Stay tuned for our full review of the Everex CloudBook in a few days.

 

How am I supposed to <s>browse</s> mouse with that thing lol.

What a little lilliput.

The deign looks okay, but overall I think the Eee wins this round too. Now to see how it holds itself up against the HP - that seems like it's from Blefuscu, lol.

P.S.: Nice review, Jerry .

 

Nice first impressions.

The speed difference between the 2 machines launching firefox is pretty staggering.

I think having a hard drive was a bit of mistake, personally when I use my ultraportable - I often find myself in situations when I need infomation quickly to be on hand, or just to look up stuff for a few minutes, if I have to wait that long I might not see the convenience of having this.

IMO Asus EEE is still preferred over this.

 

the only reason i like it better than the eee is the inclusion of the hard drive

 

anyone notice firefox loaded nbr MUCH faster in the 2nd video?

 

the asus screen isnt as good as the cloudbook. i like the 30gb hard drive and the card reader.

lol @ the mouse, thats pretty umm.. original haha. its soo small i can only imagine how hard it would be to even try scrolling.

i think il wait for the HP instead. ^^

btw about the hard drive, imo SSD would have been much better with UMPCs u move it alot while its on.

 

Understandable. Some people need the extra space.

Given that you can put a 16 GB SDHC in the side (obviously add about $70 to the cost) makes the hard drive space less of a problem. Plus getting extra USB sticks isn't that much trouble. I already have a 4 GB USB stick that works on the EEE.

So basically for $470, you can get 20 GB plus use any USB sticks you may have available. And everything loads faster than if it was on a regular hard drive.

 

I wonder if the performance comparable to EEEPC if the OS is installed and boot from an external SDHC card instead of the harddrive.
It would be great if the reviewer do a little test.
Cheers,

 

That's because in the video where it opened up fast I had just opened the browser a few seconds before the video and the page was still cached. Cached pages don't count in terms of judging a system's ability to launch a browser and load/render a webpage.

 

According to Cloudbooker Forum, its hard drive is Seagate ST730212DE and its spindle speed is only 3600 rpm, not 4200rpm

 

I believe the mouse is created like this because we all know that the end user would prefer using a mouse anyways. Unfortunately, and a deal breaker in fact, is the exclusion of bluetooth.

How would Cloudbook compare to EEEPC when doing gaming benchmarks, say WC3?

 

The ''mouse'' does seem to be in a awkward position... A point stick would have been quite good

 

And that gap in between is just wicked sick!!

 

The touchpad is set up so that you can operate it whilst walking. Just like Kohjinsha laptops. Works quite well, actually.

 

Yes, this setup works with a traditional UMPC form factor (a form factor almost like a portable gaming system) but not with a subnotebook form factor. The subnotebook form factor requires you to type on the keyboard like a traditional notebook.

How are you supposed to walk, type and use both hands to control the touchpad and touchpad buttons on opposite sides of the keyboard? If the CloudBook was smaller you could hold both sides and type and control the touchpad (sort of like using a smartphone). Unfortunately, the CloudBook is too large to easily use in this manner unless you have extremely large hands.

 

Nice review, Jerry.

However, I think that the 40GB of storage is worth the sacrifice in performance; its not like a faster storage solution would help it much. Additionally it seems strange that someone would try tho install Vista on such a computer. Its beyond me.

 

It's 30GB rather than 40GB ... and Vista was a twofold decision:

1) Vista is the "current generation" Windows OS (for better or worse) and the CloudBook is a "current generation" computer (regardless of the low specs).

2) Microsoft has made it clear that they are going to stop selling Windows XP and eventually end support/updates for XP sometime after that. So, although most users hate Vista, we're all going to have to learn to accept Vista.

 

I have been roving the Cloudbooker forums and it seems to me that this thing was made for Windows. I know most people want to get away from it, but the driver support is there and the machine apparently runs MUCH smoother on it. The weaknesses to me are the hard drive speed and the weak wi-fi(its between shielded parts, they are looking at attaching an antennae now). I think with a bit of tweaking this machine actually holds a lot of promise. Out of the box I think I would give the nod to the EEE.

 

Indeed. After installing both Vista and XP (yes, I decided to play nice and test XP on it as well) it's clear that some (if not many) of the issues with the CloudBook are OS related.

There are still some clear limitations to the hardware that we're seeing, but some of the problems we encountered during the first 24 hours were due to gOS rather than the hardware.

 

holds promise, but to be honest id still rather go with the EEE, I don't think hard drive size matters so much on a subnotebook as the HD speed. These subnotebooks are really designed to be quick, and reliable, which you can't really get from a conventional HD. And I don't really see size as a problem, since neither are built for gaming (though a few have gotten games to work on the EEE, though id never want to game on such a small screen, or with so little power) or watching movies, which are most likely to take up a lot of space. And music I think would be the largest collection on these subnotebooks and even then, with a £25 upgrade you can get 8gb+ usb sticks, or a flash card to hold much more, and personally I don't really need more then 7-8gb for all my music

 

I don't understand why manufacturers are trying to put HDDs into these things, EEE PC is basically perfect except the somewhat low resolution.

BT or GPRS/3G option would be so much better.

 

HDD's are still good because of their low cost and high storage capacities.

Flash is expensive, fast, and has lower capacity.

 

The 30GB Seagate ST730212DE hard drive in the CloudBook retails for $74. A 16GB SDHC Class 6 card retails for $75 and benchmarks faster than the Seagate drive.

True, it's half the capacity at the same price, but you get much better speed and no moving parts to fail when your notebook gets knocked around. With flash prices trending downward we will see the "per GB cost" of flash rival the "per GB" cost of notebook hard drives within 12-16 months.

32GB SDHC cards are already available (for $300-$400) but they will drop to less than $100 by Q4 2008 or Q1 2009.

 

You can always put a CF-to-IDE adapter in place of the 1.8 HDD if you want SSD though, right?

That is, if you do plan on shelling out more money than the $400.

 

I think it might be worthwile to let a few "novices" play with both the Eee and Cloudbook (possibly with both the original OS's and XP), and see what they think. We're all a bit technical here, so it might be useful to get the viewpoint of someone who hasn't spent a few years playing with laptops.

I'm considering buying one of these two for a somewhat non-technical friend who will be traveling more soon.

 

Are you guys kidding me? You're going to try Vista on this thing? You're going to have to do some big tweaking, like using VLite to remove services.

Actually, even thinking of running Vista on it is laughable. I'm going to post about this now on some other forums.

Vista was horrible on the Sony VAIO TX I tried and it was much higher specc'd than this CloudBook.

 

Actually, we're trying both Vista and XP. Despite how bloated Vista is the CloudBook still has fewer problems running Vista than gOS ... it's just slower with Vista than it is with gOS or XP. Our final review performance benchmarks will be done in XP.

 

Already done. They'll be some interesting comments in that regard in our final review.

 

Low-end flash is about the same cost, lower capacity, yes. You don't need much HD space for devices like that.

My main point is, the smaller the device, the more it'll get bumped around and dropped. These tiny HDs are fragile things, my buddy has Dell X1 with a flash drive because his has died.

 

It also has to be taken into account that the HD for the Cloudbook doesn't have 30 gb actual space, its probably closer to 25 or so, which brings the capacity comparison between that 16gb flash drive(plus 2.5 or so gb after OS internally) and that 30 Gb HD further in focus.


Its like trying to pick between a blonde and a brunette(btw I lean towards brunette )

 

But the 4 and the 16 aren't really what they claim either.

I really want to see how a Cloudbook performs with a Dual-CF to IDE adapter with 2 16Gb CF's (133x ones I guess, since they're more affordable), do you guys plan on benchmarking a similar set up?

 

It would be interesting if we have a face-off Cloudbook and Eee.

 

That too, especially in the gaming department; as I recall, my EEEPC played Warcraft 3 online just fine.

 

I think they'll both perform pretty much the same in games, since if the VIA 1.2Ghz processor only performs around a 700Mhz Intel one, their performance will be almost identical. depending on whether you can get any games working on the Cloudbook.

 

That would pose a problem, because EEEPC can be overclocked back to a natural clock of 900MHz.