Via Unveils Design for Ultraportable Laptop to be Sold by Packard Bell

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Chip maker Via Technologies has created a reference design for a laptop that it believes is small enough to compare to a handheld computer.

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This design is for a clamshell device -- called the NanoBook -- that will be 9 inches wide, 6.7 inches deep, and 1.14 inches thick when closed. (230 mm by 171 mm by 29.4 mm). It will weigh about 1.9 pounds (850 g).

It is, naturally, built around a low voltage 1.2 GHz Via C7-M processor, and is capable of running either Windows XP or Windows Vista Basic.

The NanoBook design includes s 7-inch, 800-by-400-pixel (WVGA) touchscreen, a full-size keyboard, a touchpad, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

In addition, it includes a place for MobilityPLUS Modules. These allow the addition of Bluetooth VoIP phone, GPS, DVB, 3G/CDMA or Clock functionality.

Via has also included an Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a 4-in-1 card reader.

A 30 GB or 60 GB hard drive is part of the design.

Via doesn't say what it believes laptops based on the NanoBook design will cost, but it does say it is &quot;targeted at aggressive consumer price points&quot;.

The company also says that these devices should offer up to 4.5 hours of battery life.

Better Than a PDA, Smaller Than a Laptop

The Via NanoBook Reference Design was created in collaboration with First International Computer, Inc.

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&quot;The unrivaled portability and functionality of the VIA NanoBook makes small screen PDA devices seem hopelessly obsolete,&quot; stated John Villejo, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for FIC. &quot;Users searching beyond cumbersome laptops will also find familiarity with the ergonomics of the VIA NanoBook but with the added benefit of extreme mobility.&quot;

Coming from Packard Bell

Via will not make be making the NanoBook itself. Instead it is offering the reference design for this ultra mobile device (UMD) to other companies to produce.

The first company that will do so is Packard Bell, who will base the forthcoming EasyNote XS on it.

&quot;The EasyNote XS is a ground breaking new device that combines the functionality of a PC with the convenience of a handheld,&quot; commented Roger Yuen, Asia Pacific Vice President of Packard Bell. &quot;We are very excited about the potential of this new category of Ultra Mobile Devices in the market.&quot;

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Don't tell me they are going to release it for $200 the way Asus is "going" to with their EeE...

 

They might sell it for even lesser than $200.
VIA is specialized at this stuff.

 

I remember reading somewhere (Engadget?) that it would come in at $600 or so. At which point I stopped reading......

This thing is fugly, in every sense of the word.

 

Can I say total waste of screen space? Styling's awefully bland too, remenescent of 5-year-old technology. Unless Peckard Bell sold this for less than the upcoming ASUS eecPC, I don't see this being a major success.

 

What? Packet Bell??? I thought that company already merged.

 

ewww, gross. It looks like one of those cheap alarm clocks they give you as a "gift" at conventions had an affair with a leapfrog learning system.

EDIT: Also, does that "touchpad" make anyone else laugh? It is like ONE square inch. Honestly HP, don't let VIA trick you like that.

 

They still sell PCs in Europe, or rather, that brand label is used there. I haven't seen it in North America in several years.

 

Packard Bell left the American market in 1999/2000. Their still in Europe and I hear actually do decently.

This PC does look really ugly. Ugh.

 

They sell retard bell in dubai, theyre very bland and i dont think they sell very well. no style and no substance, they really need to revamp their image!

 

I haven't heard that brand since I was a little kid.

 

Ridiculous, something this small needs a stylus or a pointing stick, not a trackpad.

 

They couldn't even do us the justice of digitally editing the pictures so the screen doesn't look like crap. It looks like a gameboy screen (Gameboy Color).

 

Asus Eee is the best looking of all of the Super Ultra Portables (SUP?)

 

The Packard Bell brand is going to kill this thing. Even if it does get sold in the U.S. people will either not know Packard Bell, or those that remember them (such as myself) will be turned off by the name. The VIA processor isn't going to help much either, as most people currently feel very comfortable with Intel and, to a somewhat lesser degree, AMD.

 

And theres the fact that the Asus EEE 701 is going to slaughter this. Its better looking and 1/3 the price. Plus, no Packard Bell branding on it.

 

Well, the drawback to the Asus is lower clocked processor, (800MHz vs. 1.2GHz), but I have a feeling that the Intel processor will still perform better than the VIA chip. A lot of people are still stuck in the old Pentium days though were clock speed was everything, and even the new Core Duos and Turions, etc seem strange to the less technologically advanced.

I think the Asus is also a bit larger than the VIA, but I'm not sure.

 

Via needs to go out of business