Everex's Nanobook becomes the Cloudbook, gets gOS

While we haven't heard much more about the gOS laptop with the $300 price tag, word is that Everex will be equipping another portable model -- the 7-inch, VIA-based, ultra-portable Nanobook -- with a $400 MSRP and its Google-themed Linux OS. The device -- apparently being referred to as the "Cloudbook" -- is rumored to be launching at the CES in January, and will become available to the public the following week. Specs include a VIA C7 ULV 1.2GHz CPU, a 30GB hard drive, 512MB of RAM, WiFi, a card reader, two USB ports, and a DVI out. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but there seems to be ample information supporting the rumors. Just give us multiple colors, an SSD, and tell us where exactly the trackpad is and we could be in serious like.

[Via jkkmobile]

[Jonathan Bergeron @ Dec 10th 2007 3:22PM]

Is it touch screen?

[imacmatt09 @ Dec 10th 2007 3:26PM]

I would say yes since thats what the read link says.

[Paul @ Dec 10th 2007 3:35PM]

"Unlike standard Cloudbook models, the Developer edition will include a touchscreen interface."

Is a direct quote from the article. So yes. And No.

[Homeboy @ Dec 10th 2007 3:34PM]

Where is the track pad or does it use on of them IBM clitoris?

[Pretol @ Dec 10th 2007 8:04PM]

I love the clitoris. Before I got a dell that had one of those, I thought they were dumb. But it's so much faster not to take your arm of the keyboard to caress the trackpad and just wiggle the clitoris in the center of the keyboard.

[JB @ Dec 10th 2007 8:45PM]

Maybe i'm just not nerdy enough, but I've never heard that expression before - it's F*^*in' hilarious! Thank you for the new urban-dictionary definition of clitoris.

[Simon @ Dec 10th 2007 9:39PM]

Apparently my Toshiba has one, but I can't find it....

[tiuk @ Dec 11th 2007 12:02AM]

@JB - Sometimes people call it the "clit mouse"

[Benga @ Dec 11th 2007 9:39AM]

IBM Clitoris... LMAO

[EdMercer @ Dec 11th 2007 11:39AM]

I was just about to come here and ask about the pointing device... It must have a clitoris then.

Ain't it fun to rub your lappie's g-spot to move the cursor ? :P

[Hooptie J @ Dec 14th 2007 3:56AM]

Hahaha we always call it the gerbil d--k. i hate those things.

[Kris S. @ Dec 10th 2007 3:35PM]

The Asus Eee PC looks way better.

[riggs @ Dec 10th 2007 3:40PM]

i dunno, i like the way they positioned the screen (next to the webcam?)

[Sander de Regt @ Dec 10th 2007 3:44PM]

Actually the trackpad is on the topright of the keyboard near the hinge and is about the size of a thumb. Check out these links
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1030
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1063
to see what we're talking about here.

[Bb @ Dec 10th 2007 5:14PM]

vi engadget_reply.txt
i
GUIs and trackpads are for wimps!
Esc
:x!

[Benson @ Dec 11th 2007 8:35PM]

joe - | engadget-reply.sh
...and vi is for losers without ctrl keys.
Let the editor flame wars begin!
^kx

[Steve Paine @ Dec 10th 2007 3:48PM]

..and
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1101
Steve.

[neotrooper @ Dec 10th 2007 3:55PM]

im thinking this is a OEM device. I saw a review of a similar design under a different brand (in the UK) on YouTube. BTW...the tiny track pad is on the top-right corner of the keyboard, just under the hinge.

[aaronbareford @ Feb 22nd 2008 5:05PM]

Could you tell me where to find it im very interested in one, Cheers! :D

[PEZ @ Dec 10th 2007 6:54PM]

something this small with a pile of crap battery needs SSD for holding date - rotating media is very yesterday. Especially for something this small.

[murray @ Dec 10th 2007 4:07PM]

Kinda reminds me of one of those late 80's Casio organisers with that big screen border. (Just much larger)

[Randavance @ Dec 10th 2007 4:08PM]

I can't say that I'm too excited. Out of what I gather from a review I read recently, the gOS really falls short with its implementation of enlightenment as a desktop enviroment. I probably would just install Ubuntu and work in XFCE or Fluxbox if needed, but most people don't know how to do that and I'm afraid they're going to get the wrong impression of Linux from this OS.

[Tired_ @ Dec 10th 2007 4:12PM]

After using the Eee for a while, subbing a 30GB hard drive for the SSD doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Write speeds are still too slow on SSDs and it's nice to have a bit more space.

[annoia @ Dec 10th 2007 4:30PM]

I'd much rather have a trackpoint than a track pad... Also, it requires less space. :)

[mex @ Dec 10th 2007 4:38PM]

you what they said about the eee = $199. This $400, I'll only believe it when it comes out. Eee seems way better and you can get the eee now. 30GB has nothing on 8GB SSD. - plus you can upgrade your 8GB when the 100GB+ SSD comes out. I think its a nice idea, but a little late to the market.

[Benson @ Dec 11th 2007 8:55PM]

Eee seems way better?
To me this one seems better.
But then I don't punt my portable devices around, so the shock-proof characteristics of the SSD don't seem so great to me. :)
I'd rather have the extra storage, given that notebook drives are reasonably rugged these days. And, when 100 Gb SSDs are around, I bet they're in 1.8" standard form-factor, so you could upgrade this too.
The whole "$200" = $400+ thing is real, but _if_ this comes out at $400, I'd far rather have it than any of the Eees on the market right now.

[BigDaddyM @ Dec 10th 2007 4:39PM]

When they can get the screen to fill the top flap, I will buy one.
M

[carl @ Dec 10th 2007 4:45PM]

Branded in Europe as...... Packard Bell

[shifuimam @ Dec 10th 2007 4:49PM]

That is a pretty crappy trackpad setup...disappointing.

Other than that, though, it seems like a fairly viable competitor to the eee PC. I'll hold off on buying anything yet...

[dcny @ Dec 10th 2007 5:16PM]

Now only if this can in less ugly

[John Bailey @ Dec 10th 2007 5:15PM]

If the price is the same or similar to the Eee, I'll be in the market. A small but useful hard drive is what would sway it for me. I'm still talking myself out of the Eee, but its a hard battle. Track pads are a pain anyway, so I'd be getting a mouse or a small trackball.

[michaelportent @ Dec 10th 2007 5:19PM]

Although you're often left sacrificing power and viewing area, something appeals to me about a really tiny, light laptop. Just give me something with a decent video card, a really crisp, small screen, and WiFi connectivity and I'd be happier with that than lugging around a top-of-the-line Dell/Sony monstrosity.

[Pretol @ Dec 10th 2007 5:51PM]

I don't get these laptops... These are exactly the kind of toys that 'burned' in the form of winCE clams (remember mobilepro 900, hp jornadas, casseopias). They run funky OS's (you can install real OS, but that's beyond most users), they have terrible screens with terrible resolution (800x480, are you kidding me? that's not enough to view most pages, that maybe impressive for an iPhone, but 1024x800 is THE LEAST I'll accept)... they have no storage (well 30g is borderline)... It's just cheap, and it obviously IS CHEAP... On this one the bezel around the screen at least doesn't stand out as much as on the EEE.

[Ayle @ Dec 10th 2007 5:55PM]

The jornada evolved into the ipaq series... I wouldn't exactly call that a failure...

[Ayle @ Dec 10th 2007 5:55PM]

The jornada evolved into the ipaq series... I wouldn't exactly call that a failure...

[Pretol @ Dec 10th 2007 8:01PM]

NO. I'm talking about clamshells only. Jornada 720 & 680. NEC Mobile Pro 900. If you don't know what a clamshell is, look up any of those models. They were all FAILURES (of course, one of the reasons was the price)

But EEE's are apparently a winner. It's a POS small laptop for a cheap price. It's cheap and it looks cheap, and the specs are crap (I know you don't need all that much to run Linux), but things like screen resolution and size (that ugly 2" bezel around the screen) has got to be irritating users to no end.

But apparently it's not, so all is good. Thank god I'm not in marketing, because I'd label it as a POS, forgetting that most of population is actually in desperate need for POS electronics.

[forum32 @ Dec 14th 2007 12:40AM]

Actually they are sort of useful. XP installation was fairly simple and it runs pretty smooth. Try opera for webpage scaling, 800x480 is actually not bad to look at.
http://img252.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xpyq0.jpg

[spam_from_engadget @ Dec 10th 2007 5:53PM]

Good (compared to EEE):
DVI.
Slightly lighter? (850g vs 920g)
I have a preference for VIA over Intel, but it's irrational...

Bad (compared to EEE):
Hard disk, not flash.
Touchpad. (Not that I've used either.)
Styling. (That gap under the screen.)

Not known:
Battery life. Someone do a benchmark please!

[Benson @ Dec 11th 2007 8:49PM]

For the good column: it also has a 4-in-1 card reader, see specs from http://www.pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=acf86a40-6b7d-446d-871f-f4ebb9fcc2f6 translated below by Patricio Mayr.

Battery life is said to be 3 hours depending on use.
Recharge is 2 hours turned off, 4 hours in use.
(I think. The recharge part I guessed/translated myself.)

[Ian @ Dec 11th 2007 4:04AM]

Yes, the IBM thing is called a Centrally Location Input Tool, and it all kind of went from there.

Maybe. :-)

Ian

[GKA @ Dec 10th 2007 10:43PM]

Why is everyone so obsessed with SSD?
Is it the high price? or the small capacity?
Sure, some day in the future they will replace conventional hard drives but for now I'll stick with cheaper, bigger, faster hard drives.

[JC @ Dec 11th 2007 8:48AM]

Try higher sustained read/write speeds than conventional hard disks, and shock/drop proof.

[Dirkson @ Jan 11th 2008 12:25AM]

Drop your HD while it's turned on. At roughly 10Gs, you will be purchasing a new HD. I hope you made a backup.
Now drop your SSD while it's turned on. If you manage to breech 1000Gs, you've just successfully managed to harm your SSD. Congratulations. At these speeds your laptop will be gone before your data- Which is exactly what we want.
Not having to worry about my data vanishing from a heavy bump is a good reason to pay a bit more and deal with only being able to store 30 hours of music.

Cheers!
-Jeff

[GKA @ Jan 11th 2008 12:38AM]

Actually operating shock specs on harddrives are more than 70 gs. (http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX18979(ME).aspx) not 10.
No "heavy bump" will damage a harddrive, this is not 1970.
Sure, they are more vulnerable to damage, but LCDs are more vulnerable than CRTs and I don't see anyone clamoring for more CRT based devices. SSDs are extremely expensive and don't offer nearly enough diskspace for anyone with an extensive collection of music/movies/porn. Someday we'll have free, fast, wireless connections everywhere and mobile devices won't need to store media and you can have all your media in the cloud or on spinning disks at home, but that day is still a long way to go.

[Charlie Anzman @ Dec 11th 2007 12:09AM]

Sounds a little pricey to be competitive?? Played with gOS. Fun. Not ready for the every day user.

[Patricio Mayr @ Dec 11th 2007 12:01AM]

Its already selling in Chile by the packard bell brand ... Specs are as follow :

http://www.pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=acf86a40-6b7d-446d-871f-f4ebb9fcc2f6

Processor
VIA C7-M Ultra Low Voltage (1,2GHz/128Kb caché/400MHz FSB)
Ram memory:
512MB DDR2 533
Hard Drive
30GB IDE 1,8"
7" WVGA (800 x 480) TFT LCD 16.7million colours
Video Unichrome Pro II 128MB
2USB 2.0, RJ45, DVI, linea in, Line out
4 in 1 Card Reader , Memory Stick/Memory Stcick Pro/ SD/MMC.
Wi-Fi
LAN 10/100.
Integrated Webcam 640x480 0.3MPixel CMOS sensor with microphone
Dimensions :
230.0mm x 171.0mm x 29,4mm
950 grs with battery.
Lithium ion 4 cell Baterry 3.0 hrs
2 horas
TouchPad: Integrated in un the upper part of the keyboard.
Sistema Operativo:
Free DOS / Compatible con Microsoft Windows XP (incluye los driver para XP en cd)
Garantía limitada
1 año de Garantía
Soporte y Garantías Packard Bell fono: 7500777

[Benson @ Dec 11th 2007 8:42PM]

That link shows the price as $299.990
Not sure what $ means in this context, they use CLP (pesos) in Chile.
If that's USD, then it seems about right -- $300 with FreeDOS, and $400 with an operating system intended to compete with XP. (Even though gOS doesn't have that price tag, if you're selling in a market dominated by expensive OSes, you will charge more for it.)

[Patricio Mayr @ Dec 11th 2007 12:03AM]

599 Dollars here and ITS NOT TOUCHSCREEN

This one is but its 1200 dollars :

http://www.pcfactory.cl/ficha.php?id=f5f91024-9f15-4642-b6b3-a8e05a459c2a

[skhawaja @ Dec 11th 2007 2:33AM]

Keep up the good work everex :]

We need more terminal like systems for the general users - thanks to all of the early adopters like me and others that want the best hardware yesterday - prices and competition are creating more markets :]

I was always a bit annoyed with the touchpad being under the keyboard, right where my thumb would rest - the nipple/clitoris pointing devices made up for some of that, but created other issues.

A thumb-pad at the top makes sense for something with a 7" screen - and with a future look to a touchscreen version, why does it have to do what a regular laptop does? I would expect my $1000+ laptop to do a hell of a lot more compared to a mini-laptop, don't you?

Money is the biggest barrier towards adoption of new technology. The higher priced stuff will be bought by the people who can't compromise for many reasons. A laptop like this, and the one offered by www.zonbu.com, give many more people the chance to get online, and hopefully connect for the better.

[Julian Bond @ Dec 11th 2007 4:15AM]

Yes, please. Can we please have a price-features war in this market segment.

Only a 30Gb hard disk? When 1.8" disks have reached 160Gb and counting?