HP's UMPC 2133 to cost $630 when shipping in April?

A report by the Commercial Times says that HP will launch its 8.9-inch UMPC in April for "more than" NT$20,000 or about $630 bucks. Sure sounds like the UMPC 2133 we showed you yesterday, eh? That's about right when you compare it to the $300, entry-level 7-inch Eee PC. The paper claims it'll run a "high-end" Penryn processor as well which is fine by us if true.

[Ricardo @ Feb 20th 2008 5:59AM]

That's actually a surprisingly decent price for such a device.

[noisia @ Feb 20th 2008 6:08AM]

there is absolutely no expression for how much i like this device allready now without knowing the detailed specs, not even talking about how much i would like to purchase this nice little cutie.
allready at the announcement of the asus eee i was fallen in love with it, knowing about the different let downs like the screen.
given the screen resolution of the hp 2133 and the targeted price this seems like a total killer offer to me.
but i live in europe, dont let me wait for too long hp, i want to have one of these for my study.
and PLEASE let us install xp on this!


cheers

[David Clark @ Feb 20th 2008 7:16AM]

The simple fact that it doesn't look like Mickey Mouse PC makes it more tempting.

[Anthony @ Feb 20th 2008 1:45PM]

I don't know if I'll buy it w/o a thought like a handphone, but $600 for a real computer of that size isn't bad. X series line from Sony should worry.

[zfurie @ Feb 20th 2008 5:59AM]

According to the article, the price includes WXP and is considered a high-end model.

I hope they release a no-OS version with a slower processor so it'd be almost on-par with Asus' offerings.

[sinjinn @ Feb 20th 2008 8:42AM]

if chippy is right http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1257 then this is a via based device, possibly available with linux for $450.

[mdm-adph @ Feb 20th 2008 9:32AM]

Linux and Via is fine -- just give me a normal screen size (unlike the eeePC).

[Frank @ Feb 20th 2008 6:01AM]

Everytime I hear "UMPC"... I think: LIBRETTO!!!!!!!!!
Come on Toshiba give us a proper UMPC!

[Jason @ Feb 20th 2008 7:41AM]

Wow, you still remember the Libretto? LOL. It really was the most portable laptop at the time but it was quite heavy for its size.

[j.d.ripper @ Feb 20th 2008 8:10AM]

Don't forget the Toshiba Dynabooks, which are still being sold in Japan (along with Librettos)

[Perry @ Feb 20th 2008 8:46PM]

Here is a U100 review I wrote almost 3 years ago.

http://notebookcritic.com/2005/08/01/review-toshiba-libretto-u100/

I have not posted photos up on the site yet - but you can find them on www.notebookreview.com

The U100 was great, if they could have priced it at under $1000 back then it would have been killer. As it was, it made a great geek or exec tool/toy.

[L @ Feb 20th 2008 6:01AM]

I can't believe it will have an high-end Penryn CPU with that price or size. But I don't care...if the $630 turns out to be true, I'm gonna get this for sure!

[kntgsp @ Feb 20th 2008 9:06AM]

wls @ Feb 20th 2008 7:50AM

Thewre is no way this will sell for around $600 even if it doesn't have a cd drive (which seems to be the case)and have a penyrn cpu. Just rumors and dreaming. If this has the new via chipset that would cut costs AND performance but still I expect to see this at more than $800. we shall see

Why not? Penryn's are high yield chips that aren't terribly expensive to produce relative to other chips. And with Intel riding high as it is, selling at a loss isn't out of the question for them.

When you consider that the desktop 3Ghz Penryn can be had for $183, it's not out of the question at all.

[Ekauq @ Feb 20th 2008 6:05AM]

ah the good old umpc days :)

http://w3.ualg.pt/~rsolivei/libretto.jpg

[Dij @ Feb 21st 2008 9:44AM]

I still use my Libretto 100ct, overclocked to 266Mhz(! :)) and with a wifi card it makes an amazing machine for remote desktop.

[Scott Culp @ Feb 20th 2008 8:34AM]

And people complain about the size of the bezel now??

[xkevin @ Feb 20th 2008 9:49AM]

@Scott

The Libretto came to market over 10 years ago. Look up the Sony Picturebook C1. It had a magnificent screen that took up the entire lid for the most part plus a built in swivel-camera. It came out about 5 years after the Libretto (I owned both). That's called technological advancement. Its hard to move forward walking backwards...

[Tired_ @ Feb 20th 2008 6:10AM]

I think they meant 'high-end' to refer to the Penryn itself. Compare to an Allendale core, rather than to other Penryns.

[Paul @ Feb 20th 2008 6:35AM]

The article states that "it will cost MORE than NT$20,000 (US$630)"

Also, CNET stated
(http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/02/16/hp-umpc-coming-this-spring-/)
that it would be on par price-wise with the Eee PC and that it would
be customisable with skins. The digitimes article says that it's
aimed at business users as their second laptop. Contrasting info??

[I @ Feb 20th 2008 6:43AM]

@ Paul

"lifestyle accessory" = casual user + business user

But I'd put my bet on the more the former

[Stevie Wonder @ Feb 20th 2008 6:50AM]

I'm humping my screen right now!

[Meridimus @ Feb 20th 2008 7:04AM]

You made me laugh :)

[Patrick @ Feb 20th 2008 8:03AM]

I didn't laugh until I went back and read his screen name...then I had this ridiculous mental image of Stevie Wonder doing, well doing what he said he's doing, with his head swaying back and forth in time....lmao

[rock99rock @ Feb 20th 2008 10:55AM]

Stevie Wonder humpin a computer monitor, with the music of Horatio Sanz speak-singing "Cocoa Butter". Classic.

[Homeboy @ Feb 20th 2008 6:53AM]

I'm still waiting for the full technical specs of the computer. Battery life, RAM, HDD and a couple of other things are still to be revealed.

Although it's not as affordable as I had hoped it's still a much better than Macbook Fart which is almost three times as expensive.

[emailtabs @ Feb 20th 2008 6:53AM]

Want one!!

If the cost is low enough i may have to find a new home for my little Geeekbook.

Anyone know any "actual" specs for this thing?

I'm notto happy about the "Tamperproof casing" how am i gonna mod it.

After adding touchscreen to my eee i don't think i could go back to using the pointer full time.

[Homeboy @ Feb 20th 2008 7:05AM]

In the world of gadgets and computers nothing is tamper proof. When it's out on the market it won't take longer than 1-2 weeks before it's guts have been unveiled.

[bob e @ Feb 20th 2008 7:35AM]

$630 fantastic!

Finally the original vision of the affordable UMPC is realized. Count me in for at least one HP :)

[w00t @ Feb 20th 2008 7:45AM]

That thing is hot. I wish it ran OS X :(
(Properly, hacks do not count!)

[wls @ Feb 20th 2008 7:50AM]

Thewre is no way this will sell for around $600 even if it doesn't have a cd drive (which seems to be the case)and have a penyrn cpu. Just rumors and dreaming. If this has the new via chipset that would cut costs AND performance but still I expect to see this at more than $800. we shall see.

[Frederik @ Feb 20th 2008 7:53AM]

Now I honestly wish that MacBook Air looks like this, costs like this and just like this.

[Jeff @ Feb 20th 2008 9:38AM]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...Apple's market analysis strikes again

[Kipod @ Feb 20th 2008 8:25AM]

Look at these old hp machines from HP museum during the 90 these are from the Omnibook subnotbook serie, they were not heavy compared to the what was avaialbe at that time (around 1.3Kg depend on the model) ..seems that there is nothing new:

http://www.hpmuseum.net/image.php?file=115
http://www.hpmuseum.net/image.php?file=376
http://www.hpmuseum.net/image.php?file=384

[mattydread @ Feb 20th 2008 8:55AM]

IMO those pop-out mice were ahead of their time considering that almost every laptop user I see who doesn't work in IT connects a wireless USB travel mouse becuase they don't want to use their touchpads.

[Geert @ Feb 20th 2008 8:29AM]

With the current currency exchange it is only 430 euro's, too bad HP is probably letting us pay on a 1 on 1 basis. It looks like a sweet machine alright.

[XGM @ Feb 20th 2008 8:31AM]

Finally this is what UMPC's are about, now the next step is to make that a tablet.

[Hookey @ Feb 20th 2008 8:46AM]

Too big, too heavy, too expensive. And ugly. Pass.

[Jimmy Jones @ Feb 20th 2008 9:11AM]

I agree with you. Too big for a UMPC..."ultra" is the keyword here....i don't care about the price..besides some of the HP notebooks just sucks...take it from me.. the TX or TZ1000 gets extremely hot...which is about same size and looks just like this cuz of the cr3z nVidia card they put in it... can they just use ATI cards?

no way i'm shedding my dough on this..

[jblock @ Feb 20th 2008 9:27AM]

WANT NOW

[spam_from_engadget @ Feb 20th 2008 9:32AM]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but my fear is that these leaks are just an attempt to deflate the momentum behind the Eee for a bit so that HP (or someone else) can catch up. The final product may look nothing like this, spec and price-wise. "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."

[Mark @ Feb 20th 2008 9:32AM]

Looks sweeet! Hope it can run Ubuntu or OSX.

[JAmerican @ Feb 20th 2008 10:11AM]

Too bad Apple makes it illegal to install their software on non-Apple hardware. LOL. This is the type of machine Apple needs at the price point of an eeePC.

JAmerican

[Jeff @ Feb 20th 2008 9:40AM]

what, erm?, huh?

you must be looking at a different pic.

[Jeff @ Feb 20th 2008 9:41AM]

Comment was directed towards Hookey...

Sorry =D

[Josh Smith @ Feb 20th 2008 9:46AM]

HP, take advantage of this free press, announce it and launch the pre-order page, I am waiting to give you my money.

[freakmarket @ Feb 20th 2008 9:49AM]

Nice looking machine ... but i can score a loaded Dell notebook out of their outlet center for $600 ... The price and size need to be more EeeLike

[Syke @ Feb 20th 2008 10:10AM]

Nice... but without a touch screen not as big of a draw.

[adrian @ Feb 20th 2008 11:03AM]

This is where I am at.....


https://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/newsletter.do?destPage=news_sub&s=3&l=null&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp%2Fhhoslp%2Fsplit%2Fstorenewsletter


I agree with Josh. Please take my money.

[harrier @ Feb 20th 2008 11:50AM]

That's hot.

[Valgas @ Feb 20th 2008 12:22PM]

If this is true and specs are better than the Eee (which it should be), the Eee PC will become a distant memory and I will snatch up one of these sexy ultra portable cutiepies in a lick of a slit.