NorhTec prepping sub-$300 Linux-based laptop of its own

Sheesh -- as if the Eee PC, ONE, Cloudbook, G10IL and countless others weren't enough, now we've got one more low-cost laptop to keep track of. Aiming to arrive just a hair below that magical $300 price point, NorhTec is reportedly gearing up to introduce its Gecko laptop to the world, but the machine itself will be designed / built by Quanta. So far, we're hearing that it'll tout a 1GHz Via C7M ULV processor, an optional PATA hard drive, integrated graphics, a 7-inch display and the Linpus Linux Lite operating system. According to NorhTech's president Michael Barnes, "Linpus Lite is very similar to gOS," which we aren't exactly sure is something you'd really want to trumpet. Nevertheless, said bigwig also implied that the formal announcement of this here lappie would be happening soon -- let's just hope it actually stays under three bills.

[Via Eee Site]

[Kamall @ Mar 15th 2008 3:18PM]

No offense, but right when I hear the processor is a Via, its PASS. It will be way too slow.

[JohnTitor @ Mar 15th 2008 4:09PM]

Atom FTW

[Kris S. @ Mar 15th 2008 3:22PM]

OMG enough of these already!

[sinjinn @ Mar 15th 2008 5:21PM]

no no, not enough , bring on the competition , watch the prices fall.

[Reader @ Mar 15th 2008 7:27PM]

I'm not sure why anyone would think this is a bad thing... Please, every electronics company on earth make a cheap laptop. Competition is good for us.

[Maurice @ Mar 17th 2008 12:04PM]

Yes, I hate not having to mortgage my house to afford a decently powered computer. I demand to be kept in my place.

[David Clark @ Mar 15th 2008 3:33PM]

Integrated graphics? Am I missing something? I mean, it's not like you're going to add a GPU card to a laptop, right?

[Megamixman @ Mar 15th 2008 3:36PM]

Integrated Graphics as in Integrated into the Chipset rather then being a seperate set of chips. Intel's GMA line is the most well known series of Integrated graphics, but ATI and Nvidia have similar offerings as well for their chipsets.

[ethana2 @ Mar 15th 2008 4:08PM]

Am I missing what your missing?

[Hung @ Mar 15th 2008 9:05PM]

Video playback and graphic-intensive OS's (Gutsy with Compiz Fusion) need some dedicated graphics processing, because those sub-1GHz single-cores definitely can't cut it. That's why the Eee is better than the Cloudbook. Video playback is WAY smoother on Asus's machine. Also, this probably has to do with the Eee's processor being twice as powerful, yet clocked half as fast.

[Homeboy @ Mar 15th 2008 3:35PM]

I'm getting a bit sick of all these sub $300. What I want to see is $500-$600 ultra portables with 9 inch screen and a bit more power than what the Eee offers.

Don't get me wrong though, I like the Eee but so not much that I'm want to buy one. I'm simply willing to pay a little extra for more juice.

[JohnTitor @ Mar 15th 2008 4:09PM]

eeePC 9" with Atom FTW

[bobartig @ Mar 16th 2008 2:34PM]

Good thing the 8.9" EeePC is coming out soon, and they've already been demoing the computer you're describing at trade shows!

[Drew @ Mar 15th 2008 3:40PM]

I want to see the $199 Laptop that we were promised...

[Homeboy @ Mar 15th 2008 4:15PM]

Done! And this one has an XP sticker on it.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.boomspeed.com/tenstarpromo/childrenscomputerlaptop-simulatedscreen-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ebay.auction.co.kr/detail.html%3FitemNo%3D110230547838%26FeedBackPercent%3D98.7&h=324&w=432&sz=37&hl=en&start=67&um=1&tbnid=wGBbfaQvq7qViM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtoy%2Blaptop%26start%3D60%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

[Tim @ Mar 15th 2008 3:41PM]

Now if they will only keep it under $300...

[kyle allen @ Mar 15th 2008 3:48PM]

heck! its not like im guna do anything that takes any power whale im runnin around, if its geared toward people who need to take notes or check their email or something, why not make a $100 lappy with like a 233mhz cpu and 64 megs of ram? id buy that.... or go on ebay and buy a toshiba libretto.

[ethana2 @ Mar 15th 2008 4:09PM]

Don't give them ideas.

[ethana2 @ Mar 15th 2008 4:11PM]

8 GB SSD, 1 GB RAM, 45nm C2D, external optical drive, bootable over USB, built in webcam and mic, LED backlit screen, WiMax, WiFi, Bluetooth, 12 hour battery life...

That's what I want in an ultraportable.

[JohnTitor @ Mar 15th 2008 4:25PM]

that's not a subnotebook
you could probably get something like that but for $2000

[ethana2 @ Mar 15th 2008 4:28PM]

Ditch the WiMax, wait 6 months and it's only half that. I said 8 GB SSD, not 64.

ultraportable != affordable.
If I'm going to take this thing literally everywhere I go, it needs to be worth carrying around. Wait, yeah, put the WiMax back, it's not much of a phone without it.
(yes. i demand complete control of my devices.)

[rcappo @ Mar 16th 2008 3:09AM]

That is what I am looking for as well. Why don't these companies make a laptop that is basic, but modern and can take some abuse. I would also like the choice between 9" and 12" LCDs that take up 95% of the entire screen. It would be nice if it came with Ubuntu or something like that.

[The Dude @ Mar 15th 2008 4:54PM]

I was going to say, "Well at least it doesn't look like absolute ass", but then I scrolled up and saw the 1 foot bezel around the screen.

[karl @ Mar 15th 2008 5:17PM]

NOOO MOREE CRAPTOPPSSSSSS!!!

[ug @ Mar 15th 2008 6:15PM]

I don't care how big the bezel is as long as it has 1024 pixels horizontal. Too many web pages suck at less than that.

[dvdivx @ Mar 15th 2008 7:23PM]

"very similar to gOS" With these specs and the way it looks, I think he meant "very similar to a POS"

[Valgas @ Mar 15th 2008 9:25PM]

Bah! EEE 9" FTW STFU. Wouldn't it be wondafal if Sony jumped into the fray.

[dvdivx @ Mar 15th 2008 9:59PM]

Sony did. Their "EEEPC killer" is $2000.

[Tyler @ Mar 16th 2008 9:23AM]

It should be mentioned that NoRH is an extremely cool company that has been making excellent-sounding, reasonably priced audiophile gear for a while now. check them out: http://www.norh.com/


Their speakers are unique, great sounding, and handmade in a place that could use a little more cashflow. Kudos to this company for making a product that will put it on the map.


To those of you frowning on engadget's continued coverage of these extremely cost efficient small laptops, boo to that. These super low cost options are what will create that 500-700 dollar giant killers. The more competition, the better.

[Sunny @ Mar 16th 2008 12:54PM]

Oh God
The keyboard layout is absolutely same with the eeePC's

But the screen seems to be smaller than the eeePC's