Rock's new Pegasus 210 12-inch ultraportable

It's no secret that 2008 is shaping up as a stellar year for ultraportables, and now even perennial clunker manufacturer Rock is getting in on the action. The new Pegasus 210 is built on Intel's UMPC internals, with a 800MHz A110 processor doing the "heavy" lifting. The laptop sports 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth and optional HSDPA connectivity, along with a 80GB 1.8-inch HDD, 1GB of RAM, a 4-in-1 card reader and a PCMCIA slot. There's no disc drive, but there is a full complement of ports on the 2.2 pound laptop. You can pick one up for a rather palatable £799 in the UK (about $1,582 US).

[Via BIOS]

[Les @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:07PM]

Still not feeling the no optical drive thing. Also I realize power is a big issue, but I would like a stronger processor, maybe one of those 1.6 atoms

[Flashpoint @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:08PM]

Wait until SSD drives get cheaper. I am already predicting that, overnight, you'll be seeing just as many Chinese clones of the Macbook Air as you are of the iPhone. They'll just clone the entire disk image - OS and all.

[billmao @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:09PM]

Is that a Vista Capable sticker? Cus I swear...

[holycow @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:14PM]

no that's just a Windows Vista sticker!

[martin @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:09PM]

looks nice, light enough too.. but i think i'll pass, you can get a laptop thats not much bigger for less/equal money

[RoboDan @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:30PM]

So why is this news?

The Thinkpad X61 (or X61s for the LV crowd) has Intel Core 2 Duo w. 4MB L2, 1.8GHz, 2.5" SATA HDD (ie up to 500GB@5400RPM or 320GB@7200RPM), 4GB RAM, over 4h battery with standard battery, 8h with extended battery, and this is about half a year old. Did I mention the starting price of $1200, but you can get is for less than $1000?

So again... why is this "Rock" news? Looks kinda clone-y when you compare it to the X61s... but like a chinese knock-off version with disappointing specs and somehow a higher price.

I feel sorry for the sucker that buys this

[Lars @ Apr 2nd 2008 8:57PM]

"So why is this news?"

Engadget has to balance out all the reporting they do on Apple somehow, to make it at least appear that they are not biased reporters.

[Jason @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:11PM]

At that price range, I'd rather get a sony tz. it's smaller, looks nicer, AND has more features.

[nonamo @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:45PM]

erm... the Sony TZ series starts at £1400
this is £800.
I would hardly say its the same price range.

[UKNigel @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:26PM]

Agreed, there are several other options of the same size or less that don't skimp out on features, and aren't more expensive.

[Jason @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:28AM]

i don't know where you're looking, but £1400? i just did a google search and found it on newegg.com for $1900US. As low as $1500 at other less reputable places...

[Kamall @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:18PM]

A110 processor, a UMPC processor? This size notebook can incorporate a more powerful processor, unless the battery life is absolutely amazing, which I doubt.

Jason is right, you can get an older model TZ for the same price now, and better than this in every aspect. I got a TZ130N/B for $1500 in January.

[benjesuit @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:06PM]

Rock's website claims 5 hour battery life. That remains to be seen though.

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:21PM]

I'd definitely prefer the 12" over the 7" in ultraportable.

Or, is that what she said?..

[y3k.nik @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:30PM]

WOW.. she certainly is hard to please if she is looking for a 12 inch ultra portable.

Go tell her its not the size of the screen that matters, but how long the ultra portable can last!

[The Future @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:30PM]

2 pounds is a dream come true - but 1 GB of ram and an 80 GB hard drive - really makes one pause.

Perhaps it is best to wait for another 6 months, they just may develop it more

[Khris @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:31PM]

$1600 for this?? Uhm.....WHY?

[aardvark sandwich @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:43PM]

x2

[Mark @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:35PM]

ME SMASH ROCK

[aardvark sandwich @ Apr 2nd 2008 2:46PM]

Can't wait for a competitor to name their product "paper". Paper beats rock.

[crho85 @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:03PM]

but then papers competition will come out with scissors cause scissors beats paper

[R1cebrner @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:07PM]

but that will just put rock back on top.

[OnlyShawn @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:16PM]

...jumped right onto that one, didn't you, boys?

[trancer @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:28PM]

Lose the badge and it might pass off as something decent.

[fourthletter @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:43PM]

£799 = 800Mhz CPU LOL! £1 per MHZ thats very poor value.

[Michael @ Apr 2nd 2008 3:45PM]

"You can pick one up for a rather palatable £799 in the UK (about $1,582 US)."

You're kidding, right Engadget?

I could get a Sony Vaio VGN-S740 for a pre-tax price of $1,499 USD (About £753.82) with the following specs:

*Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz)
* Vista Home Premium [I'm sure some will debate whether this is good or not]
* 2 GB of DDR2 (667 MHz) RAM
* 120 GB 5400RPM HDD
* DVD+/-RW/RAM OD
* 13.3" WXGA Display
* Built-in Camera
* A/B/G/N Wi-FI
* Integrated Sprint EVDO Modem
* Fingerprint reader
* Standard Battery

For $80 USD less, I'd gladly take a tiny laptop with a great mix of features. Sure, the 13.3" LCDs are more expensive to manufacture than the 15.4" and 14.1" LCDs, but that's to be expected. This Pegasus can take off with out me, that's for sure.

[hwoarang27 @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:20PM]

i remember the $750 Dell 700M deals...
now that is palatable!

[Scott @ Apr 2nd 2008 6:39PM]

If only it actually worked like that. Unfortunately whilst your maths is right if you use the current exchange rates this does not reflect the true cost of things across the pond. The example you give would cost £750ish if I direct translation was possible, it is not however and in reality it would probably cost over £1000. I’m not saying that the Rock is a great deal but these examples American prices are pretty useless.

In fact it’s really a pretty unique offering in the UK market, there is very little in that form factor, weight and price range over here.

[FRZ @ Apr 2nd 2008 9:18PM]

Why is the smaller screens more expensive to manufacture? Or do they just say that to justify those crazy prices on smaller electronics? I mean to pay more for less... that don't sound right.

[Sam @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:53PM]

Rather get a Macbook Air at that price
(voting down begins in 5,4,3,2...)

[Tim @ Apr 2nd 2008 6:45PM]

I think you are safe this time. The MBA is actually a viable option if you are looking at this rock.

[Paris @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:37AM]

How you could possibly get a MBA (£1199) at that price (£799)?

Or is £400 not that big of a deal for you?

[Ninjakamster @ Apr 10th 2008 5:51PM]

Are you "Sam" from Notebookreview?

[dansus @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:18PM]

Dont think you can compare this with Thinkpad X61. The rock is slimmer/ lighter, doesnt have a rubbish tablet swivel point.

The slower cpu should give long battery life, 5-6 hrs is very good for an ultra portable. Not sure if that will stand up once you fire up the hsdpa modem, but nothing a spare battery or external charge pack wont fix.

Long as i can DL crap, do cloud work and watch dvd res videos, its all good.

I like the look of this sucker, might juts plonk down the cash.

[Kaye @ Apr 2nd 2008 7:50PM]

Cute, but overpriced.

[Jared @ Apr 2nd 2008 8:50PM]

what I really want is thinner 17-inch and 15.4-inch laptops.

[FRZ @ Apr 2nd 2008 9:13PM]

Why is the smaller screens more expensive to manufactured. Or do they just say that those crazy prices on smaller electronics. I mean to pay more for less... that don't sound right.

[Bill @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:23PM]

you do not want a 1.8" hdd - even the cheapest 2.5" hdd is better.

[anomy @ Apr 6th 2008 11:51PM]

Source says it's a 1.4kg laptop.
So it's 3.09 pounds, not 2.2 pounds.