Eee PC-like ultraportables - name that product category
By Ryan Block 
posted May 30th 2008 7:24PM
posted May 30th 2008 7:24PM
We've heard "low-cost ultraportable" and "laptop-lite" used to describe these kinds of machines, but it seems best to let you decide: leave your best suggestion for what we all should all call this emerging product category, and we'll put it up to vote next week. We'll officially be throwing "netbook" into the ring. (Intel may have initially coined the term, but that we don't think it should necessarily have to refer only to Intel-based products.)
Litetops.
How about "econobook"?
clam shell umpc's or csumpc.
They're not UMPC's since they don't have a touch screen. And even if they did, they still don't meet MS's definition of UMPC I don't think :S.
smallbook maybe
I think subnotebook is a better category, its a very literal name because they are just small notebooks.
ULPC
I call mine a Geeekbook!, everyone knows what i mean when they first hear the term
TipTop
clam-top
I was wondering the same thing as I was sharing and tagging some of these things in Google Reader. I am using "ultra-portable" for the time being, but clam-top has a nice roll to it.
Knee-tops!
minibook?
microbook?
nanobook? (well, since they're all VIA these days anyway...)
something between palm and laptop could be good, but all i can think of is armtop. which sounds stupid.
*waits for better idea*
We could just let microsoft name it and use Small-Form Factor Clamshell Personal Computing Devices or something...
Palmtop?
Or just slimbook, when the MacbookAir came out I was really surprised they hadn't named it the Macbook Slim but after all these months Macbook Air just really sounds good.
Hobbybook might be something since it's just a lightweight surfing device.
And "UltraPortables" on it's own isn't even that bad a name, it perfectly describes what they are.
I second minibook
Notepad. Notebook but smaller and cheaper =D
Officially they're called the ULCPC btw: Ultra Low-Cost Personal Computer
I second "nanobook"
i third minibook
I'm going to to fourth minibook.
Better idea is here: How about SquirrelBook?
Wow, I have to name my old Libretto Squirrelbook now.
Didn't "palmtop" go the way of "Palm-PC" when MS tried that as the first name for PocketPC?
Here are my suggestions:
Litebook
Ultralight
Handbook (yeah, I think it's already used, but I've found that the Eee is light enough that I can literally rest it on one hand while using the other hand to navigate, which is useful if you're using it in public without a lot of room to set it down)
I'm also tempted to add "paperback notebook" or something as an indicator of just how light these things are, but that's too long a name to use conveniently.
wait a sec, aren't these just called sub-notes anyway?
*goes to look up sub-notebook*
Yeah I was under that impression also. So yes, my suggestion would be sub-notebook
Another vote for sub-notebook. Traditional yet different. Nothing ground breaking or extravagant :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnotebook
Ultralights or Ultraportables
How about ultra-lite notebooks.
hyperportable
or better yet... ludicrous portable
It's gone plaid!
WICKED SICK PORTABLE
sub-notebook or "netbook" sounds like good names to me
go home people (especially you Ryan) this discussion ended right there with Subnotebook, but in fact it ended like a year ago, with subnotebook.
Engadget is becoming even slower than Kotaku.
A lot more than a year ago. This size of machine has been known as "subnotebook" for many years. I've had one for four years (Fujitsu P5020D) and that was by no means the first.
These are just low power subnotebooks. But they're also light, so "ultralight" sounds okay to me.
Or we could just call them weebles.
They're still subnotebooks. It describes the form factor, Specs always evolve .
It's about more than size, it's about the specs and intended use. As Ryan said, to put the eeePC in the same class as the $2000 subnotebooks is just silly.
Weebles FTW! I love it =]
But yes, subnotebooks would make the most sense.
subnote wins
Sub-notebook is just one too many syllables, and subnote fully gets the point across.
I don't like netbook, sounds too Web 2.0ish.
I agree with subnotebook, as it is an already established category that doesn't sound completely stupid.
Fisher Price Laptops !
they are almost toy like... like the old speak n spell machines of the 80's.
Seriously.. someone should make one of these hybrids in a lego style case for the ultimate toy. At the $200-$300 mark, I would have loved one of these as a child (it would certainly have beat my Commodore Vic 20 that I got as my first computer)
I vote - Wee top
Wee top... is that the same as a codpiece?
Though now that I think about it, "crotchtop" has a dirty little ring to it. Me likey. Though it might rule out the easily-overheated nadcookers (oooh, there's another good name!) like HP's 2133.
(Sorry-- couldn't stop myself.)
How about:
Laptop-Like
liliputers!
The brilliance of this remark was overlooked.
Seconded, and +1 for the literary reference ::lmao::
Excellent! Lilliputer definitely gets my vote.
This is my absolute favorite. I can't think of anything better.
Lilliput is the island in Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels with the "little people" for those who missed the reference.
I'm going to have to go with Liliputers too. But I might be biased.
Oh my god!
I thought it was a word play on lilliputian!! But then it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, the word originated from the book xD...hahaa