Eee PC-like ultraportables - name that product category

It struck us the other day as we were going over some back posts that since the launch of the ASUS Eee PC (and the numerous products that have followed, from the MSI Wind to the HP Mini-Note), to the best of our knowledge we've all yet to have any normalized, agreed-upon name for these kinds of devices. Yes, they're technically "ultraportables" (which we usually define as being any relatively small laptop and under four pounds), but to say an Eee PC is in the same class as, say, the Lenovo X300, the VAIO TZ, or the MacBook Air would be kind of misleading.

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.)

[Uncker Swash @ May 30th 2008 7:33PM]

Litetops.

[Carl M @ May 31st 2008 1:49AM]

How about "econobook"?

[retro77 @ May 30th 2008 7:31PM]

clam shell umpc's or csumpc.

[Pc_Madness @ May 30th 2008 10:43PM]

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.

[Hero @ May 30th 2008 10:59PM]

smallbook maybe

[Blaine Oliver @ May 31st 2008 2:55AM]

I think subnotebook is a better category, its a very literal name because they are just small notebooks.

[Mark @ May 31st 2008 4:31AM]

ULPC

[emailtabs @ May 31st 2008 12:05PM]

I call mine a Geeekbook!, everyone knows what i mean when they first hear the term

[x3qt0r @ May 31st 2008 1:24PM]

TipTop

[Student Driver @ Jun 1st 2008 2:21AM]

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.

[Mat @ Jun 2nd 2008 9:45AM]

Knee-tops!

[Sim @ May 30th 2008 7:32PM]

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...

[AnOldCarsNickname @ May 30th 2008 8:02PM]

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.

[iuqiddis @ May 30th 2008 8:02PM]

I second minibook

[Darak @ May 30th 2008 10:45PM]

Notepad. Notebook but smaller and cheaper =D

Officially they're called the ULCPC btw: Ultra Low-Cost Personal Computer

[Rob @ May 30th 2008 10:20PM]

I second "nanobook"

[vdogg89 @ May 31st 2008 12:18AM]

i third minibook

[Boyprodigy1 @ May 31st 2008 12:41AM]

I'm going to to fourth minibook.

[HighTeckRedNeck @ May 31st 2008 12:02PM]

Better idea is here: How about SquirrelBook?

Wow, I have to name my old Libretto Squirrelbook now.

[Student Driver @ Jun 3rd 2008 1:41PM]

Didn't "palmtop" go the way of "Palm-PC" when MS tried that as the first name for PocketPC?

[Warner Young @ May 30th 2008 7:33PM]

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.

[Sim @ May 30th 2008 7:34PM]

wait a sec, aren't these just called sub-notes anyway?

*goes to look up sub-notebook*

[Chird @ May 31st 2008 2:01AM]

Yeah I was under that impression also. So yes, my suggestion would be sub-notebook

[Sourabh @ May 31st 2008 6:18AM]

Another vote for sub-notebook. Traditional yet different. Nothing ground breaking or extravagant :)

[Bobby D @ May 31st 2008 3:33PM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnotebook

[Haikibutsu @ May 30th 2008 7:35PM]

Ultralights or Ultraportables

[kep1616 @ May 30th 2008 7:36PM]

How about ultra-lite notebooks.

[jaalin @ May 30th 2008 7:36PM]

hyperportable

or better yet... ludicrous portable

[Bill @ May 31st 2008 2:36AM]

It's gone plaid!

[Jamma @ May 31st 2008 1:39PM]

WICKED SICK PORTABLE

[Chris @ May 30th 2008 7:37PM]

sub-notebook or "netbook" sounds like good names to me

[Hellios @ May 30th 2008 7:55PM]

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.

[murray @ May 30th 2008 8:02PM]

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.

[Micah Blomgren @ May 30th 2008 11:22PM]

They're still subnotebooks. It describes the form factor, Specs always evolve .

[Brian @ May 31st 2008 12:43AM]

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.

[Peter J @ Jun 1st 2008 6:00AM]

Weebles FTW! I love it =]

But yes, subnotebooks would make the most sense.

[The Engadgeter @ May 31st 2008 3:28PM]

subnote wins

Sub-notebook is just one too many syllables, and subnote fully gets the point across.

[Matt @ Jun 1st 2008 4:59PM]

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.

[sandman74 @ May 30th 2008 7:37PM]

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)

[Dennis @ May 30th 2008 7:38PM]

I vote - Wee top

[John Sullivan @ May 30th 2008 10:47PM]

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.)

[bryan @ Jun 2nd 2008 11:26AM]

How about:

Laptop-Like

[JesseL @ May 30th 2008 7:40PM]

liliputers!

[Moomfrey @ May 30th 2008 8:18PM]

The brilliance of this remark was overlooked.

[Joe Dombrowski @ May 30th 2008 8:19PM]

Seconded, and +1 for the literary reference ::lmao::

[Rich @ May 30th 2008 8:27PM]

Excellent! Lilliputer definitely gets my vote.

[Life of Brian @ May 30th 2008 9:05PM]

This is my absolute favorite. I can't think of anything better.

[rtfmid10t @ May 30th 2008 9:17PM]

Lilliput is the island in Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels with the "little people" for those who missed the reference.

[Brad Linder @ May 31st 2008 9:02AM]

I'm going to have to go with Liliputers too. But I might be biased.

[lordcookies @ May 31st 2008 2:18PM]

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