Averatec to inevitably pump out a netbook

Averatec reliably cranks out stylish-but-generic takes on most new hardware trends, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the company is prepping a netbook. Although nothing's been locked in, it sounds like we should expect an Eee 1000-class machine, with a 10.2-inch screen and an Atom processor -- but it'll also have a "real" Shift key, a 120GB drive, and a $399 - $499 price tag. We should fine out more by Christmas, when this thing hits stores -- but will anyone care by then?

[Mile @ Aug 11th 2008 8:22PM]

I'm looking forward to fine-ing out this winter!

[rv @ Aug 11th 2008 8:34PM]

Thats what she said?

[Wormbolt @ Aug 11th 2008 9:35PM]

Come on, it's not like he writes for a living.

[alej469 @ Aug 11th 2008 8:23PM]

Enough with the netbooks already!

[si @ Aug 11th 2008 8:27PM]

Nevermind 'but will anyone care by then?' Does anyone really care about it now, as in really, care?

[Aguiluz @ Aug 11th 2008 8:28PM]

What?

Back on topic, what do they mean with a "'real' Shift key?"

[andres @ Aug 11th 2008 8:30PM]

as opposed to silicon shift keys?

[Jonathan Tyler @ Aug 11th 2008 8:35PM]

As opposed to EEEs and others that have the up arrow beside the /? key instead of a proper shift key which is moved to the right of the up arrow. So when you want to shift using the right shift key you get up arrow instead.

I had it on my EEE 701 and it was frustrating. Along with the damn cramped keyboard.

[Shadyman @ Aug 11th 2008 11:19PM]

But who uses the Right shift key anyways?

MY real problem is with keyboards that give you tiny backspaces, or giant Enter keys.

[JohnTitor @ Aug 11th 2008 8:28PM]

Dell E Slim

[Jayayess1190 @ Aug 11th 2008 8:31PM]

That is the MSI Wind.

[Gunn @ Aug 11th 2008 9:02PM]

That's exactly what i see from the pic. Fake on.

[Setnev @ Aug 11th 2008 9:36PM]

Can you say keeping it fake? Keepin It real fake CXXVII anyone. Averatec rebadges all of MSI's computers. I have a Averatec AV-7115EH1 which is basically a MSI notebook, it even says Case by MSI on the bottom. I'll have to admit, not very impressed by the quality of it. Hinges cracked and power board gave out 13 months after purchase, very common problem with them.

[Nick Ritch @ Aug 11th 2008 11:55PM]

I was thinking the same thing, Then I looked at the difference between my wind and the picture and I found none.

[kuade @ Aug 11th 2008 11:09PM]

Averatec has been building small laptops for a while now, this one should be good value for the price. Well that is depending on final configurations, I for one am waiting for the S10 from Lenovo.

[Dster @ Aug 11th 2008 8:42PM]

"Averatec reliably cranks out stylish-but-generic takes on most new hardware trends".

???

You know, I've been using my Averatec 1050 for years now. As these "netbooks" get announced, I've wondered why it took so long for someone, anyone, to make a comparable product to it.

When I bought the 1050 two years ago, it was far cheaper and lighter than ANYTHING on the market: $599, and under 3.5 pounds.

Nice to see them returning to the market they invented.

[Todd George @ Aug 11th 2008 9:04PM]

I'm with you. I love my Averatec AV1050-EB1... Phenomenal laptop, bought it a few years back. Compared it to the Sony Vaio TZ and other small laptops of the time. For the cost difference, there was no comparison. The thing has held up surprisingly well for being an "off-brand". Definitely a big fan. Let it be known, the current Averatec is not the Averatec of yore. I haven't been able to find all the details, but it appears that they kinda went out of business and/or were bought out by TriGem.

[RikF @ Aug 11th 2008 9:30PM]

The market they invented?! I'm assuming you never got your hands on the original Portege from Toshiba? This was at the tail end of the 486/start of the Pentium processor days.

[RikF @ Aug 11th 2008 9:37PM]

Here you go. Feast your eyes on these beauties!

http://www.toshiba-europe.com/bv/computers/resource_centre/index.asp?TYPE=flyers&PART=portege&FIRST=21

[OziD @ Aug 11th 2008 9:45PM]

i had a 12 inch averatec a couple years ago.

that computer ruled until it met its demise

[Phoenix @ Aug 11th 2008 9:12PM]

Looks like 2 real shift keys to me...

[Stevo @ Aug 11th 2008 9:25PM]

Nope, one of them is fake for sure.

[Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!) @ Aug 11th 2008 9:16PM]

Keep in mind guys that Averatec rebrands other companies notebooks, doesn't make their own.

I also really liked the Averatec 1050, its a rebranded Twinhead F10D by the way.

And this looks to be a Wind rebrand, and yet the Wind has already been rebranded in Europe and other places. : /

[dreamscape86 @ Aug 11th 2008 9:21PM]

If companies actually want consumers to buy these things, I think they're going to have to knock at least another bill off the price. The original Eee advertisements said $200. There still is yet to be a decent netbook for $200, and until there is, I doubt these things are going to really take off. Most people just don't want to spend as much on a netbook as they could on a low-end fully featured laptop, even though the small size is nice.

[burntpigeonproductions @ Aug 11th 2008 9:23PM]

It would be better if they could generically crank out stylish-but-RELIABLE takes on hardware trends. Their build quality sucks.

/had an averatec, and a predecessor, sotec.
//still have the burn marks in my legs from the heat and a few random parts lying around

[thefebus @ Aug 12th 2008 8:45PM]

really, what kind of market is there for these netbooks, umpc's, and mid's? why does it seem like everyone is jumping on this bandwagon and a new one of these things is being released every other week?

[phanbouy @ Aug 11th 2008 9:56PM]

thanks, dick.

[BryanSD @ Aug 11th 2008 10:05PM]

I bought the Averatec 3220 a few years ago and it has served me well. It was the first sub-$1000 notebook that I could find with a 12 inch screen. Back then I was looking for a "netbook" but there really wasn't such a thing available at the time. The Averatec came with Windows XP, but I found more joy running Linux on the laptop ( http://cmsreport.com/node/1530 ).

In my opinion, the netbooks that people are really going to care about are those notebooks capable of better screen resolution. While 1024x600 screens are better than 800x600...why would I trade my old 12 inch notebook for a slightly smaller notebook that doesn't give me better resolution. So far, the only netbook with better resolution (1280x768) is the HP Mini-Note 2133 ( http://www.engadget.com/tag/2133/ ),

[bebop @ Aug 11th 2008 11:12PM]

If your only aim with the extra pixels is to get more real estate, the problem is everything becomes just too tiny to read.

If you scale up everything to the same size as before it looks prettier I suppose, but you haven't gained anything else.

[Robert Yesselman @ Aug 11th 2008 10:24PM]

It should be remembered however, that Averatek turns out flimsy junk.

[dave @ Aug 12th 2008 12:00AM]

Will anyone care?! .... Yes.... I'll be ready to cash in my eee901 by then... I can type on it just fine after a day or so getting used to it.... but the location of the number keys, and shift keys, I fear I will never accept.

10 inch, 16:9 machines look to be a suitable alternative as well.

[Valgas @ Aug 12th 2008 1:43AM]

Lenovo? Dell? WTFSERIOUSLY? Where are you?

[icepop4who @ Aug 12th 2008 3:09AM]

i propose to get all these netbooks in the KIRF category. this is getting ridiculous.

[thefebus @ Sep 7th 2008 3:59PM]

testing the comment