World's Cheapest Laptops are:Merimobiles, ARM-Based "No Names" (100's of them),Cherrypal,Sungworld

The Big "Apple" for $99 (Clone)...$85 Coby Netbook PC "Midget" At CeBIT Show

2010-03-03T15:37:00.011-06:00

MOBY AND COBY

- The Big Apple Killer: Marvell's Tablet ("Moby") for $99.
People are crazy to pay Apple's prices. They will be really crazy to pay through the nose for an Apple iPad when they are able to get a suitable replacement for $99 -- if not the Marvell Moby, then something else. Price breaks like this, when it actually happens, are market breakers. This will kick the floor out from under Apple. Read more at http://hothardware.com/News/Marvells-99-Moby-Tablet-Might-Just-Change-The-World/ .

- Coby Netbook PC NBPC722 should even run Linux, as shown by the link below:
http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/ProductInfoExhibit.html?ProductInfoExhibit_ProductID=c373e91fae986c488fea6cf251e6dcb6&ProductInfoExhibit_isRefreshParent=false

You will see below why the $100-laptop phenom is unstoppable though most everyone in the computer field does want to stop it.

Today's news comes from the CeBIT exhibition (European show for consumer electronics and telecommunications, with emphasis on suppliers as well as users), ongoing in Hannover, Germany, March 2-6, 2010. http://www.cebit.de/search?srchopts=ZGRmBQt0ZQDjAmcypaMapzH9AFM2pG0kZQN3Amp0AQbkZwL3AwHmZmZ4

We reported on this over a year ago while some famous gadget sites (I won't name Engadget.com or anything like that) were still in denial on this -- http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/cobys-sub-200-netbooks-handled-at-ces/ . :) (Do Engadget and Ross Rubin ever say they were wrong?)

You see, everyone who makes their living in the computing game is loath to admit what they loathe. And, oh, how they loathe supercheap computers, because commoditization of computing will cut revenue streams from it, make it less profitable for all -- and that includes stores like Best Buy and product pointers like Engadget and CNet.

The Coby NBPC-722 (Netbook PC, 7-in. screen) is claimed to sell for well under the famed "$100-laptop" price barrier, as Engadget now admits (a year late) -- actually $85.

Unfortunately, I doubt that. The sweet spot for ultracheap computers is about $129. You can sell tons at that price if you have wide distribution channels, as Coby does. You couldn't get a similar device for less than $66 wholesale in quantity, FOB China, which tells me that's about what it costs to make these. So a $99 retail selling price probably is doable for Coby but by no means necessary. I would estimate the introductory price as $119 to $129. But the competitors for these will get much more expensive, making the Cobys attractive indeed.

LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL

Here is Coby's page showing the 7-in. netbook PC: http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/ProductInfoExhibit.html?ProductInfoExhibit_ProductID=c373e91fae986c488fea6cf251e6dcb6&ProductInfoExhibit_isRefreshParent=false You can see the specs and a photo there.

1. The BIG Deal: YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FIND THEM "EVERYWHERE"!

2. The OTHER BIG Deal: There Will Be DOZENS OF IMITATORS!

By finding them everywhere, I mean they will be in unusual venues for selling laptops, notebooks, and such: at GROCERY stores, HOME IMPROVEMENT stores, DRUG stores. We won't have to rely on conventional electronics sellers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Fry's, who hate to sell cheap PCs. They just won't do it until they have to. Incidentally, I have seen the Augen Netbook for just a little over $100 at a TA truck stop. It also was available at the grocery chain Albertson's and the home-improvement store chain Menard's, last November (Black Friday) for both of them.

Out-of-the-ordinary-channel distribution is essential for the sub-$100 laptop phenom to take off and fly.

100s of Brands Even Now

A city in China, Shenzhen, is the source of literally hundreds of brands of similar mini-laptops or EPCs, as the Chinese are wont to call them. Here are some between $50 and $100: http://www.aliexpress.com/category/702/laptops.html?minPrice=50&maxPrice=100&quantity= .
Here are many more for a little over $100: http://www.aliexpress.com/category/702/laptops.html?minPrice=100&maxPrice=200&quantity= .

LOTS OF $100 LAPTOPS, THAT'S a KEY.

3. AND THE COUP DE GRACE (for $300 - $3000 PCs): The BLISTERPACK PC

When you see these on blisterpacks, you soon will see them in dollar stores (all kinds of dollar stores).

Breaking through the price floor will lower the price of all personal computers. Even Apple and Sony will not be able to hold the line. The bottom price point drags down the bottom line of all computer marketers and those companies and people who feed on them. It is very simple.

My opinion right now is that "computers" eventually will be offered for few tens of dollars. However, bear in mind that that is in 2010 dollars, not the inflated ones we will have when computers get into dollar stores, which might themselves change into "$5 Stores."

MORE FROM ENGADGET.COM

Engadget finally got on the ball with this and it is worth looking at: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/03/coby-85-smartbook-feels-like-a-hundred-bucks-hands-on/ .

How About a 32-inch Notebook for $150?

2010-02-06T07:31:00.002-06:00

Details at the link below:

http://www.hktdc.com/sourcing/company_product_detail.htm?companyid=1X041954&productid=818453&pathid=55&isothernode=false&isinventorynode=false&isstockofnode=false&isstockofothernode=false&entryPoint=1&locale=en

Live in NYC? Check out the Electronics Store where Celebs Go for Bargains

2010-02-03T15:01:00.004-06:00

Well, you know the old saying: "Everyone likes a bargain -- the rich *love* a bargain." Actors, politicians, stars, and has-beens ... you'll see them all at J&R Music and Computer World in Downtown New York (yes, NYC has a "downtown").

If you can't make it to the City, you can check out J&R's educational web site and get FREE SHIPPING.

While you're it in New York, also check out some of the smaller stores, typically run by recent immigrants who can offer knockoffs at a much lower price sometimes.

But J&R graduated from a hole to a city block (photo) and is well worth a look, as they can offer some of the lowest prices around.

They are at Park Row, between Beekman and Ann Streets, one block south of City Hall and two blocks north of Fulton Street, in Downtown New York. (New York's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg shops there.)

23 Park Row
New York, NY 10038
(across from City Hall Park)
Phone: 1-212-238-9000

How About a13-inch Notebook for $250?

2010-02-03T14:18:00.002-06:00

Meet the Hanbo. (Is there no end to these Chinese brand names)? http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/277051766/2010_new_netbook.html

It's around $250 direct from China, FREE SHIPPING, your payment protected by Alibaba (no delivery, no payment of your money).

As far as a day-in-and-day-out deal, one you can always get anytime you want it, this probably is about the best we can do for right now on a netbook computer of this size.

ANSWERING JOE WILCOX' ARTICLE IN "BETANEWS"

2010-02-02T16:23:00.004-06:00

I couldn't resist commenting on Joe Wilcox's blog article "Sony shows how to lift Windows PCs out of the low-price doldrums" http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Sony-shows-how-to-lift-Windows-PCs-out-of-the-lowprice-doldrums/1265139557 , which is the antithesis of the content on my blog:

Clayton Hallmark
Feb 2, 2010 - 5:03 PM [EST]

Well, Joe, you make a good argument, but you got it right the first time: What we are seeing is commoditization.

I have a whole blog dedicated to this, to the Alpha 400 and other cheapEST computers. If you live in New York City, you can prove to yourself, by visual observation, that maintaining ASP in PCs is the Impossible Dream. Go into any of the hole-in-the-wall cheap-electronics storefronts in Midtown (mostly) and you will see mini-laptops -- not worthy of the name, some would say -- that you can buy for around $100 any old day, no contracts and no strings attached. This might be true in other big cities as well, or soon will be.

There are literally thousands of sources for these cheap ARM-based notebooks in mainland China, hundreds of *manufacturers* even, all making basically the same no-name product -- that is, usually with no brand-name at all. Some have even set up shop in the USA, online and on the street.

Cheap products for the Chinese market can be sold cheaply here as well. They will flood the market and drag all ASPs down with them. You can even order these direct from China, often with the seller paying your shipping cost, on a single-unit basis, and your payment is even protected by something similar to PayPal (no delivery, no money). Unstoppable. (I am not giving my web address, but I had to respond to the very interesting article.)

HERE IS JOE WILCOX'S BASIC ARGUMENT, BUT GO TO HIS WEBSITE TO GIVE HIM A FAIR CHANCE:

http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Sony-shows-how-to-lift-Windows-PCs-out-of-the-lowprice-doldrums/1265139557

"Sony shows how to lift Windows PCs out of the low-price doldrums"

"Windows PC vendors can effectively raise selling prices -- not that it will be easy, particularly as long as they sell netbooks. One Windows PC OEM shows the way. Today, Sony announced new E-series laptops packing Intel i3 and i5 core processors and boasting, brashy colored exteriors. The $799.99 price is about $326 more than the average selling price of laptops sold at US retail in fourth quarter, according to NPD data."

"Selling Prices in Free Fall"

"US retail average selling prices fell for both Macs and Windows PCs during 2009, but for different reasons. For Windows PCs ..."

"Their wicked toll: In fourth quarter, notebook ASPs (including netbooks) declined to $473 from $604 a year earlier. Desktop ASP: $488 down from $533 year over year. Thank you, netbooks. May you burn in hell."

"By comparison, also during fourth quarter, Mac notebook ASP was $1,359 down from 1,507 a year earlier. Interesting trend: Mac laptop ASPs also fell below desktops. The desktop ASP was $1,366 down from $1,471 a year earlier."

"To Acer, Dell, HP and other Windows OEMs pushing cheap PCs, I say this: If you don't offer a premium brand with premium features at a reasonable premium price, your customers' next computer purchase will be a Mac. Get it?"

Again, Joe Wilcox's article is well worth the time to read it, and you can do so here: http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Sony-shows-how-to-lift-Windows-PCs-out-of-the-lowprice-doldrums/1265139557

ORDER $100 PCs DIRECT FROM CHINA -- You are protected by Alibaba payment, meaning you get delivery before the payment goes through.

2010-01-29T20:41:00.004-06:00

There are hundreds to choose from, but they are all the same!

Here is an example. This link http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/284166570-7inches-UMPC-Netbooks-Mini-Laptops-Laptops-Notebooks-Laptop-Computers-VIA-ARM-VT-8505-SSD-2GB-Memory-wholesalers.html takes you to the 7-inch mini-laptop in the photo, offered by Shenzhen Dongdai Industry Co., Ltd., in Shenzhen, China.

FINALLY ON THE STREET: The other photo shows one of the ubiquitous cheap-electronics stores in Manhattan. This is where it all typically starts. Best Buy and other store chains (even Walmart) hate these cheap laptops. The reason is, they are making so much money on selling laptops for 4-10 times as much. You will find these stores in downtown Chicago, Los Angeles, and other really big cities.

FREE SHIPPING FROM CHINA: Dongdai offers the laptop in the photo for $118, and they will pay the shipping cost from China to you.

The procedure is, (1) you go to the above site, (2) make your payment for $118 with your credit card to Alipay, a service of the well known Alibaba Chinese e-commerce site. You pay securely with your credit card without exposing your details. (3) Alipay holds your payment in escrow until your notebook is delivered. They forward your order to the seller / manufacturer, Dongdai. (4) Dongdai sends your computer. (5) You receive your computer and confirm delivery. (6) Alipay forwards the payment to Dongdai, the seller, after you get the product.

This service even provides a tracking number for you to track your order.

The laptop is like the other ARM computers we have been covering recently in posts like this: APPLE TABLET CLONE -- and Dozens of OTHER CHEAP PC'S .

There are literally thousands of sources in China for these ARM laptops, among which there are hundreds of manufacturers. There are even dozens of Chinese people in the US who have established online stores for cheap electronics in the United States.

WHO NEEDS BEST BUY? By now, I would expect laptops for $100 or close to it are available on the street in the US. They should be found in the many cheap-electronics storefronts in Midtown Manhattan, especially near Times Square. Soon these will be available in stores everywhere. Chicago, Los Angeles -- on the street in all the biggest cities.

However, don't look for these in the big chain stores. Again, who needs Best Buy, Microsoft, Fry's, or Geeks.com?

APPLE TABLET CLONE -- and Dozens of OTHER CHEAP PC'S

2010-01-29T18:19:00.003-06:00

Over 40 Computers UNDER $200 -- to buy from many online stores: CLICK LINK BELOW

http://www.bizrate.com/computers-software/products__absoluteMaxPrice--150000__absoluteMinPrice--0__keyword--computers__maxPrice--200__minPrice--0__priceRangeSubmit--yes__start--0__zipcode--zip%2Bcode.html

APPLE Tablet CLONE, SPECIAL NOTE:

Yesterday Apple introduced its coyily delayed tablet computer / reader, which they call the "iPad" and hope to sell for $500 (!). Lots of luck, Steve Jobs, because there already is a cheap Chinese version of this in the works (tablet photo), from a company that sells mini-laptops / notebooks for $66 to $80, depending on quantity, (laptop photo). The supercheap computer, which you can buy below, is based on Anyka's AK7802 processor, which is ARM based.

The King of Cheap, Sungworld, which offers the above, will also offer an Apple Tablet clone at a huge discount over the grossly inflated price Apple is advertising. No small computer should cost more than about $100, including anything from Apple.

PHOTO (laptop, above): $66 (quantity price) Mini-laptop from Sungworld. Click for more. The Chinese can have one. You can't. Ask yourself why.
If you want a sample of the above, quantity of one, Item E70002-5, it will be $80 plus shipping from China. The contact at Sungworld is Daniel Zhang, at direct line 86-755-89580577 , extension 8577.
FAX: 0755-89580501 URL: www.sungworld.com
E-mail: yw03@sungworld.com or daniel_dan2008@hotmail.com

If you want to distribute this, you can sell it for a lot less than $100. Quantity prices are: $73 in quantities of 500, $71 for 1000, $69 for 2000, and $66 for 3000. Larger quantities are negotiable.

And consider the following, which you can have right now, any day. Only extra cost is the usual, the shipping from US / Canada location to you (except for the Lightinthebox, see below).

Name / Price / Op System / CPU: Speed, make, CPU # (architecture, i.e., x86, ARM, MIPS, etc.)

(Low-cost shipping from US or Canada.)

Merimobiles "No Name" / $99.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 533-MHz VIA, VT8500 (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.merimobiles.com/Cheapest_7_inch_Mini_Notebook_Laptop_WIFI_Windows_p/meri0190.htm Telephone 1-800-204-0883

LightintheBox "No Name" / $99.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 300-MHz ANYKA, AK7802 (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.lightinthebox.com/index.php?main_page=shopping_cart&products_name=Mini-Netbook---7-TFT-ANKY-7802-300MHZ-256MB-DDR-2G-Storage---Laptop--SMQ4097-
Shipping $27.01, sales@lightinthebox.com

Inner Circle (phone with keyboard) / $94.99 / 2.2-inch / Windows CE / CPU: Unknown / WiFi, No
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.merimobiles.com/S73_Keyboard_dual_sim_TV_phone_p/meri0091.htm Telephone 1-800-204-0883

Cherrypal Africa / $99 / 7-inch / Linux / CPU: 400-MHz Ingenic, unknown number (MIPS) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.cherrypal.com/openstore/product_info.php?products_id=9&osCsid=c3e9349a07c665d1b83674256ddd88a8 Telephone: (650) 319-8300

Airlife / $119.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 533-MHz VIA, VT8500 (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.merimobiles.com/Airlife_7_inch_Notebook_Laptop_WIFI_Windows_CE_6_0_p/meri0189.htm Telephone 1-800-204-0883

Y'allStore.com "Mini-laptop" / $128.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 300-MHz VIA, (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.yallstore.com/laptops-notebooks-c-720.html
(518) 632-6888
===================

$100 PCs YOU CAN ORDER ANY DAY -- Including Platform for APPLE TABLET CLONE

2010-01-20T15:34:00.016-06:00

APPLE Tablet CLONE, SPECIAL NOTE:

Yesterday Apple introduced its coyily delayed tablet computer / reader, which they call the "iPad" and hope to sell for $500 (!). Lots of luck, Steve Jobs, because there already is a cheap Chinese version of this in the works (tablet photo), from a company that sells mini-laptops / notebooks for $66 to $80, depending on quantity, (laptop photo). The supercheap computer, which you can buy below, is based on Anyka's AK7802 processor, which is ARM based.

The King of Cheap, Sungworld, which offers the above, will also offer an Apple Tablet clone at a huge discount over the grossly inflated price Apple is advertising. No small computer should cost more than about $100, including anything from Apple.

PHOTO (laptop, above): $66 (quantity price) Mini-laptop from Sungworld. Click for more. The Chinese can have one. You can't. Ask yourself why.
If you want a sample of the above, quantity of one, Item E70002-5, it will be $80 plus shipping from China. The contact at Sungworld is Daniel Zhang, at direct line 86-755-89580577 , extension 8577.
FAX: 0755-89580501 URL: www.sungworld.com
E-mail: yw03@sungworld.com or daniel_dan2008@hotmail.com

If you want to distribute this, you can sell it for a lot less than $100. Quantity prices are: $73 in quantities of 500, $71 for 1000, $69 for 2000, and $66 for 3000. Larger quantities are negotiable.

And consider the following, which you can have right now, any day. Only extra cost is the usual, the shipping from US / Canada location to you (except for the Lightinthebox, see below).

Name / Price / Op System / CPU: Speed, make, CPU # (architecture, i.e., x86, ARM, MIPS, etc.)

(Low-cost shipping from US or Canada.)

Merimobiles "No Name" / $99.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 533-MHz VIA, VT8500 (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.merimobiles.com/Cheapest_7_inch_Mini_Notebook_Laptop_WIFI_Windows_p/meri0190.htm Telephone 1-800-204-0883

Airlife / $119.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 533-MHz VIA, VT8500 (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.merimobiles.com/Airlife_7_inch_Notebook_Laptop_WIFI_Windows_CE_6_0_p/meri0189.htm Telephone 1-800-204-0883

LightintheBox "No Name" / $99.99 / 7-inch / Windows CE / CPU: 300-MHz ANYKA, AK7802 (ARM) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.lightinthebox.com/index.php?main_page=shopping_cart&products_name=Mini-Netbook---7-TFT-ANKY-7802-300MHZ-256MB-DDR-2G-Storage---Laptop--SMQ4097-
Shipping $27.01, sales@lightinthebox.com

Inner Circle (phone with keyboard) / $94.99 / 2.2-inch / Windows CE / CPU: Unknown / WiFi, No
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.merimobiles.com/S73_Keyboard_dual_sim_TV_phone_p/meri0091.htm Telephone 1-800-204-0883

Cherrypal Africa / $99 / 7-inch / Linux / CPU: 400-MHz Ingenic, unknown number (MIPS) / WiFi, Yes
Order at Every Day Low Price: http://www.cherrypal.com/openstore/product_info.php?products_id=9&osCsid=c3e9349a07c665d1b83674256ddd88a8 Telephone: (650) 319-8300

ACER CHIEF STAN SHIH: China Will Rule -- With Cheap Computers

2010-01-19T17:35:00.003-06:00

An article here -- http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1587595/acer-us-pcs -- quotes the founder of Acer (about the only netbook maker that has kept the faith, kind of) as saying cheap Asian brands will drive the US brands out of business.

I already knew that, and this blog points the way. I don't think Mr. Shih will be pleased, however, by the way forward. His prices are about 5 to 10 times where the basic price point of mini laptops will end up.

Anyway, the article by Nick Farrell is worth clicking on (above). One thing that gentleman apparently doesn't get yet is that even Apple will be caught up in the price crunch. For Apple knockoffs, see the Shanzai.com site.

At some point, the Chinese as a nation will decide officially to get off the US-is-world-beater bandwagon and instead to upset the applecart by competing per force, including ignoring some US intellectual-property legalities. They are doing it unofficially already. "Shanzai" stands for "pirate."

You Can Now Buy a $100 PC (A Blister in the Side of Microsoft-Intel)

2010-01-13T15:03:00.012-06:00

Up front: I am not recommending (yet) the Cherrypal you have been hearing about. That might even be vaporware for now. But there finally is a real alternative, above, and you can get it by mail, from Canada, every-day low price, brand new, only need to buy one, just $99 ... (stay tuned).

The $100 PC has long been talked about but has been a long time coming. I toldja about it 5 years ago! It almost obviates the objective of this blog, which is:

Revolutionizing the Computer Industry By Provoking a PC Price War!

HOW TO BUY:

Click here. ................. Don't have to ship from China. It's close by in Canada. And it is $99 all the time. Something everyone can use. (If you think you are a techie, you can just play with it. For everyone else, the normal ones, it has Microsoft programs for just about every common application.) Easy to use and very useful. Note: The same deal is available for the same price in China, but that costs about $45 more just for shipping. Canada shipping cost to the US is MUCH less -- about the same cost as within the US, just a few dollars. The company is Merimobiles.com , a company long known to be dependable. CLICK HERE, and there's pages and pages of cool stuff.

And it is almost a secret. Almost. You can thank the Chinese for making the $100 PCs (manufacturing cost is more like $50 for a 7-inch low power mini-laptop) possible. You can blame Microsoft, Intel -- and just about everyone else in the PC industry, including magazines, PC reporters, market analysts, and websites like Cnet.

Finally, you can order a PC for under $100 -- any day, no contracts or strings attached, brand-new, not refurbished, no shipping charges from Asia, no minimum quantity, or any other catch -- and now you know how. If you want one, you can have it in hand in a few days.

MICROSOFT, INTEL, ENGADGET, ARSTECHNICA, GEEKS.COM, ASUS, HP, BEST BUY, FRY'S, ETC., WANT THIS THING KEPT UNDER WRAPS

C'mon, you already know why.... How they did it it (kept netbook prices high) is that Microsoft resurrected its old, dead XP operating system and practically gave it away to keep control of the smallest computers after the Asus Eee came out in late 2007. Their partner in crime, Intel, actually named the genre they were taking over, called it the "netbook" and started making cut-rate Atom chips for "netbooks. Microsoft and Intel dictated to their PC-maker licensees sizes of memory and screen that would guarantee netbooks" would get larger and more expensive. Asus and One Laptop Per Child caved in, and their promises of a $100 PC failed, derailed by US corporate interests at the expense of your interests.

I even discontinued this blog for a time, put it in limbo and went on a hiatus. Nothing new to report after the World's Cheapest Laptop, the $169 Alpha-400, was discontinued by Sungworld and Geeks.com. Well, the concept is back, for way less than $200, as I always knew it would be, and so are we.

THE GOAL: PCs SOLD ON BLISTER-PACK CARDS (Seem strange?)

The accompanying photo gives you PART of the picture. What is so special about that picture?

Think of it this way: Where do you get the cheapest consumer products? Forget about performance for a moment and forget your ego about being a techie or geek. You don't need a 19-inch laptop, 5 billion transistors, and an OS that takes all day to turn on or off. No one needs that for most computer work.

As to what is so special here, where do you get calculators for $1 or $2, or even a *graphing* calculator for less than $15? (Sorry, Texas Instruments.) Where do you get a radio for a buck? Where do you get everything for a dollar or 99 cents or less? And how are these things packaged?

DOLLAR STORES SELL GRAPHING CALCULATORS FOR $15 ON BLISTER-BACK CARDS HANGING ON A PEGBOARD.

The first scientific calculator -- never mind the first graphing one -- revolutionized electrical engineering and other scientific professions at a cost of over $700 apiece in the early 1970s. It put the slide rule in the museum with the buggy whips. Grizzled old engineers grouped around the first colleague to get one, and drooled, at first. Now they are old hat you can get them for about $3 or $4 (Balzic brand-name) at:

Drug stores
Hardware stores
Dollar stores
Discount stores

THEY ARE PACKAGED ON BLISTER-PACK CARDS, and the same thing will happen to PCs.

Now of course an engineer will have to spend close to $100 or more for a professional graphing calculator, and TI still is making those.

Same thing will happen with computers. The masses will buy supercheap PCs, for perhaps $20-$50, destroying 100s of companies and 100s of thousands of jobs in designing, marketing, retailing, advertising, and reporting on $500-$5000 PCs -- and these expensive PCs will become the niche market. They won't disappear, of course.

THAT'S WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT BLISTER-PACK COMPUTERS

They won't eliminate all other computers for consumers, let alone professional users. However, when you actually see one like that in the photo to the right, you will know the revolution has begun. The blister-pack PC hanging on a pegboard at the dollar store won't be out this year, but you CAN get a mini-laptop for $100 any day of the year, everyday low price like Walmart (just follow the link above). We are on our way. Even Apple is having to intro cut-rate notebooks.

Clayton Hallmark

3 Notebooks for Less Than $150 Here

2009-08-03T21:41:00.002-06:00

They are at the following address:
http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=NBB

Asus Eee PC 4G 701 Celeron M 900MHz 512MB 4GB SSD 7" Netbook Linux (White)
4GB SSD 7" Netbook Linux (White)
Part # EEEPC4G-701-WHT-R
Refurbished
Almost Gone
$144.95

Asus Eee PC 900 Celeron M 900MHz 512MB 4GB SSD 8.9" Netbook Linux (Black)
4GB SSD 8.9" Netbook Linux (Black)
Part # EEEPC900-BK072-R
Refurbished
Almost Gone
$149.95

Asus Eee PC 900 Celeron M 900MHz 512MB 4GB SSD 8.9" Netbook Linux (White)
4GB SSD 8.9" Netbook Linux (White)
Part # EEEPC900-W073-R
Refurbished
Almost Gone
$149.95

Where to Get the Alpha 400 for $169.99

2009-08-03T12:30:00.002-06:00

The Alpha 400 has sold out again at Geeks.com, but we can always order the Alpha 400 directly from its source, BestLink. No need too wait on Geeks.
http://www.bestlinkeshop.com/index.php?p=1&more=pro_onsales&listing=0&s=bc193b41e15660c150d56274a20bfc6b&lang=en

You can order the Alpha 400 for $169.99 at the above address. This is most common price that Geeks.com has used anyway.

For a full description of the mini-laptop click on the link below.
http://www.bestlinkeshop.com/index.php?p=6&id=11?s=10462d69a9c7eec43853b3235022aeb9

STEVE BALLMER SHOWS MICROSOFT'S TRUE COLORS: "Raise the Price of Netbooks" Here's an open letter: "Fat chance, fat man!"

2009-08-01T11:57:00.003-06:00

Open Letter to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation:

Dear Mr. Ballmer:

In a recent presentation to stock-market analysts at Microsoft headquarters, you admitted that Microsoft wants to raise the price of netbooks. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/31/microsoft_plans_to_use_windows_7_to_raise_netbook_prices.html

You are admitting what I have accused your partner in crime (Intel) of, numerous times in posts here: bait and switch. When Asus came out with its revolutionary Model EEE, which is to computing what the Model T is to cars, you used the monopoly power of Microsoft to drive Linux off the Asus mini-laptops and later almost completely off "netbooks" (a term established by Intel) by practically giving away a Windows product, XP, that you had discarded. Now Microsoft's profits are down 29 percent for the last three months, based on cheaper XP dragging down Windows revenue http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2009526346_webmicrosoft23.html ; and you hope to "upgrade" everyone with Windows 7, which means extracting much more money from home and enterprise users, especially, those who use small, cheap computers.

You have said you hope to use Windows 7 to bring up the price of netbooks. Actually, that would be the tail wagging the dog: Netbooks are bigger than Microsoft, and your latest OS introduction will be a flop, just like Vista.

I have news for you: The basic law of microelectronics is not the well known Moore's Law (named after the cofounder of your partner in Wintel, for those who still don't know), which says maximum transistors on a CPU will double regularly. The basic law of microelectronics is not Moore's Law and it's not "More is better," meaning use the more complex chips for more performance (speed) and "featurism" -- 1001 features that almost no one needs on an operating system or application program and that just slow down the computer and get in the way of the user.

The Basic Law of Microelectronics Is ...

It is Van der Rohe's Law (not Moore's): "Less is more." I wrote one of the early books with "microelectronics" in the title, and I have been interested in this since long before the PC came out.

Electronic components like microprocessors get smaller because people want cheaper and more portable end products. At first it was radios, TVs, tape players, and other consumer electronics. Of course it's the same with computers -- of course.

People can find 15-inch laptops for $300 in the Sunday advertising supplements, and any day of the week in Walmart or electronics stores. These cheap laptops use your operating systems. Do you think you are going to get people who have been exposed to these to go back to notebooks or laptops selling for 3-10 times as much just because you are introducing a new Windows 7 OS with new bells and whistles and eye-candy?

Mr. Ballmer, with all *due* respect, you are not going to be able to turn back the clock. You have baited people with $35 XP, but you won't be able to switch them to Windows 7 on computers costing $500, $1000, or multiples thereof. Maybe you were foolish for staying in the cheap-computer fray as long as you did. You have let the horses out of the barn.

Less is more. You and all in the computing game will soon see. I eagerly await the introduction of Windows 7 on Times Square in New York and seeing it on the famous electronic billboard. I eagerly await crowds of yahoos standing in the cold outside the doors of the Best Buy in Brooklyn (Ohio) at one in the morning (just as they did for Vista) to get the first copies of Windows 7. I will be watching on my $100+ mini-laptop from Geeks.com.

Yours truly,

Clayton L. Hallmark

Sold Out Already

2009-07-31T10:36:00.002-06:00

The near-$100 computer deal at Geeks.com has sold out again, much sooner than I expected, less than a day after I posted it.

This shows the revolutionary demand at a level near $100, even for a 7-inch computer.

When will someone break that barrier on a more or less permanent basis? This year or next?

The results will be amazing, as most people don't know you can get a brand-new computer anywhere near that cheap.

Get Alpha 400 + FREE SHIPPING for $129.99

2009-07-31T00:31:00.003-06:00

I said a few posts ago that Geeks.com had reached the "sweet spot of computer pricing" at $129 for the 9-inch Asus EEE PC. They ran out of that and similar deals in a few days.

Well, the deals are back, with one on our beloved Skytone Alpha-400.

Please click here http://www.geeks.com/additem.asp?InvtId=ALPHA-400-R&Cat=NBB to get the Alpha-400 for $129.99 with no shipping charge. Be sure to use the code FREESHIP during checkout at Geeks.com.

I wouldn't wait too long if you want the world's cheapest price for a computer that is brand new and not refurbished or subsidized.

We are very close to the $100 computer now, which is not the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) and never will be.

President Obama in the Funny Papers

2009-07-28T09:38:00.001-06:00

$100 PC Era Brought by Asus EEE PC, Not OLPC, After All: $129, 9" LCD, at Geeks (Also Alpha 400 at $134+)

2009-07-11T12:09:00.009-06:00

MONDAY, JULY 13, 2009 - UPDATE: GEEKS.COM DISCOVERS "SWEET SPOT" OF COMPUTER PRICE POINTS: It's $129.

The sweet spot of computer pricing apparently is not $99 as many of us thought, but $129. Geeks now offers a 7-inch Everex CloudBook for $129.99
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CE1200V-PB-R&cpc=SCH (refurbished). They sold out of the refurbished Asus 900 at $129.99, which was supposed to be available through July 31. Sold out Saturday night, July 11. In the bargain they also sold out of the ALPHA-400 at $149.99, which they have been selling brand-new for a long time (presumably it will be restocked).

They also offer the newer Asus EEE PC 900A (note "A") for $179.99 http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EEEPC900A-WFBB01-R again refurbished, details below.

Rounding out the best deals online, is the Alpha-400 (brand new) at $130-$150 http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ALPHA-400&cpc=SCH when and if it is in stock.

BEST DEALS IN COMPUTING

Also, you can usually find a standard laptop, around 15-inch LCD, in the Sunday advertising flyers in your local paper for a few bucks over $300.
----------------------------------------

$129.99 Refurbished

* Everex CloudBook CE1200V VIA C7-M 1.2 GHz 7-inch Netbook

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CE1200V-PB-R&cpc=SCH

* General Features:
* Color: Black
* gOS Rocket Operating System pre-installed
* VIA C7-M 1.2 GHz Ultra Low Voltage Processor
* VIA VX700 Northbridge / Southbridge chipset
* 512 MB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM (1 GB maximum supported)
* 30 GB hard drive
* No Optical Drive
* VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics
* Built-in Webcam
* VIA VT1708A Vinyl High-Definition Audio Codec with built-in speakers
* Realtek 8100C 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet
* Realtek 802.11b/g Wireless Network Adapter
* 80-key US keyboard with TouchPad
* 7-inch WVGA Widescreen Display (800 x 480 native resolution)
* Built-in 4-in-1 Card Reader
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
$179.99 Refurbished

* Asus Eee PC 900A Atom N270 1.60 GHz 8.9-inch Netbook

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EEEPC900A-WFBB01-R

* General Features:
* Pearl white color
* Asus customized Linux operating system
* Intel Atom N270 1.60 GHz processor
* 1 GB DDR2 RAM
* 4 GB SSD (Solid-State Disk) internal storage capacity
* No optical drive
* No floppy drive
* Intel UMA integrated video
* Integrated high definition audio with built-in speakers
* Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
* 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
* Keyboard with touchpad
* Built-in memory card reader
* 8.9-inch Wide LCD display with 1024 x 600 resolution (WSVGA)

=========================================================

SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2009

One of the things that capitalists fear the most, believe it or not, is the concept of a $100 PC. That's why ever since the Asus EEE came out in October 2007 there has been constant pressure to up the performance -- and of course the price -- from every kind of news and PR source and of course from Microsoft, who have practically been willing to give away their once-discarded XP OS to get it on so-called "netbooks" (as their partner in crime, Intel, promptly dubbed them).

The $100 PC originally was promised by the nonprofit OLPC (One Laptop Per Child project), and they failed to deliver, even switched from Linux to that "vast capitalist conspiracy," Windows. Even Asus failed to attain $100 exactly and switched to Windows also.

But can we finally agree that the day of "the computer you need is always $5000" -- gross exploitation of computer consumers by corporate capitalism -- is over and the day of $100 PCs (laptops, notebooks, MIDs, smartphone computers, etc.) is finally here? http://www.geeks.com/pix/2009/900M.html I mean, if Geeks.com can sell a 9-inch version for $129.95, that's close enough for me to declare victory. Even if it is only for July 2009. And even if the unit is a refurb (3-month warranty, which American Express should extend to 1-year if you use them). (Buyer Beware: When you order on a special deal online, don't forget to apply the "secret savings code," 900M here, at checkout to get the near $100 price http://www.geeks.com/pix/2009/900M.html . Write the code down as soon as you see it.) If you insist on brand new, and if a 7-inch screen will suffice, the same outfit offers our beloved ALPHA-400, always, day in and day out, for $149.99 (sometimes near $130) http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ALPHA-400&cpc=SCH .

As I said in October 2007, the Asus EEE PC will be remembered as the Model T of computers -- the computer for the masses that put the world on the Web (and not just the core developed nations). In a sense, there is a chance to get your piece of history -- and as Henry Ford might say today, "In any color you want, as long as it's black or white."

A REAL DISGRACE -- THE INTEL-MICROSOFT OCTUPUS STILL RULES

On a recent trip to the Microcenter store out in Mayfield Heights, I was shocked to find not one Linux notebook. And this was one of the first retailers to carry the Asus EEE PC in bricks-and-mortar stores. More recently, news reports say that Microsoft XP has about a 99-percent share in mini-laptops (netbooks) being sold now.

Do you feel baited and switched? It's a technique as old as retailing, mercantilism, and probably trade itself; and it works best under capitalism: "Underpowered." "Unfamiliar." "For kids." "Not for intensive gaming, video editing [or whatever]." "Needs a larger screen for real work" [as large as that mural-sized LCD on your wall, or is a 2" cellphone screen enough sometimes?]. Or as Bill Gates famously said, "Geez, get yourself a decent computer."

NONCOMMERCIAL, OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE WILL FREE THE WORLD'S PEOPLE FROM THIS KIND OF EXPLOITATION

Ultimately the Wintel netbook version of bait and switch will fail. People will try the various versions of Linux and find that Windows is not easier, just more familiar. But HERE IS WHY MICROSOFT ALWAYS SEEMS TO WIN: The Wizard hides behind an iron curtain of PC magazine and Engadget propaganda -- incorporating PC users themselves and foolish word-of-mouth on forums, in comments, etc. -- convincing people that he is all-wise and that they need him to boss them, and especially to provide all of their software needs. Anything else, he will tell them, is difficult and unreliable. I would venture that everyone reading this knows that that is of course a lie.

The average person who tries a Linux laptop or notebook or other device and overcomes the simple-minded snare of familiarity will agree with me as well. Remember, Linux is the computer language of the people. It is there to help. Commercial software is something that has been fenced in (like land in the Range Wars of the Old West), copyrighted, and patented and is out there to make a profit for the richest man in the world.

So to doubters, quit being a computer wimp and a baby: Give up the security blanket of boxed, store-bought software and try open-source, the software of the people.

Världens billigaste netbook: The world's cheapest netbook

2009-07-07T14:51:00.004-06:00

By Niklas Andersson [Photo]

This is just in from the Swedish magazine Tech World via the Swedish version of the IDG website http://opensource.idg.se/2.1014/1.238036/varldens-billigaste-netbook. The translation is by Google:

"Nicolas Negroponte's dream of a computer for a hundred U.S. dollars looks to soon come true, but it is not his own creation that crosses the finishing line.

The Belco Alpha 400 has been sold for as little as 1070 kronor for a sales campaign.

A computer should not cost more than a hundred U.S. dollars, thought MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, and he started the project One Laptop Per Child (OLPC).

The project launched what Sony called a "race to the bottom" with constantly falling prices and reduced margins.

OLPC developed around Linux for cutting off what became the single largest cost component - the operating system.

OLPC and Linux became the catalyst for the entire netbook industry, where ASUS was the first out with its Eee PC-700, which took the world by storm and where the sales target was up to five million units. Since then, the majority of PC manufacturers had to jump on the netbook train with continued depressed prices as a result.

OLPC project since its inception has had several difficult periods. Negroponte's controversial move that the device could also ship with Windows has outraged the open-source community, which endorsed the product mainly for it to ship with free software. OLPC has also seen itself forced to fire much of the staff, and sales success has failed to materialize.

The last public price information for an OLPC was at $188, or $88 off target.

The price has now, however, been approached by a number of manufacturers with models like the Asus Eee PC-900 which Geek.com sells for $194.99. [Note: Andersson, like journalist Caitlyn Martin in the US, does not distinguish between new and REFURBISHED. The PC-900 at Geeks is a refurb. The Alpha is brand new, never tampered with.]

If processor architecture is a minor consideration, there are even cheaper computers. Belco Alpha 400 is a netbook with a MIPS processor, and the computer approached during a campaign a price of $139. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=ALPHA-400&cm_mmc=GoogleProducts-_-Laptops/Notebooks-_-NetBooks-_-ALPHA-400&utm_source=GoogleProducts&utm_medium=ShoppingSites&utm_campaign=ALPHA-400

Most point to the trend of falling prices continuing. The company behind the processor ARM say they have several models ready for the autumn, which in addition to lower price will offer significantly longer battery times.

The cheapest netbooks we see today go for $139, or around 1070 SEK. So for the mini size, we have 70 kronor left until our dream limit is reached - a thousand kronor - which may take place as soon as autumn.

Nicolas Negroponte should probably wait until next year.

Coby to Buy NBPC1020, Other 10-Inch Netbooks from Kophee Technologies Co., Ltd.

2009-07-02T12:06:00.007-06:00

---------------------------------
UPDATE MON 6JUL09

KOPHEE Technologies Co., Ltd., of Shenzhen China apparently is the maker of the Coby notebooks or netbooks.

The relationship with Coby Electronics could be more than manufacturer-destributor. This could be one of what Coby refers to as "sister companies." Also note the similarity in the names, depending on how you pronounce Coby and Kophee.

News reports have stated that Coby has supplied notebooks to S. America, Asia, and Korea. Kophee does have Korean ties. Also, the Coby/Kophee model numbers already are being marketed by Eltech in the United Arab Emirates, which says its IT hardware is "designed in the USA" and "manufactured in Korea and China" and which all fits in with Coby Electronics. The UAE is in southwest Asia.

So apparently the first seller of the Coby notebooks like the NBPC1022 is Eltech in Asia, or the Middle East.
---------------------------------

You can get an Alpha-400 mini-laptop like we are promoting here for $134.99 here http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=ALPHA-400&cm_mmc=GoogleProducts-_-Laptops/Notebooks-_-NetBooks-_-ALPHA-400&utm_source=GoogleProducts&utm_medium=ShoppingSites&utm_campaign=ALPHA-400 from GEEKS.COM, the best buy around for a NEW computer (some journalists like Caitlin Martin have unfairly compared this to even better "bargains" in refurbished, used computers). Or you might someday be able to get a 10-inch Coby for $240 as explained below.

The long-awaited "netbook" PCs of the American Champ of Cheap, Coby Electronics, apparently will be manufactured by Kophee Technologies Co., Ltd., of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. This could be coming to discount stores (and other outlets) everywhere.

Two colorful examples are in the photograph (click to enlarge). Be sure to go to the Kophee page here http://www.asianproducts.com/company/index.php?op=product&item_id=P12377177554252927&cno=A12377167151930742 for details of the NBPC-1022, which supposedly will soon be sold by Coby in South America as well as in Korea and other Asian countries for the equivalent of $240.

The other three 10-inch mini-laptops listed on the site of Shenzhen Coby Communications Co., Ltd., are at this link: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:2kB1cm3auDIJ:www.kophee.com/main/home/cp.php%3Fcatid%3D3%26nowmenuid%3D2%26cpath%3D0003:+%22nbpc1022%22&cd=11&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

The Kophee Technologies Co. page shows that the company will sell in lots of 100 units minimum and can provide up to 200,000 a year.

If anyone can offer a 10-inch mini-laptop -- brand new, not refurbished as many tricksters in the press try to use to confuse the issue -- for $240 in the United States, Kophee and Coby will need to gear up production. And, as for Michael Dell and Bill Gates, in the words of long-ago president Harry Truman, "When that happens [they'll] need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!"

World's Cheapest PC Computer -- Alpha 400 at Near $100

2009-07-01T10:22:00.004-06:00

CLICK PIC TO ENLARGE.

Can we say the day of the $100 computer has arrived?

"SnaggStuff.com is a place to find way under priced tech gadgets. We offer one product daily that is available until sold out or until the next product is available. New products are posted every day at 10:10 AM CST."

SnaggStuff.com is based out of a suburb in Memphis, TN. Also, note that there are two "g's" in "Snagg."

Here's their URL.
http://snaggstuff.com/alpha-400-mips-400mhz-128mb-1gb-7--linux-ultralite-notebook.html

COBY Electronics Netbook CONFIRMED HERE: NBPC-1022 -- 10", $240

2009-06-27T13:37:00.012-06:00

You can replace your heavy old PC for $240. The graphic shows that a 10-inch screen is big enough for general work.

The SECOND graphic shows the Coby Electronics page displaying the Coby netbook NBPC 1022 and 7 other mini-laptops. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)

See the actual page at the following link: http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/CategoryList.html?ProductMultiCategoryPicker210_action=Searchcategory&ProductPicker_action=Searchcategory&CategoryID=c373e91c17a62c958f7bb9bfe8b52750#

The THIRD graphic shows the Coby Electronics page with the specifications of the NBPC-1022 netbook (Click on it to enlarge.)

See the specs page here: http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/ProductInfoExhibit.html?ProductInfoExhibit_ProductID=c373e91fae98632a8fea6cf251e6dcb6&ProductInfoExhibit_isRefreshParent=false

THIS COMPANY IS INDEED A SUBSIDIARY OF THE FAMILIAR "COBY ELECTRONICS CORPORATION" OF MASPETH, NEW YORK.

The FOURTH graphic shows this. (Click to enlarge.)

You can see the whole "COBY proof" page by clicking on the ABOUT US link in the Shenzhen page: http://www.cobysz.com/newEbiz1/EbizPortalFG/portal/html/about.html ..

The FIFTH graphic shows the specifications of the Coby NBPC 1022.

THIS IS BIG, BIG NEWS. WHY AM I SAYING THAT?

10-INCH SCREEN IS ENOUGH.

If you can read a page off a printer or typewriter, then you can use a 10-inch screen full time with no problem. A 10-inch mini-laptop or netbook should be able to replace your regular or current PC at a greatly reduced price -- a depression-era computer.

COBY NETBOOK PRODUCT LINEUP

1. Product Number: NBPC722
Description:
7” Net Book * 7" TFT LCD (800x480) * CPU with Marvell PXA303 624GHz * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro * 1GB to 16GB Storage * LAN 10/100M * 0.3M Pixels Camera(optional) * Wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows CE * Rechargeable Li-ion battery (3 Cells/7.4V/2200mAH) * 215mm X 146mm X 28mm

2. Product Number: NBPC800
Description:
8” Net Book * 8" TFT LCD (800x480) * CPU with Marvell PXA303 624GHz * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro * 1GB to 16GB Storage * LAN 10/100M * 1.3M Pixels Camera(optional) * Wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows CE * Rechargeable Li-ion battery (2 Cells/7.4V/2200mAH) * 215mm X 146mm X 28mm

3. Product Number: NBPC822
Description:
8” Net Book * 8" TFT LCD (800x480) * CPU with Intel Atom processor N270 * 160GB(Up to 500GB)2.5" HDD * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro(up to 32GB) * 1GB DDR2 667/533/400MHz(up to 2GB) * LAN 10/100M * 0.3M Pixels Camera * Built-in high-speed wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows XP/Windows Vista * Rechargeable Polymer battery (3 Cells/11.1V/2200 * 252mm X 190mm X 34mm

4. Product Number: NBPC892
Description:
NBPC892 8.9” Net Book * 8.9" TFT LCD (1024x600) * CPU with Intel Atom processor N270 * 160GB(Up to 500GB)2.5" HDD * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro(up to 32GB) * 1GB DDR2 667/533/400MHz(up to 2GB) * LAN 10/100M * 0.3M Pixels Camera * Built-in high-speed wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows XP/Windows Vista * Rechargeable Polymer battery (3 Cells/11.1V/2200mAH) * 252mm X 190mm X 32.5mm

5. Product Number: NBPC1022
Description:
10” Net Book * 10" TFT LCD (1024x600) * CPU with Intel Atom Processor N270 * 160GB(Up to 500GB)2.5" HDD * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro(up to 32GB) * 1GB DDR2 667/533/400MHz(up to 2GB) * LAN 10/100M * 0.3M Pixels Camera * Built-in high-speed wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows XP/Windows Vista * Rechargeable Li-ion battery (3 Cells/11.1V/2200mAH) * 256mm x 183mm x 34mm

6. Product Number: NBPC1028
Description:
10” Net Book * 10" TFT LCD (1024x600) * CPU with Intel Atom processor N270 * 160GB(Up to 500GB)2.5" HDD * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro(up to 32GB) * 1GB DDR2 667/533/400MHz(up to 2GB) * LAN 10/100M * 1.3M Pixels Camera * Built-in high-speed wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows XP/Windows Vista * Rechargeable Li-ion battery (3 Cells/11.1V/2200mAH) * 258mm X 197mm X 25.5mm

7. Product Number: NBPC1030
Description:
10” Net Book * 10" TFT LCD (1024x600) * CPU with Intel Atom processor N270 * 160GB(Up to 500GB)2.5" HDD * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro(up to 32GB) * 1GB DDR2 667/533/400MHz(up to 2GB) * LAN 10/100M * 0.3M Pixels Camera * Built-in high-speed wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows XP/Windows Vista * Rechargeable Li-ion battery (3 Cells/11.1V/2200mAH) * 258mm X 197mm X 25.5mm

8. Product Number: NBPC1220
Description:
12” Net Book * 12" TFT LCD (1280x800) * CPU with AMD K8 * 160GB(Up to 500GB)2.5" HDD * Support SD, MMC, MS / MS Pro(up to 32GB) * 1GB DDR2 667/533/400MHz(up to 2GB) * LAN 10/100M * 0.3M Pixels Camera * Built-in high-speed wireless LAN(802.11 b/g) * Support Linux/Windows XP/Windows Vista * Rechargeable Polymer battery (4 Cells/7.4V/4400mAH) * 296mm X 223mm X 28mm

COBY Has a Netbook: NB PC1022 -- World's Cheapest 10-Inch?

2009-06-26T12:34:00.007-06:00

Coby NB PC1022: The Cheapest 10-inch Netbook at $240 -- Coming to Big Lots, CVS, etc.?

This is an appealing product, a screen that size for that price. To get an idea of the screen size, fold a sheet of typing paper in half. If you measure diagonally, that is 10 inches -- not quite the right aspect ratio, but you get the idea.

What would be the cheapest 10-inch laptop was displayed at the Comptex computer show early this month in Taiwan. The display (photo) was in a section reserved for mainland Chinese companies.

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF COBY NETBOOK 1022, CLICK HERE. One photo shows Windows 7 malware (ugh), but I would not expect that (or buy it).

The company is Coby Electronics, based in Shenzhen (Guangdong province). The logo on the machines (see photo) is the same as that of the famous US supplier of consumer packaged electronics (bubblepacks, etc.) to discount stores, which is based in the New York City area. Coby Electronics in New York denied last December that they were producing a mini-laptop computer, then showed about 10 of them at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. See here: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/08/cobys-sub-200-netbooks-handled-at-ces/

However, the company displaying at the Computex show claims to be selling the PC1022 in Korea, S. America, and parts of Asia. As you can see, its logo appears to be the same as the one we are all familiar with from seeing it at Big Lots and other cheap outlets. The relationship between the American Coby and the Chinese Coby is unclear. The American company does have a factory in Foshan China.

So I would be on the outlook for this:

The Coby NB PC1022 is a 10-inch netbook with an Atom N270 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 160 GB of storage. A webcam is included so that you’ll get the fullest netbook experience. The price for large orders is $220.

Steve Jobs Probably Dying From Cancer

2009-06-24T20:46:00.003-06:00

All of the hullabaloo about Steve Jobs's illness and the way Apple Computer has handled -- or rather, obfuscated it -- are small potatoes compared to the fact that he probably is dying of cancer.

Jobs had pancreatic cancer -- always a grim diagnosis -- and it metastasized. He was operated on for this and became sick again, and was visibly ailing in many public appearances. Eventually, he announced a 6-month leave of absence on false pretenses, hiding the fact that the cancer had returned, having spread to his liver. During this time he had his recent liver transplant and announced plans to return to work by the end of June.

For once I hope I am wrong about what I am blogging, but the chances of the cancer not having spread to other sites besides the liver at the same time it spread to the pancreas seem remote. Also, the chances that "they got all of it" when they removed the liver recently are even more remote.

Cancer surgeons will tell you that the word "cure" is not in their vocabulary. Jobs's case is especially bad. He had cancer in one of the worst sites, the pancreas, and it metastasized to another bad spot. All of the time this was happening, a few mutated cells could have spread anywhere in the body.

Apple investors need to face facts and consider what the untimely loss of Mr. Jobs will mean to a company that relies on spectacular innovations that are basically a one-man show. Mr. Jobs and Apple need to start being honest about his illness with those to whom they have a fiduciary responsibility. He does not have a right to mislead his shareholders about the state of his health. It is not just "his business and nobody else's except his family's." Apple is a definite sell, based on Steve Jobs's prospects for continuing to lead it.

I really hope I am wrong about his outcome.

STEAL THIS E-BOOK!

2009-06-23T13:02:00.003-06:00

Pirate Party Gets Seats in European and German Parliaments

In the Swedish election of June 7, the Swedish Pirate Party won one of Sweden's 18 seats in the European Parliament headquartered in Brussels Belgium.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10259048-38.html

It is now Sweden's third biggest party by membership. Its ranks swelled when four men were sentenced to prison in the high-profile Pirate Bay case in April. People use Web sites like The Pirate Bay to transfer movies and music, a practice that has drawn the ire--and the lawyers--of Hollywood studios and the recording industry.

The Pirate Party is not formally connected with The Pirate Bay, but has officially expressed support for the Web site.

The party wants all noncommercial copying to be free and file sharing to be encouraged. The copyright system, it argues, is out of whack--rather than encouraging the spread of culture, the system now imposes severe restrictions.
--------

Member of German Social Democrat Party Jumps Ship -- Hops on the Pirate Party Ship

The German Pirate Party has a new reason to celebrate. Not only do they have a member, soon to be two members, in the European parliament, but now they have a member in the German Bundestag (German Parliament). The Pirate Party website posted about this development on their blog.

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=http://www.piratpartiet.se/&ei=m6g0SqSSKpPCsQOm5OSmDg&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpirate%2Bpartiet%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26hs%3D6I5

Piratpartiet now in the German Reichstag

Pressmeddelande 20 juni kl 20:20 Press Release June 20 at 20:20

Jörg Tauss, socialdemokrat i tyska riksdagen, har hoppat av sitt parti SPD till förmån för Piratpartiet. Jörg Taussig, a Social Democrat in the German Reichstag, has dropped out of his party SPD in favor of Piratpartiet. Det tyska Piratenpartei har därmed fått sin första ledamot i riksdagen. The German Piratenpartei therefore has its first member of the Riksdag.

– Vi välkomnar att fler ser att kampen för fri kommunikation i ett öppet samhälle är rätt väg att gå, och inte censur, blockeringar och övervakning, säger Rick Falkvinge, partiledare för det svenska Piratpartiet. - We welcome the fact that more can see that the fight for free communication in an open society is the way forward, and not censorship, blocking and monitoring, "says Rick Falk Vinge, party leader for the Swedish Piratpartiet. Det är särskilt glädjande att en befintlig riksdagsledamot ser detta. It is particularly gratifying to an existing MP sees this.

Just In: $139.99 -- Are they outta their mind? WORLD'S CHEAPEST COMPUTER

2009-06-19T13:08:00.006-06:00

Unbelievably cheap: Click for details ....

I want to comment on the comments made by Raindog469 in reply to my previous post today (the "$149" post below). Raindog made some good comments, and I want to encourage more of the same.

------------------------
raindog469 said...

While you've drawn a distinction between primary (new) and secondary (used) markets in the past, I think there's a third market in between those, namely the overstock/liquidation market served by geeks.com, woot.com and others (throw in refurbs as well to further complicate the picture.) I think that for the next decade or so, the only way to get a $16 blisterpack PC like the one in the mockup will be to buy about 10,000 pieces of someone's liquidated inventory, sold at a loss to recoup part of their investment. Even 5" portable DVD players haven't gotten that cheap, except used.

Geeks.com does a lot of overstock business and I strongly suspect that they're doing that with these little laptops, though I haven't the faintest idea what Belco's original distribution channels would have been. Products sold this way might not be used (except for refurbs), but they're not really "new", either. Someone has given up on selling them for full price and is now just trying to lose as little as possible.

That said, I think there'll be some seriously cheap PCs available through that channel in a few years. I paid $500 for my first 1-megapixel digital camera in 1999, and now you can get 3-megapixel digital cameras with preview screens in blisterpacks for about $20 when last year's models go on clearance. It looks like the $149 ARM netbook will be fairly common this xmas, and if it follows digital cameras and DVD players, next year everyone will have them as $99 doorbusters. A few more iterations of that, and you might start seeing the previous year's stuff on the Wal-mart clearance racks in May or June for around $50, which by that time will be pretty close to their material cost. But by the time we see a blister pack PC for $16, I think the functionality of a PC will either be irrelevant or incorporated into some other device that doesn't cost much more than that (as low-end cameras were absorbed into phones.)

There's one other possibility that could result in PCs with prices in the low two-digit range. I was at one of the big box stores recently, can't remember which one, and in their clearance section they had something that looked like a mini-laptop for $39 whose entire purpose was to check your email, and nothing else. No idea what it was running under the hood, but it was useless without a $10/month subscription to the manufacturer's email service, which had been shut down. I think we haven't seen the last of the "PeoplePC" style business models (a variation has already turned up with phone carriers distributing netbooks cheaply or for free with 2-year data contracts, but structured as a discount or rebate rather than actual cheap hardware), and it may be that the first sub-$50 laptop is the result of someone subsidizing the hardware that way and then going belly-up. But unless there were a strong support community with easy ways for non-technical users to get rid of the software tying the laptops to services that had gone out of business, that wouldn't be good for either consumers or the cheap-PC movement. So I'm betting on the "last year's model on clearance" phenomenon.

------------------------------
My reply (not a rebuttal, just some additional thoughts) ...

These are good comments that offer hope on several fronts. I would certainly settle for your "last year's model on clearance" scenario -- if that's what it takes to finally get the ball rolling on really cheap laptops.

I have had the same impression, that Geeks.com is somewhat a closeout operation. But as far as the Alpha 400 is concerned, Geeks.com really has't been doing much beyond offering it at a fair everyday price. The company that branded the Alpha 400 -- Belco (aka Bestlink) -- has been offering it at the everyday low price of $149 for some time. Please refer to this site.

I don't see much reason why ARM computers should beat the MIPS machines on price.

I think we shall see mini-laptops on bubblepacks for less than $20 on a standalone basis in a few years, rather than just embedded in something else. Smartphones, laptops, DVD players, and everything else electronic can be made much cheaper if made in very large volumes, as you know.

Certainly laptops are not going away, and I think the cheapest ones should get below $20 in a few years now that the focus of at least some manufacturers is on low price above everything else. These might have less demanding specifications and more flimsy construction than the Alpha 400, however. They might have smaller screens than 7 inches as well.

Finally Moore's Law is working the other way he predicted it would, other than just for higher performance at the higher end. It is at last working for lower price at the bottom end as well. Please see the illustration (click to enlarge it) from Moore's famous 1965 article in "Electronics".

If cellphone service providers decide to subsidize the cheapest PCs, that could achieve the economy of scale to cut the prices drastically in 2010 for MIPS as well as ARM devices.

If Coby Electronics jumped into the price war, that would be a tipping point.

If Walmart is still interested in offering a $100 laptop as Skytone says they were, and if someone can supply one at an appropriate discount to Walmart, that would be a game changer. And if closeout brick-and-mortar stores like Odd Lots and drugstores like CVS jumped in, there could at last be a general awareness of the Alpha 400 and other cheap mini-laptops.

Right now most people aren't even aware that you can get a laptop that's brand new and at an everyday low price of way below $200. I want to make sure that they become aware, whatever it takes. I just visited the local Microcenter store, and they now have no Linux laptops or "netbooks". Apparently people just aren't aware how useful and easy these computers are.

Thanks again, and please let us know what you think. I hope we can convince people they need much cheaper computers than $200.

Now Back at $149.95 -- Won't last at this price. Geeks.com might have 4 only.

2009-06-19T11:08:00.005-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EXV2SQ/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2864720099&ref=pd_sl_70bh1owk9q_e

Geeks.com is offering the Alpha-400 for $149.95 again through Amazon at the above address, but there might be only 4 in stock (according to the above).

For more, please click here.

As we hoped for, clones of these mini-laptops are offered in more than 20 brands. A multiplicity of brands is key to success for an ultracheap platform. They are very popular in Europe in Asia and should be in the USA, esp., with the state of the economy (California at 11.5-percent unemployment, for instance).

Still needed:

Offbeat Outlets: Drugstores, hardware stores, department stores, toy stores, discount stores, etc. This is the best exposure ultracheapies can get, trust me.

Lower Prices: The Alpha 400s are quite cheap compared to "netbooks"; but apparently, to compete with Microsoft, they need to be cheaper still.

And they will be. Eventually some will be made to sell for a few bucks on a bubblecard (see illustration).

Elonex ONE (Alpha-400 Clone) Available Free in Cellphone Package

2009-06-18T16:39:00.003-06:00

The Carphone Warehouse, a cellphone retailer in the UK, offers a version of the Alpha 400 for free, bundled with cellphone service.

This news comes from Mobility Today, which says, "LG’s Chocolate has been bundled with Carphone’s Elonex Webbook for £30 per month, with unlimited texts and 700 minutes on T-Mobile."

Elonex "webbooks" (as Elonex calls them) are big sellers in the UK. They sold over 100,000 last year.

There is hope of the ALPHA-400 and similar machines going mainstream after all. Who cares if it's on a subsidized basis? And who even cares if it runs Windows XP? Seriously: The main thing is to get this mainstreaming going because a really cheap computer is the only way to break the Intel-Microsoft trust.

See article here.

Gross

2009-06-18T14:09:00.003-06:00

Well, Mr. Medvedev, how would you like to shake hands with Mr. Obama now?

Have we no sense of dignity in America anymore? At any level?

Watch Bill Gates' Old Man on Father's Day -- WILL HE AND HIS PARTNER BILL NEUKOM tell how they are the real "Father of Microsoft"?

2009-06-16T10:44:00.006-06:00

The photo is Bill Neukom, the real power behind Microsoft, "doing" Bill Clinton.

Just got a great story idea from Bill Gates's dad. Our Truth Squad is going to check out his interview this weekend on NBC and then tell "the rest of the story" about Microsoft and the BGs, Senior and Junior, and how Bill Neukom made their company for them. Hint: Microsoft is a law firm that sells software.

This just in from the Facebook of Bill Gates -- BG Senior, that is. The father of The Bill will tell the corporate sycophant Maria Bartiromo, and us, on the corporate outlet, CNBC:

"Also, keep an eye out for CNBC's Maria Bartiromo and her special Father's Day interview with Bill Sr. She was lovely, and captured the "real Bill Gates" beautifully:-)"

The quote is from Senior's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bill-Gates-Senior/71172824067. SEE IT HERE.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838272 Check out Maria's Web page for time and stations. CHECK MARIA HERE. She isn't advertising the interview, but Bill Sr. says it will be there.

And we will be here, with one of the stories of the year.

Clayton L. Hallmark

FLYING THE THE "JOLLY ROGER" PROUDLY: No One Should Have to Pay for Software

2009-06-16T10:02:00.005-06:00

You don't have to pay for software for your HDTV and you shouldn't have to pay for software for your Alpha 400, or whatever, either (unless you want to). "Information wants to be free" (Stewart Brand). Until last week, no one had to pay for TV programming. I and millions of others ended up paying about ten bucks for a settop converter box.

THE THREE R's OF RESISTANCE

RIP - I don't believe in stealing, but I don't believe it is stealing to use The Pirate Bay and its ID-avoidance system to get free software.

REPLACE - Margaret Thatcher said, "T.I.N.A.": There Is No Alternative to the Thatcher/Reagan "free market" policies. But there are alternatives -- to that and Microsoft. One way to avoid supporting Microsoft -- besides Linux, Android, Chinese CPUs, etc. -- is to buy only used computers.

REPUDIATE - This is something countries, like China, can do. Repudiate software patents. Refuse to enforce them. US patents are unconstitutional in their home country, so why should foreign countries, with their own infant industries to protect, enforce them?

One forty-nine -- are you out of your mind?

2009-06-13T00:13:00.004-06:00

Less than one hundred fifty bucks for a computer! If you have been holding off buying a rock-bottom mini-laptop to play around with, you no longer have an excuse.

Geeks.com -- are they out of their minds? -- now have the Alpha 400 for $149.99.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=ALPHA-400&cm_mmc=GoogleProducts-_-Laptops/Notebooks-_-NetBooks-_-ALPHA-400&utm_source=GoogleProducts&utm_medium=ShoppingSites&utm_campaign=ALPHA-400

I hope they stay at this price for good, because this is an important break in the price floor of computers.

As I have repeatedly said here, computers approaching $100 are a revolutionary development. Really low prices are revolutionary for the computer, semiconductor, software, and electronics-retailing industries -- for the whole IT field, actually.

Look at it this way: at $100 retail, how are you going to put Microsoft Windows on a computer?

So $150 is revolutionary if Geeks.com sticks with it.

Click here to check out the offer: CLICK HERE.

HERE IT IS: THE $169 POCKET COMPUTER -- a MIRACLE of Miniaturization

2009-06-02T14:03:00.006-06:00

ORDER $160 MINI-LAPTOP HERE: CLICK HERE

The above link is to the famous Geeks.com site (frequently featured on the DRUDGEREPORT site), which has been offering this nifty little computer for quite a while.

WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED, a few years ago, a complete full-fledged computer for $169?

There are many variations of this same computer all over the world -- a very good sign. To see the German version: Click here.

DETAILS:

Work and play anytime, anywhere with this Ultralite and ultra portable Alpha 400 7-inch netbook!

The Alpha 400 netbook provides multimedia entertainment, Broadband Internet Access and Work on the Go! The Alpha 400 features the reliable Linux Operating System, BroadMIPS XBurst 400 MHz 32-bit CPU, 128 MB RAM, 1 GB NAND Flash storage, a 10/100 MB Ethernet interface and 802.11b wireless access.

The Alpha 400 netbook is equipped with various functions, such as Electronic-Book, MP3 Player, Game Player, enlarged PDA, and common business software such as Web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets and more.

This unique design FULL-FLASH desktop, is perfect for the light business traveler, student, and every kid wanting to enjoy the experience of exploring the world of broadband multi-media!
By law, California shipments of this product are subject to an $8.00
Electronic Waste Recycling Fee

Features/Specifications:

* Alpha 400 MIPS 400 MHz Ultralite 7-inch Mini Netbook

* General Features:
* Ultralite
* Netbook form factor
* Linux 2.4 Operating System
* MIPS XBurst 400 MHz 32-bit CPU
* 128 MB RAM
* 1 GB NAND Flash Storage
* 10/100 MB Ethernet interface
* 802.11b wireless
* Supports External Hard Drive up to 160 GB
* Supports SD Card up to 32 GB
* Xiptech application software packages (Xip office, Flash player)
* 7-inch digital panel 800 x 480 true-color
* Keyboard with TouchPad
* Supports File Sizes up to 8 MB
* Built-in SD Card slot
* Battery Charging Time: 4.5 - 5 hours

* Uses:
* Internet surfing
* Instant online communication, chatting
* Music downloading and enjoying
* Flash movies and games
* Picture and image sharing
* Languages learning
* Personal diary

* Office Assistant:
* AbiWord, XipTable and PDF Viewer
* E-mail management
* Daily work plan and management
* E-book reader

* I/O ports:
* Three (3) USB ports
* RJ-45 Ethernet port
* Headphone in
* Microphone in

* Dimensions (closed):
* 1.1 x 8.25 x 5.6-inches

* Regulatory Approvals:
* C-Tick

Package Includes:

* Alpha 400 MIPS 400 MHz Ultralite 7-inch Mini Netbook
* Linux 2.4 Operating System
* Power Adapter (100 - 240V 50/60 Hz)

THE END IS NEAR! For Moore's Law and Our 25-Year-Old Cyber-Finance Economy

2009-05-29T13:50:00.005-06:00

Our Cyber-Finance Economy -- Mathematically Doomed -- Moore's Law is Dead

From the Great - Father in the White House on down, commentators see "glimmers of hope," but the fact is the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) is just half finished. That's because just half of the economy we've had for over 25 years is finished, the finance part. Now, for the other part, the cyber or "tech" part, the end is near as well. The other shoe drops for the cyberfinance economy as the guiding light of the "cyber" (computer) part, Moore's Law, dies.

Notice the graph that shows Moore's Law. Basically, it's Intel Corporation's graph of the transistor count on its microprocessors (CPUs). In 2006 I predicted its end and its limit and added the red line.

Moore's law actually ended in the period 2006-2008 when the transistor count failed to double as Moore's Law requires. In fact, it failed to increase at all.

Let me tell you, when Moore's law catches a cold, the tech sector of the economy catches pneumonia. Even Gordon Moore, the originator of the law acknowledges this. It happened in 2000 when we had the Tech Wreck or the Dotcom Bust.

Another tech wreck couldn't have come at a worse time than right now. Computers and high-speed digital communications enabled the finance economy that arose in the 1980s and crashed in 2008. The tech industry enabled and was a leading beneficiary of the finance economy. Those campuses of glass towers that they built in the 1980s -- in places like Shaumburg, IL, and Independence, OH (south of Cleveland) -- got filled up with employees that might otherwise have been working in factories in Chicago and Cleveland, and got filled with computers based on Wintel products. Those campuses could soon look forlorn as ghost towns, like the miles of falling-down factories in those and other cities.

MOORE'S LAW

Everyone talks about it but few really understand it (and it is simple). Since everyone talks about it, it is important, right?

It is the prediction of Gordon Moore, the cofounder of Intel, going back in one form to the 1960s, that the maximum number of transistors on an integrated-circuit chip will double every 2 years because that will produce the lowest cost transistors. (In the beginning, Moore put the doubling period at 18 months.)

The 1980s office and finance boom coincided with the rise of the monopolies of Intel and Microsoft.

Here is how the world works: Software sells hardware.

Microsoft makes bloatware for a reason, not just incompetence. When Intel introduces a new processor, Microsoft comes out with a new Windows version that stretches its processing capability. In other words, what Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away. So Intel introduces a higher performance processor and the beat goes on.

THE LIMITS

People thought that the limits of transistor miniaturization and cramming would be technical -- physical limits to the miniaturization of charge-based components (transistors) that could be built and reliably operated, or complexity limits to testing processors for reliability.

It turns out the limits are economic. Moore's Law always had an economic component: It was about reducing transistor size for lower cost as well as more performance, functions, and products. Furthermore, Moore's Law really wasn't a law in any standard sense of usage, it was a business plan of Intel and Microsoft working in collusion to gouge businesses and consumers.

Eventually it had to be done in by its own success. It has brought about commoditized computers, which Wintel began calling "netbooks" last year and which it then took over.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the commodified computers are so cheap it is hard for anyone to make much money on them. That is why Dell is reporting sales down by one fourth and profits down by two thirds. At that rate, Dell soon could be a money-losing proposition. It is no longer profitable for Intel and Microsoft to continue their bait-and-switch game (Intel baits with more power, Microsoft creates a demand for more power than that). It is no longer profitable for Intel to continue the Moore's Law game plan and hard to justify or generate the R&D and plant-investment dollars to do so. That's the answer to who killed Moore's Law.

THE SECOND GRAPHIC

Moore's Law follows the graph on the left in the other graphic, illustrating exponential growth. Moore once quipped that he was seeminly credited with inventing the exponential function, which the graph represents. What he really offered was a very astute business plan. Of course Moore always knew that the number of transistors on a chip had a limit and wasn't truly an exponential function. The limit is shown by the logistic growth curve (S-curve) on the right and its formula, which is not a pure exponential. This is the way things grow in nature -- children, bacteria colonies, etc. And it describes the life-cycles of businesses and business phenomena, including Moore's Law. Businesses use logistic regression in forecasting many kinds of growth.

The straight line that you see on the graphs Intel supplies and that I show above comes from using a scrunched up vertical scale (logarithmic) to represent the number of transistors.

THIRD GRAPHIC -- WORLD PER-CAPITA ENERGY USE LEVELING OFF

Energy drives economic activity. When energy growth falls significantly below the historical trend of 2% a year, we have a recession or a depression.

A third graphic is adapted from Theordore Modis, a leading practitioner of logistic-growth-curve analysis. It shows the power of this kind of growth analysis. As coal was being replaced by oil and gas as the primary energy source, energy growth became chaotic as shown and we had the Great Depression. In the more recent period oil we see oil being replaced by gas and nuclear energy, and we are in another crisis.

Key growth trends in economics tend to coincide, as with the Moore's Law and energy curves shown.

WORLD'S FIRST ANDROID NETBOOK / LAPTOP IS ALPHA (ALPHA-680)

2009-04-27T11:26:00.003-06:00

AN ALL-NEW ALPHA -- IT'S Android! -- World's first. And it's under $250

One hopes this new Alpha will be picked up the by major wireless service providers like AT&T and Verizon as a giveaway to promote their services. It is certainly a coup for the Alpha's manufacturer to be the first to offer a cheap Android mini-laptop (some will call it a netbook) and gives them a good shot at the mass market via AT&T, etc. (All of this is while we wait for $100 laptops sold on pegboards at CVS and Walgreens -- the real goal.)

See it at manufacturer's website: http://www.skytone.net.cn/en/products.php?bigclass=4&smallclass=15&show_type=1

This is big, after about 3 months of slow news: The first computer based on the Android operating system will be an Alpha from Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technologies Co., the actual maker of most if not all of the Alpha 400s we are blogging about. It will be called the Alpha 680. The meaning of "680" is unclear, since the speed is speced at 533 MHz rather than 680 MHz. The prototype will be out in June 2009 and the Alpha will be on the market in August.

Contact Ian Wu at Skytone.

The Android is an open-source OS developed by Google and later the Open Handset Alliance (cellphone manufacturers) based on the Linux kernal. Netbooks based on it have been eagerly and widely awaited -- so, again, this is important.

An Alpha apparently will be the first. And it is basically all-Chinese -- again a serious omen. Think about it: all-Chinese.

Like the Apple iPhone and many other smartphones, the Alpha 680 uses an ARM processor, which is much cheaper than the Intel Atom CPU used in so-called netbooks, which range mostly from $300-$600.

The processor will be Chinese made -- an important trend in the world of computers -- and an ARM 11 type probably from Ingenics. This is really an almost all-Chinese effort (except for the OS): the CPU (probably Ingenic), factory, and even the brand owner Skytone are all Chinese.

The mainstream computer publication Computer World says that some computer industry analysts think that the combination of an ARM processor and Android OS could open an era of sub-$200 netbooks.

These people routinely fail to mention the Alpha 400, which already sells for $169 or less. Also, the Razorbook Model 3K-RZ400-4GB-WIN model -- with an ARM Ingenic 400MHz processor, 7" 800x480 widescreen LCD, 128MB RAM, 4GB Solid-State Disk (SSD) drive, 802.11b/g -- already is available for $147.99. The press misses these things routinely.

The specs of the Alpha 680 Android mini-laptop are: 7-inches, 800 x 480 LCD. 128 MB RAM, 1 GB SSD storage, Wi-Fi, and full applications software (word processor, PDF viewer, etc. -- not just a "netbook" for the Internet). The system is about the same size and weight as the Alpha 400. Battery time: 4 hours.

See here: http://www.skytone.net.cn/en/products.php?bigclass=4&smallclass=15&show_type=1

MINIMALIST / SHRINKAGE MOVEMENT IN COMPUTING, No. 6 of 8 ... Chinese Govt Targets Intel, Windows

2009-04-23T11:54:00.001-06:00

Pirate Bay Verdict: Why Americans Should Fight Sweden's Persecution of Its Citizens

2009-04-17T14:09:00.006-06:00

Against the US Constitution (quoted below), which -- ask any lawyer -- is still the law of the land.

3 Points:

1. Why should Sweden or anyone enforce US patents and copyrights that are unconstitutional in the US itself?

2. Sweden and other countries do not have even the excuse of superior US power, as setbacks in the strength of the dollar and in the operations of the US military in Iraq and elsewhere make the US a less credible bully.

3. Self-interest in most countries would seem to motivate them to oppose the current form of world domination, which is the dispossession of other nations by the US relegating them to giving up their labor and material resources in exchange for dubious US dollars and the use of US "intellectual property" (IP). Countries like China have a right to nurture their own infant industries, including computer technology, without having to pay tribute to US companies like Microsoft whose power is based on old patents but not on any significant inventions.

Americans can ignore the court in Sweden that has just sentenced the four operators of the Pirate Bay search engine to "Download music, movies, games, software!" to 1 year each and to pay $900.000 each to Big Business/Nashville/Hollywood and related interests. The guys certainly intend to defy it. So do I. Watch their courageous stand made at today's news conference here , but be sure to come back here for an AMERICAN rallying cry.

The verdict means very little. For Americans it should be a rallying point -- like England's old Tea Act over which our American forefathers had their Boston Tea Party (in graphic).

As for obeying the verdict, FUH-GET IT! It doesn't apply to us. It is unconstitutional. Furthermore, we can use the IPREDator software at ThePirateBay.org to get around it, to download whatever there is on The Pirate Bay without the Swedish thought police or anyone else being able to know anything about. Go to Pirate Bay .

Defy! Get your IPREDator software to conceal your ID while you use The Pirate Bay here http://ipredator.se/ .
Then HAVE THE GUTS TO USE IT, legally of course.

US Constitution -- Use It or Lose It: "To promote the Progress...for limited Times to Authors"

We almost did lose it under old Bush, who called it "just a blankety-blank piece of paper." Ask any lawyer, it is the supreme law of the land in the USA, the fountainhead of all other laws. Even old Bush had to obey it and leave office at the end of his regime.

Ask any lawyer, the Constitution applies to the issues in the Pirate Bay trial. It applies to downloading copyrighted material and patented software, which is what The Pirate Bay offers.

Ask any lawyer, that's what we all have to go by in America. And ask yourself, Who is closer to the Constitution, Pirate Bay or Hollywood? Our law says it is a protected activity "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts," and Anders Rydell, the Swede who has written a book about media piracy, says The Pirate Bay is about "the unlimited spreading of culture." That is exactly what the US Constitution intends when in Article I, Section 8, it says that "The Congress shall have Power ... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive rights to their respective Writings and Discoveries...."

The Pirate Bay is about "unlimited speading of culture" and the Constitution says "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." Ask yourself, Who is standing in the way of "Progress", Microsoft and its fossilized software, or The Pirate Bay? Who has the power to decide these things, Congress, or Big Business and its Federal Circuit court in Washington, its Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and Big Business's Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)?

The whole IP "piracy" thing is lunacy, not piracy. Further down, Article I, Section 8 also gives the right "To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas and Offences against the Law of Nations." A few Somalians are pirates. The Pirate Bay, you, and I are not.

Piracy is something committed on the high seas. See? So if you object, contact me at http://www.alpha-400.com.

So, really, Why does Sweden prosecute its citizens?

Because it is being bullied by the United States and its business interests.

Here's how the world really works: The US and its business interests set the agenda for political and economic behavior everywhere.

For the past 30 years or so the agenda has been to produce almost nothing of material substance (see if you can find Made in the USA in Walmart). Instead the idea is to produce immaterial things -- ideas, information, writings, patents, movies, music, financial derivatives (credit default swaps, mortgage-backed securities, etc) --and get others to give their labor and ores and other material resources in exchange for dollars of dubious, or perhaps no, value. You valorize the ephemeral things you produce by "enclosing" them with patents and copyrights, hopefully creating an important monopoly from which you can extract a Gatesian fortune.

That regime has just failed in the Global Financial Crisis.

But US companies like Intel, Microsoft, recording companies, and Hollywood studios still hold monopolies or oligopolies. They wield their power through the copyrights and patents granted under Article 1, Section 8, theoretically. But how many people know that you couldn't copyright software in the US before 1981 (year of the Diamond v. Diehr ruling)? How many know that Bill Gates's old man, who helped him start Microsoft, is a lawyer? We need to get back to the Constitution in the United States.

Through "world organizations" like the WTO and IMF -- controlled by the United States -- US business interests like Hollywood and Microsoft extend their monopoly power to the world. The interests of US business -- different from those of US citizens, as many are learning -- are backed up by the soft financial power of the US based on the dollar being the world currency (not so soft when it can starve Iraqi children or Latin American workers). The US government has been able to cause financial hardship on nations who ignored the will of its government/businesses. Ultimately, the soft power is backed up by the US military machine.

In today's world, the US financial and military clout seem less formidable -- don't they, somehow?

So if Sweden, China, etc., can't be bullied anymore, why should they comply with the "intellectual property" regime by which the United States appropriates wealth from the rest of the world to maintain a profligate lifestyle that threatens life on Earth?

In a legal, logical, and ethical sense, if the United States is not obeying its own "Law of the Land" in matters of intellectual property, why should anyone else comply -- Sweden, China, you, or I -- with demands and rulings on IP from the US?

The principle opposed in the 1773 Boston Tea Party (dumping of British-owned tea into Boston Harbor as shown in the Currier lithograph) was "taxation without representation." Ever heard of the "Microsoft tax"? You pay it anyway, and your elected representitives in the US, Sweden, etc., did not levy it.

So get a cheap non-Microsoft mini-laptop from Geeks.com here .

Get some "intellectual property" from The Pirate Bay to fill'er up here , using IPREDator of course.

And get your defiant The Pirate Bay T-shirt here to support the TPB4: http://www.bytelove.com/partners/kopimi-/-tpb/cat_3.html

E-a-r-t-h-s-h-a-k-i-n-g N-e-w-s (Apr 15)

2009-04-15T13:19:00.007-06:00

MINIMALIST / SHRINKAGE MOVEMENT IN COMPUTING, No. 5 of 8 ... Watch Pirate Bay Verdict on Fri. at 7 a.m. Eastern and Join In

This series of articles is based on the philosophy of the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as expressed in his motto "Less is more." This is not just an expediency to get through an economic depression, it is the way out of the current Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Sooner or later, all of us, from President Obama on down, are going to have to consider this. Computers are a good place to start.

News conference Friday, April 17) at 1 p.m. Stockholm Sweden time, click here or here.

Earthshaking if it actually goes off as scheduled is the verdict in Stockholm concerning the trial of the Pirate Bay Four, operators of the world's leading bit-streaming site for "liberating" software, music, etc. Believe me, this is of more lasting interest and import to the world than anything going on off the coast of Somalia. (After all, the foreign trade the Somalians are attacking already has dried up, which is the real story anyway.) The trial is getting considerable media attention, even attention from Fox News.

If Pirate Bay gets away with what it is doing -- an outcome devoutly to be wished -- then this is a game changer for people in tech as well as the entertainment industry. Remember, Pirate Bay offers software as well as music and video.

The news conference will (hopefully) reveal the long-awaited verdict on whether the Pirate Bay instance of "piracy" (which isn't stealing in the sense of open-seas piracy) is going to proceed or whether its leading lights are going to jail. You can watch them live at the Bambuser site (explained below). The actual complete URL will be posted on the Pirate Bay site before the actual news conference, which is at 7 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT + 1 hour) Friday the 17th.

News media and others are welcome to "attend" via Bambuser and to message the defendants. They will appeal if the verdict goes against them.

For further details, surf into Pirate Bay's blog. Pick up the web address of the Defendants Conference just minutes before 7 a.m. Eastern Time (GMT-1 hour) on Friday, April 17.

------------------------------
Re Bambuser

The news conference in which the defendants will report on the trial will be broadcast live at Bambuser.com. The Pirate Bay website will give the URL ahead of time. The URL will be http://bambuser.com/123456, where 123456 is replaced by a code identifying the particular broadcast. The exact URL will be on Pirate Bay just minutes before the broadcast.

Bambuser is a mobile video-streaming service based in Sweden at http://bambuser.com . It allows users to broadcast live from a cell phone or webcam, as the Pirate Bay defendants will do on Friday. The service allows you to interact with them -- congratulate them if you wish.

To see how Bambuser works, please check this example out.

Then go to Bambuser here.

MINIMALIST / SHRINKAGE MOVEMENT IN COMPUTING, No. 4 of 8 ... Razorbook NEW World's Cheapest ... "One Forty-five and Falling"

2009-04-11T11:10:00.010-06:00

MINIMALIST / SHRINKAGE MOVEMENT IN COMPUTING, No. 3 of 8 ... FREE Pirate SOFTWARE to Go Along with Your Cheap Laptop?

2009-03-27T12:49:00.005-06:00

MINIMALIST / SHRINKAGE MOVEMENT IN COMPUTING, No. 2 of 8: BIG NEWS ON USA MICROSOFT: Slavery to It Is Ending

2009-03-16T13:37:00.006-06:00

This series of articles is based on the philosophy of the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as expressed in his motto "Less is more." This is not just an expediency to get through an economic depression, it is a way out of the current Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Sooner or later, all of us, from President Obama on down, are going to have to consider this. Computers are a good place to start.

Mass-produced computers can KILL Microsoft and free the world's computer users. They'll be too cheap to accommodate MS Windows -- MS's bread and butter. Computers will go the way of TVs and VCRs -- cheap offshore (non-USA) production. They'll be cheap, simple, general-purpose (FREE SOFTWARE), all-electronic (no disk drive) -- in other words, real electronic computers, finally.

This process already is under way. Note how Microsoft's stock price has declined over the past 5 years.

If you like this idea, remember, above all, avoid Microsoft traps like the "Windows XP Starter Edition." It's a $30 loss-leader for developing nations -- with price-gouging to begin soon after. If you are outside the USA, be like Munich, Germany -- declare your freedom by going open-source for your enterprise. Beware of the US spies at the USAID and beware Microsoft's so-called "Local Economic Development Program for Software," which is insurgent in Brazil and Jordan. Read a US judge's decision on how MS strangles the US market (http://www.albion.com/microsoft/) and avoid this for your country.

A respected US group, the Gartner Group, warns against the Windows "Starter Edition" at http://news.com.com/Gartner+Steer+away+from+cheap+Windows+XP/2100-1016_3-5309139.html?tag=st.rn .

To read about Microsoft's designs on your country, see http://news.com.com/A+billion+PC+users+on+the+way/2100-1003_3-5290988.html?tag=nl . The head of the USAID (US Agency for International Development) is Andrew Natsios, a nephew of famed CIA spy Nicholas Natsios.

For non-US persons looking for freedom from Microsoft for their enterprise, consider the Munich example at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-07-13-microsoft-linux-munich_x.htm and Germany's example at http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,568696,00.html . Bergen, Norway's second city, is planning to switch its computers to Linux.

For balls, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballsmer has threatened Asian countries -- sovereign nations, mind you -- with lawsuits if they employ the Linux open-sourse operating system. He threatens them under the aegis of the World Trade Organization. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1283010/posts.

However, the hundred-dollar Linux computer will be the end of Microsoft's dominance and possibly the company itself. Do you care? Can the Indian MOBILIS beat Microsoft? Can Wal-Mart beat Microsoft in America? Since you are reading this on a computer, you are a slave to MS and you should care. Freeing us from MS and its robber baron could raise the US productivity by several points. It can free foreign governments from aggression by Microsoft. I'll show how. To have fun, usable, efficient computers, it is necessary. To finally realize the dream that Bill Gates aborted, we need a computer that is: Cheap----Instant-On----Simple----General Purpose.... India has one, for $200 ("good globalization"). We (the rest of the world) don't. This might not be the machine, but more are coming, and they will starve Microsoft.

At $100 or $200 there is no room for Windows, unless MS gives away its XP "Special Edition" or its CE -- as a trap.

If the computer becoming a commodity is a threat to MS, the company is only encouraging that trend with its foray into home entertainment. They are doing this for one reason: to keep game consoles from competing with PCs and Windows. That's why you won't see windows on game boxes. This will backfire. No American company can long make money in the manufacturing and marketing of home entertainment. It will be "deja vu all over again": When a new must-have Next Big Thing makes a market in the US, the Asians make it and take it. (The list is long and started with the transistor: portable radios, all radios, B&W TVs, color TVs, VCRs, CD players, digital clocks, watches, cameras -- and now, the computer.) Home entertainment systems are a booby trap for American companies and they will be for MS, too. Microsoft's participation in this will help ensure the commoditization of computing -- the opposite of what they planned.

At $100 or $200 there is no room for Windows and Microsoft, because the price charged manufacturers -- $70 to $83 for each computer using Windows -- precludes it. That is a tax that most of us have to pay when we buy a computer. Microsoft also has a $30 Windows XP version for what they call "entry computers" in developing countries ONLY -- but it is a trap -- much higher prices, like subscription charges, will follow. DON'T FALL FOR THE $30 WINDOWS "STARTER EDITION" TRAP! http://news.com.com/Gartner+Steer+away+from+cheap+Windows+XP/2100-1016_3-5309139.html?tag=st.rn

... Today's "personal computer" is not even a true computer, in that it is not a general-purpose device but a proprietary Wintel (Windows and Intel, working in collusion) device. The PC is a corrupted version of the microcomputer vision that we had in the 1970s. I was there. That vision failed when Microsoft pirated away the microcomputer/small computer/home computer as we variously called it. I will show that we have the tools to take back the vision of the computer as a universally available intellectual tool -- take it back from Bill Gates, the Blue Beard of computing. I will show that globalization is not all bad. It will take more than Linux or free open-source software (FOSS), much more, as explained below.

Famous computer visionary Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab is developing and promoting a $100 laptop with proposed specifications including a 500-MHz processor, 1 GB of memory, an XVGA display, and free Linux. He envisions 200,000,000 million of them being distributed to countries like China in two years. However, the Indian company Encore Software already is marketing a small computer, the MOBILIS, with much more modest specs, for about $220. The Mobilis may not have the features many of you want, but it is a crack in the dam. As cheap computers flood the US, upgraded versions soon will appear -- much cheaper because of no MS tax -- and much better. Both of the above computers employ the open-source Linux operating system (OS). Walmart.com already sells a good, cheap OS-LESS computer -- you get to choose one. These machines might not change the world, and nonproprietary operating systems besides Linux might become more important, but all this shows what is coming.

"APPROPRIATE COMPUTING" MANIFESTO: FOR THE MICROSOFT KILLER, I PROPOSE CERTAIN CORE FEATURES

The Indian Mobilis has some of them. They include:

1. Cheap (nearly free) nonproprietary operating system (Linux or other) and cheap nonproprietary basic applications -- word processor, browser, etc. --- This would make the small computer a general-purpose device, as a computer should be -- not tied to Microsoft, Apple, or Palm. Above all, the small computer must AVOID MICROSOFT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND BE ABLE TO PROVE THIS IN A COURT OF LAW. Microsoft basically is a publishing company full of lawyers. (Did you ever see a publishing company get this big or a publisher get as wealthy? Not even Hearst of "Citizen Kane." They exploit the law and technological ignorance.) Avoid Apple, Microsoft, and all proprietary software as much as possible. An operating system is one of those things you shouldn't have to pay for -- certainly not on the basis that the publisher (Microsoft) excludes other software companies from YOUR computer. You don't pay for an OS when you buy home entertainment devices (though some probably would like to put an OS in a kitchen toaster).

2. Instant-on operation --- no waiting for the OS to load from a hard drive. Keep the OS small enough to fit economically in nonvolatile solid-state memory (flash, etc.).

3. At last, an ELECTRONIC computer. --- What we have now, the PC, includes an electromechanical device, the motorized hard drive -- an electromagnetic device like the relays in the Harvard Mark I of 1943. With "general purposeness" and all-electronic operation (OS on chips, not a disk drive), we would finally have something that meets the traditional definition of a real electronic computer. Watch the price of flash memory go down and you will see the possibilities for taking the "D" out of "DOS."

4. Simplicity. --- Since the operating system would be on semiconductor chips, it would be much smaller than the monstrous "whatever the traffic will bear" Windows. A small operating system is a simple one. Remember DOS and the early computers? To start "computing" (limited, admittedly), one had only to know how to turn on the power switch and insert the boot disk. Computer simplicity alone could add several points to a nation's labor productivity.

5. Driver software for common hardware such as Epson printers and HP scanners.

6. Ability to view, print, edit, and exchange files in Microsoft formats (.doc, .xls, etc.) and to convert to and from standard file formats, including proprietary ones where legal.

7. Ports for expandability to include connectivity (modem, Ethernet, etc.), hardware devices (printer, scanner, etc.), and more storage (e.g., Lexar JumpDrives). The Mobilis uses UPS for expansion.

[THIS IS ONE OF THOSE "I TOLD YOU SO" ARTICLES. I published it 3 years ago at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/05/18/18240941.php under the pseudonym Kurt Kress, and after 3 years I wonder, How did I do?]

MINIMALIST / SHRINKAGE MOVEMENT IN COMPUTING, No. 1 of 8: All-China 400s ... Cheapest Laptops / Notebooks / Netbooks ... ($129 Plus Shipping)

2009-03-12T15:58:00.009-06:00

Linux Share of Netbooks DOWN to 10%, BUT I'm Encouraged

2009-03-09T10:08:00.002-06:00

This just in ... an article that says, "Windows on 90% of Netbooks, Linux on Just 10%." The research from market analysts at NPD covers the last three months of 2008.
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:XFBE5ncmBK0J:news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-on-90-of-Netbooks-Linux-on-Just-10-105971.shtml+Windows+on+90%25+of+Netbooks,+Linux+on+Just+10%25&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Earlier reports had said that Linux had a 30% share earlier last year.

It turns out that people have been returning Linux laptops 4 times more often than Windows ones.
http://blog.laptopmag.com/ubuntu-confirms-linux-netbook-returns-higher-than-anticpated

WHY I AM ENCOURAGED: FACT-FACING

The fact is, the "netbook" has been a scam all along. It was intended as a distractor, a "loss leader" from the major brands to discourage the marketing of much cheaper notebooks, ones below $200. But that is just trying to allay the inevitable, the inexorable trend toward MINIMALISM in computers. This is a fact all in the industry will have to face this year.

Getting rid of this distractor actually is a good thing. Perhaps soon the major media can begin focusing on the real trend in low-cost computing, the race to the bottom and computers for $100 and less, once we all face facts on the netbooks.

For now, the 400-MHz performance level looks like what will begin the race to the bottom -- the Belco Alpha 400, 3K Razorbook, the HiVision MiniNote, the Elonex ONEt, and all the clones of these. The first PC consistently priced at the $100 point probably will run at this 400-MHz level.

Prices will get much, much lower, but with reduced size and speed and fewer features. There already is one model you can get for $129 plus shipping, buying just one unit.

The "netbook"? Good riddance. (Clayton L. Hallmark)

1 GH, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB, $256

2009-03-06T15:26:00.003-06:00

That's a lot of performance for $256. Good things come in small packages: Uses Windows XP, but the price and size (7-inch screen) are right and you can install Linux yourself. This HCL minilaptop has wireless, LAN, and 56K connectivity.

The 7-inch HCL is said to be the cheapest laptop in the UK. That's the catch, you have to be in the UK or Ireland.

Compare this to the best price-performance deal you can find in the US. C'mon Best Buy and Walmart, give us a break! For more, see:

Free Intel Netbooks at the Big CeBit Show in Germany?

2009-03-04T12:21:00.004-06:00

Have we arrived at Valhalla yet? Not exactly. It's just Hanover Germany and the world's largest computer trade show, CeBit -- makes CES Las Vegas look like a side show. My title's just a machine translation of "Intel-free." (Well, add in Microsoft, and that is almost Valhalla).

There yesterday, in one photo, were the German head of state, Angela Merkel, the California head of state Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Intel head of state, Craig Barrett, shaking hands with Marvin the robot.

More important, at CeBit also is our own HiVision XBurst-powered, Linux-running mini-laptop. The number of exhibitors is down by about 25% to 4300 companies because of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis, aka "end of the cyberfinance economy"); but the 400-MHz MIPS platform was represented, according to this article from WinFuture (Germany). Click here.

The significance of the HiVision mini-laptop and the other MIPS 400 machines is of course that they are the heirs to the original netbook concept, really cheap computers under $200.

The article points that, while the major computer manufacturers rely in the design of netbooks almost exclusively on Intel's Atom processor set, there are smaller suppliers from Asia with alternative CPUs.

In the coming months there will probably be many models with VIA chips on the market. But x86 CPUs from various Asian manufacturers could play a role. That suggests, at least from exhibits at the CeBIT show, this deserves a closer look. To what extent this also affects the German market remains to be seen, according to the article.

The article includes the HiVision netbook featured in the Alpha-400.com blog, which of course uses still another Intel alternative, the Chinese XBurst chip (JV4740) from Ingenic. Being a MIPS processor, the latter doesn't do Windows, either, so it's Windows-free as well. Like West Virginia, that *is* almost Valhalla. This also suggests that the MIPS 400 movement is growing, especially in Europe, but also worldwide.

Flat $159 and Free Shipping

2009-03-03T18:04:00.003-06:00

Alpha 400 for $159 with free shipping is available at BUY.COM.

This is a limited-time offer on the Buy.com site. The supplier is the well known Geeks.com, who have the Alpha 400 on their own site for $169.99, with shipping extra.

Sakar: Could be a real sleeper. Laptop Mag: "Intriguing" See Video Here

2009-03-02T11:19:00.005-06:00

Hands-on video of Sakar 400 Mini-Laptop

"At $299, definitely intriguing," says Dana Wollman of Laptop Magazine. Watch Dana put the Sakar 400 MiniBook through its paces.

VIEW VIDEO:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/sakars-kid-friendly-netbook-hands-on-and-video#more-12106

What makes this a real "sleeper"? This is a 400-MHz MIPS that you might soon see at "Justice" and "Limited Too" stores for "tweens," or most anywhere if Sakar puts it in all the places where it sells cameras and MP3s. Could become the most widely available computers if Sakar does this, a real breakthrough. Just think of it -- a cheap computer you can buy anywhere.

VIEW VIDEO:
http://blog.laptopmag.com/sakars-kid-friendly-netbook-hands-on-and-video#more-12106

400 Maker Makes #9 in UK Laptop Sales (in less than 1 yr): ELONEX

2009-02-28T13:21:00.002-06:00

Elonex went from zero to No. 9 in consumer laptop sales in the UK last year.

These things, the 400-MHz MIPS mini-laptops, can sell, and Elonex has the sales figures to prove it.

The current version is the Elonex ONEt. To read more, check this out.

Elonex ONEt (popular in Europe) for Just 99 Pounds ($143) ... Coby Netbook Has Model No., Trademark

2009-02-26T13:28:00.003-06:00

Maplin Electronics in the UK has the Elonex ONEt, a refurbished one, that is, for 99 pounds, for Web order only, at http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=228796 . This is a limited-time offer, while supplies last. The refurbs come with a 3-month warranty. Heck, if they last that long, they most likely will last as long a new one.

On another 400-MHz MIPS mini-laptop (Alpha-400 lookalike), the proposed netbook from Coby Electronics has both a trademark and a model number, NBPC892. For more, see: http://www.alpha-400.com/2009/01/what-does-coby-netbook-look-like-black.html .

What's the Big Deal About a "Crayola" or "Hello Kitty" Version of the MIPS 400 / ALPHA 400?

2009-02-21T14:02:00.005-06:00

This Sakar mini-laptop appears to be another clone of the Alpha 400 / Razorbook 400 / HiVision MiniNote / Elonex ONEt / Maplin.

It is called the "Sakar MiniBook," or PC-01017, or possibly the "Limited Too" (no wisecracks about the latter, please).

The Big Deal is this: It could take the MIPS-400 platform mainstream. Take a look at the partial list of stores the company, Sakar International, sells to.

No one has taken ANY computer to all of these places, or anything close to that. In fact, no one has taken any computer to the mass-retail market. Sakar could become the most widely distributed computer in the US.

If Sakar doesn't do it, someone else will, probably this year. The significance to the computer, information-technology, and electronics industries is earthshaking.

Really cheap computers -- when made widely available -- will be the biggest thing since the initial sale of the IBM PC in 1981.

Sakar, a new 400-MHz MIPS--From the Crayola and Hello Kitty people ...

2009-02-19T11:25:00.006-06:00

This is what I have been hoping for -- a proliferation of brands, with fanciful names, in new markets, for the lowest cost computers, the 400s. Now Sakar has come on board, with a mini-laptop said to resemble the Razorbook 400. Sakar is basically a licensing company that buys rights to well known brands like the above and puts them on cameras, MP3 players, and other consumer electronics for kids -- and now computers.

"Sell No Computer Above This Price"

Sakar claims it will sell no computer for more than $299. This is good, but, c'mon people -- the Alpha 400 already sells for over a hundred dollars less, $130 less to be exact. Why pay more?

What'll it be? The Hello Kitty 400?

The "Hello Kitty 400" has an about-8-inch screen and a keyboard somewhat larger than a Razorbook's. It has built-in Wi-Fi. No doubt it hails from Shenzhen China (see previous articles in this blog).

Still this is a good sign that we are headed for sub-$100 notebooks on bubblepack cards at Walgreens and your local independent dollar stores. The path will be: a profusion of brands of similar, but ever cheaper and smaller, computers in more and more markets. This one was spotted at the Toy Fair 2009. For more details and a video, check this.

Best Prices on the ALPHA-400, Around $170

2009-02-18T12:53:00.001-06:00

Two California companies are offering the Alpha-400 online. Geeks.com sells for $169.95 but is sometimes out of stock. So another alternative is Star Surplus. Click below for details from each.

GEEKS.COM http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=ALPHA-400&cm_mmc=GoogleProducts-_-Laptops/Notebooks-_-MIPSPowered-_-ALPHA-400&utm_source=GoogleProducts&utm_medium=ShoppingSites&utm_campaign=ALPHA-400

STAR SURPLUS http://www.starsurplus.com/viewitem.lasso?i=ALPHA-400

Alpha 400 MIPS 400MHz 128MB 1GB 7'' Linux: Cheapest Laptop on the Planet

2009-02-18T01:54:00.007-06:00

This blog: The "China 400" mini laptops (Alpha 400, HiVision MiniNote, Razorbook 400, Elonex ONEt, etc.) -- the cheapest laptops -- rule! We'll keep'ya posted with tech details, cheapest deals, where to buy, and offbeat places where China 400s are sold.

Alpha-400s are not netbooks (that's just an Intel gotcha word), not notebooks, not full-size laptops.

They lead the race to the bottom, in price, these 400-MHz miniature laptops from China -- therefore, they rule. It's a whole new platform, the China 400 / Alpha 400, and there will be dozens of brands besides Alpha 400 and hundreds of models eventually. All other "netbooks"/notebooks /laptops of whatever size will come down in price as a result.

We'll present all of the technical details here, along with the progress of the Alpha-400 in leading the race to the bottom in the price wars. Above is what one looks like inside.

For now, 400 MHz with an XBurst Chinese MIPS processor running Linux defines the world's cheapest TRUE computers. They can do about all that most people want: access the web by phone line or Wi-Fi, email, write notes and letters, view video, read almost all documents found online, run a printer or other equipment (and much more). For more, Google mini-laptop 400 .

The Linux eperience is superior to the Windows experience for most people.

Cheapest Deal Today: The cheapest version of the China 400 platform is the Alpha 400, available at geeks.com for under $170 .

Latest News on China 400s:

Offbeat places to buy a computer: Marks & Spencer department stores in the UK -- in the fashion department . The China 400 on sale there is the UK's own Elonex, which got its start in schools. Remember how Apple got its foothold in the US? Elonex has sold over 200,000 to schools, not much less than the Asus EEE sold in the US in its first year.

¿Hablas Linux?

2009-02-14T13:46:00.000-06:00

Do you speak Linux? All the world does. The Cuban government is pushing the use of the Cuban Linux OS, called "Nova," and expects "that in five years our country will have more than 50 percent migrated (to Linux)." One has to wonder How many other countries will adopt this policy and reach 50-percent Linux usage? See the entire article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE51A77S20090211

Apart from security concerns, free software better suits Cuba's worldview: "The free-software movement is closer to the ideology of the Cuban people, above all for the independence and sovereignty."

I feel same way about software. Paying for software seems like a ripoff and, well, undemocratic, like paying for air and water.

That is why I started this blog. We have been ripped off too long by US software companies, mere publishers charging us thousands of dollars over a period of years, and by US computer makers who are not makers of anything except profits. I was so incensed that -- would you believe it? -- I almost bought one of the DOS computers shown. That was before I found out about the HiVision MiniNote, 3K's Razorbook 400, and the Belco/Bestlink Alpha-400.

The computer in the photo is still available from California Digital (interesting site, BTW) for $159. It conforms to my guidelines -- Small-Cheap-Easy -- but it runs only DOS. At this stage, I am not much interested in building things and programming things, just using them, however; so the 400s are what I am looking for in a "cheapest" computer. These things, the Fujitsu Poquet PC Plus computers, originally cost over $2000, and the technology is well worth a look. For example, the Poquet truly is instant-on, more so than any of the 400s. Also, it runs off 2 AA batteries for weeks. And it's great for hacking and experimenting. The whole California Digital site is well worth a look.

psst ... mister, GET AN APPLE FOR 499 EUROS = $643, or will you settle for a Pear?

2009-02-12T13:19:00.000-06:00

https://www.pearc.de/product_info.php/products_id/1?osCsid=1a819c93b8f752b229d495abd4de3fcd

A German company at the above link is offering "The PC with Mac OS X" for 499 euros, (currently $643). It's not officially an "Apple"; they call it the PearC. Get it? Well, why not get one if you are into that type of machine? This Apple is stuffed with "Intel Inside," which I guess is what makes it a Pear.

A US company also has one for $555 plus tax and shipping, as shown at this link: http://www.store.psystore.com . Or you can call them (Psystar Corp.) at 1-888-456-7801 (hours, 9-5).

Of course I much prefer the 400-MHz MIPS platform, and you can get one from Bestlink Electronics for $149 plus shipping (from Hong Kong) at: http://www.bestlinkeshop.com/ . It does all I need it to do for the world's cheapest price-- a really good deal.

Geeks.com has them (part No.: ALPHA-400) in and out of stock, sometimes, at http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ALPHA-400&cat=NBB . The price is $169.99 plus shipping, and the company is in California.

Asus RAISING All Computer Prices 20% -- So long, Cheap EEEs!

2009-02-10T15:39:00.000-06:00

So much for the cheap "netbook." The originator of the so-called "netbook" with its EEE launched in late 2007 has just announced it is raising prices on all products by 20 percent. It is big news. See: http://news.softpedia.com/news/ASUS-to-Do-the-Unthinkable-and-Raise-Eee-PC-Prices-104174.shtml .

This proves what I have been saying, that Asus and other "netbook" makers have been pulling a classic bait-and-switch on us. Stores and traders have being doing this for time immemorial. Offer one product at a cheap price, then raise the price or offer an inferior product once you have a buyer on the hook.

They will be sorry. Much cheaper computers than even the 400s are coming (see the bubblepack PC at the right). The netbook is showing its true colors: not a real category, just a low-end notebook.

Here's 2 Videos: Tiny $149 PC Does It All, and Easy

2009-02-09T16:11:00.006-06:00

VIDEO 1

"$149 DOES MOST PC JOBS: Testing World's Smallest, Cheapest Laptops"

Click to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0XxBgN8OZA&feature=related

Tom Similjan from Switched shows two little Linux laptops (Asus EEE and Everex Cloudbook) and shows how easy it is to "jump out of Windows" and into Linux.

Tom shows you can do it all on a 7-inch Linux laptop, including the ultracheap ones in this blog. It is easy -- easier than Windows -- and much cheaper. Much of what he says in the video applies to the 400-type (400-MHz) mini-laptops like the ALPHA-400, HiVision, Razorbook, and Elonex ONEt.

If you have any doubts about the usefulness or usability/friendliness of a $149 or $169 mini-laptop, Tom's video should dispel those doubts and let you buy. So please watch.

VIDEO 2

"LINUX IS EASY: HERE'S SIMPLE DETAILS: $98 Linux Laptop - The HiVision miniNote"

Click to view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKQbN6tpYXw&feature=related

HiVision makes the world's cheapest Linux laptop at $98 (wholesale), using a new, cheaper MIPS-based processor (the Ingenic XBurst from China), WiFi, and 1-GB flash storage. It runs Linux, has 3 USB ports, Ethernet, SDHC card reader, audio in and out, voice-chat, Skype, multitabbed Firefox browser, and Abiword for word processing. Automatic and secure online software updates are available. The current model is running a smooth and pretty snappy Linux user interface.

In this video, Nicolas Charbonnier (aka Charbax) got to borrow a review sample of the laptop overnight during a trade show, and he shows you all the browser and other software interfaces in this extended video review of this cheap MIPS-based laptop. It's the ideal laptop: Small, Cheap, Easy.

"LINUX IS EASY: HERE'S SIMPLE DETAILS: $98 Linux Laptop - The HiVision miniNote"

Click to view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKQbN6tpYXw&feature=related

Purchase 3K Computers' RazorBook 400 for $195

2009-02-06T14:51:00.000-06:00

The popular RazorBook brand of 400 laptop is now available at Proadvantage for $195.37. Click here to see more: http://www.provantage.com/3k-computers-rz400-4gb-win~73KCM008.htm

A SELLOUT --- Alpha 400s Fly off the Shelves, Can't Keep'em In

2009-02-03T23:52:00.004-06:00

Remember how the Asus EEE started out in October 2007? I do. Constantly out of stock.

Now that Asus "netbook" has gone uptown on us, in price, the World's Cheapest Computer, the Alpha 400s, are selling so fast they can't keep them in stock at Computer Geeks -- see here click.

It's a good sign, and the Belco Alpha 400 definitely is worth waiting on it for a few days.

India Shows $10-$20 Laptop ($10US, 500 Rupees, 8 Euros, 7.25 GBP)

2009-02-03T02:55:00.003-06:00

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Tirumpati, India, February 3, 2000 -- India is showing off a prototype of what is to be the world's cheapest laptop / notebook, the Sakshat, which is variously reported to have a price tag of just 10 or 20 US dollars. This is truly a depression computer and marks an astonishing level of deflation in prices of technical goods.

Indian government sources say the prototype is the centerpiece of an ambitious e-learning program to link 18,000 colleges and 400 universities across the country.

India has a reputation for creating ultra-cheap technologies, a trend sparked last year by the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car at $2500 (see Nano).

The computer, known as Sakshat, which translates as "before your eyes", will be launched as part of a new 46 billion RS "national mission for education." This envisages a network of laptops from which students can access lectures, coursework and specialist help from anywhere in India, triggering a revolution in education. A number of publishers have reportedly agreed to upload portions of their textbooks on to the system.

Prabhakar Rao, vice-chancellor of the university in Andhra Pradesh from where the Sakshat will be launched, said that India was "looking to get the hardware and software cheaper. In a developing country, costs have to be kept low so that the maximum number of students will benefit. That means cheap computers and cheap broadband access, so that students get access to ebooks and ejournals."

Designed by scientists at the Vellore Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras and the state-controlled Semiconductor Complex, the laptop has 2 GB of RAM and wireless connectivity. To keep costs low, experts say it will not use familiar Microsoft Windows software.

Officials are confident that the Rs500 price tag can be met. R.P. Agarwal, the top civil servant for Indian higher education, told newspapers last week that "at this stage, the price is working out to be US$20, but with mass production it is bound to come down," presumably to the $10 target mentioned by other sources.

However, some experts doubt that a laptop at US$20 or US$10 is commercially sustainable. Rajesh Jain, managing director of Netcore Solutions and a pioneer of low-cost computing in India, said: "You cannot even [make] a computer screen for $20. And India does not build much computer hardware. So where will the savings come from?"

THE REAL PRICE CHAMP IS THE ALPHA 400 AND ITS BROTHERS

The actual course of the race to the bottom is more apt to work out as follows. More and more manufacturers and brands will adopt the 400-MHz MIPS-processor technology of the Alpha 400, Elonex, HiVision, Razorbook, etc., of this blog. There probably will be 30 or more brands of 400s in a year or two.

The 400s are the successors to the Asus EEE as the low-price leader. Essentially, Asus has abandoned the quest for least price and joined Microsoft and Intel in their quest to keep prices and profits high. The EEE is nothing more than a bait-and-switch tactic of Asus, who apparently never had any intention to produce laptops for $200, much less $100 or less.

The quest will be furthered when the circuitry on the 400 or a similar machine is reduced to perhaps two or three chips, using the system-on-a-chip (SoC) approach: whole chip sets and the motherboard being replaced by a few very large chips on a small PCB (printed-circuit board).

A post below shows the interior of the Alpha 400 using current technology. The SoC approach can certainly reduce the IC count and circuit-board size and complexity. Already the Alpha 400 can be sold (by Exon International) for $89 wholesale, so an equivalent laptop using SoC technology and selling for $75 or less in the coming year seems well within reason.

Also reducing the cost to the consumer will be new marketing techniques, for example selling the mini-laptops on bubblepack cards (photo) on racks in dollar stores, drugstores, grocery stores, and the like.

Latest OLPC: $75 AND Open Source (per Negroponte)

2009-01-31T14:24:00.001-06:00

The One Laptop Per Child organization at MIT says the next generation of the XO, the XO-2, might sell for $75 and anyone is free to copy it and make it. Negroponte wants YOU to have one.

Here's the big news. Nicolas Negroponte: "One important thing about the XO-2 is that we're going to do it as an open-source hardware program. The XO-1 was really designed as if we were Apple. The XO-2 will be designed as if we were Google - we'll want people to copy it. We'll make the constituent parts available. We'll try and get it out there using the exact opposite approach that we did with the XO-1."

Guardian Newspaper (UK): The other interesting thing about the XO-2 is that it looks like something western consumers would buy as an ebook reader, and there's potentially a mass market at the target $75 price. Or somebody like Asus or Acer could make them, without paying OLPC a royalty. A project that was started to help children in the developing world could end up helping children in the west as well. "I wouldn't complain," he [Negroponte] says.

Negroponte says the system will dual-boot -- Windows and Linux -- because some governments and product-specifiers expect Windows, but there is no requirement ever to boot up Windows. There has been a bit of a backlash, the Guardian reporter pointed out. "Yes, but that's the Linux fundamentalists," Negroponte said. "What they're missing is that this is the best way to get Linux into the field."

Read the Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jan/29/nicholas-negroponte-olpc.

All Known Netbook Deals Below $200

2009-01-31T02:55:00.001-06:00

Online:
Geeks.com has the Alpha400 for $169.99. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ALPHA-400&cat=NBB. They have had the Alpha 400 for as low as $149.99. This has been a pretty dependable deal.

Also below $200 is Compuvest at: http://www.compuvest.us/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=327408.

In Stores:
This isn't quite below $200 and it isn't the mini-laptop 400 category, but it is a significant bargain for a store. The ASUS 8.9" Eee 4GB PC Netbook Computer with Linux has recently been seen in Target stores for $249.99 (at Macedonia, Ohio, in the Cleveland area) to $269.99. http://www.target.com/ASUS-8-9-Netbook-Computer-Linux/dp/B001E1OQL8 . The regular in-store price at Target is $299.99.

Unfortunately, we know of no store in the USA that has the Alpha 400, Razorbook, HiVision, etc., on its shelves yet. Remember, the EEE was online before it was in stores. Once the 400s reach the stores, watch out.

Inside the Alpha400 (Elonex ONE, Razorbook, HiVision)

2009-01-29T16:47:00.001-06:00

One photo shows the Alpha 400 with the bezel and keyboard removed, and another shows the other side of the motherboard.

The square black blob of course is the CPU chip. On it one can see the logo of Ingenic Semiconductor Co.,Ltd., the Chinese maker of the XBurst 32-bit MIPS processor that is the basis of the 400-Mhz mini-laptops -- a whole new category of small, cheap computers.

The board also bears the label SKYTONE, for Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technology, Co., Ltd.

What Does a Coby Netbook Look Like? For latest, follow link ...

2009-01-26T15:32:00.006-06:00

UPDATE FOR RELEASE MARCH 10, 2010:
To see the latest on the Coby sub-$100 netbook PC, go here:

http://alpha-400-mips-elonex-razorbook-coby.blogspot.com/2010/03/85-coby-netbook-pc-nbpc-722-poqetmate-7.html

Original 2009 post follows ....

Coby the Discount King market-tested mini-laptops at CES 2009 in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and it is a Big Deal.

The Coby-branded mini-laptop in the photo is courtesy of Engadget.com, whose representatives were present.

The big deal is two things: If Coby markets this, it almost certainly will come in below $200 and probably below $150. The other thing is that the Coby brand is widely distributed to mass merchandisers that present brands of laptops/notebooks rarely reach -- Big Lots, Rite-Aid, TJMaxx, dollar stores, hardware stores, etc.

Offbeat channels are a key to getting computer prices down within reason.

Next time, we will show what one these things might look like hanging from a Walgreens rack on a bubblepack card!

A PC on a blistercard -- now that means prices well below $100.

Mirrors: http://alpha-400-mips-elonex-razorbook-coby.blogspot.com/
http://alpha-400-mini-laptop.blogspot.com/
http://www.alpha-400.com

400-TYPE SPELLS T-R-O-U-B-L-E FOR DELL

2009-01-24T12:18:00.002-06:00

This blog is now mirrored at www.alpha-400.com. Please visit us there.

The blog also is mirrored at: http://alpha-400-mini-laptop.blogspot.com/ .

The Elonex mini-laptop, popular in the UK and Europe and possibly the world's most popular 400, has become a threat to Dell, according to the British magazine MarketingWeek. Click for article. http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=64006 .

One might add that the 400s also spell trouble for Intel, Microsoft, HP, Apple, and all of the current leaders in hardware and software. Not to mention the deathbed experience that the entire cyber-finance economy is going through right now.

WHERE DO THE ALPHA 400s AND OTHER 400 (400-MHz, MIPS processor, Linux operating system) Laptops Come From?

2009-01-22T15:20:00.003-06:00

All or most of the brands listed below claim to have factories in Shenzhen in mainland China (photo). Probably most of them are referring to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and ODMs (original design manufacturers) to which they contract the actual fabrication and assembly and some design work.

I have been able to actually find only two factories, addresses and all. They are Shenzhen Sungworld Electronics Co., Ltd, and Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Co., Ltd. They are both in Guangdong province, in the cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou (ex-Canton). If your 400-category computer bears a model number with "SW-700" in it, chances are Sungworld manufactured it. If the number includes "ALPHA 400," then Skytone likely made it. There are other factories making similar machines, I am sure, including ones in which Americans are large shareholders. If you don't have a printed user's manual for your 400, then a manual for one of the above two should be helpful to you.

The supply lines in the manufacture of computers are blurry, probably on purpose. People want to keep priveleged, valuable relationships to themselves as much as possible, for advertising and deal-making advantages. Even in other, larger computers like netbooks, notebooks, and laptops, you won't find Dell, HP, and Apple volunteering that their machines are made by Compal, Quanta, Foxconn, or Asus.

Some sources claim that Exon International Technology, a company in Hong Kong, makes all of the 400s, but that is not the case. It does make a 400 Linux mini-laptop http://www.exon-technology.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage_noname&product_id=116&category_id=55&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=55 , but there are other manufacturers of these, as noted above.

So here are the 400s brands, headquarters locations, and website links. There may be several more not listed (let us know), and there will surely be many, many more in the future. Hong Kong is a small, semiautonomous territory of the Peoples Republic of China adjoining the Pearl River Delta in South China. Shenzhou and Guangzhou are in the delta.

* Bestlink (or Belco) Alpha 400 (Hong Kong) http://bestlink.manufacturer.globalsources.com/si/6008819715890/Homepage.htm
* 3K Computers Razorbook (Boca Raton, Florida) http://www.3kcomputers.com/
* Trendtac 700 EPC (EPC700) (Netherlands) http://www.trendtac.nl/
* Elonex One T (One T+) (UK) http://www.elonex.co.uk/
* Maplin Minibook (UK) http://www.maplin.co.uk/
* Silverstar E-PC (UK) http://www.superetrader.co.uk/silverstar-epc-swe700a1b0-white-linux-ultra-mobile-pc-p-3496.html
* Yinlips Micro PC (Shenzhen, China) http://www.yinlips.com/_en/products_show.asp?id=621
* HiVision Mininote (Hong Kong [office], Shenzhen [factory]) http://hvsco.com/
* JAY-tech Jee-PC 400S (Germany) http://www.jay-tech.de/
* Letux 400 Linux Minibook (Germany) http://www.handheld-linux.com/wiki.php?page=Letux%20400 (Golden Delicious Computers)
* CnM Minibook (CnMBook) (UK) http://www.cnmlifestyle.com/
* Novatech Minibook (UK) http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-MINIBK (Not available?)
* Skytone Alpha 400 (Guangzhou, China) http://skytone.net.cn/en/products.php
* SurfOne INOS1 (France) http://www.rueducommerce.fr/Ordinateurs/Ordinateur-Portable/Netbook/RUEDUCOMMERCE/442987-Netbook-SurfOne-INOS1W-Ingenic-JZ4730-400-Mhz-Ecran-7-Blanc.htm

Alpha 400, Elonex 400: What are other names for the same thing?

2009-01-20T00:17:00.004-06:00

There already are several brands in this platform, and I will list the ones I know about.

There will be many others, and that is part of how this platform will take over from the netbooks as the cheapest genre of computers.

So here are the brands:

* Bestlink (or Belco) Alpha 400
* 3K Computers Razorbook
* Trendtac 700 EPC (EPC700)
* Elonex One T (One T+),
* Maplin Minibook,
* Silverstar E-PC,
* Yinlips Micro PC
* HiVision Mininote,
* JAY-tech Jee-PC 400S
* Letux 400 Linux Minibook
* CnM Minibook (CnMBook)
* Novatech Minibook
* Skytone Alpha 400
* SurfOne INOS1

Alpha 400 For $169.95--Where to Buy World's Cheapest Laptop/Notebook

2009-01-17T11:40:00.000-06:00

Click here to find the cheapest price on the Alpha 400 from Bestlink.

This is a great little replacement for the Asus EEE at over $100 less! It's made in Shenzhen China and available from a source right here in the good old USA.

Elonex, Possibly Most Popular Rockbottom Mini-Laptop

2009-01-16T17:53:00.002-06:00

There is an interesting article on the Elonex, which has sold over 200,000 units in the UK -- a very good start for the rockbottom movement -- here.

Please check this blog for ongoing news about the netbook / laptop race to the bottom.

Viva Las Vegas: 2009 CES, Consumer Electronics Association Show Wrapup

2009-01-12T13:55:00.000-06:00

The big buzz on the blogs in December, and one of the biggest tech stories of the year, was a story that Coby, the drug-store electronics king, would be selling a laptop for about $100.

They denied it.

Yet at the just-completed CES show in Las Vegas, they exhibited a whole slew of laptops in a rainbow of colors. "Market research," they say. [Photo is on a picture frame by the makers of the Elonex mini laptop.]

WILL THEY, OR WON'T THEY? LET'S SEE IF WE CAN FIGURE THEM OUT.

Their only official statement so far is this:

Friday, Dec. 5, 2008
"Official Statement ...

Coby Electronics Corporation is not currently producing a PC nor is one headed to market at any price [emphasis added] under the company’s name." Read Coby's whole statement.

The day before (Dec. 4, 2008), some guy, Ross Rubin, contacted Coby about a story that Arkansas Indymedia had written on their netbook and explained how Rubin thought it was a hoax.

Also the day before (Dec. 4, 2008)
Rubin, had talked to bloggers and claimed that the story was a hoax. As one blog, Engadget put it, "Update: Our pal Ross Rubin noticed that his quote was two years old and did some digging -- yeah, this [Coby netbook] looks like a hoax through and through. So much for that."

Yes, so much for that. Ross Rubin's word was all it took. Lots of other media took up the cudgel for Rubin, for example, "A $100 Midget PC at the local dollar store? Not so fast."

What can one say except this: Dear Mr. Rubin....

If anyone had bothered to check, two months before the Arkansas Indymedia story came out, Coby registered a trademark for a "Coby netbook."

Now, if you want to believe your own two lying eyes, they seem to have changed their minds.

In case you don't want to see that rainbow of PC colors, the article says Coby will be offering its brand version of the China 400 platform (the Coby 400?). "Also, it’s worth noting that the mythical $100 netbook we first heard about isn’t likely to materialize anytime soon. Instead, Coby is going to bring a rebadged version of the generic Xburst netbook with a 400MHz MIPS-based CPU for about $139. Coby also has several machines with 8, 8.9, and 10 inch displays in its lineup. The top of the line 10 inch models are expected to sell for around $299." So it looks like the China 400 still will be the price leader.

Here's the specs for the Coby NBPC89 (Wi-Fi) / NBPC85 (no Wi-Fi).

Photo of COBY netbook.

Display: 7 inches, 800 x 480 pixels
CPU: Xburst 400 MHz, 32bits, (MIPS)
Storage: 1GB SLC NAND flash (up to 2GB)
Operating System: Linux
RAM: 128 MB
SD/MMC: Supports SDHC (up to 32 GB)
Graphics: Integrated
Wireless: 802.11b/g on the Wi-FI model
Phone Line: 10/100 LAN on both models
USB: 3 slots
Battery: 7.4-V, 2100-mAh battery; time, about 3 hours
Dimensions: 8.3″ x 5.6″ x 1.3″
Weight: 1.5 pounds

Specs per Liliputing.com.

The time frame for Coby-cheap netbooks? Possibly March 2009.

ALPHA 400 Versus Intel's Misleading Term "Netbook"

2009-01-10T12:59:00.002-06:00

Words matter. They define things in our minds and in the marketplace as well. Right now they are hindering the progress of cheapening our computers. "Netbook" is an example. The term is thought by many to define the cheapest laptops. It doesn't. The Alpha 400 and the other China 400s (400-MHz laptops) -- those are the cheapest and they deserve a better name, and hence many manufacturers use the term "minilaptop" or "mini-laptop" for them.

The Asus EEE was intended to represent and define the cheapest laptops. Asus failed in creating the cheapest laptops, though it did indeed popularize the concept of much cheaper computers. Its EEE model captured the public's imagination. Then Asus dropped the ball. In early 2008 they hitched their wagon to Intel, who had invented the term "netbook" and invented a definition of small, cheap computers with displays of up to 10.2 inches to go along with the term and Intel's new Atom processor (they don't want to see any cheap Atom computers at 10.3 or 10.5 inches).

As usual, Intel was self-serving. They never will favor cheaper computers because that means cheaper microprocessor chips. Same thing for Microsoft: How can Exon International Technology sell China 400s for $89 wholesale if they have to pay Microsoft $35 for XP or $18 for CE?

The term "netbook" is confusing, and deliberately so. It needs "disambiguation," as Wikipedia would say. Or it needs to be "deprecated," as the IEEE dictionary would say, at least for the China 400s.

The Asus EPC (EEE) versus the China 400s (Alpha 400, etc.)

Asus aimed for a price point of $200 but ended up near $300. As things turned out, the EEE is just another computer at the bottom end of the notebook segment in size and price. Asus has abandoned us bottom-feeders of computerdom and is selling "netbooks" that are getting more and more expensive.

The China 400 manufacturers, on the other hand, are still on course to produce the world's cheapest computers. This is not just a matter of semantics, it is is a matter of philosophy. The philosophy of the netbook is to keep the bottom from falling out of computer prices, to keep the foundation up so that the house above will not be divided against itself -- ever-lower computers prices versus high prices -- and fall.

If computer prices had kept pace with Moore's law (it decrees that the cost of transistors in a microprocessor will fall by one half every 18 month), computers would be much less than $100 (there's more to the cost than CPUs of course). Instead, Intel, Microsoft, HP, etc., kept alive as long as they could the old truism, "The computer you need is always $5000." Prices of mainstream computers generally are cheaper than that now, but still way too high compared to the cost of manufacture ($89 wholesale for China 400s by Exon Technology).

Call a Miniature Laptop What It Is

The most common term for portable computers for most people is "laptop." Notebooks, netbooks, and Alpha 400s are all laptops. The netbook is just a low-end notebook, smaller and usually cheaper than most. The China 400s are laptops of course, but miniature ones. That is why the Chinese call them "minilaptops" or "mini-laptops" (depending on the preference in hyphenation).

So let's get define our terms and get our market segments straight, and push for cheaper computers of all kinds, even at the top end.

ALPHA-400 Mini-Laptops: Smallest, Cheapest

2009-01-09T20:44:00.001-06:00

This blog: The "China 400" mini laptops (Alpha 400, Elonex, etc.) -- the cheapest laptops -- rule! We'll keep'ya posted with tech details, cheapest deals, where to buy, and offbeat places where China 400s are sold. (Clayton Hallmark)

They're not netbooks (that's just an Intel gotcha word), not notebooks, not full-size laptops.

They lead the race to the bottom, in price, these 400-MHz miniature laptops from China -- therefore, they rule. It's a whole new platform, the China 400 / Alpha 400, and there will be dozens of brands besides Alpha 400 and hundreds of models eventually. All other "netbooks"/notebooks /laptops of whatever size will come down in price as a result.

For now, 400 MHz with an XBurst Chinese processor running Linux defines the world's cheapest TRUE computers. They can do about all that most people want: access the web by phone line or Wi-Fi, email, write notes and letters, view video, read almost all documents found online, run a printer or other equipment (and much more). For more, Google mini-laptop 400 .

The Linux eperience is superior to the Windows experience for most people.

Cheapest Deal Today (January 9, 2009): The cheapest version of the China 400 platform is the Alpha 400, available at geeks.com for under $170 .

Latest News on China 400s:

Offbeat places to buy a computer: Marks & Spencer department stores in the UK -- in the fashion department . The China 400 on sale there is the UK's own Elonex, which got its start in schools. Remember how Apple got its foothold in the US? Elonex has sold over 200,000 to schools, not much less than the Asus EEE sold in the US in its first year.