Medison Celebrity's US$150 Laptop

For quite some time now, a Swedish site, Medison Celebrity, has been offering a laptop for US$150, the same price point as the Asus Eee PC 701. But the former is actually more of a mainstream product (as much as Linux comes to being mainstream :) ), being a Linux-based notebook with a 1.5GHz Celeron processor, 256MB RAM, a 40GB hard drive and a 14-inch 1280 x 768 resolution widescreen display and 802.11g Wi-Fi.

In fact, with its specs, at US$150, it represents a very good bargain. So what is the catch? Inspite of all the play-up by practically all major tech sites, not a single hands-on, preview, or review has been posted. Also although the site is already accepting orders, it states that shipping will take approximately 4 to 6 weeks. That's a tad bit too long.

Thus, some user sites have been issuing precautionary advice regarding ordering from Medison Celebrity. In other words, if it is too good to be true, chances are it is.

Personally I wouldn't be so quick as to conclude one way or another, although admittedly the price is too low for comfort. But the fact that the site uses 2CO, which I have come across in several on-line transactions with established Internet resellers, and accepts VISA/MC, which provides consumer protection, I am inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Still, I wouldn't order right away - not unless I come across hands-on reviews from established sites such as PCMag or Notebookreview as well as comments from satisfied buyers. But then that is just me.