Alpha 400 pays a high price for low cost

Ross Rubin put to test the Alpha 400 being sold for $170 over at Geeks.com and came away quite disappointed with the considerable compromises made to achieve that alluring price.

As is common with other netbooks, the Alpha 400 has the usual specs - 7", SD card slot, 3 USB ports, small keyboard, and 802.11b. But as is common, too, with the cheaper, non-Intel based so-called EPCs, it uses a 400 MHz MIPS processor, has only 128MB RAM, 1GB SSD, runs Linux (other EPCs run Windows CE) and has no webcam.

But beyond the specs, Rubin had little good to say about the device. Some of the main lowlights of his review include -

The lack of compatibility with x86 architecture means Linux programs need to be compiled specifically to run on it, and if ever many run slowly.

There is no browser-based Flash support.

Limited driver support means even some common USB flash drives are not recognized.

Trackpad buttons are small and stiff.

Rubin's summary says it all - "Perhaps the best thing that can be said about a $170 laptop is that it has a good shot of being 70 percent better than a $100 one."

Original review at Engadget.