Astone UMPC and its Siblings

For those who have bought or are considering the Astone UMPC or some other variants of the Cloudbook (or is it VIA Nanobook?) reference design, Cloudbook UMPC has a very informative and presumably comprehensive listing of all the various models.

The site lists at least 16 different models and includes an convenient comparative table. Some of the info, especially the pricing, might be a little outdated as it was last updated back in August. Still, a fun site to browse through, especially if you have one of those little buggers to play with. :)

Astone UMPC Now Only $171

Per a TipidPC forum thread, the Astone UMPC (1GB/30 GB hard drive) is now available for only P8,500 (around $171) at a Philippine reseller (Abacus, V-Mall, Greenhills). This is so far the lowest price we have seen.

Could $99 be a possibility early next year? And we are not talking Windows CE based devices here. Happy shopping, folks!

Vista Runs Faster than XP on Via Nanobooks

Photo posted by TipidPC member frye.

Not that many people wouldl really care, but Netbookuser forum Azazel has reported that Windows Vista performs better than Windows XP on the Cloudbook (VIA Nanobook) in this thread while TipidPC forum members have also reported that Windows Vista runs faster than Windows XP on the Astone UMPC (a Via Nanobook variant).

Netbookuser forum thread here.

TipidPC forum thread here (in English/Pilipino).

PC Corner Lists Astone UMPC, Blue H1, Eee PC 701 all at $203

Philippine-based PC Corner is selling the Astone UMPC, Blue H1, and the original Asus Eee PC 701 4G all at P9,995 or roughly just USD203, which is practically the original announced $199 price of the latter. At this price, as expected, PC Corner has been enjoying brisk sales, with both Astone UMPC and Blue H1 outselling the Eee PC.

Both the Astone UMPC and the Blue H1 incidentally have conventional hard drives, the former with 60GB, the latter, 40GB. In addition, the Astone has a touch screen.

At the $200 price point, these netbooks are already much lower than high-end smart mobile phones such as the Nokia e90 Communicator or the Apple iPhone 3G (without contract). In fact, they are at the same price point of popular mid-level mobile phones, officially making them commodity items.

PC Corner Astone UMPC Product Page here.

Astone UMPC tech specs here.

PC Corner Blue H1 Product Page here.

Blue H1 tech specs here.

PC Corner Asus Eee PC 701 4G Product Page here.

Asus Eee PC 701 4G tech specs here.