Lots of ultra-cheap ultra-portables are coming your way

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Posted on 7 Sep 2009 at 11:40

The case has a chrome trim and upturned edges to either side of the keyboard giving it a distinctive look. It felt sturdy too, barely flexing under pressure. The model we saw was equipped with 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard disk, a 1.3GHz U7300 Core 2 Duo ULV processor and an Intel GMA 4500 HD graphics chip. The X120 will be available shortly, but Samsung's spokeperson was unable to confirm final UK pricing and specifications.

Slightly larger laptops were announced by German manufacturer Medion. The Akoya E3211 looks classy in its bronze and black plastic case. Its 13.3in screen has a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. The keyboard felt a little springier than we'd like, but it didn't feel anywhere near as spongy as the keyboards on some of the Medion laptops we've previously reviewed.

It will come fitted with 4GB of RAM, a huge 500GB hard disk and either a 1.3GHz Pentium ULV SU2700 or a slower 1.2GHz Celeron ULV 723 processor. Although none of the Medion representatives knew how heavy the E3211 will be, it definitely felt heavier than Samsung's X120 since it has a built-in DVD writer - a feature unique among the ultra low voltage laptops we saw.

The Akoya S3211 has almost identical specifications to the E3211, except it will have a 1.4GHz Pentium ULV SU4100 processor instead. We saw white and bronze coloured versions on display, but they felt cheaper and creakier than the sturdier E3211 and had spongier, more error-prone keyboards too. Their undersides also felt very warm after only a few minutes of operation. We expect to receive official UK specifications and pricing within the next week or two.

Author: Alan Lu

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