Hands on with the Packard Bell EasyNote XS - the first Eee PC killer?

The newest low-cost ultra-portable has just arrived in the Mobile Computer office - the Packard Bell EasyNote XS. This is based on the VIA NanoBook that was announced at Computex earlier this year, which was supposedly an ultra-portable that would compete with the (now) £220 ASUS Eee PC.

The good news is that hardware-wise, the EasyNote XS looks like a worthy contender to the Eee PC. The bad news is that it's being sold through PC World at a ridiculous £500 and not the (still overpriced) £350 it was originally pitched at. More after the jump.

First impressions of the EasyNote XS are good. It's at least as well-made as the Eee PC and, thanks to the black finish, looks like a 'serious' laptop.

The dockable modules that were part of the NanoBook concept haven't been implements and instead the rather conspicuous space to the right of the screen is filled with a webcam. Speaking of the screen, this model is running at a non-native 800 x 600 and the driver won't switch back to the native 800 x 480. As a result, the display looks horrible, though there's certain to be a fix.

The keyboard is much the same as on the Eee PC - small, but good, in other words - but the pointing device is rather bizarre. It's a tiny trackpad with a 25mm diagonal that sits at the top right of the keyboard - the two mouse buttons sit on the other side.

We'll post a full review in the next day or two but in the meantime, here are some pics. Leave any questions the comments and we'll answer them in the review.

Originally published on www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk, now incorporated into Broadband Genie
© Dennis Publishing

 

 

 

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