Medion Akoya E1210 to take on Eee PC

No sooner did we have word that Asus would be launching a 10in Eee PC, than French rival Medion dropped news of this Gallic competitor, the Akoya Mini E1210. Based on the same Intel Atom chip,  running at 1.6MHz or 1.8Mhz, it'll have a minimum 1GB RAM but will shun SSD storage in favour of a mini 1.8in hard drive. It's the same sort of drive that goes into the iPod and although Medion hasn't mentioned any configurations, they could in theory go up to 100GB.

Aside from the larger screen, it looks a good deal like the HP Mini-Note with that edge-to-edge keyboard and offset touchpad, though it's far from identical.

As is becoming the norm, both Windows XP and Linux versions will be on offer. There's also the obligatory 1.3mp webcam plus memory card reader, VGA out and a couple of USB ports for good measure.

And just to make sure the competition really hots up, it'll be available in white, as well as the Titanium grey pictured. Watch out for it stepping off the Eurostar some time towards the end of the summer with a €399 (approx £317) attached.

Update: The Medion Akoya E1210 is a rebadged version of the MSI Wind U100 - click the link to see our full review. We've also reviewed another rebadged version of the same laptop in the shape of the Advent 4211.

[ Electronista]