I just reported that Mobilx have the Eking i1 available to order and now they tell me the Clevo TN70M is coming too. It’s raining new devices today! The TN70M is a device that JKK and I tested over a year ago at CeBIT 2008 (video) and we were very interested in the specs. How does it look today though?
The TN70M reminds me of the Kohjinsha SA5, the touchscreen version of the SA1, a pre-netbook device I used for blogging at CeBIT 2007. It’s an 800×480 convertible touchscreen device but based on a 1.33Ghz Intel Atom and includes ExpressCard 34 slot, 60GB hard drive and a 4-cell battery. This was one of the key features we highlighted at CeBIT and at that time I estimated a 7-hour runtime. Based on how the Eking i1 performs (6 hours on the 32wh battery) I see no reason to doubt that with a 37wh battery (2008 specs,confirmed) this is going to be close to that 7hr mark. It weighs 900gm.
When I bought the SA1 in 2007, it cost me over 1000 Euros. The TN70M price is 472 Euros including taxes (about 393 Euro for exports) but excluding operating system. That’s double the battery life, double the processing power for half the price!!! Given that the TN70M was supposed to have a free PCI-Express Mini slot inside (unconfirmed at the moment) this could make an interesting Linux tablet/netbook project. 800×480 screen though. 800×480 will help touch navigation and viewing but with so many 1024×600 devices around, is it enough?
Update: Ndevil.com have a recent YouTube video up (German, accompanying article) that shows the battery unit with a 37wh capacity. Thanks Balazs.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:33 pm
New article: Clevo TN70M convertible netbook available. 472 Euros. http://cli.gs/YyUaZy
April 21st, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I just had it in my hands last week at mobilx and it is just great if there wouldn’t be the 800×480. but as far as I know there will be a 1024×800 option. This Device shows how netbook companies should show off their products. Solid cheap and all functionalities built like long batterie and really good casing. I have a 5 minute Video up on youtube.
Chippy Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Linky?
Chippy Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 4:22 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhtEes_AF9I
Balazs Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Yeah you found it but i will be replacing it so watch out. Damn AfterEffects wont let me compile it without lagging. Will be updating it tonight and adding an englisch voiceover… just check our channel again around 23:00. http://youtube.com/ndeviltv
April 21st, 2009 at 7:36 pm
800×480 … definitely not sufficient. but as its seems, asia is squeezing the most out of this obviously cheap equipment.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:31 pm
on a 4.1″ screen, 800×480 is enough (think N800/N810). On a 7″ screen? … that’s hard to guess at. It might be, but it might not be.
midtoad Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
800×480 is not enough! Or rather, 480 pixel height is not enough. By the time you show your browser’s menubar and toolbar and status bar, there’s not much space left for actual content.
I own an EeePC 701 with 800×480 resolution, and I tell you, it’s not enough!
Mitigating measures: install Firefox TinyFox theme. Also, press F11 to go into full-screen mode and hide everything that isn’t content. Also, install FullerFox plug-in. But still…. 1024×600 would be better.
johnkzin Reply:
May 26th, 2009 at 2:51 am
800×480 CAN be enough. Like I said, on the Nokia’s,it’s plenty enough.
Youd don’t NEED to have your toolbars showing all the time on your web browser. There are things you can do to mitigate that.
And, yes, at 7″, 1024×600 would be better (for a smaller screen, though, no, it wouldn’t be better).
April 21st, 2009 at 11:20 pm
the Resolution is enough for webbrowsing and writing short texts but i would use it for actual work or multitasking like chatting and photoshopping at the same time. the english video is up btw now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do8g0eJ1fBY
John Reply:
April 21st, 2009 at 11:44 pm
I can’t see doing photoshop on a netbook :-} That type of work certainly isn’t why I’d buy a netbook. That’s where I’d look for a high end laptop, if I was going to do it mobile at all.
But I have done email, web surfing, VNC, and pidgin on a 7″ screen, all at once, before. And I’ve done all of those on an 800×480 screen before (not the same devices; the former was a Samsung Q1 Ultra, the latter was a Nokia N810). The right user interface is far more important than the exact screen size or resolution.
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:16 am
I think this is the same one http://multicom.no/SystemConfigurator.aspx?q=st:10554382;c:101186;fl:0
for a little extra cash they sell it with better resolution.
(This is a Norwegian site if you want to use google translate)
JP Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 am
Wow, now I’d want that clevo.fr provides such configuration options for the TN70M!!!
John in Norway Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
Brilliant find Øyvind. Never heard about that site.
Sarig Reply:
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Ooh, nice. Multicom has always had an interesting array of smaller devices, but I don’t frequent their site often enough, obviously!
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:20 am
Humm, the TN70M is available for some time, now.
In France, FNAC distributed it since at least sixth months under the name “We Surf”, but it looks like it hadn’t any success — fact is that I can’t find it’s page on the website anymore.
Similarly, the official french CLEVO disttributor proposes it since at least six months: just look fot “TN70M” under the “netbook” category in the clevo.fr website.
However, all of these TN70M uses the same lame 800×480 7″ display, which is a good reason why nobody would buy it — especially at this price.
If Mobilx can finally distribute TN70M with 1024×600 display, as originally advertised at the CeBIT 2008, it could be something new and interesting.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
That norwegian site with the 1024×600 touch screen option looks interesting.
To bad that the properties of the GPS isnt specified though.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
BTW, here’s a link to a review of the norwegian config:
http://translate.google.se/translate?hl=en&sl=no&u=http://www.teknofil.no/wip4/review/test_multicom_alishan-7/d.epl%3Fid%3D36388&ei=zXHvSZ7zHY-J_QaKj7i8Dw&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMulticom%2BAlishan%2B7%2522%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 am
Looks exactly like a Kohjinsha SH7 except lower res?
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
i just bought gigabyte m912x atom netbook tablet and is satisfied with everything
1280×768 screen, 4cell bat 2-3 hours. 500 usd
May 25th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Found: Clevo convertible touchscreen netbook available for 472 Euros. http://tinyurl.com/coumzj