I’ve had some contact with Netbook Navigator about their Nav7 Tablet. When it starts shipping next month it’s going take the 7” UMPC market out of a long , dry spell.

Netbook Navigator Nav 7 Specifications, Links, Images, Forum

If you’re looking for a consumer tablet solution, you’ll probably want to look away right now because I won’t be writing about always-on battery life, application stores, maps, games, user interface candy and gyroscopes, no I’ll be talking about a mouse pointer and Windows 7.

OK, that shook them off!

If you’re still here, then have a closer look.

We’re talking about a device that’s slightly lighter than the excellent Viliv X70 EX (590 vs 660) and a little slimmer and less wide. There’s also an important advantage on the CPU. 1.6Ghz instead of the 1.2/1.3Ghz of the Viliv X70. On top of that, and I think you’ll like this, the Netbook Navigator Nav7 has a mouse pad and mouse buttons.

On the rear of the device you’ll see the pad and buttons…

So it’s a right-hand pad and left hand button. It won’t feel natural to start with but i’m sure people could get used to this. We’ll have to test it to be sure though.

On the negative side there’s only a small 19Wh battery which means we’re dealing with a min 2hrs, max 3hrs (my estimate.) Netbook Navigator say 4-5hrs max which might be possible under those favourable but unrealistic JEITA conditions!

Netbook Navigator are offering the Nav7 with a range of SSD options (16, 32, 64) and a 2GB RAM option [cheer!] A 3G option is included too.

Pricing starts at a $599 (no OS) and goes up to $849 for a 2GB RAM, 32GB Windows Home Premium setup. Add $100 for the 3G and another $150 for the 64GB SSD option.

Availability is said to be very soon by our contact at Netbook Navigator. They also said we can take one for testing so expect a live session on this one soon.

All details, links, images etc, available for the Netbook Navigator Nav7 in our product database.

Netbook Navigator has been working hard on getting that Nav 9 [Specifications] to market and we’ve just heard that a review sample is going to be with us very soon. Apparently they’ve taken a few weeks to optimise a touchscreen that wasn’t up to par and in that time they’ve also updated the package and pricing.

The Atom N450-based 1GB/16GB tablet is now available as a base version for $599 including a large capacity battery, carrying case, 8GB SD card and car charger. That price doesn’t include an operating system but there’s a good chance that Moblin, Jolicloud and Ubuntu are going to work out of the box (don’t expect multitouch) and as we go forward, MeeGo is going to be an option not to mention any old XP licenses you have lying around.

We still have reservations about the size, weight and form-factor for any of these netbook-based tablets that are appearing and seriously, the ASUS T101MT including Windows 7 with 2GB, touch/multitouch screen on the latest Pinetrail platform for a similar price (admittedly, with a weight premium) sounds like a much better product overall but if a Windows-based Slate is the way you want to go, this isn’t a bad deal.

When the news about the Nav 9 (then the 8192NN) first hit last month there was a lot of negative feedback about a $1200 asking price. We held back from reporting the story, instead choosing to contact the guys at Netbook Navigator to see what was going on. Since then we’ve had a good back-and-forth about specifications, pricing and target markets and as a result of all the feedback they’ve had, Netbook Navigator have re-positioned their product with a much lower entry point. You still get the multi-touch (resistive) screen, Windows Home Premium and 16GB SSD (which is going to be tight for Win 7) but the entry level pricing is a much more interesting $799.

Details, specs, gallery, links on the Netbook Navigator Nav 9 in our database.

Clearly there are many that will be comparing this to a $499 iPad (funny that the Apple product is lowering the pricing bar!) but remember that this is a productivity-focused tablet with support for everything you’re used to on your desktop. Yes, your USB printer will work, Skype, Bluetooth and USB keyboards and you’ll get full Adobe Flash support for YouTube support up to HQ mode.

Others will be comparing it to the ASUS T91 MT and at $484, no-one can argue with the serious competition that Netbook Navigator have there. [Sidenote: Anyone got the T91 MT? If so, let us know how you’re getting on with it.]

You’ll pay for all this multitasking flexibility with a very poor 2.5hr battery life but there’s a factory option ($50) for a large capacity (x1.5) battery. 3G and large SSD options also exist.

Personally, I’m not a large format tablet fan and would not look forward to multi-touching this 2lb device while holding it in one hand but, as with everything, there’s always a customer out there and if the build quality is good, this lowers the entry point for sub 1KG multi-touch tablets nicely. Battery life needs to be improved to 4hrs minimum on the next round of these devices though.

Source: Netbook Navigator.