Mini Laptops powered by VIA

I want to show you some VIA-powered mini laptop computers, which are not available worldwide but might catch your interest starting with the exterior design and ending with integrated technologies they bring with.



I’ll start with the Aristo Pico 640 available in Poland, a laptop measuring 243.1 × 171.9 × 28.5-42.5 mm at just 1.09 kg, featuring a durable construction and being powered by the VIA C7-M Ultra Low Voltage processor with a speed of 1GHz. The chipset is a VIA VX800 and this small laptop has a 7-inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, integrating 1GB DDR2 RAM memory expandable up to 2GB, 40GB GDD storage, a 4-in-1 card reader, Wireless LAN, stereo speakers, and built-in web camera for video conferences.



A bit higher processing speed is encountered at the other Aristo mini laptop computers, Pico 740, which operate at 1.2GHz processing speeds with a VIA CPU and a VX700 chipset, integrating 1GB DDR2 RAM, up to 80GB HDD, optional webcam, sporting a 7-inch display, all weighting 0.97Kg. Optionally you can add Bluetooth, TV tuner and the GPS module for navigation.



Kira 100/200/300/400 series laptops are available in Spain at Airis in a few rich colors and with a 1GHz VIA CPU, VIA VX800 chipset, a 7-inch display, up to 1GB DDR2 RAM, up to 4GB flash SLC storage or 40GB HDD, a 3-in-1 card reader, Wireless LAN, web camera, and a 6-hour battery, all encased in a 1.1-Kg-casing.



One Mini Notebook A110/A115/A120/A140/A150 mini laptop computers run at 1GHz with the VIA VX800, 512MB DDR2, up to 4GB flash or 60GB HDD, WLAN, web camera, and feature a 7-inch display on which you can play different applications brought by the Windows XP operating system that comes pre-installed on the system or Linux. These models are available in Germany.



If you have the chance to visit Australia or you live there, you might be interested in the Pioneer DreamBook Light CE26 7-inch mini laptop computers with touch-sensitive screen, a 1.2GHz processor, VIA VX700 chipset, up to 1GB DDR2 RAM, up to 100GB HDD, a 4-in-1 card reader, WLAN, web camera, Bluetooth, TV tuner, GPS, all weighting 0.97Kg. Another option would be the Pioneer DreamBook Light IL1 (I'd Love 1) system available at $440 Australian Dollars, coming with the same main features.



Ufotek Datron Mobee can be found in Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, with the 1GHz processor, VX800 chipset, up to 2GB DDR2 RAM, 4GB flash or 120GB HDD, a 3-in-1 card reader, WLAN, web camera, a 6-hour battery, all weighting 1.1Kg.



Elonex Webbook has a price of £249 and is available in the United Kingdom with the VIA C7-M 1.6 GHz CPU, the VX700 chipset, a larger display of 10.2 inches and resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Other features include 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD, WLAN and the Windows XP operating system pre-installed.



Envision Smart I mini laptop computers from China run at 1.6GHz with the VIA VX700 chipset, 2GB memory, a 3-in1 card reader, WLAN, and sport a 10.2-inch display.



TongFang Mini S1 is also a model from China, and sports an elegant design integrating a 1.6GHz processor, a 10.2-inch display, 2GB memory, a 4-in-1 card reader, Dual OS selection, WLAN and web camera.

Review: VIA OpenBook

VIA Technologies today introduced the VIA OpenBook ultraportable laptop reference design, featuring a 8.9-inch display and VIA’s processor and integrated graphics.

“Powered by the VIA C7-M ULV processor and the VIA VX800 digital media IGP chipset, the VIA OpenBook mini-note reference design is a small, 1kg, 8.9″ mini-notebook form factor design that supports screen resolutions of up to 1024×600 and high performance VIA Chrome9 DirectX 9.0 3D graphics,” VIA says adding that the device features up to 2GB DDR2 DRAM and can be equipped with a choice of hard disk drive and solid state storage options.

The OpenBook offers WiFi and Bluetooth, as well as AGPS, WiMAX, HSDPA, or EV-DO/W-CDMA options. It also comes with a built in 2 mega-pixel web camera, three USB ports, a VGA port, and 4-in-1 media card reader.

According to the press release, the new mini-laptop delivers up to three hours of battery life with a 4-cell 2600mA lithium-ion battery.

The VIA OpenBook supports Microsoft Windows Vista Basic operating system, Windows XP, and various Linux distributions.

Currently, there is no information on availability and pricing of the OpenBook-based devices.