VIA eNote Turnkey Solution Ultra-Portable Notebook PC

The latest mantra when it comes to take-along technology is thin is in
and it seems that consumers simply can't get enough. We are constantly
pushing manufacturers to make things smaller and lighter without
sacrificing performance and connectivity. In a move to offer consumers
even more choice when it comes to their portable wireless computers,
Taiwan-based VIA has decided to unveil their latest ultra-portable
notebook at this year's 4G World scheduled to be held in Chicago
starting on September 15. The VIA eNote Turnkey Solution is their latest
slim, lightweight laptop computer and at a svelte 11.6-in and 1.3-kg it
appears to have all the right stuff.
The VIA eNote Turnkey Solution is being touted as the perfect
combination of the netbook and the notebook. It features a Sequans
Communications Mobile WiMAX chip that sports the proprietary Sequans
mimoMAX technology. It's this technology that combines a maximum
likelihood decoder on the downlink with two transmitters (2Tx) on the
uplink. It also gives users the choice of two internal modules to handle
the job. The first one features WiFi, Bluetooth, and optional AGPS
connections and the second one provides WiMAX, HSDPA, and EV-DO/W-CDMA.
The CPU and graphics power plants of VIA's latest introduction are the
1.3GHz VIA Nano processor and the VIA VX800 digital media IGP chipset
respectively. The eNote provides support for WXGA screen resolutions and
VIA Chrome9 DirectX 9.0 3D graphics as well as video acceleration for
MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VC1 and DiVX video formats. VMR capable HD video
processor and 8-channel HD audio complete the multi-media package.
The VIA eNote Turnkey Solution has three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port,
audio-in/audio-out jacks as well as a 4-in-1 card reader
(SD/SDIO/MMC/MS) and integrated 2MP dual-headed web camera. As for OS
compatibility, the VIA eNote works with Microsoft Windows Vista Basic,
Microsoft Windows XP, and various Linux distributions. You can get the
machine with up to 2GB DDR2 DRAM and it can be equipped with a several
choices of HDDs and solid state storage devices. Being a portable unit,
battery life is definitely a concern for most users as well. The VIA
eNote comes standard with a 4-cell 2600mA lithium-ion battery that is
said to deliver up to three hours of battery life on a single charge.
Given the units small size, this isn't all too impressive, but it should
prove adequate for most typical applications in its target market.
Overall, it looks like VIA has managed to give users the best of both
worlds in the eNote. It has a great set of features and doesn't seem to
sacrifice performance for portability. No word yet on pricing or
roll-out schedule, but sources are saying that it may be VIA's intent to
market the eNote to carriers rather than directly to consumers.