Malata ultra mobile notebooks with Intel and AMD inside
China-based OEM Malata can’t seem to make up its mind about whether their series of ultra mobile notebooks can compete in today’s UMPC/netbook market. On the one hand, they’ve got four 1.6GHz Intel Atom netbooks with 8- to 10.2-inch screens, Linux and Windows XP options, and 80GB/120GB hard drives. Two even have ExpressCard slots.
On the other hand (and the reason I’m covering this despite my netbook ban), Malata also makes three mini notebooks (one has a PCMCIA slot) with 7- to 10.2-inch screens that are powered by the rather ancient 500MHz AMD Geode LX800 processor. The LX800, you may remember, was used in the original Kohjinsha SA1 and the Raon Digital Vega from 2006/2007.
The fact that Malata is using the very current Atom N270 processor in their netbooks makes it clear that they’re not out of touch with the industry, so why are they still using the LX800 when AMD also makes the LX900 (found in the Raon Digital Everun) and Turion 64 X2 (found in the Everun Note)?
And what happened to the Computex-spotted 8.9-inch Malata netbook that was powered by AMD Sempron? If you take a look at the specs chart I put together below, you’ll see that the only 8.9-inch model is the PC-88903, which already has Atom inside it. What’s going on?
| |
81002 | 81005 | 81007 | 87005 | 88002 | 88010 | 88903 |
| Screen: |
10.2" 1024×600 |
10.2" 1024×600 |
10.2" 1024×600 |
7" 800×480 |
8" 800×480 |
8" 800×480 |
8.9" 1024×600 |
| CPU: |
500MHz LX800 |
1.6GHz Atom |
1.6GHz Atom |
500MHz LX800 |
500MHz LX800 |
1.6GHz Atom |
1.6GHz Atom |
| RAM: |
512MB 1GB |
512MB 1GB |
512MB 1GB |
256MB 512MB |
512MB 1GB |
512MB 1GB |
512MB 1GB |
| OS: |
Linux WinXP |
Linux WinXP |
Linux WinXP |
Linux WinXP |
Linux WinXP |
Linux WinXP |
Linux WinXP |
| Storage: |
60GB | 80GB 120GB |
80GB 120GB |
60GB | 60GB 2GB 4GB 8GB |
80GB 120GB |
80GB 120GB |
| Wireless: |
WiFi | WiFi | WiFi | WiFi | WiFi | WiFi | WiFi |
Note: Solid state drives (SSDs) are indicated in bold.
The only device of interest to Pocketables is the 7-inch PC-87005. The specs are horrid by today’s standards, but if the mini notebook had actually been released when the Geode LX800 was still being used in UMPCs, it could’ve been the first Eee PC. Back then, the only 7-inch laptop-style UMPC around was the Kohjinsha SA1 (and that was really a mini convertible, which isn’t the same thing).
If the LX800-based models had better CPUs, would you be interested in them? Given the excitement over the Everun Note, which shares a similar 7-inch form factor but has much better specs, my guess is yes.
[Malata]
