Nokia has unveiled detailed specifications for the company’s upcoming Booklet 3G mini-laptop. First announced a few weeks ago, the Booklet 3G is the first netbook from the cellphone maker, and as the name suggests it includes an integrated 3G wireless module. And that means that the Booklet 3G will likely be available from wireless companies who will bundle it with long term service contracts.
At an event today Nokia unveiled the price and more details about the netbook. First up, it looks like that rumor about the high price was pretty close to the mark. Nokia expects the Booklet 3G to sell for about €575 in Europe without a contract. That’s the equivalent of about $818 US. There are a few things that figured doesn’t tell us though. For instance, how much will the netbook cost if/when it’s available at a subsidized price from a wireless carrier. And will it even be available without a service contract in the US at all? While it’s not uncommon to be able to buy an unlocked device in Europe, most US telecoms discourage that kind of thing, which means that the Booklet 3G may never hit the $800 price tag in the US.
OK, enough about the price. Here’s the rest of what we know:
- CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530
- Chipset: Intel US15W (fanless)
- Display: 10.1 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel
- OS: Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, or Professional
- RAM: 1GB (soldered to motherboard)
- Storage: 120GB (1.8″ SATA, 4200 rpm)
- Battery: 16 cell, 56.8Whr, Li-Ion battery (Nokia claims 12 hour battery life)
- Design: Chassis made of a single piece of aluminum
- Colors: black, white, and blue
- Wireless: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, 3G HSPA modem for data calls only (also available with WCDMA modem or no modem), Assisted-GPS
- Ports: 3 USB, HDMI, headphone jack (also functions as audio input), SIM/USIM card slot, SD card reader
- Webcam: 1.3MP
- Software: Ovi Suite for syncing calendar, contacts, media, Ovi Maps, Ovi Suite 2.0, Nokia Music for PC, Social Hub
- Dimensions: 10.4″ x 7.3″ x 0.78″
- Weight: 2.76 pounds
So there you go. It all sounds like a bit of a mixed bag to me. On the one hand, the build quality looks excellent. You can find some hands-on photos at SlashGear. And the unique battery, light weight, extensive software suite, and integrated wireless options really do set the Booklet 3G apart from the crowd.
On the other hand, the netbook is saddled with a slow hard drive, a processor that’s a bit on the sluggish side, and a high resolution screen that all-but-guarantees that you won’t be able to watch high quality Flash video from Hulu, Vimeo, or YouTube on this model (since the Atom processor isn’t capable of pumping out high quality Flash video on screens with higher resolutions than 1024 x 600 pixels.
Nokia has released a few new videos showing the Booklet 3G. You can check them out after the break.
Ya know, there is a solution to the youtube problem. All that needs to happen is an OEM that really cares about the issue pay for a consultant to go over to Adobe and teach those fools how to correctly use a scaled video surface in Flash Player.
Seriously. The whole Internet has been crippled for several years now by their cluelessness. Some green group should calculate (ok, yank a number out of their butt) how much power has been wasted by CPUs doing scaling and colorspace conversion in software for every darned YouTube video vs letting the far more efficient video hardware do the job and embarrass Adobe into fixing their stuff. Do that and an Atom is more than enough to display fullscreen video on a 1080p display as long as the source is still the same crappy resolution YouTube provides because the video hardware can do scaling really good these days.
I totally agree with the comment above…
The flash isue has been embarrasing for years now. Adoble claimed they used the gpu at least on the windows builds , but honestly, i dont see how can the claim that when my 900mhz celeron m353 can play mpeg 4 asp at decent resolutions with under 10% cpu usage, yet cant manage full screen decent resolution flash video
Dear Nokia management. Just how much money do you think your customers are willing to hand over to you? Even with a discount this will still be one of the most expensive netbooks on the market. Add to the price (guestimate) of $60 per month for two years and you could buy yourself a used car.
Very nice looking design but looks like a good candidate for a 1.8″ SATA SSD graft, if you have any money left to buy one after the $818 🙂
Edit: Looks like they didn’t jump on the totally flat chiclet key band waggon, but added a little contour to the keys to help with finger tip location. This would be a good trend.
16 cell battery…. I think that might be a typo. Especially considering that it only has 56.8Wh battery. My 5101 has a 6 cell and has that capacity.
overall the thing doesnt look too bad, price is way too high for what it is even if it is probably the slimmest netbook I have seen yet.