Phecda VIA-powered 10” netbook to retail for $185

VIA enjoyed some success early on, shipping in a handful of HP Mini models. However, the Intel competitor was roundly beaten into submission by the x86 king’s Atom CPUs.

With the arrival of Phecda’s PHV102, it looks as though VIA might be down but not out.

According to Shanzai.com, the PHV102 will feature VIA’s 1.6GHz C7-M processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB SATA hard drive, 1024×600 10.2” display, and a three-cell 200mAh battery. Pretty standard netbook fare, but there’s one big difference.

The PHV102 will be Black Friday priced all the time – selling for an estimated $185.

Whether or not you’re a VIA fan, this can only be good news for the market. Competition is good, after all, and this could help drive netbook prices down even further.

Posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009, 1:00 pm by Lee

Steven522

I got the 7″ Sylvania GNET 1300 which has a VIA C7-M processor and have not had any problems with it (once I put Windows XP on it). I thought I had a bargain at $230, but the larger drive, bigger screen and smaller price beats it hands-down.
tomleemullins

I think a low price will make it a bargain. With this economy, IMO- it will sell very well.
http://downloadsquad.switched.com/ Lee

I’d love to get my hands on one. If they’ve gotten the thermals under control, there’s every reason to believe Via can be a force in ultraportables!
ChaCha

This is actually really big news — whether available in the states or not. If you guys can get more information this, it would be great!
John Morris

A few months ago I'd have been interested. But I have seen enough of these announce and never actually be available to buy. Lemme know if they actually get built and shipped anywhere.

Not normally a conspiracy theorist but a real pattern is developing here, anything announced with an MSRP under $250 ever seems to ship. Something is distorting the market, maintaining a bottom floor in the price curve and not letting anything break down that barrier.

At this point I'd bet when the ARMs finally show up in stores they will all have 10.1″ screens and cost $299 and up, leaving battery life and weight as the only product differentiation to withstand the waves of FUD about their inability to run Photoshop. Thus they will be a one season wonder to be forgotten, leaving a fortunate few to hold onto the few non-sucking products that manage to ship as rare relics of an age that could have been, one where we didn't have to tote power bricks around with us. A clued in but generally scorned minority, like Psion and Newton owners once were.
Doug Dunn

Well-said, John.

Greed and stupidity (reaching for those higher short-term profit margins at the expense of long-term market size growth) could sink ARMbooks. ARM — snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!
johnathanelopez

Thanks for this very good technical information. I really you site as it gives information of new updates..
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http://www.santaferanch.com/category/santafe.brands.american_west/ american west purses

great info, but that notebook looks like it was being smashed to death and drop on the floor for a thousand times. maybe that's for a bag to blame?
http://www.santaferanch.com/category/santafe.brands.american_west/ american west purses

great info, but that notebook looks like it was being smashed to death and drop on the floor for a thousand times. maybe that's for a bag to blame?

Phecda VIA-powered 10” netbook to retail for $185

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