Singapore-based iiView has introduced a mini-laptop that bears a striking resemblance to the thin and light MacBook Air. But on the inside, this 12 inch laptop is pretty much your average everyday netbook, albeit one with a bit of extra RAM and hard drive space, thanks to the inclusion of Windows 7 RC1 or Windows Vista instead of Windows XP.
The iiView A2 has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a 12.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display. It also packs a 6 cell battery, and oddly a mini-HDMI port, even though the netbook is saddled with Intel GMA950 graphics, not exactly known for handling HD video with ease.
Like the MacBook Air, the laptop even has flip-out USB ports to help keep the sides of the computer both slim and sleek looking, although if you ask me, this is one of the least useful design decisions that went into the Macbook Air.
The iiView A2 should retail for around $468.
I just posted the iiView A2 Unboxing Video on YouTube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A61IeasPCFQ ) and some comments about it on https://BabyPC.com.au
Check it out if you’re wondering what this Netbook looks like in real life.
I’m planning to do a more detailed hands on video in the next few days too.
As owner of both a Dell Mini-9 and a Macbook Air (both running the same OS, you can guess which). . . I’ve got to say, this seems like an appealing form factor.
Yes the Mini-9 is nifty, but the small screen, tiny trackpad and tiny mutant keyboard are negatives. The Macbook Air is great. . . but rather pricey and over-specced for most of my on-the-go needs.
So yeah. . . I could see some netbooks evolving in this direction, I wouldn’t complain. I’d rather see it with Linux instead of Windows, though.
Probably a size issue. I have seen that on other very small form factors –
The mini-HDMI connector is the smallest “standard” connector that
can be wired for DVI – so that is probably a DVI output, not really HDMI.