BenQ is introducing a new mini-laptop in its Joybook Lite lineup. The U121 Eco is the first member of the Joybook Lite family to sport an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display. It also features a full sized keyboard, although the touchpad looks like it could stand to gain a few millimeters.
The Joybook Lite U121 can handle both a solid state disk and a hard drive… at the same time, much like the MSI Wind U115. It supports SSDs up to 32GB and hard drives up to 500GB, for a total of up to 532Gb of storage. And if you were wondering where that “Eco” in the name came from, in addition to using a low power Intel Atom Z520/Z530 processor, BenQ says that some recycled material was used in the product design and the company is cutting back on the amount of packing material used.
Otherwise, the specs look pretty standard:
- CPU: Intel Atom Z520/Z530
- Display: 11.6″ 1366 x 768 pixel
- Chipset: Mobile Intel Polsbo US15W Express Chipset
- Graphics: Intel GMA500
- Operating system: Windows XP Home or Linpus Linux Lite
- Hard drive: 160/250/320/500GB
- SSD: (optional) 8/16/32GB
- Connectivity: Ethernet, 802.11b/g, optional Bluetooth and HSUPA
- I/O: 3 USB ports, mic, headphone, line input, D-Sub
- Battey: 3 cell, 2600mAh 28.86 Whr (4 hour) or 6 cell, 5200mAh 57.72 Whr (8 hour)
- Dimensions: 11.4″ x 8.2″ x 1.25″
- Weight: 2.9 pounds with a 3 cell battery
Oh yeah, there is one other thing that makes this laptop stand out. It looks like you can open the screen to a 180 degree angle. Check out the picture after the break to see what I mean.
via Netbook News.de
nice It also features a full sized keyboard, although the touchpad looks like it could stand to gain a few millimeters.
Polsbo & GMA500… good enough reason to stay away. The drivers for these chips plain suck and it’s mostly unsupported on linux.
Once again, they are only going to have a 3-cell for the flush-fitting battery option (like Acer and Lenovo and Asus) in this larger netbook. I’m getting really tired of this trend of larger netbooks with SMALLER batteries. Or larger batteries that stick out of the case and make the device even bigger.
Haven’t companies figured out the original design failings of early netbooks?
People want good battery life to be *standard* and for the cases to be designed around those decent capacity batteries – not some bulging afterthought! If they must, use a 4 cell or 5-cell battery if it allows the battery to fit flush with the system. And make that the standard option.
All the samsung netbooks so far had exactly what you wanted, flush fitting 6-cell standard batteries. Why other manufacturers don’t follow suit escapes me but it might be part of why samsung netbooks are all $400+
Do you know if this is the same model that the NY Times showed with multi-touch screen capabilities?