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Have you been waiting patiently for the past year and change for Asus to get around to releasing the 10 inch convertible netbook/tablet that it first introduced at CES 2009? Asus polished the Eee PC T101MT up a bit for CES 2010 by adding a new Intel Atom N450 processor, Windows 7, and a multitouch display. And the company put out a video this week to demonstrate the computer’s touchscreen user interface. But the T101MT still isn’t available for purchase.

Asus promises that the netbook should be available this year. But if you just can’t wait, it turns out there are other options. Most of them are either really expensive, such as the Gigabyte TouchNote T1028, which sells for $728 at Amazon, or cheap computers from Chinese companies you’ve never heard of. But if you’re wiling to take a risk, some of those Chinese 10 inch tablet-style netbooks are available in the US through companies that import products from China.

Here are a few models I came across today:

  • 10.2″ netbook w/1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display, 160GB hard drive, 1GBof RAM, 802.11b/g WiFi and 3 cell, 2 hour battery for $429.99 from ChinaGrabber
  • 10.2″ netbook w/1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display, 802.11b/g/ WiFi and 3 cell, 3 hour battery for $469.99 from ChinaGrabber
  • 10.2″ netbook w/1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 3 cell, 2.7 hour battery for $365 from HightonTech

All three notebooks come with Windows XP or Linux, so if you’re holding out for Windows 7 you’ll need to install it yourself or wait for Asus or another PC maker to offer the 10 inch tablet of your dreams (hopefully with a higher capacity battery). You could also look at the Asus Eee PC T91MT, which has a 9 inch display, a smaller keyboard, and a slower processor.

I should also point out that while ChinaGrabber offers free shipping, HightonTech charges $69 to deliver a netbook to a US address.

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11 replies on “The Eee PC T101MT isn’t the only affordable 10 inch tablet style netbook”

  1. Has anyone made any purchases from HightonTech? Just trying to see if they are legit or just a scam.

  2. Okay, so I know that I beat this drum a lot, but man, I wonder if they would release this with the Pixel Qi screen. I would buy one yesterday. Plus, the bezel is so REASONABLE.

  4. Just to echo the concerns of others, I really wish these guys making tablet netbooks would pay more attention to weight. I know these are meant to be cheap imports, but I have yet to see a 10″ tablet under 3lbs.

    The T91MT may be underpowered, but at 2lbs, at least it’s comfortable to hold in my arms for extended periods of time. There is no reason a 10″ device needs to be double that weight!

  5. Why is it that all these tablets get announced to great fanfare, and then disappear off of the map? First the t101mt, then the 1820pt…there seems to be a trend here!

    1. It still looks pretty bulky (not to mention ugly), weighs 3.3lbs, and it comes with no stylus for inking! I do like the look and usability of a capacitive screen, but the holy grail would be capacitive multi-touch + active pressure-sensitive digitizer.

      But finding such a creature in the $500 space is going to be tough. Hopefully, my T91MT will hold me over. =)

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