Are small, cheap notebooks poking holes in “sails” of UMPCs, MIDs?

Last night during our podcast recording, James brought up a good point worth sharing before the show is published. I had asked Matt and James if they felt as I did: I’ve been completely underwhelmed with the UMPC and MID developments coming out of CeBIT. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but at this point, I figured we’d have a slew of Menlow-powered devices, many in a more affordable price range and with a noticeable increase in run-time. So far, none of my expectations have been met.That’s when James made the insight: small, inexpensive notebooks like the Eee PC and its peers have taken the spotlight… and the sales dollar. Come to think of it: more folks seem excited about the larger-screen Eee PC than any handheld I’ve heard about from CeBIT. Mainstream consumers definitely equate more with a traditional notebook form factor and the corresponding functionality it brings them. When you can provide that feature set in a reasonably priced package, it’s sure to capture attention.2008 is still young, just like the UMPC and MID markets, so there’s time yet. Meanwhile, how are you feeling about developments so far? We’ve been waiting for the new Intel chipset for some time. Now that it’s here, was it worth the wait?

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