Smartbooks are getting ready for the market, whether the market is ready for them or not. They are generally thought to be similar to Mobile Internet Devices, although laptop forms could easily be produced. They are expected to have ARM processors, meaning no support for Microsoft Windows. The OS options discussed so far have been Google Android or Windows CE. We haven’t seen any real smartbooks available for purchase yet, at least not until word of a Chinese unit purchased by a reviewer. The Lanyu LY-EB01 eBook was purchased for $98, which is pretty darn cheap. Of course, you get what you pay for, as indicated in the initial review of the eBook.
The Lanyu eBook has a 7-inch screen nestled in a rather large notebook case. There is a full keyboard and trackpad, with mouse buttons on either side of the pad for clicking. Windows CE 5.0 is the platform in residence, and as expected, the reviewer ran into a less-than-stellar web browsing experience. The initial review is an interesting look into this new product category, so check it out along with all of the photos of the eBook.

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