BenQ enters 11.6-inch Netbook space

Darius Chang | Jul 21, 2009

Netbooks are slowing shifting toward the 11.6-inch form factor which, in our opinion, hits the sweet spot between portability and usability. BenQ is the latest to enter this niche with its new 11.6-inch minilaptop, the JoyBook Lite U121 Eco. Like most of its competitors, the display is HD-ready with a 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution.

The Taiwanese vendor makes a bold claim by saying that the Eco in the name stands for economical and ecological. Priced at S$899 (US$648.68), it is one of the cheaper 11.6-inch Netbooks in the market, with the Acer Aspire One 751 and Gateway LT3104 going for at least S$100 (US$72.16) more.

The JoyBook Lite U121 Eco is also one of the more environmentally friendly Netbooks, with EPEAT Silver, Green Label and Energy Star certifications. The key factor is that 75 percent of the hardware and 70 percent of the packaging are recyclable. This JoyBook Lite also has an impressive battery life of up to 8 hours with the bundled six-cell. Other features include:

Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz processor

1GB RAM

160GB HDD

11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 display

802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth and 10/100 Ethernet

1.45kg

Priced at S$899 (US$648.68), the BenQ JoyBook Lite U121 Eco will be available in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand from August, with other Asia-Pacific countries to follow.

Filed under: Notebooks
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