World's cheapest UMPC hits Singapore

Darius Chang | Jul 24, 2008

If two words can be used to describe the NPC-400 mini-laptop by Impulse, it would certainly be "no frills". Forget the latest development in Netbook technology. The NPC-400 hardware is purely old-school, with a 400MHz MIPS processor and 128MB RAM driving the Linux operating system. The 7-inch machine, however, does have solid-state storage, though it is capped at a puny 1GB.

On the other hand, its port selection is quite respectable, with three USB 2.0, mini-USB, VGA-out and an SD card reader. However, we hesitate to call this a Netbook because it lacks basic Wi-Fi connectivity or an Ethernet port. To hook up to the Internet, you would have to rely on an external USB Ethernet or wireless dongle.

The NPC-400 is distributed in Singapore by 1st Emperor Marketing, which is charging S$324 (US$216.82) (inclusive of delivery island-wide) for pre-orders till July 31. The units will arrive at the end of August, when the price will go up to S$349 (US$233.55) once it hits retail stores.

Related story: Netbook roundup

Filed under: Notebooks
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