Ever since Asus's Eee PC captured the imagination (and a large share) of the market with its breakthrough price of less than HK$3,000, more and more laptop makers have realised that low price doesn't mean low quality.
Today, there are a half-dozen 'notebook' or 'sub-notebook' models available for between HK$3,000 and HK$4,000. For example, the Omatek E10 and the Hansee Q540X offer, respectively, an AMD 500MHz processor and 10.2-inch display and a Celeron 1.86GHz chip with 13.3-inch display. The Hansee model even comes with Windows XP, full wireless capabilities and an 80GB hard drive.
But if you're looking for something with more aesthetic appeal and don't want to fork out HK$8,000 for the Fujitsu U1010, check out the E8 from Kojinsha Korea.
Looking very similar to the U1010, the E8 also features a swivel-mounted touch-screen, full-sized QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi capability and it runs Windows XP.
The E8 is powered by an AMD Geode LC800 chip running at 500MHz, 512MB of RAM, and a 40GB hard drive. Additional built-in functions include an Ethernet port for broadband and a 4-in-1 card reader. All this weighs less than a kilogram and is packed in sleek silver and black casing.
The E8 is already shipping in Korea for about 600,000 won (HK$5,000). Look out for it at your nearest computer parallel importer soon.