@Sorshha: Well I would probably do the XP Embedded thing which is fine for these Ultra Portables.

Cases - I meant physical casing to make and sell them.

And YES, Yes you can make GOOD money putting together mini and nano-itx machines for around $230 and re-selling for around $350-450 depending on the specs.

Thanks anyway dude.

AskTheAdmin

@AskTheAdmin:
Vista ofcourse. Nothings going to be made with XP anymore... though you can always format and install XP. But that would be expensive and pointless (imo).
And cases? you mean like the shells? or to hold your laptop? Ive got one word for you.... Ebay... OR simply go through some independent company who will put whatever your heart desires in the computer. Custom computers(buying piece by piece) doesnt save you the money like it used too.

And as for this Intel laptop
It will do well, just like the Air, but that doenst mean its good. Not only are you going to be spending more money on it SOLEY because it is tiny, but you are going to be spending more money on something that has quite a few downfalls. Not only is it going to be impossible to upgrade, but you are going to have to be careful or the heat.. akak NO overclocking that thing.

Sorshha

How soon will we see a sub $1k slim notebook with a ssd of decent size though? There's also the tradeoff of the external optical drive included in the cost of admission for being nice and trim.

Kaspir

Can't wait to make my WindowBookAir :)

Hmmm XP Or Vista?

I have been watching this market as well as the mini-itx's and nano-itx boards. Anyone have a recommendation on a good place to get cases (cheap) for custom made machines?

AskTheAdmin

Can I cut a cake with this one though?

takashimiike Ultimate

But whatever improvements Intel makes, the new Airs will get them, won't they? Anyway, it's not an MBA clone if it has any more than one USB port :P Besides, it's never a true clone unless it's sporting OS X goodness.

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

Looks like a stack of pancakes.

Mmmm.....pancakes.

Jrsy

Wow, nice... previous reports on the X301 update had the new processor pegged at 1.4GHz didn't they?

MarxMarvelous37

@takashimiike Ultimate: No, but you can cut the cheese.

Noobs-R-Us

This Air thing never made sense until I met with my colleague who flies from EU to the US with it on business, running BootCamp/Parallels on his MBA.

Bingo, there's your audience.

He'll probably stick with the Mac anyway with the advent of these clones.

iomatic

@Jrsy: Damn, now I'm hungry!

takashimiike 3G edition

@Sorshha: Overclocking a laptop is silly. Why would anyone want to do that, and risk overheating their substantial investment for just a slightly higher clock speed?

Kaiser-Machead's WALL-E fetish

I'll get my manila envelope ready.

jabber

just what i need...more overpriced, underpowered, cake cutting laptops. woopie...

Glavan27

@takashimiike Ultimate: Me too, sorry. I gotta get some lunch now..

Jrsy

"was the low-key introduction of Intel's next-gen 45nm dual core chips for ultra-thin notebooks-i.e., the dwarven chips that made the MacBook Air possible"
Didn't Intel make a custom smaller 65nm chip for Apple for the mac book air? I am pretty sure its not using a 45nm processor.

orphic1

@Matt Buchanan

SOOOOOOO anything that is THIN is now a MacBook CLONE ? Is that it?

Sorry, your headline does not cut it.
The Sony X505 was the first. [reviews.cnet.com] ...and it run Windows XP over 4 years ago.

So the MBA is the actual clone.

That's as nonsense and silly as saying that Apple invented the smartphone with the iPhone.

aec007

meh If I as going to get a notebook like the mac book I would rather just save up and buy a Voodoo Envy. Of course I doubt I would ever buy a notebook like that I need mine to have power so I can use it as a portable editing station.

taftsearlobe33

@orphic1: Yep, old Merom-based ones were 65nm (used in Voodoo's Envy too). New ones are 45nm.

matt buchanan

@aec007: True, Sony was in the game before. But I think it's arguable that the MBA would be more of a catalyst for the market segment. Same with touchscreens and the iPhone--it wasn't the first by a longshot, but it really drove touchscreens on a mobile device into the consumer consciousness, so now everyone is popping out touchscreens, even RIM. And I find it tough to swallow that RIM's touchscreen phone is anything but a response to the iPhone. I'm actually not really a fan of the Air, to be honest, at least in its current form.

matt buchanan

@matt buchanan:
"but it really drove touchscreens on a mobile device into the consumer consciousness"

Shoot... I guess my Touchscreen Windows-CE PDA that I bought about 8 years ago and later sold on eBay must've been a fluke...
Sorry... I guess the millions of touchscreen PDA's before the iPhone did not exist after all.
Ⱶ{

aec007

My Treo 300 from back in the late 1870's had a touchscreen.

drewls

would these be able to play AVCHD files?

KoRnholio8

There maybe a lot of thin notebooks coming out but the question remains the same will it have a OS making it worth a buy?

CrashOverride777