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It certain seems like that at least, as July is filled with UMPC releases from major players in the space (or those who intend to be). Of course, while there were gobs of small laptops announced for July shipment, now that we are down to brass tacks many of them are slipping to August, or are releasing in very small numbers with larger shipments expected later in the summer.

The following very helpful list of Summer UMPC releases for the UK was compiled by the Register and looking through it, I can’t help but think that too many of these devices are almost identical, and in many cases are just rebadging of other products. Perhaps the release of the Asus Eee 701 caused all these companies to think “Hey kids, let’s release a UMPC since those look to be really hot all the sudden…let’s release it in July, and make it as much like the Eee as possible! No one will expect us to do THAT!” It’s like everyone showing up for a party in the same dress. Not terribly inspiring for consumers when they can’t tell the difference between a dozen different devices.

On the other hand, the ones who ARE bringing something unusual to the table, such as the swivel touch screen of the Gigabyte M912, are taking a risk of their own. Why fix something that is not broken? If the marketplace wants endless identical miniature laptops, why not give them endless identical miniature laptops?

Of course, the marketplace has yet to make clear WHAT it really wants exactly, and as more products are released through July and August I am sure it will in the only way that matters…with money. Which of these products will still be available in January? That depends on which ones strike a chord with buyers, either due to features, price, marketing skill or blind luck.

It is worth noting that the dates given in the list from The Register indicates what I think is the date the products are meant to be IN STORES, not just filling preorders.

Asus Eee PC 901
Due: 1 July 2008 Now due "late July"
Lowest Price: £350

Asus Eee PC 1000H
Due: On Sale
Lowest Price: £349

Asus Eee PC 1001
Due: "Expected late August"
Lowest Price: £379

PCWorld Advent 4211
(aka MSI Wind)
Due: 8 July 2008
Lowest Price: £280

Acer Aspire One
Due: 25 July 2008
Lowest Price: £230

MSI Wind
Due: 31 July 2008
Lowest Price: £330

Elonex One
Due: September
Lowest Price: £99

Asus Eee PC 904
Due: TBA
Lowest Price: TBA

Gigabyte M912
Due: TBA
Lowest Price: TBA

ECS G10IL
Due: TBA
Lowest Price: £464

Zealot (468 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

By day a department manager and writer for a major network device vendor...by night Zealot stalks the mean magnetic streets, striking fear into the hearts of bandwidth abusers and theme park mascots. Zealot has been involved with mobile devices for more than a decade now, starting off with dumb phones, moving to PDAs and then to smartphones, notebooks and netbooks with the odd PMP thrown in. Most of his mobile time currently is spent on a Treo Pro, Zune HD, Thinkpad T61, Gigabyte M912M or a Hackintoshed Compaq Mini 704. He proudly groks the Geek community and considers himself a Neo Maxi Zune Dweebie (thanks Will Wheaton!).