Featherweight notebook battle: CloudBook vs. Eee

Back in October 2007, Taipei-based Asustek Computer proved that less can be more with its two-pound, $400 Eee PC. Since then, other subnotebooks have followed (or are soon to follow) in the Eee's wake. However, only the Everex CloudBook has dared to take the Eee head-on, matching its weight, screen, and keyboard size as well as its reliance on the Linux operating system, open source applications, and a $400 price tag.

The excitement around the CloudBook's public unveiling at CES two months ago has deflated -- hurt by, among other things, a delayed release; originally due to ship in January, it finally became available in mid-February.

When I first reviewed the Asus Eee, I was rather critical of its shortcomings, including the difficult keyboard, small display, and mediocre battery life. Time has since mellowed my feelings -- and I've learned to work around the system's limitations, which were dictated by the machine's small size and low cost. The question is: Can I similarly forgive the CloudBook's faults and limitations?

Stats
The CloudBook comes equipped with a 1.2GHz Via C7-M processor and 512MB of DDR2, 533MHz SDRAM. Unlike the Eee, which uses solid-state memory, the CloudBook offers a 30GB hard drive. Like the Eee, it offers a seven-inch, 800-by-480 pixel display. Connections include an Ethernet port, a DVI port, two USB ports, audio line-out/line-in ports, and a four-in-one media card reader. There's also 802.11g/b Wi-Fi and a 300KB-pixel Webcam. It operates on a four-cell lithium-ion battery that is rated to offer 2.5 to 3 hours of use.

Design
You know how some attractive people don't photograph well at all? That's the CloudBook's problem. None of the pictures I've seen (or taken myself), not even the stock photos put out by Everex Systems, do this seriously handsome machine justice.

The CloudBook uses the same dark black plastic shell as the Lenovo ThinkPad. But unlike the ThinkPad, whose splashes of color feel dated, the CloudBook goes the other way, achieving a snazzy black-on-black effect. The pure obsidian case makes the CloudBook's orange LCD indicator lights even more striking. I also preferred Everex's cute green-leaf logo. Asus, by contrast, looks like it stole its font from the 1982 movie "Tron."