Headlines - Sony, Toshiba and Fujitsu reportedly preparing sub-notebooks for launch

[HEXUS]

The FT cites a variety of anonymous Taiwanese sources for confirmation of the three Japanese vendors? entry into the market.

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[s_kinton]

I dont think they've left it too late. People are still crying out for what would be a cheap, slightly updated version of the Asus 701. Acer, MSI et al have all entered the race but not at the right price point for most.

[Zhaoman]

Surely the price will plummet from all this competition. Someone somehow will offer a perfect solution that forces everyone else to drop prices. I think this is good news.

[this_is_gav]

Originally Posted by s_kinton

I dont think they've left it too late. People are still crying out for what would be a cheap, slightly updated version of the Asus 701. Acer, MSI et al have all entered the race but not at the right price point for most.

The Acer Aspire One isn't at the right price point? Hmm. Don't think you'll be getting much cheaper than that to be honest. I'd certainly say that Sony, Toshiba or Fujitsu are far from the answer to you're looking for.

Sony to debut at £400 or so? "But it's a VAIO!".

[staffsMike]

The problem with the Acer is the battery life, same with the MSI. Both are adding bigger or multiple batteries but at your own expense. The only one with decent batter life so far is the Asus but that has the worst keyboard, an area which Acer and MSI have dealt with quite nicely.

I was pretty sure Sony said they would not be joining this market due to their high end ultraportables having business taken away by the cheaper alternative but perhaps they will..

Toshiba and Fujitsu sell pretty cheap laptops so they might come in at the right price point but they will probably think their name is worth £50 or so.

[Kerotan]

Demand must be quite high- else the prices wouldn't be over inflated so much. I feel like most people don't realise that the high-end ones are a worthless investment, because they are harder to use than a laptop in terms of typing, offer less storage and will generally be a good deal slower.