Tracking the products, trends and reach of China's local to global tech culture.
DEFINITION: Shanzai [San-zai -alt. sp.Shanzhai] 1. mountain fortress/bandit 2. a vendor, who operates a business without observing the traditional rules or practices often resulting in innovative and unusual products or business models.

11.1" netbook features hi-res screen; looks like China
Gadget Types - Notebooks & Netbooks
Written by Song Jiang   
Wednesday, 12 August 2009 18:59

Add story to:

Digg    Facebook    StumbleUpon    Newsvine    Deli.cio.us    reddit   
porcelainnetbook2
Ever thought of making a notebook PC out of China? And by China of course I mean Porcelain. Actually I've spotted here is a fairly upmarket netbook with a traditional Chinese porcelain design. You could argue that it's not a true shanzhai clone, in that as far as know, it doesn't copy an existing design or infringe on anybody's IP. I does however features some cool design specs.

Take for example the 11.1 inch 1366 x 769 pixel display. Not something we've seen on many devices classed as a netbook. Perhaps more common to what Intel describes as a CULV-filled thin and light. And to be fair it does its best to fairly thin too. The battery on the reverse side is as flat as I've ever seen. The processing power however is pure netbook; an Intel Atom N270, 1GB of DDR2, 160GB hard drive, three USBs and a card reader are familiar sounds to anyone following the netbook phenomena.

porcelainnetbook1

porcelainnetbook5

porcelainnetbook6

porcelainnetbook7

porcelainnetbook11

The keyboard is of a chiclet style which frequently divides opinion but apparently favors females and their long painted nails. Again, it'd not especially netbooky and points to an attempt at originality.

porcelainnetbook13

The porcelain design is in many ways what adds to the classier look of this PC. Add a  hi-res screen, and you have top-tier feel that few Shanzhai-built machines have really achieved so far. Perhaps the asking price is also a clue that this one is aiming higher than most of its mountain bandit brethren. 2600RMB, or approx 380 US dollars, is a fair few bob for most Chinese Mainlanders, although I see plenty of big noses rubbing their hands.

Western Opportunity Analysis:

This is surely a fine example of a product tailor-made for western markets. First off, it flies in the face of what you'd expect from a netbook. The larger 11.1" screen is fairly generous, and given the higher resolution it could be real success. The recently announced Sony Vaio W has a similarly hi-res screen at 1368 x 768, but has received wide spread criticism for its restrictive and eye-straining 10.1" from factor.

The words 'hi-resolution' and 'netbook' are two words that Intel does not want to see together. They draw the netbook line at around 10 inches, and are quite happy to keep to the good old 1,024 x 600 res too. Although a few OEMs have ventured into 720p territory, most notably Gigabyte and Dell, it remains to be seen if this will cause a fanfare at 10 inches.

So here we have it. A great looking netbook that gives consumers possibly a more balanced display configuration than most mainstream OEM products. I'm convinced it would be a success anywhere in West. Opportunity? You bet. Would Intel moan and groan? Probably. Would the Shanzhai boys look elsewhere? I think maybe VIA or Qualcomm would be all ears.


porcelainnetbook14

porcelainnetbook17

porcelainnetbook19

Conclusions:

I would prefer it in black although I find the Chinese pottery design to be elegant and refreshing. Well, at least not completely corn ball and cheese-ridden. Good job fellas.





 

Comments  

 
0 # 2009-10-25 04:07
you've got to provide supplier names in these articles. who made this? presumably they did it to sell them, not to show them on a website. why do you think people read this site? it's because they want to buy this stuff. articles like this just peeve me.
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 
 
0 # 2009-10-26 09:37
Quoting anthony kimball:
you've got to provide supplier names in these articles. who made this? presumably they did it to sell them, not to show them on a website. why do you think people read this site? it's because they want to buy this stuff. articles like this just peeve me.


Anthony, we are working on this issue! We try to make the site informative, but definitely people want to buy these products as well. We understand that and are working on the logistics of how to make that possible.

Thanks for your understanding.

Tai-Pan
Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 

Add comment


Security code
Refresh

English Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish
youtube friendfeedtwitter feedfacebook
A quick look at the Android-based T11RK portable media playerMore videos...

Buy Shanzhai

Banner
Banner

Asia Analysis

chinamap
indiamap

Recent Shanzai Tweets

More Shanzhai Devices

Stainless steel netbook provides 40% more lift
KTNO2-topWith the huge amount of competition between notebook manufacturers in Shenzhen, we’re beginning to see a few go the extra mile to help them stand out from the crowd. Kivu Technology Co. is one such co...
More pics & analysis...
Macbook Air clone - $249, comes with removable battery and S...
Mac-clone-249-1Here’s a new and improved version of the Apple Macbook Air clones we’ve seen coming out of Shenzhen. This model from Shenzhen Tong Men Tech Co. will be hitting the market this week but here’s a quick...
More pics & analysis...
Shanzhai goes high-end with CULV
CULV743-2It’s no secret that Intel would prefer its customers to focus more on CULV-based products and less on the lower margin Atom netbooks. As more and more big brand OEMs start to turn out CULV notebooks,...
More pics & analysis...
Adesun AD-708 tablet PC taken for a spin
AD-708-tablet1Tablet PCs being all the rage lately, we thought we'd take a closer look and see how the Adesun AD-708  stood up to scrutiny.  Designed to be used either as a regular handheld or on the dash of your c...
More pics & analysis...
Apple clone - new matte black Mac Air
1For the last few months the shanzhai guys have concentrated on a couple of models of netbook that have proved very popular with consumers – the classic S30 and 12” Apple Macbook Air clones. With both...
More pics & analysis...

In Partnership with:

shanzhaibenlogo