One thing that makes Everex’s StepNote NC1500 laptop clearly stands from the crowd is the usage of VIA’s C7-M (1.5GHz, 256Kb) processor. It doesn’t mean that this 15.4-inch widescreen machine is better than others with Intel or AMD’s CPUs, but at least it is way more affordable than its competitors. See, at just $498 (Wal-Mart), you can get a notebook with a 512MB of DDR2 main memory (expandable up to 2GB), a 60GB of PATA hard drive, a DVD burner, and an integrated S3 UniChrome Pro graphics engine with up to 64MB of shared VRAM (huh?). Connectivity options include a 802.11b/g WiFI, Ethernet LAN, and 56K modem, while its battery provides up to 2 hours of continous usage. Furthermore, it is preloaded with Windows XP Home Edition OS.

I don’t know about you, but at the same price, I’d better get an Intel Celeron-based laptop instead.

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