NetbookShow

A week doesn’t go by where you can’t catch numerous netbook and tablet clones coming out of China. Now and then something interesting pops off the Shenzhen assembly line like this Vaye HY116 – the world’s fist Nokia Booklet 3G clone.

The Vaye HY116 has got the looks down good enough to fool you and your friends (with an entirely metal chassis – no cheap plastics), until you notice the missing Nokia logo or you actually turn it on to find Windows XP running on it instead of Windows 7.

Being out of Shenzhen, there’s no Poulsbo platform on board (Atom Z530, GMA 500 graphics) but just the standard netbook guts – an Atom N450 processor, GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 1.3MP webcam and a 3,200 mAh li-poly battery, so it won’t even come close to get 10 – 12 hours of battery life that the real deal is claimed to reach (you’ll get 4 – 5 hours at best). Likewise, there’s no HD 1280 x 720 display here, just the standard 1024 x 600 netbook resolution.

US retailer Best Buy is now taking pre-orders for the Nokia Booklet 3G. You can reserve an unlocked version of the netbook with a black lid from BestBuy.com for $599.99. Interestingly, Best Buy promises that white and blue options will be available soon. There doesn’t seem to be any option to pre-order the netbook with an AT&T data plan. Once that option is available, the price is expected to drop to $299.

Meanwhile a tipster sent Engadget a few unboxing photos of one of the first demo units to appear at a Best Buy. There’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s another indication that the laptop should be available in the US soon.

In case you’ve forgotten, the Nokia Booklet 3G is the cellphone maker’s first entry into the netbook market. It features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z50 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and a 10.1 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel display. It supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3G wireless, aGPS, and has an HDMI output. It runs Windows 7 Starter Edition, and the battery is also reportedly good for up to 12 hours.

Is the Nokia 3G Booklet netbook really worth what consumers are paying for it? Let’s think about this for a second. Sure you can get one at Best Buy for $299, but don’t forget that there are other related costs as well. The subsidized price of $299 requires that users also sign a 2-year data plan contract. So technically, that’s another $60 per month for the next two years. Total costs for the two years add up to a whopping $1,700.

Sound tempting yet? You could always get an unsubsidized netbook for double the price – $599. Of course, this is pushing into the range for laptop pricing. Decent laptops sell for around this range, so why not just buy a more powerful machine instead? In Nokia’s defense, there are some perks to the Nokia 3G booklet netbook. It has a relatively sturdier aluminum construction, built-in GPS capabilities, HSPA wireless communications, and an above average battery life. But are these perks really worth an extra $300, especially in this economy?

We’re not advocating any machines over others. We’re just providing some food for though. Have any thoughts? We’d like to hear from you so feel free to drop us a line or leave a comment!

Thought you already knew everything there was to know about the Nokia Booklet 3G? Here’s a few tidbits that I learned today, courtesy of Tnkgrl, who got to spend a little hands-on time with the laptop recently.

First up, the laptop display can be folded down to a nearly 180 degree angle, as you can see from the image above. That’s pretty cool. On the other hand, the glossy screen is nearly unreadable outdoors, as you can also see from the image above.

Another mark in the plus column is the fact that the touchpad supports 2-finger scrolling. But here’s a fairly major ding against the Booklet3G: you’d better like 1GB of RAM, because that’s all you’re going to get. The RAM is soldered to the motherboard and is not user upgradeable.

Nokia said on Tuesday that Best Buy would sell its first netbook computer for $299 to customers who sign up for a $60-a-month mobile service plan with AT&T Inc.

Best Buy, the only U.S. retailer to sell the Booklet 3G branded computer for the upcoming holiday shopping season, said the mini-laptop would cost $599 for consumers who do not opt for the AT&T wireless plan and instead just connect to the Web using Wi-Fi, a short-range wireless technology.

U.S. consumers will be able to order the Booklet on October 22, the launch date for Microsoft Windows 7 software, the operating system for the device. It will be in Best Buy stores around November 15.

With computer makers such as Apple Inc and Dell delving into the phone market, No. 1 phone maker Nokia is expanding its horizons into computing. It announced its plans to launch the netbook early last month. AT&T is also looking to expand beyond phones to maintain subscriber growth.

Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said that while the device is about twice the price of some rival netbooks it could attract consumers who are looking for improved battery life.

Nokia claims that when fully charged the netbook can work for as long as 12 hours, a battery life that Greengart described as “ridiculously good” in comparison to other netbooks with an average battery life of about 4 hours.

“You’re paying a premium but you’re getting a premium design and battery life,” he said at a Nokia event where the distribution partnerships were announced.

AT&T’s emerging devices executive Glenn Lurie said that he expects the improved battery life to help sales.

“We think this is going to be an absolute home run for the holiday season,” he said at the event.

Best Buy’s Chief Marketing Officer Barry Judge said that longer battery life, a high quality screen resolution and more memory should help put a dent in the relatively high return rate among netbook computer buyers.

“They do have a fairly high return rate because the netbook doesn’t do what the notebook (computer) can do” said Judge, who added that the device should sell well as consumers were starting to spend again on items such as electronics. Netbooks don’t have as much computing power as standard notebooks.

Remember back when everyone was talking about the Nokia Booklet 3G as one of the most expensive netbooks ever due to its high $800 price tag? Yeah, that’s not what it’s actually going to cost, not in the US anyway.

Today Nokia revealed that the 3G-capable mini-laptop will be available for $299 when you sign up for a 2-year wireless broadband contract with AT&T. You’ll have to pay $60/month to get that price, which means that over 2 years you’ll end up paying $1739 for the Nokia Booklet 3G with always-available internet access (and a 5GB monthly data cap). Or you can buy the laptop without a service plan for $599 from Best Buy.

The Booklet 3G will be available starting on October 22nd, which also happens to be Windows 7 launch day.

As a recap, the Nokia Booklet 3G features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, a 10.1 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel display, HDMI output, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Blueooth 2.1, aGPS, and a 3G modem. It reportedly also has a 12 hour battery.

If you’re not keen on spending $60/month, but are still interested in getting the laptop with 3G service, it looks like AT&T will offer other pricing plans soon.

So, we’ve got some good news and bad news. The good news is that Nokia’s already offering up its Booklet 3G netbook for pre-order over in Italy, which is becoming an all-too-familiar scene for Nokia wares. The bad news is that the posted price is, um, absurd. During a keynote at Nokia World 09, listeners were told that the Windows 7-powered machine would ring up at “just” €570, yet Nokia’s own Italian e-store has it listed for €699. That’s just over a grand in Greenbacks, though we get the feeling it’ll be selling for substantially less once the feel-good emotions fade and cold, hard economics take their toll.

Update: As pointed out in the comments, the announced €570 price was likely pre-tax and pre-carrier subsidy as is typical for Nokia’s European announcements. The €699 price is thus VAT inclusive