Rival Eee Keyboard Spotted, Powered by XP

By Kevin Parrish
published

Great Wall has created an Eee Keyboard rival that sports Nvidia's Ion GPU and Windows XP.

Looks as though the Asus Eee keyboard won't be the only PC-in-a-keyboard in town. In fact, while Asus kept delaying the Eee's release, Chinese cloner Great Wall decided to up the ante with its new Cross PC U510 and throw in Nvidia's 1.6 Ghz Ion GPU with an HDMI port that supposedly cranks out HD content.

According to Chinese website zol.com.cn, the keyboard includes 2 GB of RAM, a 250 GB SATA HDD, and Wi-Fi connectivity. The 5-inch TFT touchscreen, mounted to the right, features handwriting recognition, 3D graphics, and is powered by Windows XP.

But unlike the Asus Eee, the device does not have a built-in battery, requiring an external power source. The device also doesn't support dual-displays, and will turn off the touchscreen when connected to an HDTV or other display.

Website Cloned in China reports that the Cross PC U510 is slated to have a price point of 3888 Yuan (around $570 USD), however it's currently unknown if the device will even leave China.

Kevin Parrish
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • eduardor2k
    pretty expensive!, comparing that's the same than a netbook.
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Funky, but not too useful.
    Reply
  • Khimera2000
    looks like a peace of hardware with a whole lot of bugs... looking back i have never seen any of these cloning !@#$ produce anything close to a descent product... last couple i tried broke in a week 2 months top. Id have to see a review of it, and even then i would have to see the build of it first hand, and even then i would probably go somewhere else just for a descent warranty.
    Reply
  • sliem
    Too expensive.
    Reply
  • theubersmurf
    This is what many computers were like in the eighties. Keyboard and composite out to tv back then. but many, many companies trying to get into computer making went this route. Timex, TI, Commodore, and many, many more...I'm wondering if this will work out better. HD televisions becoming relatively common helps, but I still know people with CRT televisions...Including myself. I think of this thing as a terminal for a cloud system more than a full system really...whatever, just nostalgic for a moment.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    I thought the ChinClone would be cheap and plentiful, like $99 and in every WalMart and RMA Center
    Reply
  • festerovic
    Too expensive, but if the 2.0 version was cheaper, I would consider it.
    Reply
  • mman74
    These things remind me of the Sinclair Spectrum ZX and the Commodore 64. Fond memories....
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Spectrum
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64
    Reply
  • jfem
    looks good.
    Reply
  • Regulas
    Pricey but talk about a low profile, small footprint PC for a college dorm room or something.
    Reply