Ayo Jakarta

Four months ago, only a limited number of mini laptops were available in Jakarta.

However, over the past month, in April, when I regularly visited Mangga Dua, Ambassador Mall and Ratu Plaza in Jakarta, most of computer shops in those malls have displayed mini laptops in  their cabinets.

The 7-inch Asus’ Eee PC 710 series, the 7-inch Kohjinsha’s SA  Series and the 5.6-inch Fujitsu LifeBook U810 were mostly  displayed in the computer shops’ showcases.

The 11-inch Sony Vaio TZ150N was also there but the three mini laptops were much different because their prices were one-third or half cheaper than that of the Rp 20 million Vaio TZ150N.

Asus’ Eee PC710 series, for example, were sold between Rp 3.5  million (US$370) and 4.3 million depending on the size of the solid state disk.

It was a fair price although Asus Indonesia failed to meet its promise made in a computer expo last year that the Eee PC710 price will not exceed Rp 3.5 million.

Asus Indonesia marketing specialist Titi Kristiani said recently that the Eee PC710 display at many computer shops just reflected the growing demand for the mini laptop.

The Eee PC 710 sales in Indonesia had reached tens of thousands of units after its introduction in November last year, Titi said.

“The response here is positive and we are quite optimistic to sell more Eee PC710,” she said.

The strengths of the Eee PC 710 were its small size, its 0.92-kilogram weight and its low price, Titi said.

She is right. Besides, the Eee PC710 design is also quite stylish, although it is made from plastic. Its’ 4 Giga Byte (GB), possible to be upgraded to 16GB, SSD is also enough for basic applications such as word, power point, excel, and acrobat reader. A Wi-Fi connection is also included in the laptop.

Its weaknesses are the 800 x 480 resolution, forcing readers to  scroll right and left to read a folio-size story, and the Linux default, making it difficult to connect with 3G modem and compelling users to install Window to do so. DVD drive is also absent because of its low price.

If you expect a mini laptop to provide better specifications, perhaps Fujitsu LifeBook U810 would be a good choice, but its price is far more expensive, around Rp 9.3 million.

Its key features are Window default, 40GB hard drive, 1024 x 600 resolution, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 360 rotational view and touch screen technology, but its 5.6 inch screen might be just too small for many people.

Meanwhile, Kohjinsha SA series, with the same applications and features as Fujitsu LifeBook U810, could be bought at around Rp 7.9 million, but the brand is not yet well known here.

Kohjinsha SA1F00 WS offers a touch screen, 1024 x 600 resolution, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, and 100GB hard drive.

If Kohjinsha is still a bit too much for your budget, Asus has a novel answer. It has improved the weaknesses in Eee PC 710 by launching a 9-inch, 1024 x 600 resolution Eee PC in mid-April in Taipei, and planning to release it here in early June.

This is clearly an Asus’ response on a heating competition as Hewlett Packard, Intel, Dell, and local brand Zyrex will also introduce their mini low cost laptops in Indonesia.

Hewlett Packard Indonesia market development manager Martin Wibisono said in a recent interview his firm saw an increasing demand for mini low cost laptop.

“We will introduce our mini low cost laptop here in mid-May,” he said.

He did not describe the mini laptop, but www.cnet.com released a review about the new 9-inch HP 2133 mini note PC, saying its best assets were its unique keyboard, which manages to fit in full-size key, and its magnesium alloy chassis.

While the original HP2133 price is $499 for Linux version and $599 for Window version, mini laptop users here might have to spend $599 to buy a HP2133, Linux version.

Mini laptop is indeed looking for its lover here.