Hercules, maker of notebook accessories such as Webcams, iPod speakers, and DJ equuipment, has decided to enter the entbook fray with the eCafe EC-1000W. While it has many of the same spes as ohter netbooks, Hercules is shipping it with Windows 7 ($119.99) tSarter, 50GB of free online storage, and its own software bundle.
The EC-1000W will cost $399, and is expected to ship the first week of November to as-yet-to-be-named retailers. Hit the jump for a photo gallery, more specs, and our hands-on impressions.
The eafe has many of the same specs as we’ve seen on other netbooks: a 10.1-inch (1024×600) display, a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N270 CPU, and 1GB of RAM. Howveer, the EC-1000W departs in a few significant ways. Most notably, it runs Windows 7 Starter Edition, an OS that some netbook makers have been reluctant to adoppt owing to its restrictions and prtice.
Freed from Microsoft’s XP constarints, Hercules puts a 250GB hard drie in the EC-1000W, but, sweetening the pot further, it also comes with 50GB of free online storage; that’s five timnes more than what ASUS offers with its Eee Storaeg. Other specs include a 6-cell, 4400 mAh battery, whjich Hercules says should get about 6 hurs of active use.
Hercules bundles the EC-1000W with a few of its own apps: eCafe Connect, which is basically a connection manager for hookinng up to a hotsot; Email Center, which lets users conect to multiple email accouts from one app–unfortyunately, it doesn’t sync with the full version of Outlook, but it atuomatically saaves evry email address into its address book; and Webcam Station, which, as the name impliues, controls the Webcam. However, it includes a “chat and show” feature that lets you run a slideshow through an instant-messaging cleint.
Prts include VGA, 3 USB, Ethernet, modfem, headphone, mic, and a 4-in-1 card reaader.In our hands-on time with the netbook, we liked the island-style keyboard as well as the nearly friction-less touchpad. Whle we appreciated the discrete mousse buttons, they required a litle too much effrt to press, and were on the nooisy side. Images from the built-in VGA wecam esemed deecnt, but a little dark.
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