I’ve been searching for a cheap but decent laptop, but price is really a deterrent. And while OLPC and Intel’s Classroom PC are geared towards poor countries, they are not going to be available to the general public. The next best thing are the mini-laptops, though there are no mini-laptops currently available commercially.

There are three mini-laptops announced: Palm’s Foleo, Via’s NanoBook, and Asus Eee.

Foleo is out of the question. It require owning a Palm Treo or a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone (see Alec Saunder’s take on the Foleo) for Internet connectivity. Via’s NanoBook has respectable specs for a fairly respectable price of US$600 (Php 27,252 at Php45.92 per US$1).

And then there’s Asus Eee PC 701. While it has dumbed down but still respectable specs, what’s alluring is the price and availability. According to Engadget:

Asus also reiterated that seemingly too good to be true $200 starting price, adding that a version for “English speaking countries” could be available “as early as August this year.”

That would be Php 9,184 using the same exchange rate above. The clincher is that unlike OLPC and Classroom PC, this beauty/beast will be available through the usual retail channels.

I can’t wait for August. I don’t need a souped-up laptop. If it can connect to the Internet, that’s fine with me. And the price, man, the price!

Asus, please bring this here in the Philippines. Mighty please.