Averatec brings netbook to US as the Buddy

Averatec today realized its goal of launching its own netbook and announced the Buddy for US shores. The 10-inch system adopts the basic philosophy of other same-size systems and opts for a 1.6GHz Atom at its heart and 1GB of memory. The Korean firm puts the system at the higher end of the range with a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home as its only standard spec.

The company is unusually quiet on other details, though a previous leak has revealed a built-in webcam, VGA out, and other common elements of most better netbooks. Pricing is likely to be the key for the Buddy, as it will sell for a lower than average $450 when it becomes available online and at retail. Averatec hasn't set a specific release date.