Olidata launches MacBook Air-like notebooks

Italian PC and TV maker Olidata has introduced a new line of ultra-thin notebooks at CES meant as an alternative to the MacBook Air. The U-Leader Design brand includes two notebooks, both of which were designed in partnership with Intel, and shares many design cues and hardware specs with the thin Apple notebook. The Olidata Conte weighs about 3.5lbs and measures less than 0.9 inches at its thickest point. Both versions of the new notebook will sport the same Intel Core 2 Duo S chip as the MacBook Air, though it's not clear whether the 1.6GHz, the 1.86GHz or both will be offered.

Buyers will get a solid-state drive of as-yet unknown capacity, an LED-backlit display in either model and networking options that include integrated Wi-Fi standard, with 3G HSDPA-HSUPA network access and a WiMAX mobile broadband radio optional. Due to the thin design, however, users only get a single USB 2.0 port, an HDMI output and an audio jack. A unique connector will allow for adding a hub that has two more USB ports, a VGA output and an Ethernet jack. There is no optical drive though an external one will be offered. Olidata instead opted to include a battery that is claimed to last 4 hours. An optional battery will last 7 hours.

The top-of-the-line Olidata Conte will sport a 13.3-inch, 1280x800 LCD with a 16:10 aspect ratio, while hardware will include 3GB of Intel Turbo Memory, a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader and easy access to its SSD-based storage. The lower-end model will have a screen of the same size but with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1366x768 resolution. Virtual memory will be fixed at 1GB, while storage will come in the form of a traditional hard disk drive. Bluetooth will be standard on either model.

The U-Design range will be offered by Intel's partners in countries all over the world, much like the way it distributes the Classmate PC. Both notebooks will arrive in May in Europe, priced at under 1,000 euros, or the equivalent of about $1,325. [via Notebook Italia]

Filed under: computers, Apple
Other story tags: Intel, MacBook Air, Olidata