Another PC company to launch cheap ‘netbook’, called Averatec

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Averatec is jumping into the category of smaller, cheaper computers with its own netbook.

Averatec, the brand name of Korean manufacturer TriGem Computer Inc., already has laptops with 12-inch screens (and recently launched a nifty-looking iMac-ish all in one computer). But the new netbook-sized computers will be around 10.2-inches, which puts them on the larger end of netbooks.

Averatec’s upcoming netbook computer

Darren Lee, Averatec’s director of marketing, filled me in on the details. This new PC will also be an Intel Atom-based netbook but Averatec is going after folks who just want a smaller laptop — not a larger PDA.

The larger screen plus a near-fullsize keyboard with a real ‘Shift’ key will also have a larger hard drive of around 120 GB, Lee said. It’ll still be sub-3 pounds and cost around $399 or $499. Expect the new netbook by Christmas.

Averatec reliably cranks out stylish-but-generic takes on most new hardware trends, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the company is prepping a netbook. Although nothing's been locked in, it sounds like we should expect an Eee 1000-class machine, with a 10.2-inch screen and an Atom processor but it'll also have a "real" Shift key, a 120GB drive, and a $399 - $499 price tag.