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By slaveofconvention at 2009-11-22 11:42
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For those of you thinking about a netbook for your little ones this holiday season, ASUS might just have the very thing you're looking for. The new Disney Netpal is a eeePc based netbook with a 9" screen, Windows XP and Disney inspired customizations both to the hardware and software. Interested? Then read on, but beware, it's definitely more for the little girls than the little boys in my opinion.
The Disney Netpal is heavily based on ASUS' current crop of 9" eeePc's. Heavily decorated with a "princess" theme which should appeal to most little girls. The differences aren't just visual though. ASUS claims "Reinforced hardware including a spill-resistant keyboard" as well as the pretty bits. Full details of the extra features are available here on the ASUS website.
The "Princess Pink" has obviously undergone a serious visual makeover. Both the netbook shell, as well as the installed software have been heavily modified to follow the theme. As well as this, the machine has content control software installed to give you more control over how and when the computer is used.
The "Princess Pink" Disney Netpal
There is also a "Magic Blue" variant available which is more gender neutral with a slight lean towards the little boys out there. The hardware and software appear to be identical on both systems, with plenty of desktop themes available to choose from.
The "Magic Blue" Disney Netpal
Both machines are powered by a single-core Intel Atom N270 running at 1.6Ghz, 1GB Ram, 160GB of hard disk and the usual 0.3mp webcam built into the lid, complete with a cute little Disney logo instead of the usual small black square. The OS of choice is Windows XP Home and comes with 10 different desktop themes as well as a small collection of mainly media-based software apps designed specifically for the Netpal. The spill-resistant keyboard is joined by a general improvement in strength, a non-removable battery and "ShockShield Data Protection".
These units are available now and you should get change out of $350 US, and probably a BIG smile from a little person.
You can check out a full review of the Disney Netpal here at PCMag.com although they do seem to be unaware of the existence of the "Magic Blue" version...
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