Sylvania G Netbook

You may have seen this Netbook floating around as the Everex Cloudbook, but someone has licensed the name of lightbulb-maker Sylvania and put out a version as the Sylvania G Netbook. While we're all in favor of smaller, cheaper laptops, the Sylvania nonetheless lags behind the current crop of Netbooks. Its 7-inch screen pales in comparison to current 9- and 10-inch models, the VIA C7-M CPU is no match for Intel's Atom (or even Celeron M) chip, and the positively miniscule touch pad is nearly impossible to use. For $399, you can get a much more useful Netbook, such as Acer's 9-inch Aspire One or even an original 7-inch Asus Eee PC.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$399
Processor	1.2GHz VIA C7-M
Memory	1GB, 533MHz DDR2
Hard drive	30GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	VIA UniChrome Pro IGP
Graphics	VIA UniChrome Pro IGP (integrated)
Operating System	gOS Linux
Dimensions (WDH)	9.1 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	15.4 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.1/2.8 pounds
Category	Netbook

With only a 7-inch screen, the Sylvania G Netbook has a slightly smaller footprint than the 9-inch Asus Eee PC 901 and the 10-inch MSI Wind. Like the original 7-inch Eee PC, there's an awkward compromise required by having a 7-inch screen atop a chassis that makes room for a keyboard big enough to be even modestly useful--it means lots of dead space on either side of the display. On the Eee 701, speakers fill that space; on the Sylvania, a Webcam sit to the right of the screen with nothing along the left side.

We like the thin, lightweight design--some Netbooks have been getting suspiciously thick lately (we're looking at you, Asus). The system's biggest physical flaw, however, far outweighs any size benefits. The touch pad is by far the smallest we've ever seen, measuring a mere 0.8 inch diagonally, with tiny left and right mouse buttons on either side. With a touch pad this small, the sensitivity has to be jacked all the way up to get the cursor from one side of the screen to the other, and any kind of fine control (especially important on such a small screen) is virtually nonexistent.

Like recent systems from Acer and Asus, the Sylvania G Netbook uses a Linux-based operating system, instead of Windows XP. We generally prefer XP in our Netbooks, partially because it's familiar to most users, and also because it makes it much easier to install software and troubleshoot hardware and networking problems. The gOS version of Linux has a Mac-like dock on the bottom of the screen, with quick-launch icons for Firefox and various OpenOffice apps--the same software loadout we've seen on every Linux-powered Netbook. On its Web site FAQ section, Sylvania says, "We do not currently support installing Windows XP on the G Netbook, however we have tested it and it works."

The 7-inch wide-screen LCD display offers a 800x480 native resolution, which means many Web pages will be cut off and require both horizontal and vertical scrolling to read. The move to slightly larger screens is a big improvement for Netbooks, and we find a big difference in moving up to even a 9-inch model and a 1,024x600 resolution.

	Sylvania G Netbook	Average for category [Netbook]
Video	DVI-out	VGA-out
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0, SD card reader	2 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion	None	None
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi	modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/nWi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive	None	None

Two USB ports and an SD card reader are standard equipment for Netbooks, but we were surprised to see a DVI output on the Sylvania. A DVI-to-VGA dongle is included in the box as well.

In addition to a puny touch pad, the Sylvania G Netbook also has puny processor in the form of the 1.2GHz VIA C7-M CPU. It's the same one found in HP's 2133 Mini-Note, while every other recent Netbook we've seen uses Intel's Atom processor. The system wasn't able to run our usual suite of benchmark tests (which use Windows and Mac apps such as iTunes, Office, and Photoshop), but we had trouble even scrolling through the Sylvania's PDF user manuals without stuttering, although the light Linux OS itself felt reasonably fast (the HP 2133 had some trouble with Windows XP using the same CPU). For even basic use, the combination of slow performance and the tiny touch pad made the G Netbook a chore to use in general. We hear that VIA's upcoming Netbook CPU, called Nano, is much more promising, and we look forward to trying it out.

With a 4-cell battery, the Sylvania G Netbook ran for 3 hours and 3 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, which beats the Atom-powered Netbooks from Acer and MSI (although MSI is moving up to a bigger 6-cell battery soon), but is nowhere near the 5-plus hours from the 9-inch Asus Eee PC (although that system costs $200 more).

Sylvania (actually a New York company called Digital Gadgets) includes an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the system. Support is accessible through a toll-free phone line that operates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST Monday through Friday. The Web site offers a PDF product manual and a few simple FAQ questions and answers.

General

Screen type:

Wide-screen

Processor

Processor:

VIA C7-M 1.2 GHz

Core voltage technology:

Ultra Low Voltage (ULV)

RAM

Installed Size:

1 GB

Technology:

DDR SDRAM

Storage

Floppy Drive:

None

Hard Drive:

30 GB

Storage Removable:

None

Hard drive type:

Standard

Display

Display Type:

7 in TFT active matrix

Max Resolution:

800 x 480

Video

Graphics Processor / Vendor:

UniChrome Pro IGP

Audio

Audio output type:

Sound card

Audio Input:

Microphone

Input Device(s)

Input device type:

Keyboard, Touchpad

Networking

Data link protocol:

Ethernet, Fast Ethernet

Expansion / Connectivity

Expansion Slots Total (Free):

Memory, Memory card reader

Interfaces:

2 x USB - USB, 1 x Ethernet - RJ-45, 1 x DVI, 1 x Headhpone, 1 x Microphone

Miscellaneous

Features:

802.11b/g Wireless LAN, Camera

Battery

Mfr estimated battery life:

4 hour(s)

Operating System / Software

OS Provided:

gOS Escape Pod 2.9M

Software:

Drivers & Utilities

by businessweek.com