My EPC (AKA Cheap Chinese Knockoff) Netbook Review!

[SystemJinx]

Have you ever thought netbooks are too expensive? Do they have too many features? Do netbooks seem to be getting bigger but you want something more compact? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then an EPC netbook may be exactly what you are looking for! This little machine features a 7" screen, 2GB flash storage, 128MB of RAM and a whopping 300MHz ARM processor. (Not a misprint) So what does a machine like this cost? $300? $200 $100? If you said $80 you would be correct!

Here's some stock photos of the EPC. (The name is a shameless ripoff of Asus's EEE PC brand) I would post my own pictures, but my Mac is out for repairs due to a video card failure.



Initial thoughts, the unit is really small. Even smaller than my original Asus EEE PC 701. There is no webcam which is fine. I never use the one on my S10 anyways. It runs Windows CE 6.0 so forget about using any Windows XP or Vista software. The processor is ARM based which means Windows XP through Windows7 aren't capable of running on it. Though Linux or the Android OS have a lot of potential on this little machine.

There is an SD card slot on the side and 3 USB ports. (Two on the side and one on the back) So storage capacity can easily be upgraded externally. The 1800mAH battery is screwed into the bottom of the case, so it isn't easily swapped. The EPC does have speakers, a track pad, RJ-45 ethernet port and Wi-Fi B/G. The monitor is running at 800x480, so the resolution is tolerable under most tasks.

Overall I like this little machine, but you must accept what it is. An $80 netbook that's more of a smart phone with a keyboard than a computer. It browses the web decently and I can check my email or play a game of solitaire. That's it.

I purchased it on Ebay and was surprised to have it shipped from China to me within a week. While I don't want to advertise the seller and look like a shill, I will say search Ebay for: 7" netbook 2GB, and you will find plenty of these cute little knockoffs for sale.

This is only my first day with the little machine. I'm sure there will be more to say in the near future.

[mister2]

I would say that is the very definition of a netbook. Cheap and usable for internet, email and light word processing.

But how is the browsing on that thing? Does it process the pages fast enough? What about Flash and complicated pages? That'd be the only thing I'd be worried about.

[SystemJinx]

Browsing is okay for the most part. Just so long as you are viewing static images. Forget about watching Youtube videos. They play like a slide show. Although the fact that it plays Youtube videos at all makes me think this machine does have flash. The only real limitation to browsing the net is the limited 800x480 resolution. I tend to do a lot of side to side scrolling.