Olive Zipbook

If you can’t wait for 3G, or would rather have a CDMA data connection, try this EVDO-R enabled netbook.

I adore netbooks. I can carry a machine that is under a kilogram, and still write my stories and do most of my work on them. But netbooks aren’t so great once you are on the road, without a Wi-Fi hotspot. Yes, you can use those USB data cards, but that means carrying an additional device all the time.

Though many netbooks and laptops are 3G ready now, the high-speed GSM network is still a rarity. The Olive Convergence was launched near 2009-end. It is similar to any other Atom-based netbook—Atom 1.6 N270 processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB hard disc, Windows XP—except that it is the first netbook that is EVDO Revision ready. And because it comes bundled with a Tata Photon+ wireless connection, you no longer need to carry the additional USB dongle. On the design front, this machine will not score. And it has a battery time of only 1.5 hours, far less than what you would expect of a netbook. For all its negatives, this machine is up really quickly, 40 seconds to boot up and another 10 seconds to go online. It’s biggest plus is that you won’t have to carry that additional device for mobile connectivity.

Right now the Zipbook comes with a single data plan only, which allows you free 15 GB of data per month. This offer will expire after two months, and then you will have to choose a new Tata plan.

EVDO-RnetbookOlive Convergence