Wyse X90, X90s Thin Client Laptops Announced

Wyse has released the X90 and X90e thin client laptops, which operate without a local hard drive and a cooling fan.

Both models feature the VIA C7-M ULV processor running at 1.2GHz, a 12.1-inch display with 1280-by-800 resolution, and weigh 3.8 pounds. Wyse claims the battery life of the X90 and X90e is between 5-7 hours. These thin clients use the embedded Windows XPe operating system, which is preloaded on a built-in 512MB Flash memory module. The announced notebooks have an equal amount of system memory, expandable to 2GB.

The X90 adn X90e provide WiFi and 3G connectivity, as well as USB and ExpressCard slots, while the X90e additionally has a Smart Card reader and a Bluetooth.

The notebooks are available now, with introductory pricing at $600 for the X90 and $650 for the X90e model.

Thin client computers are designed primarly as agents of sending and retrieving information between the user and the remote server. Thin clients rely on applications and data being provided by a server.

“The notebook thin-client market is new, and vendors are focusing on selling to organizations that already deliver applications from servers to terminals, such as health care, public safety, schools, retail and financial services - environments where many workers are using similar applications. But acceptance by consumers and knowledge workers of thin-client notebooks may expand as wireless networks improve and as Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others develop online application services,” ComputerWorld reports.

Sources: 1 | 2

hmm, why not linux i wonder…

also, it would be interesting if they had usb host capability. then one could use usb flash sticks or hardrives to expand its storage ;)