Its taken a while, but the Nokia Booklet 3G has arrived for preorder in the UK. The 10.1-inch 3G-enabled netbook is available SIM-free and unlocked, and is priced at £649 including VAT ($1,049). Your money gets you Windows 7, WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G, along with A-GPS and an HMDI connection. No word on when it will actually begin shipping, however.
I wrote this column on the Nokia Booklet 3G which is, in my opinion, the most luxurious looking netbook on the market. And for its $600 ($299 with a pretty expensive 2 year AT&T contract) it sure as heck should be. The aluminum unibody design feels as solid as a freshly pumped up tire, and its brushed metal palm rest isn’t only minimalistic but is also smooth on the hands. The plastic coated keys are soft to the touch and the higher 1280 by 720 resolution screen is sweet on the eyes. And don’t forget the built in AT&T 3G that kept me connected as I wrote in different coffee shops around New York City.
Aesthetically the Booklet has got the goods, but performance wise not so much. While using the Booklet for the last week or so I had to get used to the netbook taking at least a minute to boot up Windows 7 Starter (thanks to its slow 4,200 rpm hard drive), and stalling at times when trying to open an application or simply loading a Flash video (thanks to its sluggish Atom Z530 processor). The Booklet 3G is like the stereotypical blonde — pretty but slow.
SlashGear JP
