The Viliv – worthy competitor to the T91s and the T1028s?

By: Pallab Jyotee Hazarika

The price and build-quality are going to decide this fact

Three models of the S7

 First of all it’s not a netbook, as Viliv describes its more of an UMPC. UMPCFever guys got their hands on a sample of the latest Viliv S7 recently, and they found out It is lightweight, has a good keyboard, pretty cool battery life, a desktop OS, solid state drive and multi-scenario layout.  The company claims the S7 to be significantly more efficient than the netbooks, including a battery that’s supposed to give you 9 hours of life – the folks at UMPCFever expect to get about 8 hrs of radio-off life though.

On the side are the VGA port, two USB 2.0, mini USB (USB link), mic & headphone jacks, SD card slot, power jack, switch button and an I/O port. Although plastic is used, the build-quality is acceptable with the materials well-fitted with a sleek finish – as reported by UMPCFever.

The speakers are said to be quite loud and with the 1.3MP webcam and the 1024 x 600 resolution should make this system a good choice for multimedia playback. Although the keyboard is small, but good enough for the size of machine it is. The trackpad and the mouse-buttons are present on the upper right corner just above the keyboard – a pretty weird place if you ask me. Also the absence of a stylus might make a few tasks like drawing difficult.

One of the problems the S7 users might encounter is the uneven pressure on the LCD panel. When you press the Menu or Pivot button, you will find the LCD color/image near the buttons will deformed. It seems that the pressure applied on the LCD panel is not even – as described by the reviewer.

All-in-all the Viliv S7 is found out to be a good companion, if you can keep it from getting dirty that is – as it’s available in white only for now. To make your task easier the S7 comes with a diary-like cover.

It should retail between $600-$900 so it would be a tough choice between the T1028 and the T-91 and this piece.