Nuggets: Chunky mini notebook from Soyo

Frumpy mini is a first

SOYO, better known for making PC boards, is stepping into the mini-notebook arena with the launch of its PW-9801 series.

Forget boring black and silver, SOYO is offering you a choice of colours including red, blue, purple, and yellow. Tacky? Nah, takes attention away from the Soyo's less-than-trim waistline! This chunky little number is powered by a Cyrix CXM-86 233/266MHz CPU running on upto 128MB of memory

There's a choice of hard disk sizes including 2.1, 4 or 5GB. A built-in 16-bit audio system complete with microphone, amplifier and 2W speakers is included and sorts out all your multimedia requirements. There's also an optional 56K Fax/Modem board. Other features include dual USB ports, dual PCMCIA Sockets, one serial and one parallel port. Weighing 1.6Kg, it's 240x180x42mm.

Prices start from £700 and the first models will be here 'any day now', according to SOYO.