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Small, Cheap Computer countdown continues

Punters looking to buy a Small, Cheap Computer are having to play a waiting game. Almost all of the most well known models won't appear until the end of the month.

It's a story of slipping releases for many of the vendors concerned. A case in point: Acer's Aspire One was, when the machine was announced, scheduled for a late June/early July release. Our survey of retailers shows it's not now expected until 25 July.

Asus, the company that started the SCC craze, said its Atom-powered Eee PC 901 would be available to buy on 1 July. That date's passed, and there's a marked lack of resellers who can say when they'll have some in, let alone offering them for sale.

That said the 10in, 80GB HDD-equipped Eee PC 1000H has apparently gone on sale, though very few suppliers are listing it. Clove.co.uk has it in stock when we checked.

PCWorld should puts its Advent-branded MSI Wind on sale today if it makes good on the pledge it made last week. The retailer claims this is the "World's first Intel Atom Netbook", though it wasn't the first to be announced or,if you consider the 10in Eee 1000H to be a netbook - it's a little large for the category, perhaps - to ship.

At the end of July, we should see the arrival of the Aspire One, closely followed by MSI's own-brand version of the Wind.

Beyond that, Asus' Eee 904 - a 900 in a 1000H chassis - and ECS' HSPDA-enabled G10IL have, as yet, no known release dates, though the ECS machine is expected in September. Asus' SSD-equipped Eee 1001 will be here late August, we were told.

Asus Eee PC 901
Due: 1 July 2008 Now due "late July"
Lowest Price: £350

Asus Eee PC 1000H
Due: On Sale
Lowest Price: £349

Asus Eee PC 1001
Due: "Expected late August"
Lowest Price: £379

PCWorld Advent 4211
(aka MSI Wind)
Due: 8 July 2008
Lowest Price: £280

Acer Aspire One
Due: 25 July 2008
Lowest Price: £230

MSI Wind
Due: 31 July 2008
Lowest Price: £330

Elonex One
Due: September
Lowest Price: £99

Asus Eee PC 904
Due: TBA
Lowest Price: TBA

Gigabyte M912
Due: TBA
Lowest Price: TBA

ECS G10IL
Due: TBA
Lowest Price: £464

Nb. listed prices are those of the lowest-specced version of each machine, not the lowest on offer at publication time. ®

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