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New touchscreen kit for netbooks available

by on05 December 2008

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Fits just about everything


A Taiwanese
company is offering touchscreen upgrade kits compatible with almost all currently available netbooks, and even some models which haven't been launched yet.

Hoda Technologies is marketing its Easy and Fun TouchKit as a simple, no-nonsense upgrade, although no soldering is involved, you'll still need a fair share of skill and you will have to take apart your netbook to install it. The good part is that the kit is compatible with just about every 8.9 and 10.2-inch netbook out there, including Eee PC 900/901/1000/1000H/1000HD, Aspire One, Dell Mini 9, Lenovo S9/S10, Samsung NC10, Benq Joybook U101.

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Here's how the contraption works. It connects to the netbook via its Webcam port and a USB hub, which is integrated on the same PCB as the touchscreen controller. The hub itself has 3 USB outputs. Obviously, reconnecting the camera will take up one of them, but the other two will stay available for additional mods, such as adding a flash drive, GPS or Bluetooth dongle.

Needless to say, this is quite practical, as it provides you with some rather interesting upgrade options, especially if you want flash storage on your netbook in place of an HDD, or if you need GPS, without an annoying dongle sticking out of an external USB port.

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The TouchKit is available in 8.9 and 10.2-inch versions and both cost the same - $95 plus shipping, and the company distributes them through eBay. Not a bargain, but if you're planning on pimping your netbook with a touchscreen and some USB dongles, it's sounds like a good solution. We will try to get our hands on one of those devices and try it out for ourselves, so stay tuned.

Last modified on 06 December 2008
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