It has been close to eighteen months since the netbook craze has started – but it seems that manufacturers have already run out of ideas on how to get user’s attention. And, they are not to blame too, there is only as much you can do in a 10-inch chassis and give it to the customer in less than Rs. 20,000.

The latest company to enter this already crowded market is Olive Telecom. Yes, they call themselves a telecom company but they sell netbooks. If Google can sell phones, Apple can be one of the largest retailers of music and give all mobile phone manufacturers a run for their money – anything can happen in this converged marketplace. That is exactly the tagline of Olive too – convergence.

Olive launched an array of netbooks and mobile phones at a recent launch event. The range of netbooks includes seven models including one tablet style product. We reviewed the X107H out of the seven. It is the most basic model in the product range. Being a telecom company, Olive has brought an interesting twist to these netbooks, all of them have in-built Internet capability on the move. All these netbooks have inbuilt internet modems, you do not need extra USB style modems with these devices. The internet connectivity is being provided by BSNL where available and Tata Indicom.

The biggest advantage to this is that you do not have to use any pesky dongles to connect to the internet. It is as uncomplicated as it can be – and for once the company’s marketing claims of un-complicate holds true. Just double-click on the Olive Dialer on the desktop and you are ready to go.  It just takes two clicks to get online. This netbook is powered by a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom 270 processor with 1 GB RAM. It sports a 10-inch screen with a resolution of 1280x600.  For storage it features a 160 GB hard drive. It weighs 1.2 kg and has a slated backup time of 2.5 hours. Other features include wireless 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, 1.3 MP camera, built in microphone, 3 USB ports and a SD and Memory Stick card reader.

The Zipbook is available in four colors including white, yellow, black and maroon. We got to review the black notebook. It was pretty standard looking, with a matt finish and chrome lining on the side. It does not look out of the ordinary and could do with better looks. Probably the premium models of the brand sport better looks. Also, it could look better in colors other than the standard black.

Though this netbook houses a 10 inch screen it can easily house a 12” too. This bigger chassis thus allows the notebook to have a comfortable sized keyboard. The keyboard layout is pretty good with well placed, standard sized keys. It feels pretty sturdy with keys providing good tactile feedback. The netbook features a hardware button for switching wireless on and off. It is built in with the power button of the netbook and can sometimes not provide good tactile feedback. The USB ports are well placed with one USB port to the right of the notebook and two on the left. A micro-USB port and a modem port on the right of the netbook are unused and thus blocked.

On the whole the netbook is a good package, with a unique feature of built in wireless internet modem. Though it is good and bad at the same time – you will not need to buy a separate modem, but you cannot share this modem with other PCs that you may have at home. Also, the price point of the netbook, at Rs. 23,999 is equivalent to a cheap notebook that may have better processing power and backup time. Thus, go for this netbook if you are looking for a converged device that works as it is advertised and you are ready to pay a premium for that comfort.