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RadioShack is offering the LG Electronics X120 netbook for a special rate through the holiday shopping season. Now through Dec. 24, the X120 will be available for $49.99 with a new two-year service contract with AT&T – or for $399 without a service plan.
LG introduced the X120 on Nov. 23 with a $179.99 price tag paired with a two-year AT&T DataConnect service agreement, which includes 5GB of data a month for $60.
The 2.8-pound X120 features a 10.1-inch backlit LED display and an interface called SmartOn that loads in seconds, enabling users to quickly get online, view images, listen to music or instant message with contacts.
SmartOn is paired with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, which loads traditionally, behind SmartOn, and supports the expected professional applications. Along with 3G HSDPA connectivity, the X120 can connect over Bluetooth and WiFi. Users with the AT&T contract can make use of the carrier’s more than 20,000 hotspots. (Or, more than 24,000, as eWEEK has been told.)
“We created the LG X120 to allow consumers to stay connected on their own terms,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy and marketing for LG Mobile Phones, in a statement. “The SmartOn button puts consumers seconds away from the fun stuff such as showing off your vacation photos or picking your fantasy football line-up.”
According to LG, the X120’s six-cell battery offers up to seven hours of juice. The processor is a 1.6GHz Intel Atom, and there’s 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. Also included are a 1.3-megapixel camera, HD stereo speakers, a touchpad with scroll functionality, a keyboard that, at 93 percent, is nearly full size, a four-in-one multimedia card slot, three USB ports, an Ethernet port and an audio-in port.
The X120 measures 10.4 by 7 by 0.9 inches, and the RadioShack version comes in matte white with a blue trim and is available in RadioShack stores and on the retailer’s Web site.
According to Research and Markets, 2009’s total netbook sales are expected to double those of 2008. Going forward, however, research firm Gartner wrote in a Nov. 23 report that it expects sales of netbooks – or mininotebooks, as it refers to them – to slow, as they face “increased competition from other low-cost mobile PCs, as well as alternative mobile devices.”