Nokia Booklet 3G Coming to US Retailers

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The Booklet 3G is Nokia’s first netbook and I have a feeling it won’t be the last. But the Finnish manufacturer must do something about the price of this tiny computer. It is way too expensive for a netbook and it will face some fierce competition, not only from other upcoming netbooks but also from Apple’s and Microsoft’s hot new tablets. Best Buy has confirmed exclusivity for the Booklet 3G which means the netbook is coming to the USA later this month.

The price tag however has not been mentioned so far. Considering that the Booklet 3G will sell for €575 in Europe, should we expect Best Buy to charge more than $800 for it? Unfortunately no U.S. carrier seems anxious to subsidize this netbook and you might just have to pay the full price for it.

But let’s forget about money for a second, if that’s even possible in these harder economic times, and see the Booklet 3G for what it really is. The netbook is definitely one of the best machines of this size and that says a lot about Nokia, a company which is just getting its feet wet in the netbook/laptop business.

Not many netbooks can offer you Windows 7 and OVI maps under the hood, a 10.1-inch screen capable of 1,280 x 720 resolution, aluminum housing, built-in accelerometer, SIM card support, HDMI connectivity and a battery that can perform for 16 hours between charges. Sure the other specs are pretty common for computers this size. You can expect an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 120GB of storage space and integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity.

As you can see Nokia has conceived a remarkable netbook. I’d take it for a spin despite my annoyance with netbooks. The only thing that could be holding me back is that steep price. The Booklet 3G should be available around October 22 but Best Buy hasn’t mentioned any official date yet. In case you don’t mind the price but don’t want to get it from Best Buy you’ll only be able to order it online from Nokia USA. Why do I have this deja-vu feeling? Will we witness the Booklet 3G become as “successful” in the U.S. as Nokia’s flagship phone, the N97?