Australian entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan promised a few weeks ago that his company would come out with a netbook based on user-suggested specifications in short order. And it looks like he was right. He stopped by PC Authority recently with a demo unit of the Kogan Agora netbook running the gOS Linux operating system and another running a beta version of Windows 7.

The netbook has a 3 cell battery, 1GB of RAM, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, a 160GB hard drive, a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.3MP camera, 4-in-1 flash card reader, and 3 USB ports. There’s a space for a SIM card, but the netbook doesn’t currently support 3G wireless connectivity.

Kogan plans to sell the base model for $499 Australian, or about $321 US. For $549 AUD/$353 US you can get a model with a 6 cell battery, Bluetooth and 2GB of RAM.

If you’re wondering how Kogan was able to put this thing together so quickly, here’s the secret: He didn’t build the thing himself. He worked with manufacturers (probably in Taiwan) building similar netbooks for other companies. As Netbook 3G’s Jeff Blagnac points out, this machine looks a lot like the Sotec DC101 or Olevia X10A. But neither of those computers comes with the gOS operating system, so this is clearly a custom job.

via Engadget