CTL is probably best known (if they're known at all) as the company developing the 2Go PC, the first computer built using the Intel Classmate 2 reference design. But CTL also recently announced that it would be bringing the IL1 to American shores. The IL1 bears a superficial resemblance to the original Asus Eee PC, with its 800 x 480 pixel screen and oversized bezel. But there are a few significant differences.

Laptop Magazine snagged a review unit this morning. In a nutshell, the machine runs Windows XP, costs $50 more than the Eee PC 701 4G XP, and is a bit larger. The CTL IL1 also packs a 1GHz VIA processor rather than the 900MHz Celeron chip in the Eee PC and has 1GB of RAM, which is twice what you'd get with the cheaper Eee PC models.

The IL1 keyboard looks like it's a bit larger than the Eee PC keboard, and the miniscule trackpad has 2 distinct buttons, which are much easier to use than the rocker that ships with the original Eee.

Video playback and Skype video calls are reportedly a bit choppy, which doesn't surprise me. My HP Mini-Note has a 1.2GHz VIA processor and doesn't handle streaming video very well. I wouldn't expect the IL1 with its slower chip to perform better, even if the computer's display resolution is much lower than the Mini-Note's 1280 x 768 pixel.

The CTL Il1 will probably be available sometime in June.

If you've been wanting to get your hands on a Classmate 2 PC, but you're not a student in a developing nation, there's hope for you yet. Amazon has posted preorder pages for the CTL 2Go PC. This laptop is built using Intel's Classmate 2 reference design, but unlike the original Classmate, you don't need to order in bulk.

The 2Go comes in Linux and Windows XP flavors. The XP version will set you back $469, while you can pick up a version with Linux for $399.

Both machines ship with a 900MHz Celeron processor, 512MB of RAM, and a 40GB hard drive. They also sport a 9 inch 800 x 480 pixel display, a memory card reader, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, USB, Ethernet, and 802.11b/g connectivity.

In other words, the 2Go PC is a lot like the Asus Eee PC 701, but instead of a 7 inch screen you get a 9 inch screen, and instead of 4GB of solid state memory you get a 40GB hard drive. But the price (for the Linux version anyway) is about the same.

CTL, the company behind the 2Go PC, plans to bring another low-cost ultraportable laptop to market soon: The CTL IL1. Gizmodo got their hands on a few photos of this computer, and it seemed might familiar, so I dug into the ole Liliputing/Eee Site archives, and found a post about the Dreambook Light IL1, a nearly identical PC headed for Australia.

But wait, there's more! The Nohrtec Gecko and Airis Kira also seem to have the same case, and presumably the same hardware. In other words, these are all pretty much rebranded versions of the same computer. For the record, here are the specs:

• CPU: 1GHz VIA C7-M
• RAM: 1GB
• Storage: 4GB SSD
  
• Display: 7 inch 800 x 480 pixels
• Expansion/Connectivity: 2 USB ports, SD card reader, WiFi, Ethernet
• Webcam: 0.3 megapixels
  
• Operating System: WIndows XP Ready, supports LInux
• Size: 9.6 inches by 6.8 inches, by 1.7 inches
• Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Battery: 4 cell Li-Ion battery with estimated 4.5 hours battery life
  
• Price: Under $350
• Availability: ?
  

While plenty of web sites have put the HP Mini-Note, Asus Eee PC, and other low-cost ultraportables through the paces with benchmarks, comparisons of video performance, and startup times, the folks at Laptop Magazine have been asking another crucial question: Which ultraportable has the best keyboard? Laptop happens to have access to an Eee PC, Mini-Note, and a CTL 2Go PC, which is the first Intel Classmate 2 PC expected to hit the market.

Over the past few days, we've seen Laptop writers take a typing test on each machine. Tomorrow the magazine will crown the champion, but I think it's pretty clear that the Mini-Note will be the winner. The computer has a nearly full sized keyboard, and the writers seemed to indicate they had positive typing experiences (for the most part).

I decided to run my own little test, so I visited the Ten Thumbs web page to use the same typing test used in the Laptop Magazine test. Oddly, I did better on my Eee PC than I did on my full sized laptop. In both cases, I had a 1% error rate, but on my larger laptop I scored 77 words per minute, while I got 83 words per minute on the Eee PC. I'm not going to pretend that this means I can consistently type faster on the Eee PC. After a while, I tend to find its little keyboard cramped and cumbersome. But I do think that for people who don't have excessively large hands, the Eee PC keyboard is quite useable, and perhaps even preferable in some circumstances, since you don't need to move your fingers as far to reach keys as you do on a full sized laptop.

Oh, and oddly enough, I clocked 72 words per minute and a 2% error rate on the Mini-Note. The keyboard feels much more comfortable to use than the Eee PC keyboard, but I think the fact that it's hard to find a good place to rest your palms makes it a bit more awkward. Plus I had just performed two other typing tests by the time I got to the Mini-Note. My fingers might have been a bit tired. I'd be curious to see the results of a test that takes longer than a minute, but I don't think I have the energy to conduct 3 typing tests that run 5 minutes or longer each.