Second ARM-powered Always Connected PC comes to UK, and it's actually affordable

We are not the biggest fans of ARM-based Always Connected PCs, due to issues related to performance, incompatibility and also value for money.

It is however also true that there are many specific niches and roles where the devices would be perfect, due to their long battery life and wide compatibility with regular desktop software.  People such as court reporters, on-site inspectors or anyone who has to do data entry all day while on the road would benefit greatly from having a device will 20-hour battery life, a full screen and keyboard and compatibility with the same software they use in the office, while also being constantly connected to their office due to always-on cellular connectivity.

If this describes your role you may want to get your boss to open their chequebook for the Asus Novago, which ZDNet reports has just become available in UK.

The device is on sale at John Lewis, BT, and the Microsoft Store for a reasonable £699.99, and while still pricy for what you get, it is a lot cheaper than the £999 the HPEnvy x2 debuted at. It also comes bundled with a 24 GB data SIM, though this will need to be replaced later on.

It features a:

• 13.3-inch Full HD Touchscreen
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• 6GB memory/128GB eMMC

One weakness of the device is that it is only powered by the Snapdragon 835 processor, while devices are becoming available with Snapdragon 850 and we can expect even more powerful devices next year. They will however likely come at a premium, and if you are not planning to use the device heavily this may not be an issue at all.

Check it out at Microsoft UK here.