First off - this is a Pentium M/Turion 64 era system, so this may be the wrong category - if so, mods feel free to move!
With that out of the way - what on earth is the WinBook 330/331? For context, I've been working on a big project for the last few months to dig out every bit of info on the WinBook Computer Corporation and preserve it on my website. They are a subsidiary of Micro Center, and released a few dozen laptop models from 1993 to 2008, and a scattered couple since then as well. Info on any of the "old era" of the brand from 1993-2008 is quickly vanishing from the web, and so I've been working to preserve it, via digging through the wayback machine, ebay listings, the few old reviews that remain, etc. And through this, I've been able to get the specs and associated info on just about every model. Except for one (or two?) from circa 2004/2005.
There are currently two active eBay listings for these laptops:
WinBook 330: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175789752065 (archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230629192310/https://www.ebay.com/itm/175789752065)
WinBook 331: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285196987338 (archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230524220647/https://www.ebay.com/itm/285196987338)
These both seem nearly identical. The 330 model has a Pentium M processor, and the 331 has a Turion 64 from AMD.
Now first, a bit of background on the confusion of 2000s era WinBook model numbers that I've been muddling through for hours.
Every WinBook starting around 2003/2004 had two different model numbers (usually). A series model number, and the ODM model number. The Series model number is what WinBook used to identify the computer on their website, and in marketing. For instance, the WinBook C200 series. Then there's the ODM number, which was usually the model number of the generic Chinese or Taiwanese laptop that the WinBook model in question was based on. For instance, the WinBook C200 laptops were based off the Mitac MiNote 8081. Despite being a WinBook-branded system, the ODM model number is what shows up on the bottom of the system. As such, all the C200s on eBay are identified as "WinBook 8081", which is technically incorrect. See the confusion? C200 appears nowhere on the laptops just about. "C2xx" will appear as the first digits of the serial number though. For instance, the C200s I've seen on eBay are all C220s specifically, as ID'd by the serial number. I've been using this method of cross-referencing photos in WinBook documentation with serial numbers shown in eBay listings to try to identify what specific models each one is. Confusing as can be!
So that brings us back the WinBook 330/331 laptops. Under these rules, the 330/331 branding is actually the ODM model number. So what's the series? I need this info to spec-match these models and find more information on them for my archive. Well, there is none! No model on WinBook's archived support website (winbookcorp.com) is a match to these laptops. I checked through each one twice. This is really strange, as thusfar I've found WinBook's documentation to be complete. I guess not.
What about the serial number sticker though? Well, it took me a while to find a clear photo of one, but I finally did. Unfortunately, this one is just a string of numbers with no series name visible. A dead end.
I then went through and searched far and wide for any mention of these existing outside these listings. Besides for a couple of other listings for 331 laptops, nothing. For reference, every single other WinBook laptop from this time has at least one old out of stock replacement battery page on the web. Not even that for these. So that leaves the question - what are these? Why is there no documentation anywhere online for these?
Searching for WinBook 331 may have not brought up anything - but I was able to figure out who made the thing. It was ECS Elitegroup, same manufacturer who made the J1, J4, X1, X4, and a couple other WinBook laptops. The dead giveaway was the unique battery release switch which was the same as the one on my ECS-made X4. And I was able to find a couple of photos of generic ECS 331 laptops, and they're the same. But still no answer to why the WinBook version has no documentation anywhere.
If anyone has ANY info whatsoever on the WinBook 330/331 laptops - let me know for the archives! If you owned one, repaired them back in the day, worked at Micro Center at the time, anything? @DeltaDon - any ideas?
Finally - here's the main thread on my WinBook preservation project: https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/documenting-obscure-90s-laptop-brands-winbook.1242548/
And here's my website page on it: https://macdat.net/pc/winbook_home.html
A big update for the site is gonna be out soon - pages for the WinBook Si2, J1, X4, and an archive of eBay listings to track prices, general conditions, and rarity of these laptops I've gone so far down the rabbit hole of. Perhaps I'm too much of a preservationist. I just really care about the history of these laptops - WinBook is only the beginning…
And yeah, it’s just a boring mid 2000s laptop, but my archive would always feel incomplete not knowing any info on these. Maybe I’ll buy one someday if one comes up at the right price.
With that out of the way - what on earth is the WinBook 330/331? For context, I've been working on a big project for the last few months to dig out every bit of info on the WinBook Computer Corporation and preserve it on my website. They are a subsidiary of Micro Center, and released a few dozen laptop models from 1993 to 2008, and a scattered couple since then as well. Info on any of the "old era" of the brand from 1993-2008 is quickly vanishing from the web, and so I've been working to preserve it, via digging through the wayback machine, ebay listings, the few old reviews that remain, etc. And through this, I've been able to get the specs and associated info on just about every model. Except for one (or two?) from circa 2004/2005.
There are currently two active eBay listings for these laptops:
WinBook 330: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175789752065 (archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230629192310/https://www.ebay.com/itm/175789752065)
WinBook 331: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285196987338 (archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230524220647/https://www.ebay.com/itm/285196987338)
These both seem nearly identical. The 330 model has a Pentium M processor, and the 331 has a Turion 64 from AMD.
Now first, a bit of background on the confusion of 2000s era WinBook model numbers that I've been muddling through for hours.
Every WinBook starting around 2003/2004 had two different model numbers (usually). A series model number, and the ODM model number. The Series model number is what WinBook used to identify the computer on their website, and in marketing. For instance, the WinBook C200 series. Then there's the ODM number, which was usually the model number of the generic Chinese or Taiwanese laptop that the WinBook model in question was based on. For instance, the WinBook C200 laptops were based off the Mitac MiNote 8081. Despite being a WinBook-branded system, the ODM model number is what shows up on the bottom of the system. As such, all the C200s on eBay are identified as "WinBook 8081", which is technically incorrect. See the confusion? C200 appears nowhere on the laptops just about. "C2xx" will appear as the first digits of the serial number though. For instance, the C200s I've seen on eBay are all C220s specifically, as ID'd by the serial number. I've been using this method of cross-referencing photos in WinBook documentation with serial numbers shown in eBay listings to try to identify what specific models each one is. Confusing as can be!
So that brings us back the WinBook 330/331 laptops. Under these rules, the 330/331 branding is actually the ODM model number. So what's the series? I need this info to spec-match these models and find more information on them for my archive. Well, there is none! No model on WinBook's archived support website (winbookcorp.com) is a match to these laptops. I checked through each one twice. This is really strange, as thusfar I've found WinBook's documentation to be complete. I guess not.
What about the serial number sticker though? Well, it took me a while to find a clear photo of one, but I finally did. Unfortunately, this one is just a string of numbers with no series name visible. A dead end.
I then went through and searched far and wide for any mention of these existing outside these listings. Besides for a couple of other listings for 331 laptops, nothing. For reference, every single other WinBook laptop from this time has at least one old out of stock replacement battery page on the web. Not even that for these. So that leaves the question - what are these? Why is there no documentation anywhere online for these?
Searching for WinBook 331 may have not brought up anything - but I was able to figure out who made the thing. It was ECS Elitegroup, same manufacturer who made the J1, J4, X1, X4, and a couple other WinBook laptops. The dead giveaway was the unique battery release switch which was the same as the one on my ECS-made X4. And I was able to find a couple of photos of generic ECS 331 laptops, and they're the same. But still no answer to why the WinBook version has no documentation anywhere.
If anyone has ANY info whatsoever on the WinBook 330/331 laptops - let me know for the archives! If you owned one, repaired them back in the day, worked at Micro Center at the time, anything? @DeltaDon - any ideas?
Finally - here's the main thread on my WinBook preservation project: https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/documenting-obscure-90s-laptop-brands-winbook.1242548/
And here's my website page on it: https://macdat.net/pc/winbook_home.html
A big update for the site is gonna be out soon - pages for the WinBook Si2, J1, X4, and an archive of eBay listings to track prices, general conditions, and rarity of these laptops I've gone so far down the rabbit hole of. Perhaps I'm too much of a preservationist. I just really care about the history of these laptops - WinBook is only the beginning…
And yeah, it’s just a boring mid 2000s laptop, but my archive would always feel incomplete not knowing any info on these. Maybe I’ll buy one someday if one comes up at the right price.
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