Acer and BENQ had plenty of notebooks to showcase at Computex this year, but some of the more intriguing offerings from both companies came from their smallest members. As a person who is currently typing from a 12.1" WXGA notebook, models like these strike close to home.

Up to the starting grid first is Acer's Ferrari 1000. Yes, the notebook looks quite spiffy in black and red with carbon fiber accents. No, it won't make you even close to being as good a driver as Schumi. The 3.7 pound Ferrari 1000 makes use of AMD's latest Turion 64 X2 processors and features ATI's newly announced Radeon Xpress 1150 chipset. That means that you get a Radeon X300 graphics core clocked at 400MHz, up to 512MB of HyperMemory, DX9 compliance and full support Windows Vista Aero Glass. The notebook has an integrated 1.3MP webcam, three USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire port, a VGA connector and a docking port for the external optical drive. The Ferrari 1000 can be had with Windows XP Home Edition or for the brave ones out there: Windows Professional x64 Edition.

In BENQ's booth was the new Joybook S61. This 12.1" WXGA notebook is powered by Intel's Core Duo T2300 (1.66GHz processor) while the graphics duties are handled by Intel's GMA950. BENQ says that the S61 weighs 3.3 pounds without the main battery -- let's push that closer to 3.7 or 3.8 pounds with the battery included. But what makes the Joybook S61 stand apart from other 12.1" notebooks on the market is its inclusion of an integrated analog/digital TV tuner which BENQ claims is an industry first. It's quite a nice addition to Joybook S61's feature count, but I think that I'd much rather be watching digital content on Acer's massive 20.1" Aspire 9800 than on a tiny 12.1" screen.

Both notebooks should be available within the next few months with pricing information to come forth shortly.