Fujitsu-Siemens Computers has announced its entrant into the low-cost mini-laptop market for mobile users.

Available from October, the Amilo Mini Ui 3520 weighs about 1kg, has an 8.9in display and runs Windows XP Home edition.

It has a choice of 60GB or 120GB hard drives and, like many of the newer mini-laptops, is based on Intel's 1.6GHz Atom processor with 1GB of memory.

One way the Amilo Mini differs from other models is that it has clip-on covers that let owners change the colour of the system.

Battery life is quoted at four hours, while a six-cell battery available from December will offer an extended runtime.

Fujitsu-Siemens has equipped the Amilo Mini with an ExpressCard slot for expansion, enabling extra functions such as a wireless datacard to be added.

It also has two USB ports and a 4-in-1 Flash card reader slot. For communications, it supports 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.