Despite the netbook market expanding more rapidly than Pocket-lint's stomach at a £3 all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, Datawind has decided to carry on with its budget mobile netbook platform, with the launch of the UbiSurfer9.

Adding a couple of inches to the original 7-inch model, the UbiSurfer9 isn't exactly the highest spec netbook that you're likely to find. But it is cheap, and it's even cheaper to get online - it will cost you nothing - so it does have a couple of things going for it.

Let's start with the tech, and the UbiSurfer9 is packing Windows onboard. Sadly though, it's Windows CE. It will boot up in just 10 seconds though, which is much quicker than even the most heavy-spec Windows 7 machine.

The device is powered by an Arm processor, with 128GB of RAM and a 1GB SSD that is expandable via SD or USB.

It's the free web access that you're probably most interested in though. The UbiSurfer9 does have Wi-Fi on board, but when you're not in range of a hotspot that you can use, it will switch to the embedded GPRS wireless modem, with a SIM courtesy of Vodafone.

You won't pay a dime for this access, at least not for up to 30 hours of surfing each month for the first year you own the product. The same deal for subsequent years will cost you £29.99 per annum. You can go unlimited if you want for £5.99 a month, and you can also roam in the States and Europe for 5p a minute.

Suneet S. Tuli, CEO of Datawind said: "We continue to see strong demand for low cost, connected netbooks. While many new products and form factors move towards higher costs, the need continues to grow for low cost devices that deliver web access at affordable rates. 

"Studies show that one in four adults in the UK have never used the internet. We strive to help lower the cost of internet access, while making the process even simpler".

The Datawind UbiSurfer9 will go live on the Ideal TV home shopping channel this weekend, priced at £149.99.