One of the hottest gifts this holiday season is the Asus Eee PC, but budget PC maker Everex hopes that buyers looking to do some mobile computing will hold off until mid-January when it will reportedly ship its upcoming “Cloudbook”, a Linux-powered ultra-portable system akin to Asus’ recently launched notebook.

The device will feature a 7-inch screen, 1.2 megapixel camera (on a “Developer edition” model), wired and wireless Ethernet, 4-in-1 card reader, USB 2.0, DVI-out, and 512MB RAM and the same Linux gOS found in the $199 gPC – a budget desktop computer that recently became one of the top performing PCs on Wal-Mart.com.

Unlike the Eee PC, which features a solid state drive and a 900MHz Intel Celeron processor, the Cloudbook is powered by a 1.2GHz Via C7 ULV processor and carries a standard 30GB hard drive to reduce costs. The device is expected to launch at the CES in Las Vegas next month, with consumer availability as soon as January 15 and a price tag of $400.