Category: NetBook

Kai Schmerer at ZDnet has done a thorough comparison of two of the most used processors in netbooks: VIA Nano and Intel Atom.

Here are some of the highlights:

Intel manufactures the Atom using a 45-nanometre (nm) feature size, while VIA still uses 65nm technology. For this reason, the VIA Nano uses more power than Intel’s Atom

Speed wise, the VIA Nano out-performs the Intel Atom processor in almost all the fields

In the Internet browsing performance, the Intel Atom processor takes twice as much time when compared to the VIA Nano processor.

And power consumption-wise, the Intel Atom processor perfomed better than the VIA Nano processor.

Read the whole comparison here

Not to let the consumer be baffled by the plethora of Windows 7 versions, HP has made it clear that it would be offering just 3 versions of Windows 7 which would include Professional and Home Editions as-well-as the Starter edition. Starter edition, as usual will be limited in a way that it will allow only 3 applications to be running at any particular instance.

Although the choice of Starter edition will be nice for the netbooks that will be targetted for the young students market, where they do not need a lot of applications to be running concurrently. This way, the OEMs will be able to cut even more costs.

[computerworld]

read Acer Aspire D150 review

Acer has now officially launched the highly awaited Acer Aspire one 103, which is going to be known as Aspire One AOD150 in US. The models are starting from $349.99, which means that Acer is going to follow the same plan which they followed for the original Acer Aspire one, which too was launched at mere $399 last year.

Here are the words directly from the Vice President of Acer America, Sumit Agnihotry,

“The new 10.1-inch Aspire One has something for everyone, whether a business user continuously on-the-go, a young student needing an introductory PC, or tech aficionado seeking a lightweight, secondary device with enduring battery power. Netbooks are an ideal solution for those who want a balance of mobility and productivity for quick and easy access to the Internet and other computing needs.”

Here are the specifications of the new 10.1 Acer Aspire One netbook (once again):

• Intel^® Atom™ Processor N270 (1.60GHz)
• Windows XP® Home with Service Pack 3
• 10.1-inch WSVGA Acer CrystalBrite™ TFT LCD 1024 x 600
• Mobile Intel® 945GSE Express Chipset
• 1024MB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM Single Channel Memory
• Integrated Intel^® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
• 160GB SATA 5400RPM Hard Drive
• Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
• Acer InviLink™ 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED®
• Acer Crystal Eye Web Camera
• Two Built-in Stereo Speakers
• Three USB 2.0 Ports
• 6-cell Li-ion Battery (4400 mAh)
• 2.95 lbs.
• 10.2” (W) x 8.0” (D) x 1.31” (H)

Although the dual core Pineview is going to be launched in the Q4 this year, the single core version of the Pineview processor won’t be able to hit the markets until the Q1 of 2010.

The bad news does not end there. According to Intel, the dual-core Pineview processor will only be allowed in cheap desktops (nettops) and their usage won’t be allowed in Netbooks. I can see their point of not allowing the dual-core chip in netbooks as that might make the netbooks as powerful as the entry level laptops. As a result of which, the laptop companies may have to face problems in selling those units. On the bright side, the single core Atom Processor will have display interface, integrated memory controller and graphics on board.

Psion, which claims that the Netbook word belongs to it has been able to convince Google and Google has decided to remove the Netbook keyword from the Google Ads.

Psion has never been a happy since the word netbook started gaining popularity. I wonder, what would happen to those websites who use the word netbook in their domain name. Chippy from UMPCportal contacted Sasha, the owner of netbooknews.de and this was his reaction:

“I am shocked. 50% of my ad income comes through Google and i definitely have a problem now. I am gonna try to get some reactions of the Taiwanese “Netbook” manufacturers after the weekend”

[via UMPCportal]

Kohjinsha and Bandai have jointly unveiled a Gachapin & Mukku Netbook for the children. Now, for the non-Japanese folks, Gachapin and Mukka are famous Japanese TV characters.

Sporting a very bright green color and running Windows Vista, this netbook has usual netbook specifications:

• Intel Atom N270 processor
• 1GB RAM
• 120GB HDD
• Digital TV Tuner (works in Japan only)

The price is a little not-so-kiddish. This green netbook costs Yen 79, 800, which brings it to nearly $880! Given the features, I think that it a little too over-priced. I’m sure that the kids will have to apply a lot of pressure on their parents to make them buy it.

[lalabitmarket] (google translate) Japanese version here

More information (on TV characters): Gachapin is a 5 year old baby dinosaur and Mukku is a 5 year old Bigfoot

(via akihabaranews)

The MSI is giving away two nice kiddish applications to the users of U100 and U90 MSI Q-Face and Windy Zone. The Q-face is a simple application to do little transformation to your images like adding a frame, putting a hat on your picture and changing into a cute puppy (!).

Windy Zone is nothing but a pack of 6 classic games:

• Star Mission
• Chicken Shake
• Chicken Invader
• Island War
• Loco
• Smileyville

So, what are you waiting for? Download them to your Wind

Is not it odd, when you hear the netbook manufactures costing you a bomb when you want higher capacities battery for your beloved netbook? Quite a lot of times, you end up paying almost 1/4th of the actual price of the whole netbook when purchasing an extended battery. Take the example of the HP Mini 2140 netbook, whose basic model costs $449. It come with a 3-cell battery, which lasts you about 2-2.5 hours depending on your usage. The 6-cell battery, if you purchase it later on will make shell out a mind-boggling $129, which is more than 1/4th of the price of base model of Mini 2140.

Instead, when buying a Mini 2140, you can bundle a 6-cell battery for a lot more affordable price of $25.

[HP Mini 2140 webpage]

Last year, immediately when the MSI Wind U100 was released, there was a uproar on the various netbook websites regarding how weak the hinges of MSI Wind U100 were. Now, nearly after an year, how do the hinges stand? Well, the hinges are still strong and have shown no signs of aging.

Looks like MSI has done a great job of keeping the hinges stylish and functional. People have infact praised the built quality of the MSI u100. One of them even accidentally dropped it from nearly 5 ft and nothing happened to the hinges.

[msiwind.net forum thread]