Category: General

Despite the fact that the Acer joined the netbook game later than the ASUS, Acer’s Aspire One was the best selling netbook of the year 2008. Digitimes is now reporting that Acer will soon be coming out with a netbook with 10-inch screen. It will be manufactured by Compal Electronics and will be available in 3 colors: black, white and red. The 10-inch Acer Aspire One will be available in February 2009 at a competitive price of $399.

The original Aspire one was also launched at $399. Whether it would come with built-in mobile broadband is still unknown. Also, it would be great if the Acer engineers are able to squeeze in the 10-inch display in the original Acer Aspire one’s body. There is a lot of free space around the screen, which can be used to put in a 10-inch display. I hope they use the same chassis and keep the size as compact as possible.

The LuvBook F1500B is a new netbook by Mouse Computer. The latest trend in the netbook market  is incorporating the DVD-RAM drives under the hood. The LB F1500B does no different. It comes with a built-in DVD-writer to satisfy those folks who always complain about difficulty in loading applications into their netbook. There is no information about its price and release date.

Specifications of F1500B:

• 10.2-inch WSVGA LCD
• Intel Atom N270 CPU
• 1GB RAM
• 160GB HDD
• 5.2 hours battery life
• webcam
• Wi-Fi, LAN

Sources say that it is basically a MSI Wind U100 with a DVD drive. I fail to understand this latest trend though. The netbooks were initially designed to be portable, small and light-weight. Incorporating DVD-RAM drive would:

• further blur the line between netbook and notebook
• increase the weight by some hundred grams
• would increase the depth of the device and thus making it bulkier

I’ve seen so many people complaining about the lack of DVD drive in netbooks. The reasons which they give are pretty lame to be honest. Some say, they won’t be able to load their applications on it without DVD drive. Well, most of the applications are available online that they can download them to their netbooks. Another way is to install it via LAN by connecting a LAN wire to notebook/desktop PC, which have DVD/CD drive by sharing the drives. Another and probably the most easiest way is to install via external DVD drives.

[Akihabara]

MSI Wind U100 and Acer Aspire One are two of the very popular netbooks, which are available in various parts of the world under countless brands. Here is another one, from Gateway, which is a re-branded Aspire One. It was lately seen in the local office Depot in Singapore. It looks like Gateway has left the specifications untouched. It comes with the 8.9-inch screen, Intel Atom N270 processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Win XP Home. It is available at a price of $379.

[engadget]

edit: It was spotted in Redmond (Thanks Andrew for the tip!)

We know very well Archos for it’s PMPs and MIDs. But now, Archos is all set to join the netbook battle. They are going to release a 10.2-inch netbook, Archos 10. But, they are themselves not making this netbook. It is just a rebranded Hasee MJ125, which has plain Jane netbook specs. Perhaps that the reason, they quitely unveiled it at CES 2009.

Here are the Not-so-Exciting Features:

• 10.2-inch screen
• Intel Atom 1.6 Ghz
• 1GB RAM
• 160GB HDD
• Windows XP
• Wi-Fi
• Webcam
• 3 USB ports
• 3-cell battery

There is no official information about it’s price yet. However, judging by it’s specifications, it should be around $350-$399.

[dapreview]

After so many months of waiting, the ViewSonic would finally be launching the ViewSonic netbook LinkPC. But, don’t get your hopes too for this netbook as it’s specfications as-well-as looks are pretty basic. The price is qutie high at $400, which is not a wise desicion as the competition in the netbook market is getting fiercer and fiercer day-by-day.

Infact, we had some hopes have that ViewSonic would come up with a netbook to rival the new hybrid netbook from MSI U115, but ViewSonic has let us down. Here are the quick specs of it:

1.6GHz Atom processor
1 GB of RAM
160 GB HDD
Wi-Fi
Window XP Home

It will be available by the end of March.

Want to get that sleep Dell Mini 9 for just $99? Now you can because AT&T has now confirmed to offer $350 mail-in rebate, if you get a two year AT&T contract. The Mini 9 is originally available for price of $449, but thanks to this sweet mail-in rebate, the deal becomes irrestitible. For $99, you are getting a quite powerful netbook, which not only has the AT&T coverage, but also WiFi via which you can connect the netbook to the nearby WiFi hotspots.

Hurry as this offer is valid till January only!