Intel’s Pine Trail Atom processor (1.66 GHz Atom N450/unveiled earlier this year) is one of the key elements in the LifeBook MH380, Fujitsu’s latest netbook. The MH380 has a 10.1-inch glossy LCD screen with LED backlight, 200nits brightness and no less than 1,366×768 resolution. What’s quite unique design-wise is the tiny circle area (next to the trackpad), which enables circular motion scrolling. → Read More
Industry research and analysis firm DisplaySearch estimates notebook PC revenues to top $109 billion in 2009, down almost 7% year over year.
The company’s most recent Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report also shows a huge increase in the size of the netbook market, having grown its revenue share of the overall portable computer market to 11.7% in the third quarter of 2009.
This has increased the overall size of the portable PC market considerably, according to DisplaySearch, but not nearly enough to offset declines in revenue. → Read More
News about the $99 Cherrypal Africa netbook swept across the vast plains of the blogosphere yesterday. But what would you say if I told you there is now $80/50 Euro netbook, too? I’m serious and everyone’s pal, Sasah Pallenberg from NetbookNews, got a hands-on with the Windows CE-powered device from MenQ. Click the link below and find what an $80 computer looks like. You know you wanna. → Read More
Onkyo Japan has announced a few notebooks today, all of which are in fact re-branded (but beefed up) models competitor Kohjinsha released earlier on the Japanese market. Perhaps the most interesting new model is the NX707A4 [JP], a 7-inch tablet netbook with an built-in GPS module.
The tablet is powered by Atom Z520 processor (1.33 GHz) and has an 80GB HDD, 1GB RAM, Intel US15W chipset, two USB ports, an ExpressCard/34 slot, SD/SDHC/MMC/Memory Stick Pro slots, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 802.11n Wi-Fi and two web cams (3MP and 0.3MP) on board. The display is a touch screen with 1,024×600 resolution. → Read More
Seems like Seagate is trying to make up for some lost time in the storage technology field. After a late entry into the SSD market, Seagate may be getting a jump start on the ultra-thin drive market. One of the issues with the new ultra-thin generation of notebook computers is the hard drive size. You can only make a computer so thin before you run into issues with the thickness of the components. → Read More
I’ve been down on netbooks because a) they suck and b) they’re underpowered. Now, however, if your $299 kleinewunderbuk is too slow, the Internet has a fix.
YouTube, for example, can be a big resource hog on many netbooks. Streaming video through a Flash player? As if! The Space Shuttle can’t even do that kind of processing on the freaking fly! → Read More
I’ve already proclaimed my love and affection for the Astro Boy netbook. I love the overall style, lid graphic, and all the sweet Astro Boy-themed accessories. The video above makes me want it ever more. Too bad it’s not leaving the Taiwanese market and it costs $900. [via netbooknews] → Read More
The nation’s “fastest” (and often most frustrating) 3G network (i.e. AT&T) is adding another netbook to its lineup of 3G portable devices, the Samsung Go. So what exactly is said Go? Well, according to Sammy, it’s “a compact and lightweight netbook with instant access to broadband speeds powered by the nation’s fastest 3G network and the Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition operating system.” → Read More
Despite what he said back in August, Asus CEO Jerry Shen confirmed this week that they will in fact be releasing a smartbook product sometime during 1Q2010. → Read More
I hear (via John’s review) that Astro Boy is a fine movie. I doubt I will actually see it until my boy catches wind of it in a few years. but I tell you what, this Astro Boy netbook is geek chic and I sort-of want it. The specs are standard fare with an Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and XP home, but it’s the special edition lid that I can appreciate. It’s notebook art done right; clean, simple but yet slick. So here’s what you do. → Read More
Reading e-books on a netbook is a nuisance, right? But e-readers are a pain because they’re a single-function device, which means your man-bag gets filled with yet-another-specialty-gadget. Behold the enTourage eDGe: “the world’s first dualbook, combining the functions of an e-reader, netbook, notepad, and audio/video recorder and player in one.” → Read More
Toshiba’s 18-4-inch laptop Qosmio G60, which the company announced today, is quite cool, but at $3,200, it may be a bit too pricey for most of us. And sometimes, a smaller laptop does the job, too. So it’s good to know Toshiba has some (relatively) affordable netbooks among the dozens of new computers the company announced today for the Japanese market. → Read More
BFG is well-known for their video cards and other gaming peripherals, but did you know they make systems too? It’s true. BFG announced their first desktop system earlier this year, and now they are jumping into the performance notebook arena with the new Deimos system. → Read More
So I have been using the Viliv S7 regularly for about a week now and I have concluded that it is the best netbook I have ever used. But yes, it’s a netbook. The S7 might have a touchscreen, convertible design, super long battery life, and a modest size SSD, but at the end of the day, it’s a luxury netbook. → Read More
Think that the Viliv X70 is hot? (It is.) The unreleased S7 is shaping up to be even hotter with a 9.5 max battery life, physical keyboard, and convertible design. Our review model is currently somewhere over the Pacific so until we can post some hands-on images and first impressions, head over to Dynamism. The retailer just posted the S7 product page that not only lists all the specs but also the price and a whole bunch of photos. → Read More
One might think that netbooks and similar ultracompact laptops have all manner of specialized, custom made pieces and parts in order to cram all that functionality into such a small frame. One would be wrong: netbooks are chock full of a surprising number of fairly generic components. For a nice visual breakdown of what, exactly, goes into a generic netbook, take a gander at this netbook teardown over at Shanzai.com. → Read More
HP announced the Mini 5101 back in late June and we just got one into the ‘Gear office for review. As John noted back when it was announced, the 5101 isn’t a netbook and it’s fallen into the relatively new category of ultralights. I really liked the Mini 1000 and 2140, but the 5101 might be my new favorite.
Here’s a quick rundown of the specs for the review unit we were sent: → Read More
