July 28th, 2009

Finally, a portable ATSC tuner, now if it will only work well

Expect to starting seeing ATSC tuners in notebooks, netbooks, and UMPCs soon. MaxLinear and Hauppauge Digital are working on a minicard that should tune in ATSC, QAM, DVB-T, DVB-H, and DTMB signals. The small card also consumes 50% less power than other tuner cards, and the small size means that it can make its way into more packages. Sounds great, right? I’m just doubtful that it will pull in ATSC signals without a large antenna and therefore killing any portability. → Read More

July 20th, 2009

AT&T expands netbook offering

Here’s a quick update from AT&T on the state of their netbook offerings this afternoon in case you’re interested. AT&T stores will now be carrying the Acer Aspire One (160GB HDD/1GB RAM), Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (160GB HDD/1GB RAM) and the Lenovo S10 (160GB HDD/1GB RAM). All three netbooks will retail for $200 after a MIR and a two-year service contract.

Data plans for the netbooks are as follows: 200MB for $40/month, 5GB for $60/month. AT&T is also offering three tiers of ConnecTech services for your brand new netbook. → Read More

July 20th, 2009

Gateway aims low with the LT2000 netbook

Yeah, there isn’t much to see here. The new Gateway LT2000 netbook is basicly the same netbook that has been making the rounds over the last two years. There isn’t a single thing to set this netbook apart from the rest of the crowd besides the somewhat attractive color scheme and the Gateway branding. In fact, you probably already know the hardware specs.[PSGallery=8xkdkw5s5m] → Read More

July 6th, 2009

Samsung has Nvidia Ion netbook plans

Samsung is about to break the mold with its latest netbook: It’s going to have an 11.6-inch screen! On noes. Intel isn’t going to like that as it breaks the company’s so-called restrictions on netbooks. Anyway, according to DigiTimes, this netbook should come equipped with an Nvidia Ion platform paired with an Intel Atom N-Series CPU. → Read More

July 1st, 2009

For netbooks: Stand with built-in DVD drive, USB port and HDD slot

A Japanese company called Marshal (yes, one “l”) announced [JP] the MAL 1925 today, a netbook stand that doubles as a DVD super multi drive, has room for a second HDD and comes with an extra USB 2.0 port. Century’s stand, which I blogged in April, is pretty similar but lacks the slot for an alternative 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD. → Read More

June 29th, 2009

13-inch Macbook Pro crashes the netbook party on Amazon

In case you didn’t know, Apple refreshed its notebook lineup a few weeks back and rebadged the 13-inch unibody Macbook as a Pro model. Apparently the masses like it as that model now occupies the top spot in Amazons best selling laptop computer list and number four overall. It wasn’t that long ago that netbooks ruled that second list and the white 13-inch Macbook was the top selling Apple computer at number 14. → Read More

June 24th, 2009

HP Mini 5101: Very pretty

I’ve been rounding up a lot of ultralights(more about that next week) – I wouldn’t call this a netbook – and this looks to be one of the purdiest of the bunch. The 5101 will cost about $449 and runs an Atom processor. It has a 10-inch screen and full keyboard.

Look for more of these “ultralights” to pop up this year. Notebook manufacturers have realized that selling a tiny laptop for $5 and a few bottle caps was not a very good strategy and so they’re rethinking this whole “netbook” moniker. You’ll see ultralights – smaller notebooks with more powerful hardware – and MIDs like the iPod Touch or whatever Nokia is planning. → Read More

June 13th, 2009

Video: The Archos 10S Netbook

Archosfans has a fairly long video showing off the Archos 10S netbook, a $399 netbook. I honestl hadn’t heard much about it and Archos doesn’t sell much here. Writes charbax: → Read More

June 8th, 2009

CrunchDeals: Asus Eee PC 900 for $169

Netbooks are getting cheaper and Woot! is here to push their prices even lower. The get-it-while-it-last site currently has an Eee PC 900 Netbook up for only $169. That, folks, is cheap for a quality netbook but that deal won’t be around forever. → Read More

June 2nd, 2009

LaVie Light: NEC Japan launches new netbook series

Nec Japan today announced two netbooks [JP], the BL100 and the BL300/310/350, which are completely redesigned and come with Windows XP pre-installed. The new netbooks are part of the NEC LaVie series and are labeled “LaVie Light” because of the BL100 weighing just 1.07 kg and the BL300/310/350 models weighing 1.14kg or 1.32kg, depending on the model. → Read More

June 1st, 2009

Legal slap-fight over 'Netbook' moniker is behind us

Late last year we reported that a company named Psion was gearing up for some legal action in order to defend products it had called the “Netbook” and “Netbook Pro” back in the early part of the decade.

Psion initially sent out cease and decist letters to various websites in the UK, demanding that references to “netbook” or “netbooks” be removed, and then later got into a legal scuffle with Dell, Intel, and others who had been using the term “netbook” in marketing literature.

It looks like this whole situation may finally be behind us now, as an “amicable agreement” has been reached between Psion and Intel: → Read More

May 25th, 2009

BBG's netbook compatability chart updated

Got an hankering to install OS X on your netbook? Rob over at Boing Boing Gadgets just added a few more machines to his compatability chart, which should ensure full OS X workability. The last thing you would want is to buy a new netbook, install OS X, and not have WiFi. Or video! Oh noes! → Read More

May 24th, 2009

CrunchDeals: Asus EeePC 900 netbook now only $150

In case you missed the earlier CrunchDeal on an Asus EeePC 900 netbook, here’s your chance to snatch one up again. Woot! now has the 8.9-inch netbook on the main site for $150. Pick between white and black and be on your merry way. Asus EeePC 900 Netbook [Woot!] → Read More

May 13th, 2009

Verizon Wireless officially announces the HP Mini 1151NR netbook, available May 17

Well, the rumors are true, Verizon Wireless will begin offering the HP Mini 1151NR on May 17 for $199.99 after a $50 MIR with a 2-year mobile broadband contract. Verizon also announced new mobile broadband pricing that’s still going to hit your checkbook pretty hard. For $40 a month you get 250MB of data per month, but if you go over you’ll end up paying 10 cents per MB over your 250MB allotment. So, you’re obviously going to get the $60 plan that allots 5GB a month of data and if you end up going over that you’ll only be paying 5 cents per MB. → Read More

May 7th, 2009

Psystar to produce and sell an OS X netbook?

Psystar, the crazy folks that have stood up to Apple’s legal behemoth and continue to produce Mac clones, might be working on a netbook according to MacRumors. Apple has been very quite on the netbook front, and seems to not want anything to do with the niche market — although rumors state otherwise. But there is nothing stopping Psystar from producing its own OS X-running netbook. Chances are it would be very similar to the hackintosh netbook mods that have become somewhat popular. → Read More

May 4th, 2009

Video: Windows 7 RC's boot time on an ASUS netbook

Windows 7 is a speedy little bastard, even on an Asus Eee PC 1000HA as this video shows. Spoiler: it’s quick but not OMG fast. → Read More

April 23rd, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB200 netbook to invade the Europe

Another day, another netbook. This time around is the 10.1-inch Toshiba Mini NB200, which seems like it could be a high-end or even professional netbook if there is such a thing. An 1.6GHz N270 or 1.66GHz N280 Intel Atom is at the core and Intel 945GSE provides the graphics juice. Those commonplace specs alone do not bump this notebook up in our book, but the integrated 3g modem and Toshiba’s Sleep and Charge does. → Read More

April 21st, 2009

Sharp's Mebius PC-NJ70A netbook with LCD trackpad

Someone in Sharp’s R&D department must have been paying attention when the Internet started mumbling about the MacBook Pro’s potential LCD trackpad. The new Mebius PC-NJ70A netbook comes packing with just that, along with standard, underwhelming netbook-type specs: 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, WiFi, & a multicard reader. The screen however, bumps this otherwise boring computer into the sweet-ass range not normally occupied by netbooks.

Said screen embeds a 854 x 4850 resolution LCD display right into the palm rest and acts as a secondary display. Only time will tell if developers will actually program for this tiny screen, but at least Sharp loaded some interesting demos onto the launch rigs. Thankfully, we have a video of the display in action, which easily shows off how cool LCD displays are as trackpads and further cements our desire for them in every notebook. After the jump. → Read More

April 20th, 2009

Windows 7 Starter Edition headed for a netbook near you

Of the many flavors of Windows 7, due out this summer, the Starter Edition has received perhaps the most flack. It’s limited to running only three applications at a time, something most computer users find absolutely ludicrous. Microsoft isn’t targeting Starter Edition for your everyday desktop PC, though: they’re targeting it at netbooks. → Read More

April 20th, 2009

Rumor: Apple has a netbook coming and Foxconn might build it

There have been around 1,736 (give or take) Apple netbook rumors in the last year. The latest rumor to add to that count comes from Digitimes and is a little lite on details,

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is in the running to land orders for a netbook from Apple, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report citing sources from the component supply chain.

Could be a Netbook, huge iPod touch, or something only Steve Jobs type invisionaries dream about. We’re bound to find out sooner or later though. → Read More

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