MSI confirms no ATI Radeon in U110 ECO
March 17, 2009 at 12:27 pm
As we suspected in yesterday’s post regarding the official MSI Wind U110 ECO launch, MSI has made a mistake in the specification list. We were confused when in the list there was an ATi Radeon HD3200 listed for graphics duty. However, given that the Intel Poulsbo US15W chipset features integrated GMA500 graphics and only two PCI Express x 1 lanes it was hard to see how it was possible.
MSI has now officially confirmed that the listing was indeed a mistake and the GMA500 integrated graphics will have to suffice, which may be a disappointment for some.
The Wind U110 offers a nine-hour battery life. Other specs include Intel’s Menlow Atom 1.6GHz Z530, 1GB of RAM and Windows XP, together with a 160GB hard-drive. There’s also optional Bluetooth 2.0 and WiFi draft-n support. Pricing and availability is yet to be announced.
Asus limiting storage options for Eee range
March 16, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Asus will be trying to make its product line less confusing by offering fewer storage options for Eee PCs. Currently, Eee PC models are available in each country with a choice of hard-disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drives (SSD), the company will from August offer only one version per model in any given country.
“We plan to make the product line a lot clearer for consumers. Currently you have a lot of choice of SSD and hard disk, but we plan to find the one consumers want the most and make the choice easier,” an Asus spokesperson said.
As a general rule, the “high-end” models are likely to come with SSDs and the more “mainstream” models with HDDs. The spokesperson stressed that Asus would still manufacture HDD and SSD options for each model, but would choose which version to sell in each market.
Via ZDNet.
How to backup and restore your entire netbook drive
March 16, 2009 at 6:09 pm
The Register has a handy tutorial of how to both backup and restore your netbook. It is not talking about backing up a few files here and there but the entire drive. The guide talks about how to duplicate the operating system, updates applications, documents and media files. The guide goes through two methods, PING which requires an external optical disk and also an USB flash drive installation.
After losing a lot of data on one of my laptops a few years ago it is something I take very seriously nowadays. So much so that I now have a server that backs up all of my files nightly and also use Carbonite which backs up files remotely in case of theft/fire. The guide won’t help you with the latter but is well worth a look if you don’t want to suffer too much pain if your hard-drive fails.
Dell planning Adamo netbook with 9-inch screen?
March 16, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Dell’s upcoming Adamo 13-inch laptop certainly has many people drooling over its super-thin design. However, one thing we have always suspected is that the Adamo name will be shared across a range of luxury laptops much like the Dell Inspiron range.
We have seen a number of websites reporting that further details on the Adamo will be released tomorrow (17th March), but whilst everyone is looking for exactly what is under the hood of the 13-inch beauty, could Dell also be announcing a super-thin 9-inch version of the Adamo too? The whole thing has been so secret that we couldn’t rule it out. Read more
MSI Wind U115 to launch at premium price point of €549?
March 16, 2009 at 2:54 pm
The MSI Wind U115 Hybrid is reported to cost €549 when it is released in France later this month according to Blogeee. This price point would put it a premium to a lot of its peers, even when you consider the Hybrid nature of its storage system.
We reported last week how the U115 Hybrid managed 13-hours of battery life from a single charge, mainly due to the combination of hard-disk drive and solid-state drive. The U115 Hybrid is believed to come in three HDD/SDD combinations. There will be 8GB SSD + 80GB HDD, 16GB SSD + 120GB HDD and 32GB SSD + 160GB HDD models planned. It is unclear as to which price point the €549 refers to.
If this price point is a true reflection of how much the unit will cost across Europe, then MSI may have a challenge on its hands. Whilst it has to be commended for introducing new hybrid storage technology and the impressive battery life, one may be able to buy the Samsung NC10 or Asus Eee 1000HE and extra battery for less money than MSI’s U115.
Nvidia considers x86 CPUs, Ion netbooks in Q2 2009
March 16, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Michael Hara, vice president of investor relations at NVIDIA, announced last week that the company may develop an x86 CPU targeted at the netbooks and mobile Internet devices (MID) market.
“Tegra, by any definition, is a complete computer-on-chip, and the requirements of that market are such that you have to be very low power and very small but highly efficient. Someday, it’s going to make sense to take the same approach in the x86 market as well,” Hara said. Read more
Lenovo’s ‘Vaio P clone’ outed as touchscreen Pocket Yoga
March 16, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Lenovo seem to have confirmed the release of its ‘Vaio P clone’ which we reported on last week. Instead of the fuzzy spy-shot images from last week, Lenovo look to have released some teaser images pointing to a leather-clad netbook with form-factor similar to the Vaio P. The pictures also point to the system being dubbed as the ‘Pocket Yoga’ and one of the images tries to reinforce this point with the unit stuck in someone’s jeans back-pocket.
Even more interestingly, it seems that it will be a touchscreen device with one of the images showing that the Pocket Yoga can be flipped around to be used as a tablet. One of the pictures shows that it comes with a belt that closes the yoga and also acts as a mouse! Hit the jump for lots more photos and details. Read more
MSI officially launches U110 ECO – 9hr battery life promised
March 16, 2009 at 12:20 pm
MSI has today officially launched its Wind U110 ECO netbook. Its claim to fame is a battery life of nine hours. However, the press release doesn’t make it entirely clear whether this is with the supplied 3-cell battery or optional 6-cell battery. We’d go with the latter which would not be entirely unexpected given the choice of Atom CPU (featuring Menlow platform) and LED-backlit display, saving power over an LCD equivalent.
The unit is powered by a 1.6GHz Z530 Atom CPU and Intel Poulsbo US15W chipset. What I find confusing is that the press release also points to an ATi Radeon HD3200 for graphics duty which was certainly unexpected. However given that Intel’s chipset features integrated GMA500 graphics and only two PCI Express x1 lanes, it’s a bit hard to see how this could be possible. We await to see whether this is a mistake on MSI’s part or it is indeed true. Read more
How do you really define a netbook anyway?
March 15, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Many say that the lines between ultraportable laptops, sub-notebooks, ultrathins and netbooks continue to blur. For those that remain confused on the issue, The Register has drawn up quite an amusing flowchart showing how the netbook is defined once and for all. Well worth a look after the jump. Read more
Zoostorm launches ‘Freedom’ netbook
March 15, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Zoostorm has announced its latest netbook, dubbed Freedom. The netbook has an 8.9-inch LED backlight display with a resolution of 1024×600 and is powered by the capable 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom CPU. However some may see the 512MB RAM (1GB supported) and 8GB SSD storage as a bit measly.
The unit’s chassis comes with a metallic glossy finish and weighs only 0.9kg. It certainly looks sleek although given the weight it would have been more desirable if it had been slightly thinner (3.4cm thickness). Other features include an integrated webcam (0.3 MP), WiFi (including ‘n’ capability), card reader and three USB 2.0 ports. Its 4-cell 4400-mAh battery should give around 4.5 hours of run time.
It does come competitively priced though. Just having a look at a few of the retailers in the UK shows that the unit can be had for as little as £219.99 from Argos or £229.99 from Amazon. Click thorough for a full list of specifications. Read more
Etisalat introduces subsidised Acer Aspire One package
March 15, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Etisalat, one of the largest telecommunication service providers in the United Arab Emirates, is following the lead of many wireless carriers in the USA, UK and Asia by introducing netbook packages to boost subscriber growth.
Etisalat will be offering the Acer Aspire One along with a free SIM Card, free one-month subscription on a 10GB data package and an additional discount per month for 24 months on the 10GB data package. The Acer Aspire One offered will come with a built-in Qualcomm 3G modem. Pricing is not known, but the two-year package will effectively lead to a free Acer Aspire One over the contract lifetime.
Mr. Essa Al Haddad, Chief Marketing Officer of Etisalat said, ”Netbooks are the latest trend worldwide, with many people already enjoying the portability, on-the-go connectivity and affordability of this emerging new technology. Etisalat is proud to introduce this concept in the UAE, through Acer Aspire One, a Netbook with integrated 3G functionality and full Wi-Fi capability. With the attractive sub-zero price point, the sleek and stylish Aspire One will not only provide tremendous value and on the go connectivity to our customers, but will also change the Internet surfing and consumption dynamics in the UAE.”
Third-party 9-cell 7800mAh battery for Acer Aspire One
March 15, 2009 at 11:37 am
A third-party 9-cell battery has been released for the Acer Aspire One A150 and early indications are that it is a big improvement over the 6-cell battery. The battery rated at 7800 mAh delivered 6 hours of viewing time when watching a DVD and nine hours when just using it for chat, MSOffice, listening to music and web browsing.
However, this does come at a cost as the 9-cell battery is significantly larger and bulkier than the 6-cell one (pictures after the jump). The original battery weighed 176 grams whilst the 9-cell weighs 400 grams. If you don’t mind the extra bulk and weight to the Aspire One than it may be worth trying to track one of these down. Read more
Asus Eee PC T91 – First press shots appear
March 14, 2009 at 5:52 pm
The first press shots of Asus’ 8.9-inch convertible tablet, the Eee PC T91, have appeared. This is ahead of a planned April/May release. Pricing has not been confirmed but is expected to be between $499 to $ 549 (c£500) on release.
As with the other close-up shots we saw earlier in the week, the net tablet looks very elegant in white with its black edges along with metal hinge. It is one of the few 8.9-inch netbook models planned for release, with 10-inches being very much the standard now. It’s certainly one of the most anticipated netbooks here at Netbook Choice (NbC), with its stylish looks and hopefully functional tablet. Its keyboard could be one of the most comfortable from Asus too. Hit the link for more pictures. Read more
Asus Eee PC 701 gets Multitouch mod
March 14, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Whilst we are seeing some manufacturers such as Asus and Gigabyte show off their convertible-tablet models with touchscreen displays, we still are not yet seeing multitouch models. However, it looks like a prototype of the Asus Eee PC 701 with multi-touch was caught at CeBIT by Eee-PC.de.
Apparently it is just a concept design although it is unknown whether it was made my Asus, a third-party or just an enthusiastic modder. You may have also spotted that the netbook is running Windows 7, with its native multitouch support, making it far easier to get the panel up and running. Check out the video after the jump. Read more
Pixel Qi’s LCD netbook display rivals e-paper
March 14, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Pixel Qi has said it will ship a screen that combines the benefits of HDTV and epaper for 10-inch netbooks, according to an announcement at the Emerging Technology conference in San Jose. The Pixel Qi 3Qi display has an ‘HDTV mode’ with normal colour saturation for watching video as well as an e-paper mode with three times normal resolution, five times better battery life and reflectivity rivalling the electrophoretic imaging technology used by E-Ink. The price is also expected to be the same price as a normal LCD screen. Read more
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