be.ez launches fashionable netbook sleeves

be.ez has announced a new range of netbook sleeves under the ‘LArobe’ brand name. The protective sleeves come in two sizes, one to fit 8.9-inch netbooks and the other to fit 10.2-inch netbooks.

The sleeves come in nine trendy different colours and are made of 5mm thick padding with a reinforced inner lip. Both sizes are priced at £17.50 each and are available from a number of retailers now.

Dell Mini 10 finally gets 6-cell battery option

Dell has now made the 6-cell battery option available for the Inspiron Mini 10 netbook. On checking various Dell country sites, it seems that the option is only available in the US right now where it will cost an additional $30 over the 3-cell version. Dell hasn’t given any information as to how much longer this will make your Mini 10 last, however we would expect some real world tests from owners over the coming weeks.

A number of updates were due on April 17 according to a leaked internal roadmap, however this is the first to appear so far. Options that were meant to appear, apart from the 6-cell battery, were a 250GB hard-drive, a TV Tuner, Ubuntu Linux and, potentially, even a 1.86GHz Atom CPU. The roadmap says that a 2GB RAM option will be available on 20th May.

Via Portable Monkey.

Apple: Netbooks are ‘junky’, has ideas of its own

There has been many rumours in recent months over whether Apple will release its own entry into the netbook space. However, during its latest quarterly results Apple appeared to shoot down any ideas that we will see a netbook as exists in its current form. In fact, Apple tore into current netbooks which half bordered into rant territory.

“For us, it’s about doing great products. And when I look at what is being sold in the netbook space today, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens, and just not a consumer experience, and not something that we would put the Mac brand on quite frankly. And so, it’s not a space as it exists today that we are interested in, nor do we believe that customers in the long term would be interested in. It’s a segment we would choose not to play in,” said Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook. Read more

Acer Aspire One ‘Pro’ 531 now official

Asus is not the only netbook manufacturer that frustrates me with its hard-to-follow model numbering. Acer‘s recent announcements has left me scratching my head trying to work out the difference between models. If you look at the Aspire One D250, for example, and compare it to the Aspire One 531, they are almost identical models apart from a thinner form factor for the 531. To add to the mix, Acer has now announced the Aspire One Pro 531.

Now we had first heard rumours of the ‘Pro’ series just under a month ago. The Aspire One Pro models were to be targeted towards business users and ‘prosumers’. So how does the ‘Pro 531’ differ from the ‘531’ you may ask? From what we can tell, the ‘Pro 531’ seems to be almost identical to the 531 apart from its storage options and choice of OS. Read more

MSI to reveal Android netbook at Computex?

We already know that at least two ARM-powered netbooks are due to make an appearance at Computex Taiwan this year. Given the Android push, we would not be surprised to see these running on Google’s operating system. Now we have word from Digitimes, that MSI is planning to showcase an Android-powered netbook at the same show.

The report says that development of the netbook has been in conjunction with the Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry (III), although no further comments were given. Either way, Computex looks like it will have some big news for the netbook market. We can’t wait to see what comes out of it. Computex takes place between 2 – 6 June 2009.

Clevo TN70M convertible netbook now shipping

The Clevo TN70M netbook, which first appeared over a year ago, has now started to ship according to UMPC Portal. The Clevo TN70M is a convertible tablet, a similar design to that of the Gigabyte T1028 and Asus T91.

The TN70M has a 7-inch (800 x 480) touchscreen which is powered by a 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor. Other features include a 60GB hard-drive, ExpressCard/34, and a 4-cell battery that should be good for around 7 hours of battery life. The whole thing weighs 900g.

The Clevo TN70M is now retailing for €472 in Europe, but that figure excludes an operating system. Not a problem if you are planning on using Linux. Personally, the unit seems quite pricey for what is only an 800 x 480 resolution display.

Toshiba renames ‘Dynabook UX’ netbook to ‘NB200’ in Europe

Toshiba Japan launched a new 10-inch netbook on Monday, the Dynabook UX. This would be a first move for Toshiba into the 10-inch display space following its 8.9-inch NB100. Following on from this model naming scheme, Toshiba has now confirmed that it will be marketing the new 10-inch model as the NB200 for the European market.

The model will come with a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) LED backlit display. There will be a number of configurations, enabling you to choose between a N270 or N280 Atom processor. Both configurations will come with the Intel 945GSE chipset. The snazzy tiling effect on the case lid will still be there as will the 160GB hard drive , Wi-Fi (b/g), Bluetooth and webcam.

Toshiba are claiming a four hour battery life and four colours will be available (brown, black, white and pink). The Mini NB200 will be available from next month (silver and grey colours only) at prices starting from £319 in the UK.

Acer Aspire One 531 reviewed by T3

The best way to think of the Acer Aspire One 531 is a slimmer version of the Aspire One D250 netbook. In almost every other way the specifications are identical, apart from slightly less battery life. T3 has reviewed the 531 and, overall, finds that it’s a worthy upgrade to the 8.9-inch Aspire One.

The model that T3 reviewed came with a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) display, powered by a 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPUs. It comes with 1GB RAM (2GB supported) and a 160GB hard-disk drive. The keyboard is 89-percent the size of a standard keyboard whilst its touchpad will support multi-touch. Other features include three USB ports, WiFi (b/g only), Bluetooth 2.0 and a 0.3MP webcam.

The Aspire One 531 certainly looks very attractive. It’s half way between a fashion item, such as the Asus S101, and a regular netbook, and it looks like a good deal. Check out the key points from the review after the break. Read more

Dell Mini 10 netbook with integrated Mobile DTV Receiver demonstrated

Roundbox, a major player in mobile broadcast software, has shown off the first netbook with integrated Mobile DTV reception. The demonstration at the 2009 National Association of Broadcasters Show (NAB) in Las Vegas, involved a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook, the Roundbox client and an integrated prototype tuner from LG.

“This prototype clearly demonstrates the ability to seamlessly integrate Mobile DTV into a netbook giving consumers a compelling new TV entertainment capability in conjunction with the device’s strong networking functions,” said Vinod Valloppillil, vice president, product marketing at Roundbox.

Dell plans to offer optional built-in support for the Mini 10 across several broadcast standards in the coming months. This includes DVB-T (Europe), ATSC (U.S.), CMMB (China) and ISDB-T (Japan). The potential for such technology could be huge for netbooks, especially given their portability and increased battery lives.

NbC Exclusive: Gigabyte P1080 and P1082 netbooks

We have learned from a very reliable source that Gigabyte is set to launch a couple of new netbooks this June. The 10-inch Gigabyte P1080 and Gigabyte P1082 appear to have the exact same specifications from what I can tell. The only difference is that the P1080 will be a white model, whilst the P1082 will be in black.

These new models will sit at the lower end of its netbook range, coming in cheaper than the TouchNote T1028, Booktop M1022 and ThinNote S1024. Given this value positioning, the specifications do nothing to amaze. Read more

Samsung N310 Netbook Promotional Video

Samsung has announced a number of new 10-inch netbooks that are due to hit retail shelves in the next few weeks. This includes the N110 netbook (refresh of the NC10), the N120 (which has a full sized keyboard and 2.1 sound system) and the N310. The Samsung N310 in many ways is probably the most interesting of them all. I say this, not because of the hardware (the specifications are not that different to the NC10), but mainly because of the love-it-or-hate-it design. No netbook released to date has caused such a chasm of opinion as to whether the design is attractive or not. Read more

MSI intros Wind U100 PLUS netbook, faster CPU & new colours

The MSI Wind U100 PLUS netbook, which was first spotted back in early March, has now been officially confirmed. As the name suggests, the U100 PLUS is effectively a refresh of the U100 and comes with a faster N280 (1.66GHz) Atom processor. MSI are also talking of a 7 hour battery life with the standard battery. Given that it is listed with the 3-cell battery as standard I find that hard to believe, I imagine that the 7 hours of life relates to the optional 6-cell battery.

The U100 PLUS will also come in two additional colours, Rose Champagne and Metallic Blue, as well as the original three colours (red, black and white). Apart from that the specifications appear to be the same as the original U100 netbook.

The U100 PLUS comes with 10-inch (1024 x 600) panel, 1GB RAM and 160GB hard-disk drive. Wireless functionality is served by wi-fi (b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.0. Other features include a 1.3MP webcam, three USB ports and 4-in-1 card reader. The U100 PLUS weighs around 1kg with the 3-cell battery.

Intel GN40 chipset benchmarked, disappoints

If I were to say that there is a lack of hardware variety powering most netbooks today, it would be an understatement. I’ve written the following line ‘N270CPU, 945GSE chipset, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard-drive etc’ so many times now that it is ingrained into my cerebral cortex. Two particular pieces of netbook tech I’ve been following closely are Nvidia’s Ion platform and Intel’s GN40 chipset, which are both meant to be much more powerful than the aging 945GSE chipset.

The first netbook that is due to appear with the Intel GN40 is the Asus Eee PC 1004DN, Asus’ first with embedded optical drive. Gigabyte also plans on releasing the TouchNote T1028P which will also support the chipset. HKPEC has managed to get hold of a 1004DN and put it through a number of benchmarks to see what the N280 CPU plus GN40 chipset combo was capable of. Unfortunately, it seems that the GN40 is not that much of an improvement over the 945GSE chipset. Read more

Video: Asus Eee PC 1008HA hands-on

The Asus Eee PC 1008HA is definitely the most attractive netbook in the Asus 1000 series of netbooks. It takes a number of design cues from the more luxurious S101/S121 models which include a very slender form–factor. Cnet UK has managed to go hands on with a pre-production model of the 10-inch Asus Eee PC 1008HA.

They refer to it as the ‘Seashell’ but I’m unsure at this point whether its nickname will be used in final marketing by Asus. Overall they liked the slim styling although felt that it didn’t look as sexy as the Asus S101. You can see that ports are hidden behind flaps to keep a clean look. Read more

Q1 sales targets missed, netbook gravy train starting to slow?

Netbooks have provided an important leg of growth for the PC industry during the global recession, however there are signs that sales may be starting to moderate. According to Digitimes, the big Taiwanese netbook vendors such as Asustek, Acer and MSI saw shipment volumes fall short of first quarter targets.

Whilst Acer is said to have shipped two million Aspire One netbooks, the sell through rate in retail was lower. Asus were looking to sell one million Eee PCs but fell 100,000 short whilst MSI sold only 200,000 Wind netbooks. Read more

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