Lenovo Ideapad S12 (Atom) reviewed

The Lenovo Ideapad S12 is the company’s 12-inch entry into its Ideapad range of netbooks. Whilst much of the hype surrounds the ION-based S12, due later this year, the model also comes with versions powered with the Intel Atom and VIA Nano processor. Laptop Mag has the review of the Intel Atom version and overall seemed to like what they saw.

Putting it head-to-head against the current 12-inch netbook, the Samsung NC20, they found that the Samsung felt a bit sturdier and had a better design. However, they thought the Ideapad S12 benefits from its Quick Start instant-on operating system and had better audio. Regardless of the comparison, they found the S12 to have a very comfortable keyboard and a battery that was good for six hours. All of this combined, earned the Ideapad S12 an Editor’s Choice award. Check out the key review points after the jump. Read more

Asus Eee PC T91 now shipping at Amazon.com

Right on cue, the Asus Eee PC T91 has now started to ship in the United States. Amazon.com has the Eee PC T91 listed for $499.99 and is in stock right now. ASUS North America said last week that stock is expected to be limited quantities, so if you are interested you’d better order quickly!

This is the standard version, so you won’t find 3G, TV Tuner or GPS in this model. Another model is due towards the autumn, which is expected to have a multi-touch screen and Windows 7.

The specifications listed seem exactly the same as the UK SKU (expected later this month). The convertible netbook comes with an 8.9-inch (1024 x 600) display powered by a 1.6GHz Z520 Atom processor and Poulsbo chipset. It also comes with 1GB RAM and a 16GB SSD (+20GB Eee storage). Asus are also bundling an extra 16GB SD memory card in the package too.

Via NetbookReviews.com.

Thanks Chris!

Lenovo Ideapad S12 hands-on video roundup

A number of US sites recently went hands-on with the 12-inch Lenovo Ideapad S12 netbook. Before you ask, they were all sent the S12 powered by the Intel Atom platform, rather than the S12 ION that is due to launch later this year.

The specs of this machine included a 1.6GHz N270 Atom processor, 1GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. As you can probably guess, with these specs, performance was pretty much like any other netbook out there. It does come with a 6-cell battery though that’s good for up to six hours, although it does protrude from the back.

GottabeMobile has some pictures of how the Ideapad S12 compares against to its 10-inch little brother, the Ideapad S10-2. Whilst the S12 is (obviously) bigger, it benefits from a bigger keyboard and touchpad and a high-resolution (1280 x 800) display. JkOnTheRun also received the Ideapad S12 and S10-2 and have a video tour up on the site. Liliputing also received both netbooks and posted a video unboxing. You can check out both videos after the break. Read more

Samsung N310 netbook now shipping in United States

The Samsung N310 has been available for a while now on British shores, however it has just gone on sale in the US. Retailer TechDepot has all colours in stock (Black, Mint Blue, Navy Blue and Sunset). The Mint Blue and Sunset colours will cost you $455.95, whilst the Black and Navy Blue ones cost $464.95. Shipping costs an extra $15.29. All items are in stock now.

The Samsung N310 is due to be renamed Samsung GO, although there’s no evidence of it thus far on the listing. The US version comes with a high capacity 6-cell (8800mAh) battery which is expected to last over 10 hours although it does not sit flush with the case. This replaces the 4-cell battery found in the UK version. Newegg is also expected to have stock later this week along with BestBuy and JR.

Moblin to be integrated with instant-on HyperSpace technology

Moblin, the Linux-based netbook operating system, has partnered with Phoenix Technologies to incorporate its instant-on OS, HyperSpace, into the Moblin platform. Moblin, which is pushed heavily by Intel and is targeted to netbooks with Intel Atom processors, has had a good reception since it launched its v2.0 Beta a while back.

The announcement mainly relates to the promotion of this partnership to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs). This tag-team will mean that Moblin will take advantage of HyperSpace’s instant-on OS, which means netbook users can access the web and other applications just one-second after turning on the device.

These other applications include HyperSpace Office, which is Microsoft compatible, Google Picasa and Adobe Photoshop. The dedicated netbook operating system segment is becoming a competitive playing field, what with Jolicloud and Ubuntu Netbook Remix already creating waves, not forgetting the juggernaut that is Google with its Chrome OS coming next year. This competition can only benefit consumers and provide some interesting innovations in the netbook space.

Via Laptop Mag.

Sony Vaio W netbook available to pre-order in UK & US

The recently announced Sony Vaio W netbook is now available to pre-order on both the Amazon UK and Amazon.com sites. Amazon UK has all three colours up for pre-order (white, brown and pink) for £430. No estimated release date is given, although Sony already mentioned that it expects the Vaio W (W11S1E) to hit UK retail in the middle of August.

The Vaio W (W111XX) is also up for pre-order in the US through Amazon.com for $499.99. Only the brown and pink models seem to be up for pre-order. There’s no release date here either, but is expected to arrive next month too.

The Sony Vaio W is the first proper netbook from the company and comes with a 1366 x 768 resolution 10-inch display, chiclet keyboard and is powered by a 1.66GHz N280 Atom CPU. It ships with a 3-cell battery as standard which should last for 2.5 hours according to the company.

Via NetbookReviews.Net.

Thanks Matt!

Asus Eee PC 1101HA Seashell netbook dissected

Teardown netbook experts, Netbook Italia, are at it again. This time round, they have turned their attention to Asus’ first 11.6-inch Eee PC netbook, the 1101HA. They give a good guide on exactly what is under the ultrathin chassis and how Asus managed to pack it altogether.

They already stripped down the Eee PC 1008HA, but apart form the bigger display, the 1101HA differs by having access to the RAM memory module as well as having a removable battery.

To get to the motherboard, you need to remove eight batteries on the bottom and then lift out the keyboard. It looks like the motherboard is made up of three distinct PCBs. This technique is used to avoid having any conflict fitting the motherboard and 5400RPM hard disk drive. The insides don’t look as jam-packed as they did with the 1008HA, which should allow you to upgrade components comfortably. Check out a few pictures after the jump, but for the full guide head over to Netbook Italia. Read more

Netbook shipments to double in 2009; notebook shipments flatten

As an indication as to how fast the netbook segment is growing, research firm DisplaySearch is reporting that netbook shipments are expected to double year-on-year to 33 million units in 2009. This appears to be at the expense of notebooks (classified as those with display sizes larger than 12.1-inches) whose shipments are expected to flatten for the first time. Netbooks will account for 20 percent of the total worldwide notebook market by the end of the year.

The strong take-up of netbooks is dominated from the EMEA region (although I guess Europe is the main driver), with 45 percent of all netbooks shipped in this region during 2008. This amount is expected to drop marginally to 40 percent this year, but still shows how big a market EMEA is for netbook vendors. Read more

Apple tablet/netbook rumoured for October launch at $800

There have been numerous rumours over whether or not Apple plans to launch a ‘netbook’ type device, to attack the lower-end of the computing market. Today’s rumour is that an Apple ‘tablet’ is coming and will launch in October costing around the $800 mark.

The story comes from The China Times, where it reports that Apple is trying to launch the device in time for the Christmas shopping season. It also says that Wintek will be providing the touch panels, whilst Foxconn will be manufacturing the tablet. Both of these names have been mentioned before in these rumours, adding to the likelihood of their involvement. Read more

Intel relaxing netbook resolution rules: 10-inch HD screens to become mainstream?

Intel is relaxing the rules surrounding the screen resolutions found in netbooks. Currently for a typical 10-inch display, the most common screen resolution is 1024 x 600 pixels. There have been a few select models with higher resolution display options, like the HP mini 2140 and the Dell Mini 10 netbooks, but not any that have a 10-inch high-resolution screen as standard.

According to sources in Taiwan, whilst Intel is still sticking to its 10.2-inch threshold for netbooks, it will start to relax the rules surrounding screen resolutions. Therefore, we may start to see more and more netbooks to be released with 1366 x 768 resolutions. Read more

Acer launching dual-boot Android/XP netbook in August?

Acer will launch a dual-boot netbook with both Android and Windows XP in August 2009 according to a report from Digitimes. We previously heard that this netbook would be released in the third quarter, so the timing does make sense if true.

Don’t expect the netbook to be cheaper than XP-only models, as licensing fees for XP still need to be paid. Acer has already said that if there is enough demand, it will launch an Android-only model, which would drop the price by around $25.

The move is likely to benefit ODMs Quanta and Compal Electronics, who are both expected to share in the manufacturing of this model. In related news, both Asus and MSI have reaffirmed plans to launch Android netbooks although not until 2010 according to the report.

New LG X130 netbook outed by FCC

The FCC has inadvertently revealed a new netbook from LG. The new netbook is referred as the LG X13 in the documentation, although one of the pictures shows the model number as the LG X130. This would make sense, as it follows LG’s previous X110 and X120 netbooks. Apart from some pictures (which we’ve attached after the break) there’s little detail.

However, what we can tell from the pictures is that the X130 netbook has three USB ports, VGA, Ethernet, a Kensington lock, a pair of audio jacks. It also comes with a removable battery rated at 4400mAh. The bottom has just one access panel to upgrade the RAM. The brown patterned fibre lid reminds me very much of the brown Toshiba NB200/NB205 netbook.

To be honest, the netbook looks quite average and it will be interesting to see what is under the hood to differentiate it from the well-received X120. We’ll come back with further information as it develops. In the mean time, check out some pictures after the jump. Read more

Broadcom’s Crystal HD Media Accelerator gets video demo

There have been many questions surrounding the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, which gives you the ability to watch 1080p HD content on your lowly Atom-based netbook. The HP Mini 110 XP is one of the first netbooks that uses this Crystal HD solution and more are planned in the future.

Broadcom has given a video demonstration of this technology in action. Naren Sankar from Broadcom’s Consumer Electronics Group, placed two 10-inch netbooks side-by-side. One HP Mini 110 XP (with Crystal HD) and a Lenovo S10 to the right of it. He played a 1080p h.264 video file on both and noted the differences. Read more

Sony Vaio P ‘Mark II’ to release in Oct/Nov; faster boot times promised

Sony is planning to launch a ‘Mark II’ version of the Vaio P ultraportable this October or November according to TechRadar. This is on the back of reasonable sales of the current Vaio P line-up, despite its premium price tag and slow boot times.

Details on the new Vaio P ‘not-a-netbook’ are scarce right now, although we do know that boot times should be significantly improved. The Mark II is likely to run Windows 7, rather than Vista, which should improve responsiveness. We may even see it sport the new Pineview Atom processor that is due in the fourth quarter this year. We’ll bring you more details as we get them.

Datawind Ubisurfer: 7-inch netbook with free internet access

Datawind, who are the guys behind the popular PocketSurfer device, has announced its first entry into the netbook segment with the Ubisurfer. This device has a 7-inch screen with resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by an ARM processor and comes with 1GB of internal flash memory and 128MB of RAM. Whilst this sounds like a piddly amount of storage, it does have a SDHC memory card slot and Datawind also provides 25GB of online storage.

This latter point is quite important as the Ubisurfer comes with 30 hours of free internet access (via Wi-Fi or GPRS) per month for the first year. That seems like a super value proposition in our eyes. It means no matter where you are in the UK, you can get a very reasonable amount of internet access. Once you move into the second year of ownership, internet access will cost you £29.99 for the whole year, again very reasonable. For the heavy users out there, you can opt to have unlimited usage by paying £5.99 per month. You may be wondering how much it costs when roaming in Europe and the USA, well that will set you back 5p per minute. Read more

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