Lenovo Ideapad U150 reviewed – great build quality; 5hr battery

Peter over at Netbooked has put the Lenovo Ideapad U150 ultra-thin through its paces and it seems to be well regarded. The build quality is a step above most netbooks, the keyboard is very comfortable to use, it plays HD Youtube videos and even has a reasonable 5-hour battery life.

Other positives included good audio quality and one of the best touchpads he’s used. There were a few annoyances however, including the placement of Ctrl and Fn keys (a staple of most Lenovo laptops), the 6-cell battery protrudes and it was a little noisy. Check out the key review points after the break. Read more

Lenovo Ideapad U150 now shipping in US

Lenovo’s 11.6-inch CULV-powered Ideapad U150 is now shipping in the United States. Two models are being offered, the base model costs $699 and has a 1.3GHz CPU (SU4100), 3GB RAM and a 250GB HDD. A more expensive ($849) model includes a 1.3GHz dual-core CPU (SU7300), 4GB RAM and a 320GB HDD.

However, the cheaper SKU has a wait time of “more than 4 weeks” whilst the more expensive version should ship in 16 business days. The Ideapad U150 sports an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1, 1.3MP webcam, HDMI, two USB ports, card reader and unusually a combo USB/eSATA port.

Via Netbooked.

Belkin launches new netbook power adaptors

Belkin has today launched a couple of new netbook power adaptors. The adaptors appear to be quite slim (61.5mm X 111.5mm X 24.2mm) and have five interchangeable tips that will work with a number of netbook brands including Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, Samsung, and Toshiba. They also include an additional 5V USB power port, that can be used to charge mobile or MP3 devices.

Two netbook adaptors are being offered, a home/office one (F5L064qq/uk) that retails for £39.99 (€49.99) and a travel one (F5L065qq/uk) that costs £49.99 (€59.99). They will be available later this month in the UK and across Europe.

Confirmed: Atom support missing from latest Mac OS X update

After recent reports suggested that Intel Atom support for the latest Mac OS X 10.6.2 update was terminated and then reinstated again, it seems that the official release does not contain Intel Atom support. What this means is that those running Hackintosh netbooks will not be able to install the new update.

At this point, there is no word from Apple on whether this has been intentionally removed or whether support will be written back in a future update. However, as Apple does not manufacture any devices using the Atom CPU, it’s not likely to be in the company’s interests to do this any time soon.

Reports from the MyDellMini forum suggests that users trying to install the update will see an endless reboot cycle. You can see a video of this after the break. However, it can’t be too long before savvy modders will come up with a workaround, but until then it’s best to sit tight. Read more

Impressions of the Asus Eee PC T91MT convertible netbook surface [Video]

The Asus Eee PC T91MT only started to ship in the last few days, however one user has already received his unit and posted his initial impressions. Kubel from MyT91 found that the 32GB SSD performed similarly to the 16GB SSD in the original T91, albeit it was a little slower. Windows 7 was also quite snappy in terms of performance.

Other features were similar to the original T91 and include a well designed 8.9-inch form-factor, a bright display that sits between matte & display and is a fingerprint magnet. It also comes with a firm hinge that is critical for a device that will be switched between tablet & netbook mode often. He hasn’t tested the multi-touch features extensively, but we can see some of those from an official Asus promo video attached after the break. Read more

ZiiLABS intros ZMS-08 1080p-capable 1GHz ARM processor

ZiiLABS, which is owned by Creative, has announced a new chipset based on a 1GHz ARM Cortex processor, capable of full 1080p HD video playback. The processor is expected to be used in smartbooks, tablets and home media hubs.

The ZMS-08 processor can deliver full 1080p H.264 video, accelerated OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics at up to 1 Gpixels/sec, Adobe Flash 10, image processing and advanced Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi Audio effects. The chip is aimed at low-power mobile devices. Read more

Active Media unleashes performance SaberTooth S4 SSD upgrades

Active Media has unveiled a new line of performance SSDs aimed at Asus Eee PC netbooks. The SaberTooth S4 series uses the 3Gbps SATA-II interface and offers sequential read speeds of up to 130MB/sec and sequential writes up to 50MB/sec. The drives use the Jmicron JMF602B controller and MLC flash memory for transfer speeds promised to be two to five times faster than the standard SSD that shipped in many netbooks from ASUS.

The company has posted a detailed Benchmark Report of the SaberTooth S4, tested on an Eee PC 1000 under Windows XP here. The benchmark results show the S4 soaring to read speeds over 120MB/sec, nearly four times faster than the default SSD in the Eee PC 1000. The Mini PCI-E SSDs measure 70 x 32 mm (2.7 x 1.3 inches). Read more

Asus Eee PC T91MT now shipping in US; 1001HA available in UK

That was quick, the Asus Eee PC T91MT (‘multi-touch’) convertible netbook only appeared on US pre-order at the beginning of the month and it is now shipping. The white model (T91MT-PU17-WT) is currently in stock at Amazon.com for $532 including delivery, I couldn’t find any sign of the black model.

The specifications of the 8.9-inch T91MT are similar to the T91, coming with a 1.33GHz Z520 Atom processor, 1GB RAM and an upgraded 32GB SSD. It also comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, which fully supports multi-touch features. Battery life should be good for 5 hours. Read more

Dell Mini 9 slate tablet mod now gets accelerometer

We previously reported on a mod that enabled you to convert your Dell Mini 9 netbook into a slate tablet. For those of you that actually went through the effort then you’ll be glad to hear that another mod exists that puts accelerometer functionality into the tablet.

You can check out the results after the jump, but it seems pretty good and much cheaper than pre-packaged alternatives. The full guide on how to do this can be checked over on the MyDellMini forums. Read more

Nokia Booklet 3G hitting Best Buy stores on November 15th

The Nokia Booklet 3G netbook will be arriving in Best Buy stores from 15th November. Those of you who are Reward Zone members can place your pre-orders as we speak, however some stores already have them in stock. The Booklet 3G can be bought for $599.99 or $299.99 plus two-year AT&T data contract.

The Nokia Booklet 3G has a 10.1-inch (1280 x 720) display, measures just 20mm thick and is powered by a 1.6GHz Z530 Atom CPU, 1GB soldered RAM and a 120GB HDD. Other features include Bluetooth, HDMI-out and a 1.3MP webcam. For a ‘premium’ netbook however, it only gets Windows 7 Starter. Check out a larger image of the flyer after the break. Read more

Acer Aspire 1410 (dual-core) review roundup

A number of sites have posted reviews of the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire 1410 in recent days. Just to be clear, the device reviewed is the recent dual-core Windows 7 refresh, rather than the earlier single-core machine. This SKU features a 1.2GHz Intel Celeron SU2300 processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD and a 6-cell 4400mAH battery.

Along with updated specs, Acer managed to knock $50 of the RRP to $399, which makes it look like an enticing bargain. This a point echoed by Liliputing, who felt that there isn’t “another machine that offers as much as the Aspire 1410 at this price point.” They managed to get around 5 hours out of the battery under normal web use. Read more

Litl Webbook hands-on impressions & engineering videos

Litl should be commended for trying to do something different in the mobile computing space. Their Litl Webbook launched last week, it is a 12-inch device that has a special hinge allowing the display to fold over into “easel mode”. It also has its own Litl operating system with a unique GUI.

Hands-on impressions were few and far between last week, but Crunchgear managed to sit down with CEO John Chuang for a thorough overview of the Webbook. The machine isn’t a netbook par se as it only comes with a 2GB flash drive, however this isn’t too much of an issue as Litl targets the Webbook as an Internet consumption device (hence the name). This involves viewing photos, videos or checking the weather etc. Read more

ThinkPad X100e netbook to launch in January 2010?

Thinkpad will release the X100e netbook in time for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2009) on 5th January 2010 according to ThinkpadToday. The device has been dubbed the “entry level ultra portable, the first ThinkPad of its size” according to its sources.

Pictures floating around the web show a device with white lid, flush touchpad and chiclet keys. I hope I’m not the only one who would love to see the traditional black styling and normal keys. Specifications of the X100e remain a mystery for now, ThinkpadToday have taken a guess and believes it will come with a 12.1-inch (1280 x 800) display and 1.6GHz AMD Neo processor.

As a Thinkpad user myself, this sounds like great news, although I’m personally a bit skeptical until we hear something more official. However, back in April, the company were fishing around for consumers thoughts on whether a Thinkpad netbook was a good idea. So we know it is something they have been thinking of. Thinkpads are renowned for their bullet-proof build quality, excellent keyboards and reliability. I’d love to see a Thinkpad netbook, as long as it doesn’t compromise too much on the brands core attributes.

Intel plans “fast transition” to next-gen Pine Trail platform

Intel will be moving quickly to its next-generation Atom platform for netbooks & nettops, dubbed Pine Trail according to sources at X-bit labs. They managed to get hold of a document that says: “Intel is planning for a fast transition to Pine Trail. To generate excitement for the platform ahead of launch, Intel is planning a press release in late December publicly disclosing the details of the platform.”

Further details on the Pine Trail platform (and Pineview processors) are expected on 21st December. Manufacturers are expected to have products using the new chips, including the 1.66GHz N450 Atom, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2009) from 4th January.

The new Pineview processors are built around a two-chip platform. The Pineview processor features a CPU, GPU and memory controller on a single die. Combining this with Intel’s Tiger Pint I/O is what makes up the Pine Trail platform. The benefits of moving from 3 chips to 2 chips are power efficiency, lower costs that enable more fanless netbook designs. The specs and price-points of the various chips are as we have seen before; check them out after the break. Read more

Flybook v5: Dual-core 8.9-inch convertible netbook hands-on [Video]

You probably won’t find the Flybook v5 in the west, but it does seem like an exciting device. It has an 8.9-inch touchscreen display in a convertible netbook form-factor and takes advantage of Windows 7 for all the latest touch gestures.

The specs are quite reasonable too, the Flybook is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core ULV processor and can support a maximum of 4GB RAM. The battery unusually sits at the front of the device rather than the back, but should be good for 4-5 hours. It also features an ExpressCard slot and a couple of USB ports. Check out the video from NetbookNews after the jump for the full hands-on. Read more

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