Acer’s dual-boot Android netbook unboxed [Video]
October 15, 2009 at 8:50 pm
News regarding Acer’s dual-booting Android/Windows 7 seems to be coming thick and fast right now. Pierre from Blogeee managed to get his hands on what looks like a finished retail unit, a week before its release.
He unboxes a white version that comes with a black interior (bezel & keyboard). The Android bootup sequence is shown and it is indeed fast. Browsing in Firefox within Android proved no problem too, working well. Pierre then shows the boot process into Windows 7, within Android. Check out the unboxing video (in French) after the break. Read more
Kinpo’s 11.6-inch N03V netbook gets video unboxing
October 9, 2009 at 8:14 pm
The Kinpo N03V netbook is currently on sale in Taiwan, bundled with a two-year 3G contract. The netbook has an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display and is powered by a 1.3GHz VIA Nano (U2250) processor and VIA VX800 chipset. It comes with a 160GB HDD and supports up to 2GB RAM.
Other features include a 1.3MP webcam, three USB ports, audio jacks and a card reader. NetbookNews managed to go hands-on with the device and found that the keyboard was comfortable and a good-sized touchpad. Components (HDD, RAM) are easy to upgrade, however, the 2-cell (4000mAh) battery only lasts for two and a half hours when using 3G. Check out their unboxing video after the break. Read more
Nokia Booklet 3G gets hands-on impressions [Video]
October 8, 2009 at 7:56 pm
We expect the Nokia Booklet 3G netbook to be available in a matter of weeks, if yesterday’s news (that it will hit O2 Germany on October 22nd) is anything to go by. There has not been too many previews of the device, but Laptop Mag managed to spend some quality time with the Booklet and have given their initial impressions.
The design wins points for a number of reasons. Firstly, the aluminum construction, all from one piece of metal, adds to the premium feel of the netbook. However, despite its slim profile (19.9mm thin) it felt heavier than it looks. The glossy lid is also a fingerprint magnet. Secondly, the flush glass display is very attractive. The 10-inch screen has a 720p resolution.
Less love was given to the chiclet keyboard, which felt a bit cramped despite a sturdy feel. The touchpad has low friction but has no gesture support. The mouse buttons are also easy to press. Another welcome addition is the hot-swappable sim-card slot. Check out a hands-on video after the break. Read more
Kohjinsha intros dual-screen netbook concept [Video]
October 6, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Kohjinsha has shown off a very unique netbook at CEATEC 09. The prototype device includes two 10.1-inch LCD displays, one behind the other that slides out to sit side-by-side with each other. The displays can output at either 1024 x 600 or 1366 x 768 resolution.
The hardware is driven by a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon NeoMv-40 processor, a maximum of 4GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. Other features include Bluetooth 2.1, fingerprint scanner, TV Tuner and it will run on Windows 7 Home Premium. I wouldn’t like to think what the battery life on such a device would be, especially considering the juice required to power two 10-inch displays.
At its thickest point, the device measures 1.7-inches and just 0.75-inches at its thinnest. Not bad considering the dual displays. So far, there are no firm details on whether this concept will become a reality. Engadget has a video hands-on of the netbook, which we’ve attached after the break. Read more
Adobe officially announces GPU-accelerated Flash Player 10.1
October 5, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Adobe has finally got round to announcing that the latest Flash player 10.1 will pretty much work on pretty much most mobile devices. On the netbook side of things, Adobe has partnered with Nvidia to enable hardware acceleration of the flash player. Adobe has said that a beta of Flash Player 10.1 is expected by the end of the year.
What this means is that HD flash content from YouTube, Hulu & BBC iPlayer should work stutter-free on Nvidia ION-powered netbooks or Tegra-powered smartbooks. Nvidia ION netbooks coming out by the year-end includes the Samsung N510, HP Mini 311 and Lenovo Ideapad S12.
Adobe has also partnered with Qualcomm to get flash working on its Snapdragon chipset. This should hopefully mean a smooth flash experience on smartbooks too. Check out a few video demos of the new flash player in action after the jump. Read more
NbC: Microsoft Mobile Mouse 4000 Review
October 3, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Whilst touchpads do an acceptable job of navigating around a netbook/laptop, there’s no substitute for a mouse for pinpoint accuracy. There are a number of good mice to cater for those on the move, however there are not too many that use new mouse technology such as Microsoft BlueTrack or Logitech’s Darkfield laser tracking tech.
These new technologies have been developed to allow you to use on the mouse on pretty much any surface, whether that be an airport bench to your living-room carpet. This is quite an attractive feature for portable mice as you no longer need to carry a mouse mat with you whilst travelling. Even in limited spaces, your lap could work with these new mice. We give you an overview of one of the latest portable mice using Microsoft Bluetrack called the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000. Read more
Yones X11A 11.1-inch netbook gets video hands-on
October 2, 2009 at 11:59 pm
If the X11A from Yones Technology sounds familiar, than that’s because it is basically the same 11.1-inch netbook as the Olevia X11A that we’ve reported on previously. Sascha from NetbookNews went hands-on with Yones’ take on the X11A.
As before it comes with a high-resolution (1366 x 768) display, powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom and 945GSE chipset. Where it differs is a unique imprint on the lid and palm rests. Other features include chiclet keyboard, three USB ports card reader and a couple of audio jacks. Check out the video after the break. Read more
Toshiba announces 11.6” Satellite T110/T115 CULV ultra-thin
September 29, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Toshiba has announced a new 11.6-inch CULV-based ultra-thin notebook under the T100 model series. The Satellite T110 (or T115 as it will be known in the US) is the company’s first CULV-powered model and the company is boasting a battery life of up to 11 hours. The LED backlit display has a high resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.
The Satellite T110 will live up to its ‘ultra-thin’ moniker, measuring just 22.2mm at its thinnest point and weighing 1.58kg. It will be available in either a Pentium or Celeron single core ultra low voltage processor. The T110 will support up to 4GB RAM (DDR3) and up to 500GB of storage space. Read more
NbC: Samsung N510 netbook unboxed
September 28, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The Samsung N510 is one of the first Nvidia ION-powered netbooks on the market. It has just seen its retail release in the UK, where it is selling for around the £400 mark. Whilst it is towards the top-end of netbook price-points, it is worth remembering that the Samsung N120 cost around £370 on launch. Not too bad considering that the Samsung N510 offers an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display, ION chipset and 7-hour battery.
The much-anticipated Samsung N510 has landed at NbC HQ and we’ve promptly done an unboxing to show you what to expect inside the box. We would like to clarify that we have the UK SKU and it seems that Samsung has been kind to us. The UK model has a 1.66GHz N280 Atom processor and 5900mAh battery. This is an improvement over the mainland European version that is sold with the 1.6GHz N270 Atom and lower capacity 5200mAh battery. Read more
Dell Mini 10v netbook gets Ubuntu Moblin Remix option
September 24, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Dell is now shipping its Mini 10v netbook with the Ubuntu Moblin Remix Linux distribution. This particular version combines the interface & applications of Moblin 2.0 with the internals of Ubuntu 9.04. It is priced at $299 and comes with the typical Mini 10v’s specifications (Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard-drive).
This version has been labelled as the “Developer Edition” as it is still a work in progress. Despite this, Dell is shipping the Inspiron Mini 10v with it factory installed. If you already have the Mini 10v and just want to download the image click here. Check out a video demo after the break. Read more
Viliv S10 convertible netbook sports 10hr battery & Windows 7 [Video]
September 24, 2009 at 11:36 am
Viliv, the Korean manufacturer normally known for its MIDs, is showing off a new netbook at IDF (Intel Developer Forum) 2009. The S10 Blade is a convertible 10-inch touchscreen netbook that will ship with a 10-hour battery and launch with Windows 7 Home Premium.
Impressively, the Viliv S10 has a high-resolution (1366 x 768) display and the high-capacity battery will sit flush with the chassis. There’s no multi-touch on this model though as it will ship with a resistive screen. It will be powered by either a 1.33GHz or forthcoming 2.0GHz processor, 1GB RAM and either a 32 or 64GB SSD. The SanDisk SSDs won’t be performance models, running with 70MBps read rates.
It will also have optional 3G. The Viliv S10 is due out by the end of this year and available in a number of configurations starting from $499. We’ve attached a number of hands-on videos of the device after the break. Read more
Samsung N510 product page now live
September 14, 2009 at 11:31 pm
The Samsung N510 is already on sale in a few places including Italy, Germany and Hong Kong. It is expected to go on sale in the UK very shortly, with a number of UK e-tailers opening up pre-orders but no one actually shipping right now.
To gear up for the launch, Samsung has unveiled the official product page for the N510 netbook, which includes an official spec list. The interesting part is that it does look like the UK will get slightly beefier specs compared to mainland Europe. The N510 UK SKU will get the N280 Atom (Europe gets N270) and we believe that the 6-cell battery will be rated at 5900mAH, compared to 5200mAh for Europe.
Also, now that the N510 is already out in Europe, some users have been busy putting the ION-powered netbook through its paces. One such person is Fungus-T, who has ran a number of video tests (including gaming & HD video) to show off what it can do. Check out a selection of videos after the break. Read more
Acer Ferrari One netbook gets hands-on video
September 14, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Acer announced the desirable Ferrari One 11.6-inch netbook last week. Apart from the Ferrari branding, and small aesthetic touches that differentiate it against most other netbooks, the hardware is also significantly different from most netbooks. The Ferrari One is powered by AMD’s new dual-core Congo processor, if that wasn’t enough, you also get ATI Radeon 3200 graphics.
Xavier from Notebooks.com managed to get hands-on with the Ferrari One, giving us a closer look of the device. He gives us a closer look of the touchpad, keyboard and palm rest. You’ll notice on the palm rest, stickers for AMD Vision (its new line of chips) along with Windows 7. You can check out the video after the break. Read more
NbC: UltimateAddons Netbook Messenger Bag Review
September 14, 2009 at 12:31 pm
We’ve already looked at a few netbook cases here at Netbook Choice, but we were given the opportunity to review our first netbook shoulder bag thanks to the guys at Ultimate-Netbook. They sent over the UltimateAddons netbook messenger bag that should fit netbooks with display sizes ranging from 8.9-inches to 10.2-inches. Ultimate-Netbook is a specialist retailer of netbook accessories, including bags and cases.
The UltimateAddons bags are designed in-house, which means a high level of quality assurance. The company is confident enough in their range to offer a 30-day money back guarantee as well as providing a 12-month warranty. The UltimateAddons netbook messenger bag comes in two colours, black (which we tested) and khaki green. Ultimate-Netbook ships these bags worldwide at a cost of £19.99 + p&p. Read on to find out whether it is worth the money. Read more
Skytone Alpha 680 Android smartbook gets video review
September 11, 2009 at 10:48 am
We last heard of Skytone’s Alpha 860 smartbook back in May. Its main claim to fame was being the first Android netbook to be announced, despite somewhat anaemic specifications. The 7-inch (800 x 480) Alpha 680 is powered by an ARM 11 533MHz processor, 128MB RAM and 1GB of flash storage as standard. An optional upgrade to 256MB RAM and 4GB flash storage is possible. For those that want more, a SDHC slot is also supported.
Jason from Rockland got hold of a (garish) yellow Alpha 680 and shot some video impressions. Whilst the specifications may not be too grand, the form factor looks promising. It is a convertible netbook with touchscreen display and he demonstrated some touch features of Android. It does seem that it’s not entirely market ready right now, for example the accelerometer doesn’t seem to work. However, as a proof of concept it looks like something like this could take off with the right balance of hardware/price/design. Check out the video after the break. Read more
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