Packard Bell intros dot m/a netbook: rebranded Gateway LT3100

Packard Bell has announced a new netbook for Europe called the dot m/a. This follows their 11.6-inch dot m and 10.1-inch dot s netbooks. I don’t find this model naming particularly intuitive and it’s not particularly grabbing or memorable. Anyway, the dot m/a is essentially the same as the Gateway LT3100 (LT3103u) that was announced for the US this week. Not a surprise since both companies are owned by Acer.

The 11.6-inch netbook has a high-definition resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. It comes with 1GB RAM and a 160GB HDD, although this can be upgraded to 2GB and 320GB respectively. It is powered by an AMD Athlon 64 L110 processor and comes with the ATI Radeon X1270 graphics chipset. Other specs include Wi-Fi, 5-in-1 card reader, multi-touch touchpad, webcam and optional Bluetooth and 3G.

The dot m/a comes with a 3-cell battery that should last for around 4 hours. The whole thing weighs a reasonable 1.25kg. You won’t find XP on this model, instead there will be options for Vista Basic or Home Premium. The dot m/a will be available in two colours (black and red) from July with pricing starting at £350.

Via Pocket Lint.

Packard Bell dot s & dot m netbooks hands-on & UK pricing

We first heard of the 11.6-inch Packard Bell dot m and 10.1-inch dot s netbooks back in early April. Whilst the European launch details were revealed, we didn’t have any news on the UK side of things. Well the official UK pricing details have now been announced – the smaller dot s will cost £299 whilst the dot m will cost £369 when it launches in July.

Acer-owned Packard Bell, has based the 11.6-inch dot m netbook on the Aspire One 751. If you compare them side by side, the keyboard and hinges look similar. Things are slightly different under the hood, with it powered by a AMD Athlon L1110 CPU and will support memory up to 2GB and a hard-drive up to 320GB. Other options for the dot m include an Intel Atom CPU, Windows Vista and 3G. Read more

New Packard Bell DOT S and DOT M netbooks

Packard Bell, who cancelled the DOT netbook which was due to hit UK retail in January 2009, is now preparing to release the DOT S and DOT M netbooks in Europe. The DOT S will come with a 10.1-inch display and cost €299 when it hits mainland Europe, whilst the DOT M will sport an 11.6-inch display and cost €399.

Given that Packard Bell is owned by Acer it is not surprising to see the DOT S shares similar specifications to the Acer Aspire One 531, whilst the DOT M is similar to the recently announced 11.6” Aspire One. However, there do seem to be a few aesthetic differences including several chrome effects on the palm rest, trackpad, hinges and lid.

The 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) DOT M will be powered by a 1.33GHz Z520 Atom CPU and come with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard-disk drive. It will also come with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional 3G modem, webcam, Dolby Sound and a 5-in-1 card reader. The 10.1-inch DOT S is expected to have similar specifications although as far as I can tell the CPU is unconfirmed.

The DOT S is due to arrive in shops over the next week in mainland Europe, whilst the DOT M is expected at the end of the month. There is no word on UK pricing or availability and there is also no evidence of these netbooks on the UK Packard Bell site. We’ll keep you updated on any developments. Click through for photos of the DOT M and DOT S. Read more