Tag: Netbook
Sony announce two new VAIO range notebooks, the E and W series
Sony's VAIO notebook range is to get two new models this month in the shape of the E and W series. The netbook-like W series weighs just 1 kg and features a 10.1 inch screen. Shipping with Windows 7 Starter…
Acer back out of the tablet market
Sick of seeing every tech company trying to jump onto the tablet bandwagon? Sensibly, Acer look to be leaving that market area to Apple and co. Scott Lin, Acer Taiwan president, has said that it is unlikely his company will…
CES 2010: Skype 720p HD video calls headed to LG and Panasonic TVs
You can get Skype on a whole host of gadgets these days; what began as a great way to video conference between PCs has grown to cater for also mobile and home phones. Add to that ever growing list…
CES 2010: Dell laptop with Intel Core i3 leaked
Intel are looking to push their new Core i3 processor big time at this year's CES, and already details of laptops and netbooks flaunting the new hardware are leaking onto the web. The latest of these leaks comes via Costco,…
Acer Chrome OS Netbook launching in late 2010?
The Netbook has been in development since the middle of 2009, so it's quite an unexpectedly long wait for it to arrive.
ASUS and Toshiba partnership on the cards?
Talks have begun according to ASUS chairman Jonney Shih.
Datawind UbiSurfer netbook – free internet wherever, whenever
Canadian company Datawind, the guys behind the Pocket Surfer, has entered the netbook market with the UbiSurfer.
Spec wise I’m afraid it gets absolutely blown out of the water compared to other netbooks available. An Arm processor with just 128GB of RAM is pretty poor. As is the SSD of just 1GB. But it does have a few features going for it that make it an attractive proposition.
Firstly, it’s tiny. If you’re looking for a really compact netbook you’ll struggle to get more compact that this. The screen is just 7-inches and it weighs just 700g. Secondly it’s only £159.99. Lastly, and by far the most crucial aspect of the UbiSufer is that it comes with a pre-installed Vodafone SIM that will allow 30 hours of GPRS web surfing a month. It’s not 3G but it’s better than a poke in the eye.
If more than 30 hours are needed a £5.99 a month fee will allow unlimited usage. The 30 hours a month deal lasts for a year, and then it’s just £29.99 a year after that. Roaming charges are pretty cheap too – just 5p a minute in Europe and the States.
30 hours should be more than enough for most surfers – the netbook has Wi-Fi as well so it wouldn’t be totally dependent on the Vodafone connection.
So overall, fairly poor netbook, fairly good data deal. For £159.99 it might be worth a punt. Get it online from Maplin.
Gallery: Top 10 Lightweight notebook PCs
Laptops, notebooks, netbooks… whichever flavour of portable PC they are, here are ten of the lightest yet fully-featured machines currently available. Is your favourite here? Click on the picture below to start the tour, and if you don't find yours…
SHINY VIDEO PREVIEW: The Archos 9 PC tablet
I got my hands on the Archos 9 at this morning’s launch. I have to say I like it. It did feel a tad heavy – but at less than 800g that was probably just an illusion because it is so slight it doesn’t look as though it will weigh hardly anything.
The touchscreen was very responsive and the pop-up keyboard is almost full-sized so unless you’ve got some extremely fat fingers there shouldn’t be any problem.
Also at the event Tony Limrick, MD of Archos Northern Europe told the assembled hacks to keep 15th September free for an Archos IMT Android announcement.
He didn’t give too much information away apart from to say that the IMTs would combine what Archos does best – multimedia playback and so on – and combine it with an Android based telephony system – complete with Google Apps.
Packard Bell release first AMD based netbook
You may recall last month we told you that Packard Bell is back. We told you all about some of their new range including the netbooks dot m and dot s.
Well now they’ve gone and announced another netbook, the strangely named dot m/a. The dot m/a is the first netbook to come with an AMD processor – the single-core 1.2GHz Athlon 64 L110. That’s all great. Except it’s not really a netbook. It’s a small, entry-level notebook.
The specs support my argument – the screen is 11.6-inch with a resolution of 1366×768. It’s got a graphics card – the ATI Radeon X1270 and it weighs 1.25kg. That’s a bit too hefty for a netbook in my opinion.
Packard Bell even state that they keyboard is “as large as a regular notebook”. Err, that’s because it is a regular notebook.
Ok, so we’ve established it’s not exactly a netbook but what has it got going for it? Well, for £349, it’s not a bad budget option if you’re after a fairly compact notebook.
It’s got a 160GB hard-drive with 1GB of RAM – both of which are expandable to double their current size. It has a multi-gesture touch pad including pinch and flick for you iPhone fans and it’s got a 5-in-1 memory card reader. Like other Packard Bell releases it comes complete with Adobe Photoshop elements pre-installed. Bluetooth and 3G can be added at an extra cost.
It’s pre-loaded with Vista so presumably it would qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7, according to the statement released by Microsoft yesterday. It’s available in black or red and with a three or six-cell battery. The six-cell should give four hours of battery life.
It’s out next month – get one direct from Packard Bell. Just don’t expect to receive a netbook.
