Gateway's LT2118u reviewed

Computerworld has published a review of the stylish Gateway's LT2118u. The LT2118u tested amazingly for battery, running up to 11 hours and 17 minutes! This was surprising because on paper the LT2118u is no different from its sister unit, the LT2120u except for the color of the cover, and yet, was able to run an additional hour and a half longer.

Apart from the astonishing battery life, the LT2118u is your standard Windows 7 Starter netbook, with its "same less-than-snappy, but doable feel". The keyboard is fine, but with a large gap between the keys makes for a ton of space for dust and other particles to collect. Vacuum regularly is the advice. The touchpad is an area of raised bumps that makes it easy to find by feel.

In conclusion, "The LT2118u is all about style and endurance. It's a cut above the average netbook in appearance and is easy to upgrade--and you certainly can't complain about the 11-plus hours of run time."

Via ComputerWorld.

Lenovo ThinkPad netbook spotted for Aussie students

Is there such a thing as a Thinkpad netbook? Well, apparently there is, according to Engadget who managed to get their hands on one. Lenovo has so far been making netbooks in the Ideapad range, with the popular S10 series. This is the first time a Thinkpad netbook has been sighted, and is probably going to be the last.

The official word from Lenovo is that the product was a one off deal for the Australian school district. As Engadget discovered, the Thinkpad netbook is nothing more than a Thinkpad X100e with a 1024x600 10-inch screen, rather than the original 11.6-inch one, and an 1.6GHz Atom N450 processor instead of the AMD Neo which is standard in the X100e.

Check out more pictures at Engadget

Dell's leaked roadmap showing Sparta, Athens netbooks

A Dell product roadmap has been uncovered by Android Central and shows some really cool upcoming line-up of netbooks and tablets releasing soon. The roadmap shows two new netbooks codenamed the "Athens" and "Sparta". The "Sparta" will be a netbook tablet hybrid, and the "Athens" a true netbook, both of which will have a 11″ inch display, ARM processors, and option of 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth connectivity modules.

Another semi-new device in the roadmap is the 7-inch Looking Glass Pro Android tablet. It seems the Pro version comes with an "HD" screen and the digital TV tuner that is optional for the non-Pro Looking Glass..

Finally, it looks as if the Dell Streak will come in three flavors. A T-Mobile (US) version, a European model running on Vodafone's network and a later released model for China, which be on all 3 major carriers: China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile.

Via Android Central

Next-gen NVIDIA ION Acer and ASUS netbooks delayed

The wait to see next-generation Nvidia ION graphics hit netbooks already feels like a long while. NVIDIA's next generation Ion platform was announced back in early March and according to Engadget, it looks like the wait will have to go on a little while longer.

Acer and Asus have both confirmed that their first notebooks with next-generation ION graphics won’t be ready to ship in the US until late May or possibly early June.

The 12" ASUS Eee PC 1201PN will ship first in Late May, in Europe and Asia, then after that in June in the US. The 10-inch Acer Aspire One 532G, announced back in February and was scheduled for a March release has been delayed until early June, when Computex starts.

We just have a feeling there will be some more joining the Ion 2 netbook brigade in the interim, but it's looking like we'll just have to kick off the summer with another Ion showdown.

Via Engadget

Asus Eee PC 1005PR pre-order for US$400

The Asus Eee PC 1005PR is the first 10" netbook from Asus with a high resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, and packs a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator so you can actually watch HD video smoothly on the HD display.

The netbook has a standard 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a battery which is good for up to 11 hours of run time.

It's now available for pre-order from Amazon for US$399.99.





via Netbooked

Samsung NB30 Unboxing

Samsung sent Brad from Liliputing a demo unit Samsung NB30 to review for a few weeks. He noted that the overall design was decent, which manages to come across as both semi rugged and attractive.

Although the specs of this netbook doesn't stray far from the norm, it does have a few features that make is more than a typical netbook. This includes a free fall sensor that helps protect the hard drive in the event of a fall and a case that is scratch-resistant design, and a spill-resistant keyboard.



Via Liliputing

ASUS Eee PC 1018P captured

I'm not really a fan of the Asus brand and its vast line of netbooks, but I have to admit the new ASUS Eee PC 1018P is one of the best looking netbooks that's coming soon.

The aluminium-clad netbook is just 18mm thick and sports the latest USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0 standards (optional) along with DDR3-packing N455/N475 processors. It was showcased at CeBIT and comes with a 10.1" (1024 x 600) display, up to 2GB RAM, 250GB-500GB HDD and Wi-Fi (b/g/n).

The folks over at TechInStyle.tv managed to get hold of the Eee PC 1018P and captured some great pictures.





Via eeepc.it. More pictures at Flickr

Chrome OS netbooks around US$300-US$400, says Schmidt

The netbook market today is pretty much dominated by Windows-based machines, but Google is hoping to change that later in the year with its Chrome OS for netbooks. The idea behind Chrome OS is that you'll be able to boot up your netbook and get online quickly, and do everything online. It is essentially a web browser OS.

Speaking at an event recently, Google CEO Eric Schmidt let loose a few more details of his vision. He expects netbooks running Chrome OS to sell for about US$300-$400, which is about the same price as most netbooks currently on the market.

While Chrome OS will be free, it doesn't actually provide that much of a cost saving, since Microsoft licenses Windows 7 Starter Edition for netbooks at a pretty low price.

Would the Chrome OS make a difference? I would like to hope so, since having alternatives to Windows is always a good thing.



Via TechRadar

Acer Aspire One 521: AMD powered 10” netbook

Information regarding an unannounced netbook from Acer has been leaked. The Acer Aspire One 521 netbook will come with the usual netbook fare with one major difference. It will come with an AMD processor instead of the standard Intel Atom processor.

The netbook will feature a 1.2Ghz AMD V105 single core processor, an AMD M880G chipset and ATI Radeon HD4225 graphics, plus HDMI out and Bluetooth 3.0, and a battery that can last up to 7 hours.

There are no details on when the Acer Aspire One 521 netbook will hit the stores, or how much it will be.

Via Liliputing

Early HP slate impression: No iPad killer

Whatever Apple delivers, you can expect a bunch of others trying to beat it, and the latest iPad is no exception.

HP is one of the first manufacturer off the block with the HP Slate. The Slate is powered by an Intel Atom Z530 1.6Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM non-expandable and a 8.9" 1024x600 pixel screen. Two models will be offered, a 32GB for US$549 price and a 64GB for US$599. It will run Windows 7.

If the specs are starting to look familiar, you're not wrong. The Slate is nothing more than a netbook without a keyboard. A Spanish blogger who had early access, describes the system as "meh", let down by the Windows 7 OS, making the device slow and clunky.

But there are some positives, the Slate has expansion slots which includes an expansion dock with HDMI and USB connections, built-in camera, and a decent (if smaller than iPad) screen.

Read the review at Conectica.ca

If you're curious how the Slate compares to the iPad, Engadget managed to get its hands on an internal HP presentation.

Dual-core Atom chip for netbooks on the horizon?

Intel was rumored for working on dual-core Atom chip for netbooks that are usually considered as low processing power carrying computers.

Recently, Intel CEO Paul Otellini confirmed that Intel will bring dual-core Atom processors for the netbook segment.

Intel already has 1.6GHz Atom 330 microprocessor for the netbooks such as Asus Eee PC 1201N. But these new dual-core Atom processors will have integrated memory controller and integrated graphics.

Otellini said, "I think there will still be significant growth in the netbook business year-over-year. I think that there are rather than pricing, I think, we would look to features and integration as a technical novelty or twist here. The next innovation coming out on Atom is dual-core, which comes out in the second quarter, so that it will ramp for the holiday season this year and I think that will be a very attractive product."

More processing power for the low-cost and light weight netbooks is always welcome, and a natural progression in technology. Intel didn't share more details about these dual-core Atom chips but we can expect netbooks with these chips before year-end at least.

Samsung's NB30 netbook gets touchy

Samsung has added a touchscreen to its rugged NB30 netbook, dubbed the NB30 Touch. But everything else is pretty the same.

The screen is LED backlit, has a 1024 x 600 resolution, and can be viewed outdoors. The processor is the same 1.66GHz Atom and the machine runs Windows 7 Starter. Storage is to a 160GB or 250GB HDD and the netbook has 1GB of RAM.

The same liquid-proof keyboard, isolated hard drive to resist shock and rugged shell of the standard NB30 is still there.

The touchscreen NB30 costs about $164 more than the NB30's base price, which reaches the equivalent of $380 in Europe.


Via Notebook Italia