HP Mini 1000's wedge-shaped 6-cell battery

jkOnTheRun reviews the unique 6-cell battery for the popular and sleek HP Mini 1000. If you've seen a HP Mini 1000 before, you'll notice that the battery location is at the bottom of the netbook, as compared with other brands of netbooks which have the battery at the back below the lid hinge.

So with the HP Mini 1000, it's a bit of a challenge to get a 6-cell into a slot and still sit flush with the bottom of the netbook.



It looks like HP has gone with a slight wedge shape and and sits pretty stable according to the reviewer.



My opinion? The battery spoils the whole look of the Mini. At US$103 a piece, it's not a cheap accessory and adds a half-pound to the system. The usage hours doesn't seem any better than other 6-cell models.

Lenovo annouces the new S10-2

Lenovo has announced a new S10 successor to the popular IdeaPad S10, dubbed 'S10-2' for now.



The S10-2 will be slightly thinner and lighter than the original, starting at 2.2 pounds and .71-inches. There's a new patterned design on the lids, available in white, black, pink, or grey. However, it still the same basic specs as any other netbook out there, so it's real shame that Lenovo hasn't taken this opportunity to roll out with newer specs.

Google doing a usability study on Netbooks

Google posted an ad on Craigslist looking for participants for a netbook-related usability study which will take place May 11-16 at the Mountain View office.

Although we here in Singapore can't take part in this study (and earn the US$75 for our time), I think there's some significance when the world's largest internet service takes an interest in the tiny netbooks we all love.

CEO Eric Schmidt did say that the "Netbook phenomenon looks very real" and is "consistent with cloud computing model" that Google thrives on. This study looks to indicate that Google is taking the netbook seriously and want to design and improve their cloud apps for this emerging market.

Netbooks growing to 11.6-inch

Competition in the only growing PC market is heating up. As more PC makers crowd into the 10" screen size market, two major netbook makers is set to roll out new model with larger screen, further blurring the line between low cost netbooks and traditional notebooks.

Currently, Dell and Samsung already have 12.1" models in the market and are great for the eyes, but they compromise on portability. On the other hand, current 10" screen may be easy to carry around, but are a bit of a strain to the eyes after long hours of usage.



Acer has officially announce the Acer Aspire One 751 which attempts to hit the spot between portability and size. The Aspire One 751 will be thinner than the current models and it will have a full-size laptop keyboard. Its expected to hit the stores some time this month.

Meanwhile, Asustek president Jerry Shen said his company will launch an Eee PC netbook with an 11.6-inch display later this month. He expects 10" netbooks to remain the most popular version with at least 50 percent of orders for this year while the new 11.6" models are expected to grab 30 percent of the market.

However, these larger netbooks are likely to run into stiff competition from a new class of less-costly, ultra-thin laptops based on the AMD Athlon Neo, such as the HP Pavilion DV2Z, or the upcoming Intel CULV processors, such as MSI’s X-Slim series.

See the new MSI X340 slim netbook get dissected

The folks at UMPC Fever got their hands on an MSI X340 and opened it up! It's interesting to see how MSI is able to sqeeze everything to such a slim case, and still have room to spare.



After some prying with a screw driver to lift the keyboard, they were able to access all the necessary screws to remove the casing. The size of the motherboard only takes up a third of the size of the casing. Also, check out the adhesive tapes used to tape down the wires!

Check out the original chinese version, (or if you can't read chinese, the google translated version)

First look at the Toshiba Dynabook UX

The people at Portable Monkey got their Toshiba Dynabook UX (aka, the NB200 if you prefer) which went on sale a few days ago in Japan. The previous Toshiba NB100, with a 8.9" screen and Atom N270 processor didn't really get a glowing review, so it looks like Toshiba is back with a vengence.



The reviewer likes the new keyboard which "might be one of the best keyboard [he has] seen on Japanese netbook". Design-wise the new NB200 is definitely a cut above its predecessor.

Check out the first impressions of the Toshiba Dynabook UX at Portable Monkey

First netbook to have 2 screens!

Akihabara News reported on Sharp's latest foray into the netbook world with the Mebius NJ70A. Beyond the usual netbook parts of a 10.1" screen, an Atom N270 CPU, an Intel 945GSE Express Chipset, 160GB of HDD, a Web cam and... It also has an optical sensor LCD as a trackpad! Not only that, this 4" LCD with Led backlight, has a mind blowing resolution of 854x480 resolution.



Check out this Daily Motion video:

Mebius NJ70A Hands-On: The world first netbook with optical
by AkihabaraNews

This model is expected to retail in Japan for US$800 from next month.

MSI Wind U123 and Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M

Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M
The Gigabyte Touchnote series is probably the only netbook in the market that I know of which is a cross between and tablet notebook and a netbook. Gigabyte's Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M is the follow up to the M912M 8.9" version. UMPC Portal posted a review of the new Touchnote.

"The Touchnote offers a lot more than the average netbook and offers significant improvements over the groundbreaking M912M that came before it. Convertible touchscreen, draft-n WiFi, BT2.1, fast 2.5" drive, easy upgrade possibilities, Expresscard/34 and the well-prepared SIM card and 3G Antenna are a feature set you won’t find on any other device."

Check out their review, Test: Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M 10” Touchscreen Netbook.

MSI Wind U123
The MSI Wind U123 gets unboxed over at Portable Monkey.



The MSI Wind U123 is an upgrade over the U120 which came with only 1GB max memory and the original Atom N270 processor. The U123 is upgradable to 2GB RAM and has the Atom N280 processor.

It looks like U123 still has some problems with the hinges and the poor weight distribution that plagued previous Wind models. Getting access to the upgradeable parts still requires unscrewing the whole buttom casing.

Acer officially reveals the 11.6" Aspire One

Acer confirmed the 11.6" Aspire One netbook at an Acer event in New York. The netbook is reportedly slick and slim, at only 1" thick. Although no official specs have been released, it is expected to run on Intel Atom CPU and the Intel US15W Express Chipset. Other aspects should be quite similar to existing netbooks - 160GB HDD, Wifi, 3G etc.

Acer is also claiming battery life of 8 hours on its 6-cell 5200 mAh battery and also includes a soft-touch keyboard, Dolby Pro Logic sound and an LED backlit WXGA display. The whole thing weighs just over 1KG.

IT Show 2009: Various netbook ads

Here are some more adverts on netbook offers from makers such as Axioo, Asus, Acer and more.

Acer Aspire ONE:


Asus Eee PC:


Axioo:




Gateway:


Sony: