NetbookTech

Sony UK officially announced the cheapest Sony netbook yet with the new VAIO M Series mini-notebook. With a starting price of £299, the VAIO M comes available in two colors (black or white), features a 10.1 inch display, and weighs 1.4kg with a 6 cell battery. Specs include:

• Intel Atom N450 processor
• Windows 7 Starter OS
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
• 10.1 inch 16:10 aspect ratio LED backlit display with 1024 x 600 resolution
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 graphics
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• MOTION EYE camera
• Built-in stereo speakers
• mono microphone
• 3 USB 2.0 ports

Supplied software includes VAIO Gate; MusicStation; PMB VAIO Edition; VAIO Media Plus; VAIO Care; VAIO Transfer Support; VAIO Update; VAIO Smart Network; Internet Explorer 8; Windows Live Essentials Suite; Adobe® Reader® 9; McAfee (60 days free virus update); and Norton Online BackUp Trial.

[Check it out via Electricpig]

Hmm.. could there very well be a Lenovo ThinkPad netbook coming out shortly? A Whirlpool forum member from the land down under spotted several new systems being set up at his school. Here’s what he wrote:

“I saw yesterday at school some guys setting up a whole bunch of Lenovo Thinkpad Mini 10’s. Then I realised, I’ve never heard of it before. It certainly wasn’t an X100e, and had a very thick bezel around the screen (thicker than my X200T) and had a "Mini 10" logo on it (where the Thinkpad model numbers are). However, it also had island/chiclet keys and a trackpad/trackpoint combo. Looked quite nice overall.”

Given that other major PC vendors have already released business-oriented netbooks, it’s not far fetched to imagine Lenovo releasing a ThinkPad-branded netbook.

Just imagine the possibilities. Could a ThinkPad branded netbook feature the legendary ThinkPad keyboard? How about a netbook with both a touchpad AND a trackpoint? How about the incredible build quality of a ThinkPad found in a netbook form factor?

Sounds delicious.. let’s hope it’s real.

[Check it out via liliputing]

Just wanted to provide a few more details on that LG X300 product launch from over a week ago. The system specs are as follows:

• 2.0 GHz Intel Menlow platform
• Up to 2GB of RAM
• 128 GB solid state drive
• Measures a mere 17.5 mm thick
• Weighs a mere 970 grams
• 11.6 inch LCD display made from Corning Inc’s Gorilla glass
• Reflective keyboard
• Borderless touchpad
• Built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam with You-Cam viewer
• SRS TruSurround HD sound
• embedded 3G chipset with support for GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, or HSDPA
• Available in two colors – white and light brown
• Windows 7 Home Premium OS
• Ships with a spare 2 cell battery for up to 7 hours of power
• Fan-less silent operation

And yes – the X300 is available in Asia first in March followed by releases in the Middle-East and South America.

[Check it out]

Samsung brings the Intel Pinetrail platform to the Go product lineup with the new Samsung Go N315 netbook. The Go N315 features a 10.1 inch wide LED backlit LCD display, pebble-style keyboard, 4 cell battery, 3 in 1 memory card reader and the New York Times Reader 2.0 pre-installed.

Full specs include:

• Intel Atom N450 processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution LED backlit display
• Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• HD audio
• SRS 3D sound effect
• 3 watt stereo speakers
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
• 10/100 Ethernet
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• VGA port
• Headphone, Microphone ports
• Built-in microphone
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• 4 cell battery
• Measures 10.3 x 7.3 x 1.1 inches and weighs 2.71 pounds

Unfortunately the price of the new Samsung Go N315 is a bit steep – coming in at a suggested price of $429.99. Considering the smallish 4 cell battery, the price is somewhat steep for what you get.

[Check it out]

Above is the Samsung N210 netbook featuring a scratch-resistant, polished pearl white design, a non-glare display, and nearly full-sized keyboard. The N210 comes with HyperSpace “Instant On” which allows the system to turn on and immediately go online without waiting for Windows to boot up.

The N210’s specs include:

• Intel Atom N450 processor
• Windows 7 Starter Edition
• 1GB of RAM
• 10.1 inch WSVGA 1024 x 600 resolution display
• Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• 3 W stereo speakers (1.5W x 2)
• HD audio
• 0.3 megapixel webcam
• Internal microphone
• 250GB 5400RPM HDD
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 10/100 Ethernet
• Weight of 2.82 lbs

As for power, Samsung states the N210 should be able to provide approximately 7 hours of battery life.

The N210 is available now at Best Buy for a price of $379.99.

[ Check it out]

HP and Vivienne Tam introduced the latest Vivienne Tam-branded netbook last week, the HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition, at New York Fashion Week.

The new netbook combine’s Tam’s “Butterfly Lovers” design with HP’s Mini 210 netbook technology resulting in a system that’s less than 1 inch thin and weighs around 2.7 pounds. According to HP, “the netbook design is inspired by the classic Chinese love story, “Butterfly Lovers,” a beautiful tale of freedom, romance and inspiration. “

HP also partnered with Beats by Dr. Dre to deliver high-end audio software through headphones or external speakers.

Features include:

• Butterfly Lovers desktop theme including animated butterfly start menu, custom Vivienne Tam icons and three wallpapers
• HP QuickWeb instant-on browsing with quick access to social networks, Skype, email, and other online-content
• Matching microfiber suede sleeve
• Optional Butterfly Lovers wireless mouse and Monster-branded in-ear headphones

Specs include:

• 10.1 inch BrightView Infinity Widescreen Display
• Intel Atom N450 processor
• 2GB of memory with 1 SO-DIMM slot
• 93% full-size keyboard
• Up to 320GB hard drive
• Built-in webcam
• Gold 3-cell (3.0 Ahr) battery provides up to 5.5 hours of battery life or black 6 cell (sold separately) for up to 11 hours of battery life

The HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition should be available starting on March 19th with a starting price of $599. The matching Butterfly Lovers themed HP Wireless Mouse will be priced at $39.99.

[Check it out]

TriGem USA has announced what it considers the market’s thinnest, lightest 10.1 inch netbook yet – the Averatec N1200 Series netbook. With a starting weight of a mere 2.2 pounds, the N1200 measures less than one inch thick (wih the standard battery) and can achieve up to six hours of battery life with the extended battery.

To help achieve this compact form factor, TriGem utilized ultra-slim LED LCDs as well as slim 7mm hard drives for the N1200. In addition, the system employs a magnesium alloy casing and a lithium polymer battery to help keep the overall weight down.

Available in several models, the N1200 has common specs such as the Intel Atom N450 processor clocked at 1.66GHz, Windows XP Home or Windows 7 Starter, 1.3 megapixel webcam. 160GB or 250GB HDD, and 1-2GB of RAM.

Here’s the model breakdown:

N1231EA1E-1S (Silver) and N1231EA1E-1B (Bronze) features:

• 3 hour battery
• 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution LED LCD display
• Atom N450
• Intel NM10 chipset
• 1GB DDR2 RAM
• 160GB HDD
• 802.11b Wi-Fi
• 10/100 Ethernet
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Windows XP Home
• HD Audio
• Weight of 2.2 pounds
• Measures 10.7 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• MSRP of $329.99

N1231EE1E-1 (Silver) features:

• 3 hour battery
• 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution LED LCD display
• Atom N450
• Intel NM10 chipset
• 1GB DDR2 RAM
• 160GB HDD
• 802.11b Wi-Fi
• 10/100 Ethernet
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Windows 7 Starter
• HD Audio
• Weight of 2.2 pounds
• Measures 10.7 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• MSRP of $349.99

N1231FE1E-1S (Silver) and N1231FE1E-1 (Bronze) features:

• 6 hour battery
• 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution LED LCD display
• Atom N450
• Intel NM10 chipset
• 1GB DDR2 RAM
• 250GB HDD
• 802.11b Wi-Fi
• 10/100 Ethernet
• Bluetooth
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Windows 7 Starter
• HD Audio
• Weight of 2.46 pounds
• Measures 10.7 x 6.5 x 1.0 inches
• MSRP of $379.99

The Averatec N1200 will be available at locations such as Best Buy, Tigerdirect.com, and OfficeMax.com.

While we’re on the topic of convertible netbooks, it should be noted that Gigabyte is readying a new series featuring the latest Atom Pinetrail platform called the Gigabyte T1000 series. Specs of the series include:

• Intel Atom N450 clocked at 1.66GHz or Atom N470 clocked at 1.86GHz
• Windows 7 OS
• Intel NM10 chipset
• 10.1 inch 1366 x 768 resolution display
• 250GB HDD
• 2 USB ports, eSATA/USB combo port
• 4 in 1 card reader
• ExpressCard slot
• Built-in speakers
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Built-in HSDPA antenna
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Ethernet
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi

The T1000 features two models – the T1000X and the T1000P. The T1000X comes with a single-touch display and a 4 cell 4500mAh lithium-ion battery while the T1000P comes with a multi-touch enabled display, and a 6 cell 7650mAh battery.

Via Netbooked.net

We’re doing a bit of catch-up news here so I apologize if this is old news for you.

A few weeks back, Acer became the first vendor to announce a netbook featuring the upcoming next-generation NVIDIA ION platform (known to most as the ION 2). Known as the Aspire One 532G, the new 10.1 inch system measures only 1 inch thin, weighs a mere 1kg, and has up to 10 hours of battery life.

With the ION 2 GPU, the 532G supports 720p HD playback locally on the system and 1080p HD playback via an externally connected high-definition display. More importantly, the next-generation GPU supports NVIDIA’s Optimus Technology which automatically and intelligently switches between the discrete graphics and integrated graphics. This allows you to get 3D graphics horsepower when you need it and conserve power consumption when you don’t need it.

All this sounds but will the new ION platform deliver better 3D graphics performance than the first-generation ION platform? According to early test results from Netbook News, this might not be the case.

The site managed to get some time with the new 532G netbook and found the system scored 3049 with 3D Mark 2003. While this is a notable increase over integrated graphics performance, it’s actually lower than what the Samsung N510 scored with the first generation ION platform (the N510 scored a 3513).

Of course these are all preliminary results at this time. The drivers are not fully-baked at this time and this is still pre-release hardware. However, it might be prudent to lower graphics performance expectations of the ION 2 platform.

More importantly, we see the ION 2 as a way for NVIDIA to improve the battery life of ION-powered netbook systems – something that’s been a sore spot for first generation ION-powered netbooks. 

As for the Aspire One 532G, the netbook will be available in three colors (Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red and Pearl Silver), and should be shipping by the end of the first quarter.

ASUS is reportedly planning to launch three new Eee PC netbooks at CeBIT next week – the Eee PC 1015P, 1016P and 1018P. Details on the new systems are scarce at this time but here’s what Blogeee.net uncovered thus far.

ASUS Eee PC 1015P:

• Similar to the current 1005P
• Chiclet keyboard
• Aluminum chassis
• Wider touchpad
• 14 hour battery life

ASUS Eee PC 1016P:

• Thinner than the 1008P and 1008HA – approximately 18mm thick
• Chiclet keyboard
• Aluminum chassis
• Larger Touchpad
• Fingerprint reader
• USB 3.0 ports

ASUS Eee PC 1018P:

• Designed for business users
• Aluminum chassis
• 14 hour battery

[Check it out via Akihabara News]