NetbookTech

Yes, we’ve got our hands on a new netbook, and it’s none other than the HP Mini 210 (specifically the Mini 210-1095NR) in Sonoma Red. This netbook features:

• 10.1 inch WSVGA anti-glare widescreen display
• 160GB 5400RPM HDD
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
• 6 cell Lithium-Ion battery
• Intel Graphcis Media Accelerator 3150
• 5 in 1 media card reader
• Intel Atom N450 processor clocked at 1.66GHz
• Windows 7 Starter 32 bit edition
• Built-in webcam

Stay tuned for our review but do not it’ll take some time because we do like to use the netbook for a bit to get a good feel for the system. In the meantime, check out the unboxing pictures in all its glorious detail.

There are days I love my netbook.

AND then there are days I really love my netbook. Today just happens to be one of those days. I’m sitting in complete darkness thanks to a blackout that seems to have decided to hit a large swath of West LA. No power translates to nothing operational at home which also means I’ve got no Internet connectivity at home..

Ah but wait.. there are two devices that are indeed working for me – my iPhone and my Samsung NC10 netbook. The iPhone has several hours of charge on it assuming I use it sparingly right now and my NC10 has approximately three hours of power left – primarily because I was using it for a few hours the other day and I forgot to charge it back up. Darn ME!

But wait. I digress.. This is where my love affair for my netbook is renewed once again. You see surfing on the net via the iPhone is fun to a certain extent. However after the umpteenth time of resizing a web page to fit nicely into the small display, it gets rather old rather quickly. This is where my netbook with lots of hours of power comes into play. I’m sitting here in pitch blackness with my NC10 connected to the net via AT&T mobile broadband service and I’m loving it! THANK YOU GOD!

Of course being the proprietor of NetbookTech means I have several netbooks on hand to use. Once the NC10 goes down, I’ll switch over to my new Gateway LT3103u which should have about 4 hours of power. After that’s done.. well then I believe it’s time to sleep.

So.. lesson learned: Always have a netbook fully charged. Always have a netbook with loads of battery life. TRY to have mobile broadband handy.. AND MAKE SURE TO HAVE CANDLES WHEN THERE’S A BLACKOUT!

Before doing this – make sure to create your Gateway recovery DVDs using the built-in software that comes with the LT3101u.  I needed two blank DVDs for a recovery image of the entire system and one black DVD for application and drivers. These discs will be useful in case you want to:

1. go back to Windows Vista Home Edition or

2. install other version of Windows such as Windows 7 32bit or 64 bit.

For now, we’re going to concentrate on installing Windows XP Professional SP2 on the LT3103u.

So..

Step 1: Boot from Windows XP install DVD:

Get your trusty external USB drive and connect it to the Gateway. For this experiment, I used a Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 installation DVD. Make sure your netbook will boot from the USB DVD drive first before checking the internal hard drive. You’ll need to change the boot order by going into the BIOS (Press F2). Move the USB drive to the top, save changes, and then boot from the DVD.

Step 2: Format the correct partition for Windows XP

The first major thing XP setup will ask you is to identify a partition to install the OS.

You’ll notice two partitions on your netbook – one small OEM partition (labeled PQSERVICE) and one large (200GB+) partition containing Windows Vista. Go ahead and wipe that large partition (do a quick NTFS format) – you’ll be installing Windows XP on that partition. You could of course wipe both partitions if you’ve already created your recovery DVDs – I like to just keep things around just in case.

Step 3: Install Windows

Once the appropriate partition has been formatted, the setup will copy all the necessary files to your netbook and proceed with the installation of the OS.

The entire installation process will take some time – the text portion took approximately 10 minutes. A quick reboot and up came the graphical portion of the setup process which took approximately 30+ minutes.

A reboot – a few more setup questions and we’re into the Windows XP desktop.

SO what’s missing?

Here’s a look at Device Manager:

Drivers missing for:

• Ethernet Controller
• Network Controller
• PCI Device
• SM Bus Controller
• Video Controller

Step 4: Install the Network Drivers

Unfortunately Gateway doesn’t provide the Windows XP drivers for the missing components above. Luckily the Vista drivers Gateway does provide with the netbook helps us determine what XP drivers we do need to find from the web.

One of the first things we’d like to resolve is the missing network drivers – whether it’s the Ethernet or Wireless networking – it doesn’t really matter – as long as one of the network devices work.

Why get networking up and running first? Once you have networking working, you can download the necessary software updates/drivers directly to the netbook instead of using an external PC system.

For Wi-Fi, you’ll need to find the Windows XP driver for the Atheros Wi-Fi chipset (AR5B95 Wireless Network Adapter). I used the drivers found on this website here:

http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?atheros=AR5B95&system=2

Keep in mind this download apparently packages both 32 bit and 64 bit drivers – make sure to install the 32 bit driver (the 64 bit driver will fail to install)

The Ethernet controller is the Realtek LAN RTL8103EL. I found a driver courtesy of Dell via this website below:

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/NETWORK-CARD/REALTEK/Dell-Inspiron-Mini-10V-Realtek-RTL8103EL-GR-LAN-Driver-A01.shtml

Both drivers were downloaded on a separate PC and then brought over to the Gateway LT3103u via a USB flash drive.

Step 5: Install the video drivers

To fix the video driver problem, I used the ATI Radeon X1200 Series driver located here:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/Pages/integrated_mce-xp.aspx?type=2.7&product=2.7.5.3.2&lang=English

If you haven’t installed Microsoft .NET you’ll notice an error message appear when trying to install the ATI Catalyst software application. The app will install but it won’t be able to execute since it requires .NET 2.0 or higher. Make sure to install .NET afterwards.

A quick reboot and you’ll notice the screen resolution is at the appropriate levels.

Step 6: Install the SM Bus Controller driver

After the display driver is installed, go ahead and install the driver for the SM Bus Controller (The System Management Bus Controller).  The driver can also be found at the AMD/ATI website here:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Legacy/Pages/integrated_mce-xp.aspx?type=2.7&product=2.7.3.3.1.3.2&lang=English

In case the link fails to work – simply select graphics drivers for the ATI Radeon X1200 series and then scroll down to the bottom for the South Bridge Driver. Download and install the South Bridge Driver.

Step 7: Update to Service Pack 3 and perform Windows Update

Because I started with Service Pack 2, I decided to perform an update to Service Pack 3 and thanks to networking being enabled, I was able to do so directly on the LT3103u. Of course if you already started with SP3 – you’re fine at this point.

Once SP 3 is installed, Windows XP found the necessary Realtek HD audio drivers for the last device – which was the unidentified “PCI Device”

I ran Windows Update yet again and found a slew of additional updates to install including two hardware driver updates – One driver is for the AMD processor and the other driver is for the Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller. 

Installed all the updates, rebooted, and looked into Device Manager to see the following:

Yup – everything working.

Is that the end of things? Technically from a driver standpoint it is – but you can always do more. We went ahead and installed the Synaptics driver that came with the Gateway application/driver recovery DVD (yup – it installed just fine under XP).

And there you have it – Windows XP running on the Gateway LT3103u. Enjoy!

As mentioned yesterday, the new Gateway LT3103u 11.6 inch netbook is now readily available over at Best Buy. Yes.. I couldn’t help myself so I decided to pick up the new netbook system yesterday at the list price of $399.99 (I actually got it for less since I had some RewardZone coupons on hand). The LT3103u is Gateway’s first 11.6 inch netbook – as well as the first one to offer up the AMD Athlon 64 L110 processor and ATI Radeon X1270 graphics. 

While I’m still putting the netbook through its paces, I thought I’d at least share some of the unboxing pics of the LT3103u.

Packaging:

The Gateway LT3103u:

Here’s the top-front of the netbook (with the top plastic still attached):

Here’s the bottom of the netbook:

The right side:

The left side:

The battery attached:

The netbook opened:

Early Impressions:

Form Factor:

The LT3103u certainly has more heft to it than the majority of netbook systems out there. It’s not a fatty by any means but you’ll notice the 3+ pound weight especially if you’ve been using a system that weighs a mere 2+ pounds.

The battery juts out and downward a bit from the back – lifting the netbook up at the rear and providing a more comfortable typing experience. A good portion of the weight comes from this large battery which unfortunately only provides a supposed 4-5 hour battery life. (yet to be confirmed).

About the only real complaint that I have with the form factor is opening the netbook itself. There’s a small lip that hangs over the center of the netbook cover which you use to lift up the cover. This lip is a bit small to grip onto – especially for big fingers.

Oh yes.. the top cover is a fingerprint magnet.

Otherwise the netbook is quite sexy!

Keyboard:

I’m loving this keyboard folks! The Samsung NC10 was my previous favorite but the LT3103u  takes the cake thus far (although the new Toshiba will probably compete favorably here also) simply because the form factor as a whole is larger. 

Trackpad:

The LT3103u  has a multi-gesture trackpad although I haven’t had time to test it out yet. The pad itself is roomy and the mouse buttons are well constructed.

Display:

I absolutely love this display.. and here are the main reasons:

• 11.6 inches!
• 1366 x 768 resolution
• Bright!

Did I say 1366 x 768? Yes.. I’m done with that 1024 x 600 resolution display!!!

Performance:

I really can’t say much in this department as of yet since I’ve yet to run actual benchmarks. The LT3103u comes with Windows Vista Home Basic which isn’t my first choice for an OS but luckily Gateway bucks the netbook trend by bundling the LT3103u with 2GB of RAM. The system “feels” somewhat comparable to other “Atom” based netbooks I’ve played with but again – I won’t really know until I’ve executed the software benchmarks. It is important to note that this system runs a single core Athlon 64 processor. No dual core goodness or even hyper-threading goodness here.

And finally.. we are talking about a 64 bit processor here..

Yes.. since the LT3103u does come bundled with an AMD Athlon 64 I decided to try Windows 7 RC x64 on this netbook and yes.. it installed just fine. I had to install the wireless networking drivers and then update the graphics drivers but other than that – things went without a hitch. I’ll probably downgrade back to Windows 7 RC 32 bit shortly for testing purposes but then revert to 64 bit Windows 7 for the remainder of my time with the LT3103u.

Overall.. the Gateway LT3103u is very promising although I’m not exactly keen on the 4-5 hour battery life of the netbook. I also wish Gateway packaged the new AMD Athlon Neo processor instead of the single-core Athlon 64 L110 .. but oh well.. I’m sure component pricing had something to do with that one and when you consider you get an awful lot for $399.99, the LT3103u doesn’t look like too bad of a deal. Stay tuned for a full in-depth review.

I apologize for the lack of news over the last week. Things at work have been rather hectic to put it mildly but I’ll try and catch up a bit this weekend AND.. I’m going to try and start releasing new reviews of various netbook related products and accessories – after all – this is NetbookTech we’re talking about here!

So what’s on tap over the next several weeks?

Well I’ve had three netbooks here for quite some time and I’ve been meaning to do write-ups for them so you can expect reviews for the Acer Aspire One, the Lenovo S10, and the Samsung NC10. Yes, they’re starting to get a bit dated but better late than never right?

During this time, I’ll also be working on several reviews for netbook cases (three in total actually). After all – you’ve got a netbook, chances are, you’ll need a netbook case right? RIGHT!

OK, so let me try and catch up a bit shall we?

It’s been interesting to see the public and media reaction to Andy Tung’s statements earlier in the week about how return rates were four times higher for MSI Wind netbooks running Linux vs netbooks running Windows. Yes – definitely fuel for good debates and of course, good flame wars. Here are some of my own thoughts and impressions about all of this. If you agree or disagree – awesome – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

So first off – remember NOT to generalize this. These are statistics coming from a single vendor for a single flavor of Linux with a limited distribution channel. Don’t start applying this statistic across the board to all vendors. We have absolutely no idea how Linux is selling for other vendors so please don’t start generalizing this as being a problem with Linux netbooks across the board.

Secondly, these are statistics.. and the problem with statistics is – it’s easy to come up with conclusions without taking a deeper look at the data. Case in point – sure the return rates are higher for Linux vs. Windows… but has MSI considered where these netbooks are being purchased from? Are the majority of the sales coming from places like Amazon.com? Or are they coming from places like Newegg.com or mwave.com? I’m willing to bet that the average consumer shopping at Newegg is perhaps a bit more technically savvy than the average consumer at Amazon.com.

Thirdly.. how is the netbook being marketed? Do consumers realize they are getting a netbook system with Linux? If so, is it perhaps the flavor of Linux being distributed with the netbook that’s the problem? What exactly are the problems people are witnessing? Are there not enough bundled applications for the netbook to make it useful out of the box? Are return rates different for different aged groups? Do older consumers return the netbook more often than younger consumers? 

The question of how the netbook is being sold is certainly an interesting one. Consider the way Dell sells the Inspiron Mini 9. With the direct sales approach, consumers get the chance to pick what components go into the Mini netbook. When you’re choosing the best model for your needs, it’s very apparent that you’re either choosing between Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP Home.

Now look at how MSI Wind is sold on Amazon.com. The fact that the system runs Windows XP vs Linux is buried in the title of the system. This is a sample title for one such MSI Wind netbook “MSI Wind 10″ Mini Laptop (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Linux Novell SUSE, 3 Cell Battery) White”. For the casual consumer, it’s easy to overlook the Linux mention in the product. They see a system that’s pretty darn cheap – that’s what they’re seeing! They then receive the netbook in the mail, start it up and find an OS they’re not familiar with. Guess what- RETURN!

So.. is this a failure of Linux? No of course not. In many ways, it’s a failure of marketing and education. 1) Consumers are often not realizing they are purchasing a Linux based netbook and if they are, 2) they don’t realize that Linux is indeed a viable alternative to Windows. 

The educational piece is perhaps the most important part of it all. Consumers need to know that they can probably get almost all of their work done on Linux as they could on Windows. The same marketing campaign that Apple does with the Mac and OS X is in fact what Linux needs for the average consumer. This is why Apple succeeds in selling more and more Apple systems.. consumer education through savvy commercials and advertising.

Thus I repeat – this is NOT a failure of the Linux OS as much as it is about marketing and education. However the Linux community shouldn’t be completely left off the hook here.  If they (and “they” here means developers, hardware manufacturers, anyone out there who wants Linux to succeed) want the consumer world to accept Linux as an alternative to Windows, they need to make it far more friendly to the average consumer. Take a look at Apple and see what they’ve done with OS X. A pretty sweet and powerful OS yet simple enough to use for the average user. Linux is getting there with flavors like Ubuntu but it’s NOT there yet.  Thus the Linux community needs to see this as an opportunity to reach out to average consumers and say – “Hey everything you do on Windows, you can do on Linux, except it’s for free. It’s just as easy to do this on Linux”. Perhaps it’s mostly education than additional software development.. but there’s clearly something that needs to be done.

With that said, I think it’s great that manufacturers are bundling Linux with netbook systems. I don’t think you’ll see this option go away – especially as long as Microsoft continues charging for Windows XP Home or Windows Vista. For the ultimate power users out there, the best alternative would be a hardware purchase only – no software installed on the netbook. Take this a step further by truly passing the cost onto the consumer. Bundle both Windows and Linux install DVDs and then have the consumer pay Microsoft directly if they want to unlock Windows on their netbook. THEN perhaps consumers will begin to see the “costs” of running Windows vs. Linux.. and for those that still want Windows.. well then they want it (the same goes for Linux).

Just my 2 cents of course…

Here’s a list of other articles about this story…

• “What’s wrong with Linux netbooks?” – InternetNews.com
• “Bad marketing undermines Linux netbooks” – Tectonic
• “Have consumers spoken and said: “Linux sux”? – iTWire
• “Linux Netbook Returns: Not Surprising but likely Avoidable” – OStatic
• “Linux ready to replace Windows? Not yet..” – ZDNet
• “Linux netbook returns higher?” – eWeek
• “Consumers might not be ready for Linux netbooks, but we are” – ZDNet

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook finally arrived yesterday via UPS Ground. The somewhat worrisome aspect – the packaging for the system was rather beat up from the shipping (you’ll see pictures of that below). In fact, I was very disappointed that Lenovo shipped the S10 simply in the original box that the netbook came in. There was no additional packaging around it. Had I known this, I would have opted for a different form of shipping instead of UPS Ground.

Here are pictures of the box:

Luckily, the S10 suffered no damage whatsoever.

Read the rest of this entry »

Why hello there.. is that a “dot” that I see you carrying? Yes.. above is the newly announced Packard Bell “dot” netbook – an 8.9 inch system that Packard Bell claims is the first netbook “specifically designed for consumers.” (yes I’m laughing at this too) The reasons why it thinks this way?

• It’s the first netbook that fits easily in a handbag (Umm.. my Aspire One fits into a handbag)
• It’s the first netbook that can be entrusted with a child on a school trip.. (umm.. they could take the Eee PC or Aspire One… or Dell Inspiron Mini 9.. etc etc)
• It fits nicely between a notebook and a PDA.. (um.. that would be the definition of a netbook.. not the dot please)
• It’s more comfortable than a smartphone (yeah I’d say all netbooks are more comfortable than a smartphone)..

So as you can see.. the dot was indeed specifically designed for consumers! Ha.. ok ok.. enough ridicule.. here are the specs to the Packard Bell dot.

• 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 resolution display
• Windows XP OS
• Intel Atom processor
• 1GB RAM
• Supports 6 cell battery
• 160GB HDD
• 3 USB ports
• 5 in 1 card reader
• Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• Optional 3G module
• Built-in webcam

The Packard Bell dot will be available in Europe starting in November for a price of €399 ($584 U.S. Dollars).

[Check it out via SlashGear]

Samsung has thrown it’s hat into the netbook ring with the announcement of the new NC10 system. The device will be available in three colors (white, piano black, and metallic blue) and will come with a 10.2 inch display. Other features of the Samsung NC10 include the following:

• Intel Atom processor
• WSVGA (1024 x 600) display with SuperBright Non-Gloss LED
• Microsoft Windows XP Home
• Choice of 80 GB Of 160GB HDD
• 3 in 1 memory card reader
• VGA port
• Microphone in/Headphone out
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• 6 cell battery for up to 8 hours of battery life
• Atheros 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
• Fast Ethernet
• Optional Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Ultra durable Protect-o-Edge casing

The NC10 is due to hit the UK market in October with a suggested price of £329 ($610 US dollars)

[Check it out]

Intel officially began shipping their new dual core Intel Atom processor last week known as the Intel Atom Processor 330. The new processor model is designed specifically for nettop systems and feature:

• 1.6GHz processing core
• 1MB L2 cache
• 8W TDP
• Support for DDR2 667MHz memory

According to the Intel PR Chip Shots blog, the new processor is available as part of new Intel Desktop Board called the D945GCLF2. The specs for the D945GCLF2 include:

• Mini-ITX form factor
• Integrated 45nm Intel Atom Processor 330
• Intel 945GC Express Chipset
• Realtek ALC662 audio codec
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Eight USB 2.0 ports
• Two SATA ports
• One parallel ATA IDE interface
• One serial and parallel port
• Once PCI bus connector

Even though these new dual core Atom processors are designed for nettop systems, it’s not far fetched to imagine someone deciding to use these processors for netbook systems. Let’s hope so!

[Check it out via DailyTech]