NetbookTech

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.

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The folks at LaptopMag have published two new netbook reviews on their site – one for the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t and one for the Samsung N210.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t is a convertible netbook with the following specs:

• Intel Atom N470 processor clocked at 1.83GHz
• Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• 2GB of RAM
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
• 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution display
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
• Ethernet
• Headphone/Microphone
• VGA port
• 2 USB ports
• 6 in 1 media card reader

A convertible netbook seems like a wonderful idea – except when you consider the Atom-processor really isn’t up to snuff with touch-operations. Here’s the verdict from LaptopMag:

”The S10-3t does some things right. It’s fairly light for a convertible, offers accurate touch input, and it has a comfortable keyboard. And, provided you get the 8-cell battery, you’ll see 7 hours of unplugged computing time. However, this machines’ sluggish performance and weak wireless range hold it back. If you want a netbook with touch capability, the S10-3t is worth considering, but this netvertible didn’t quite live up to our expectations.”

Read more of the review here.

Meanwhile, the Samsung N210 is the latest addition to Samsung’s fine lineup of netbook systems. The N210 is a Pinetrail enabled netbook featuring a unique scratch-resistant finish and instant-on capability with a widget-based user interface. Specs to the N210 include:

• Intel Atom N450 processor
• 1 – 2 GB of RAM
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
• 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution display
• Intel GMA 3150 graphics
• 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Windows 7 Starter
• Ethernet
• Headphone and microphone port
• VGA port
• 3 USB ports
• 3 in 1 media card reader

What’s the verdict?

“The Samsung N210 offers solid overall performance, close to 7 hours of battery life, and an attractive design. We also like the matte screen and loud speakers. However, this machine faces stiff competition from the ASUS Eee PC 1001P, which costs $80 less and lasts nearly 90 minutes longer on a charge. And the $399 Toshiba mini NB305 offers a better touchpad/mouse button combo and longer endurance for not much more money. The N210 is good, but it’s not the best.”

$379 is a tough sell when you consider the competition is either cheaper or offering better battery life. Come on Samsung – get back into the ballgame here. Read more of the review here.

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.

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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.

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AT&T is now offering two new 3G LaptopConnect cards – the LG USBConnect Turbo and the Option USBConnect Velocity.

The LG Turbo is the first LaptopConnect card from LG and features a compact, lightweight design with support for HSPA 7.2 connectivity.  There’s a built-in microSD card slot allowing the Turbo to double as a portable storage device.

The Option Velocity is the first GPS-enabled LaptopConnect 3G device from AT&T allowing you to utilize location-based applications on your laptop. The device comes with the free Option GPS Control Panel software application which leverages location-based sites such as Yahoo! Maps and Bing for directions and points-of-interest.  Like the LG Turbo, the Option Velocity comes with a built-in microSD card slot.

The AT&T USBConnect Turbo will be available for free after a mail-in rebate and a new two year DataConnect contract of at least $35 dollars a month (you’ll pay $99.99 and after a mail-in rebate receive a $100 dollar AT&T Promotion Card).

The AT&T USBConnect Velocity will be available for $29.99 after a mail-in rebate and a new two-year DataConnect contract of at least $35 dollars a month (you’ll pay $129.99 and after a mail-in rebate receive a $100 dollar AT&T Promotion Card).

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Those of you who love the idea of mobile broadband but hate the idea of committing to a two year subscription will love Virgin Mobile USA’s new Broadband2Go plans. Although the prices remain the same, three of the four plans now offer high data thresholds. Here’s the breakdown for the new Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go plans:

• $10 dollars for 100MB of data which expires in 10 days
• $20 dollars for 300MB of data which expires in 30 days
• $40 dollars for 1GB of data which expires in 30 days
• $60 dollars for 5GB of data which expires in 30 days.

Getting onto Broadband2Go is pretty straightforward. You can add data to your service via credit/debit cards or via Virgin Mobile/Broadband2Go Top-Up cards. The underlying service is provided by Sprint and you can purchase a USB modem (Novatel Wireless MC760 Broadband2Go device) for $99.99 at places like BestBuy.com, Target, Walmart.com, and VirginMobileUSA.com.

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Let’s face it. Sound typically sucks on netbooks and thin-and-light notebooks. These tiny systems with tiny speakers just can’t pump out the sound that we’ve come to expect on larger systems.

So what do you do if you want to pump out some serious sound from your netbook? Attach an external speaker system of course! Logitech is out with a new external attachment called the Logitech Laptop Speaker Z205.

Lightweight and small enough to attach onto netbook systems, the Z205 measures 1.35 inches thick and 2.5 inches tall – plenty small enough to take with you wherever you go. Simply clip the speakers to the top of display and them connect them to your system via the included USB cable. No need for external power adapters here.

The Z205 comes with two high-performance drivers,  a built-in amplifier, and a acoustically tuned enclosure. Buttons on top of the speaker control volume and power.

The Logitech Laptop Speaker Z205 will be available this month for a price of $39.99.

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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.

NVIDIA officially launches their second-generation Ion platform today with the unveiling of the “Ion 2”. As most of you already know by now, the Ion 2 delivers a new discrete graphics chip which is 40 percent smaller than the original Ion chip as well as switchable graphics functionality via NVIDIA’s Optimus technology.

On the discrete graphics side, the Ion 2 will come in two flavors – an 8-core chip designed for 10 inch netbooks and a 16-core version for larger 11 inch or 12 inch netbooks. Both Ion 2 variants will support HDMI and DisplayPort technologies . The 8-core version will have a TDP of 6 watts while the 16-core version will have a TDP rating of 13 watts.

Of course we all know discrete graphics are certainly not a battery’s best friend.

To address this issue and improve overall battery performance with the Ion platform, NVIDIA rolls in Optimus technology into the Ion 2 platform. Optimus basically delivers switchable graphics to netbook systems – switching between the integrated graphics solution built into the Pinetrail Atom processor and the discrete NVIDIA graphics chip. A software driver automatically determines the best graphics solution for the application at hand – potentially saving tons of battery life on the netbook.

No word on delivery dates for the Ion 2 platform but we all know the Acer Aspire 532G will be one of the first Ion 2 systems out.

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HP announces several new enterprise/small-business class notebooks today including the new HP EliteBook 2540p. The system is the lightest EliteBook notebook yet with a weight of 3.3 pounds. Specs include:

• Choose between standard-voltage Intel Core processors or low-voltage processors
• 12.1  inch LED display
• Optional 2 megapixel webcam with business card reader software and HP fingerprint sensor
• Supports up to 8GB of RAM
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
• Full-size, spill-resistant keyboard with drains which protect the system from minor spills
• Magnesium alloy casing
• Integrated HP Mobile Broadband powered by Gobi
• Several battery options including 3 cell battery for up to 4 hours of power, 6 cell battery for up to 8 hours of power, and a 9 cell battery for up to 10.5 hours of power
• Meets MIL-STD 810G military-standard tests for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude, and high/low temps
• Comes with HP SkyRoom HD video conferencing software

Pricing for the new EliteBook 2540p starts at $1099 with units expected next month. Read about the other business-class notebook additions at Krunker.com.