Best Netbook Review

ASUS Eee PC 1005PR Official Product Page Gone Live

Michael — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:56:26 +0000

Asus has added a new netbook model called the Eee PC 1005PR on their product page. The difference between this model and the 1005PE is that it has a HD 1366 x 768 display and Broadcom Crystal HD card inside the netbook. Other than that, the Eee PC 1005PR is exactly the same as the Eee PC 1005PE in terms of specs and design.

Here’s the rundown of specs for the Eee PC 1005PR:

10.1” 1366 x 768 display
Intel Atom N450 processor
1GB RAM
250GB HDD
6-cell battery (63Wh, 11 hours) or (48Wh, 9 hours)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (optional)
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (optional)
0.3M webcam
Broadcom BCM70015
VGA, 3x USB, card reader, audio jacks, LAN
Windows 7 Starter + Express Gate
Available in black, white, blue, pink (Mod Roller) OR black, white, blue (texture with painting)

via: netbooked

HP Mini 5102 Now Available With Intel Atom N470

Michael — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:29:56 +0000

HP’s business class netbook, the Mini 5102 is now available with 1.83GHz Intel Atom N470 CPU. It cost only $25 for the processor upgrade but this option is not currently available on any of HP’s “Smart Buy” configurations. This means that you will need to spend at least $543 to get the configurable model with an Atom 470 CPU.

Source: Liliputing

Tablet Convertible Netbooks Comparison: Gigabyte T1000 vs Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t vs Viliv S10 Blade

Michael — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:24:37 +0000

Sascha from Netbooknews.com got his hands on 3 of the latest 10-inch tablet convertible netbooks (Gigabyte T1000, Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t, and Viliv S10 Blade), and recorded them into videos.

While all these devices are sporting a multitouch-display and are running on Intel Atom platforms, each have their own strength and weaknesses. Sascha did a good job comparing the 3 tablet-style netbooks in the following video.. check it out:

Source: Netbook News

HP Mini 210 Review Roundup

Michael — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:07:30 +0000

HP Mini 210 Overview

The HP Mini 210 is the latest generation of consumer class netbook from HP. This 2.7-pound netbook features Intel’s latest Atom N450 processor which gives it a longer battery life and a more unified design due to the N450’s smaller package size.

Here’s the run down of the specs for HP Mini 210:

Intel Atom Processor N450 (1.66 GHz, 512 KB L2 Cache)
1GB DDR2 System Memory (1 DIMM)
A choice of 160GB or 250GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)
Windows 7 Starter
A choice of 3-cell battery that supports up to 4.25 hours battery life or 6-cell battery that supports up to 9.75 Hours of Battery Life
10.1″ Diagonal WSVGA LED Anti-glare Widescreen Display. 1024 x 600 resolution for standard version and 1366 x 768 for HD Edition
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 (shared) with up to 256MB Total Available Graphics Memory

The starting price of the HP Mini 210 is just around $299.99, but will vary according to the configuration that you select. HP offers a ton of options to trick out your system, including a full HD display and Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator for smoother full-screen video playback on sites like Hulu.

HP’s commercial on the Mini 210:

Unboxing video of the HP Mini 210 by nDevil:

Review Roundup

In terms of design, the HP Mini 210 looks pretty stylish and are available in several color choices including white, black, silver, blue, and red. The chiclet style keyboard and large touchpad are both pretty comfortable to use. It has integrated touch buttons on the touchpad instead of real physical buttons which some people might not like, but according to Laptop Magazine, the Mini 210 is one of the better implementations of the integrated touch buttons that they have used on a netbook.

In terms of performance, the 1.66-GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU and 1GB RAM on the HP Mini 450 delivered a score of 1,365 on PCMark05, which is slightly lower than Toshiba mini NB305-N410 (1,383) and ASUS Eee PC 1001P (1,384). There’s no problem performing everyday computing tasks on the HP Mini 210 (eg. web surfing, email checking, word processing, etc..), but playing 1080 HD video is not be possible without installing Broadcom Video Accelerator. Below is a video from nDevil demonstrating HD video playback, gaming (Counter Strike), and running Abobe Photoshop on HP Mini 210. Note that the unit shown in the video is a standard version with no video Accelerator installed.

Here’s another video showing how World of Warcraft (WoW) runs on a HP mini 210 netbook.

In terms of battery life, the Mini 210’s six-cell battery lasted 6 hours and 37 minutes on Laptop Magazine’s battery Test. It’s shorter than other Pine Trail netbooks such as the Asus Eee PC 1005PE, 1001P, and Toshiba NB305, but should be enough to get most users through a full day of on-and-off use.

Customer Rating

3.5 out of 5

PLUSES: Takes 2gb memory module; SD card can be used for ReadyBoost; easy access to memory, PCI-e card slot, and hard drive via “pop off” bottom cover; available slot for PCI-e card (in my case, a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, $25 mail order, but you may want to insert a 3G card etc.); MATTE SCREEN for glare free viewing; more ergonomic keyboard than most in this… (Read all reviews >>)

Availability

You can find the HP Mini 210 netbook with various configuration on Amazon. The lowest price that you can get for this netbook is $299.99.

Samsung Go N315 Is The Go N310 with Pine Trail

Michael — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:29:13 +0000

Samsung has updated the Go N310 netbook with Intel Pine Trail platform. The updated version is called Go N315 and it looks identical to the original Samsung N310 with the same rubberized case and chiclet-style keyboard. The only difference is that the Go N315 will come with matte instead of glossy display.

Specs for the Samsung Go N315:
10.1” 1024 x 600 display, Atom N450 processor, 1GB RAM, GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, 10/100 LAN, 1.3MP webcam, 4-cell battery (4.5 hours) and Windows 7 Starter.

The Samsung N315 Go netbook is currently available for pre-order on Amazon for $429.

Source: Netbooked

Google Chrome OS Will Have A Business Version, Coming 2011

Michael — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:54:34 +0000

While the consumer version of the Google Chrome OS is coming soon by end of this year, Will Drewry, a Google software security engineer, said that there will be a business version of the OS coming the following year in 2011 which will have functionality suited to businesses. He also said that Chrome OS netbooks may come with a hardware switch located underneath the battery which lets users turn off some specialized security functions so they can run in “developer mode”, a feature which will allow developers to tinker with Chrome OS code and bring up new ideas.

Source: Network World

How To Upgrade RAM On A Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Netbook

Michael — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:05:02 +0000

If you own a Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 netbook, you will find that there’s no access panel at the bottom of netbook for RAM upgrade. You will need to remove the battery, keyboard, and a few screws to gain access to the RAM. Below is a nice video tutorial that walk you through the process.

ASUS Eee PC 1016P Hands on and preview

Michael — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:41:26 +0000

Here’s another hands-on video of the upcoming Asus Eee PC 1016P netbook from Sascha at the CeBIT 2010. This netbook comes with Intel Atom N470 processor and has a nice keyboard and touchpad. Watch the video below to find out more.

Source: Netbooknews.com

Best Selling Netbook Of February 2010

Michael — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:14:27 +0000

The best selling netbook for this month is the Asus Eee PC 1005PE-MU17-BK. This comes with no surprise as the Eee PC 1005PE is still the best netbook around, and tagged a very reasonable price.

The top 10 best-selling netbooks of February 2010.

	Netbook Models	Price	Rating (out of 5)
1	ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-MU17-BK	$329.17	4.5 >> Check out reviews
2	ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-MU17-WT	$328.71	4.5 >> Check out reviews
3	ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005PE-PU17-BK	$368.59	4 >> Check out reviews
4	ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1201N-PU17-SL	$484.00	4.5 >> Check out reviews
5	Acer AOD250-1842	$297.07	4.5 >> Check out reviews
6	Asus Eee PC 1201N-PU17-BK	$479.00	4.5 >> Check out reviews
7	Toshiba Mini NB205-N325BN	$309.99	4 >> Check out reviews
8	Toshiba Mini NB205-N325WH	$299.97	4 >> Check out reviews
9	Acer AO532h-2588	$298.00	4.5 >> Check out reviews
10	Toshiba Mini NB305-N310	$348.54	4 >> Check out reviews

By looking at the top-ten best selling chart, Asus is still the leader of the netbook market — 5 out 10 comes from Asus. Besides good quality and reasonable price, another success factor of Asus is that they cover various level of market requirement. For consumers who want a more powerful machine than a typical netbook, Asus provides them with the Eee PC 1201N which is capable of gaming and HD video playback; while for those who want a low-cost netbook with just enough processing power for daily tasks, Asus has the Eee PC 1005PE for them.

The other 2 netbook brand that make it to the top 10 are Toshiba and Acer. Both have their own strength where Acer is well known for their competitively priced netbook, while Toshiba’s netbook are always in good quality and design although they tend to have slightly higher price compared to the others.

Another observation worth mentioning is that 7 out of the 10 netbooks on the list are Pine Trail netbooks that use the new Intel Atom N450 processor. The reason that those few older generation netbooks that run Intel Atom N270 or N280 processor still make it to the top-ten is because online retailers are giving huge discount on those old models to clear their stocks. If you are looking for great deals on older generation netbooks, now is the right time. I recommend you to check out our partner site at cheapnetbooksdeals.com.

HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition Officially Luanched

Michael — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:11:41 +0000

The HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition netbook has gone official. It features a gold keyboard, a butterfly design on the lid, and an optional “Butterfly Lovers” wireless mouse to match with the netbook. In terms of specification, it comes with a 10.1”, 1024 x 600 resolution display, 2GB RAM, up to 320GB HDD, Windows 7 Home Premium and 3-cell battery (4.25 hours).

The HP Mini 210 Vivienne Tam Edition is currently available for pre-order at Amazon for $599.99. Check out the commercial video below: