Black Friday deals from Dynamism

The good folks over at Dynamism have put up some nice Black Friday deals for those interested in a mobile computing. These will be good through Sunday or while supplies last.
If you are looking for a great deal on a netbook that will be able to handle your basic computing tasks, [...]

The good folks over at Dynamism have put up some nice Black Friday deals for those interested in a mobile computing. These will be good through Sunday or while supplies last.

If you are looking for a great deal on a netbook that will be able to handle your basic computing tasks, take a look at the Acer Aspire One [Portal page] [review] which can be bought for $249. The Black Friday Aspire One comes with Linpus Lite (Linux), 8GB SSD storage, and 512MB of RAM.

If you want some serious mobile computing power in a tiny package, Dynamism has the Raon Everun Note [Portal page] [review] for $599. The Black Friday Everun Note is configured with an AMD Sempron 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB SSD, and Ubuntu Linux.

Want something hand-held? You can pick up a well equipped OQO 02 [Portal page] [review] for $1599. The Black Friday Special OQO 02 comes with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M CPU, 1GB of RAM, 120GB HDD, and Windows XP Pro.

And last but not least, there is an Asus Eee PC 900 [Portal page] for $299. The Black Friday configuration of this computer has the Intel Celeron 900MHz CPU, 12GB SSD, 1GB of RAM and Windows XP.

Check out the rest of the Black Friday Specials page for deals on other products as well. Again, these deals will only last until Sunday or possibly sooner if stock runs out, don’t let this one slip by.

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New MSI netbooks; not your standard cookie-cutter specs

Finally a breath of fresh air in an area of computing where the only major difference in products was appearance and price!
I’m really glad to see some interesting new stuff from MSI. We recently talked about the MSI Wind U120 [Portal page] which is just like the original U100 but with 3G and some increased [...]

Finally a breath of fresh air in an area of computing where the only major difference in products was appearance and price!

I’m really glad to see some interesting new stuff from MSI. We recently talked about the MSI Wind U120 [Portal page] which is just like the original U100 but with 3G and some increased storage options, but that isn’t very exciting is it?

Now news is spreading that MSI will be releasing two additional netbooks some time around January. The netbooks will be the U110 and U115; I’ve put the interesting things in bold:

• 1024×600 10" screen


• 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 CPU - which is a more expensive but less power hungry chip (2w) than the Atom N270 (2.5w) which is in almost every netbook you see today


• Poulsbo US15W chipset - most netbooks are using the Intel 945G. Poulsbo in combination with the Z530 CPU will make for a total chipset drain of 4.3w


• 6-cell battery


• Up to 250GB HDD for the U110


• Hybrid Storage - The U115 will feature SSD and HDD combinations. The idea is that the OS and programs can go on the smaller capacity SSD (8/16/32GB) for quick booting and program launching, then there will be plenty of room for media and other storage on the HDD (80/120/160GB). Computers such as the VAIO TZ have used a similar storage configuration. It will be important to the success of the U115 that this doesn’t consume too much power running both drives.


• Wi-Fi B/G/draft-N


• The rest is pretty common; Bluetooth, 1GB of RAM (up to 2GB on the U115), 3x USB 2.0 ports, 2.0MP webcam etc.

Like I said, all of this is new and exciting to see in a netbook. However, after reading this I can’t help but wonder how they plan on keeping the prices down. Nearly everything in this list will run the price up over current netbooks: new CPU+chipset, two storage drives, and draft-N Wi-Fi. We’ll have to wait and see but I would image the top end U115 will run you somewhere around $700 if not higher.

[Blogeee] via [Liliputing] [Electric Vagabond]

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Menlow / XP Hopes Rise with News from Kohji

This must be the fourth time we’ve heard that XP will be coming to the Menlow platform in the past few months. First there was the Wibrain i1 (sadly, delayed until 2009, we hear) then there was the Dell Mini 12 (again, where is it?) then there were rumblings about Aigo getting XP drivers out [...]

This must be the fourth time we’ve heard that XP will be coming to the Menlow platform in the past few months. First there was the Wibrain i1 (sadly, delayed until 2009, we hear) then there was the Dell Mini 12 (again, where is it?) then there were rumblings about Aigo getting XP drivers out for the Aigo MID and now its Kohjinsha’s turn. According to Akihabara News, they’ve announced that the SC3 and SX3 will be available with XP in December.

We’ve got an SC3 gathering dust here in the office. While the form factor is good, the construction is nice, the H.264 performance is awesome and the screen is fantastic, the battery life, ahem, sucks, and the Vista build is just way too unpredictable to be used for anything approaching mobile productivity. (Trust me on this. I’ve tried many times!) Tests with Windows 7 proved that battery life could be improved (my test results in this thread) but it doesn’t really provide an increase in confidence when you work with a pre-beta OS.

Fingers crossed then that Intel and Kohjinsha’s part suppliers have come up with the goods that might transform the SC3 like it did the Q! Ultra:

Immediately, even after just the first few seconds of use, it was clear that the device was a lot faster and a lot more fluid than with Vista. I guess I shouldn’t have been suprised! Boot time was quick. The disk light wasn’t flashing like a Vegas slot machine. [source]

Keep an eye on the Japanese Driver page and if you spot those XP drivers, let me know!

Via Akihabara News.

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Buy your Dell Mini 9 with HSDPA today

After recently adding a 32GB SSD option, Dell appears to be the first in the US to sell a netbook in the with a 3G radio and an actual data plan through a carrier. While some carriers in other countries are subsidizing the entire netbooks bundled with a 3G modems, you won’t get that [...]

After recently adding a 32GB SSD option, Dell appears to be the first in the US to sell a netbook in the with a 3G radio and an actual data plan through a carrier. While some carriers in other countries are subsidizing the entire netbooks bundled with a 3G modems, you won’t get that sort of discount here. At least it won’t cost you much extra, provided you sign up with a 2 year contract from AT&T. It looks as though the modem can only be added to a Mini 9 configured with XP at this point.

Adding the HSDPA modem to your Mini 9 [Portal page] configuration will also add $125 to the bill, however you can reclaim $120 of that through a rebate if you sign up with AT&T. So an extra $5 for a 3G modem doesn’t sound bad right? Unfortunately it isn’t the hardware that makes up the real cost, it is the data plan, which will run you $60/month from AT&T. Brad from Liliputing points out that for some, it might be more cost effective to use an AT&T 3G USB dongle if you own more than one mobile computer. It would cost the same amount per month, but offer the flexibility of using one piece of 3G hardware on more than one computer.

[Liliputing]

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Acer sells and estimated 5.8 million Aspire Ones, 10" model for the future

According to Akihabaranews.com, Acer will sell an estimated 5.8 million (you read that right, 5,800,000) Aspire One netbooks [Portal page][review] by the end of the year. That is a pretty big number considering that the Aspire One wasn’t even released until Q2 of 2008. Akihabaranews says that Acer sent them some press info showing the [...]

According to Akihabaranews.com, Acer will sell an estimated 5.8 million (you read that right, 5,800,000) Aspire One netbooks [Portal page][review] by the end of the year. That is a pretty big number considering that the Aspire One wasn’t even released until Q2 of 2008. Akihabaranews says that Acer sent them some press info showing the sales for each quarter as well as the estimated number for the final quarter:

Quarter	# of Aspire Ones sold
Q1	0
Q2	800,000
Q3	2,200,000
Q4	2,800,000 [estimated]

 

In addition to these impressive figures, Scott Lin, Acer Taiwan president has also stated that they will be following in the steps of some other companies and offer a 10" version of the Aspire One. Said to have the same specs, lets call it the Aspire Ten for now, will go on sale possibly in February or March of 2009.

 

[Electric Vagabond]

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Gigabyte M528. Dec 22 Availability Confirmed For Taiwan

Chungwa and Gigabyte will be launching the M528 on Dec 6th with availability set for Dec 22nd according to an official statement appearing in PC World via the IDG News service.

This is of course good news for the west because up until now, the product didn’t even have a production line schedule. We had [...]

Chungwa and Gigabyte will be launching the M528 on Dec 6th with availability set for Dec 22nd according to an official statement appearing in PC World via the IDG News service.

This is of course good news for the west because up until now, the product didn’t even have a production line schedule. We had heard that the M528 was to go out initially through Expansys in Europe but that could have changed. I doubt anyone will be getting it as a Christmas present but we’ve put queries out to our contacts and hope to bring you the definitive answer later today.

The local price in Taiwan (including 3G and 3mp auto-focus camera) will be $583 dollars without any subsidy. Expansys are offering pre-tax pre-orders (aff. link) now for the equivalent of $685 but it’s not listed on the Expansys US web site yet.

Our hands-on with the M528 is here. There’s plenty more information in the M528 page.

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How big can a Mobile Internet Device Be? Kindle-Sized?

This is the question that I’ve been battling with over the weekend after someone asked ‘Is the Kindle a mobile Internet device?’ Six months ago I probably would have said ‘no’ and stuck to my belief that a MID should be a pocketable device but since then I’ve changed my opinion slightly. I now believe [...]

This is the question that I’ve been battling with over the weekend after someone asked ‘Is the Kindle a mobile Internet device?’ Six months ago I probably would have said ‘no’ and stuck to my belief that a MID should be a pocketable device but since then I’ve changed my opinion slightly. I now believe that the non-pocketable ‘handheld’ aspect is also an important category of MIDs, just as, say, the chunky Dash form-factor is.

Consider these Kindle features for a moment.

• Built-in browser


• Daylight-readable screen


• Full keyboard


• 24hr battery life…always on and connected


• Instant-on


• Under 300gms (10.3 ounces)


• One of the most aggressive pricing structures for mobile Internet access yet. Free! All data costs are rolled up into the cost of the device.

Of course, there’s a lot of issues with the current Kindle. The browser is basic, the speed of the device is a major issue and the lack of backlight a serious shortfall but if you think about it, you can easily envision variations of the Kindle that focus on other forms of consumption. Web, Video and Navigation being just three. The current Kindle may not satisfy those seeking a full browsing experience but the core concept of a book-sized, connected reader is undeniably good.

For me, the definition of a mobile Internet device has to include ‘hand-holdable.’ The volume of the device is important so a 300gm, super-thin reader would qualify in my, updated, book. Netbooks don’t cut it for mobility as 2lb is still too heavy and the volume of these devices is huge compared to others. You can fit 25 iPod touches inside the volume of the MSI Wind! Fancy carrying 25 iPod touches in your backpack?

Maybe Intel should loosen-up on their definition of a MID because while pocketable is good, there are other mobile Internet customers out there that can be served by the same technology.

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