Hasta La Gadget!

In the tech world you often get what you pay for. With that old adage in mind, one shouldn’t really expect all that much from the $.99 HP Mini 110c currently available from Best Buy. That said, a buck doesn’t seem like a big price to pay for a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 process, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive, right?

What about $.99 plus $1,440? Thing is, one’s calculations should be more akin to buying a cell phone. That sub-$1 price tag is actually subsidized by Sprint, meaning, in order to actually get the netbook, you’ve got to opt into a two-year data plan at $60 a month.

So the moral, perhaps, is, you get what you pay for, so it’s important to check the fine print to find out how much you’re really paying.

Archos is throwing the keyboard out the window for its new netbook, the Archos 9 PCtablet. The 9-inch screen is touch sensitive, so all typing is done on onscreeen. The design allows this netbook to weigh under 2 pounds, and it’s only 0.63 inches thick.

It’s not just about what’s on the outside, though. The Archos 9 uses the new Intel Atom Z515 processor, boasts a 60GB or 120GB hard drive, has built-in Bluetooth, and features two antennas to receive DVBT TV with diversity reception. As a final bonus, this model comes standard with Microsoft Windows 7. 

Look for the PCtablet to ship this fall; no pricing information has been announced as yet.

While some consumer notebooks attempt to attract the eye, Lenovo’s business-oriented ThinkPads take a more austere, simple approach.

But in all notebooks, there’s some serious design decisions made under the radar, that consumers and other customers don’t necessarily see. In a blog post, David Hill, Lenovo’s vice president of corporate identity and design, explained the evolution of one decision: a revision of the keyboard layout in the new T400s.

Hill and Lenovo installed keyboard loggers (with permission) in a dozen or so keyboards within Lenovo, to gain a better understanding of what users hit what keys, and with what frequency. (Hill notes that one unscientific way to understand this is to simply look at your keyboard at an angle — the most frequently-used keys will be polished, whereas others, such as the ‘~’, or tilde key, appear rougher.)

NPD today released a report stating that some 60-percent of consumers who have purchased a netbook assumed that the smaller, cheaper devices would have the same functionality as standard notebooks. In their defense, the category as it’s defined now is a relatively new one–and a fairly nebulous one. Also, netbook and notebook do sound kind of similar.

Naturally the confusion has led to some unhappy customers. Fifty-eight percent of those who picked up a netbook in the place of a notebook claim to be happy with the choice. NPD VP Stephen Baker had this to say about the confusion,

There is a serious risk of cannibalization in the notebook market that could cause a real threat to netbooks’ success. Retailers and manufacturers can’t put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases

Verizon on Monday unveiled faster pricing tiers for its FiOS Internet service and announced a promotion that will provide new residential customers with the choice of a free netbook or Flip camcorder.

The company will bump its entry-level, fiber-optic FiOS service from 10 Mbits/s download and 2 Mbits/s upload speeds to 15-Mbits/5 Mbits. Mid-tier speeds will also jump from 20-Mbits/5-Mbits to 25-Mbits/15-Mbits, Verizon said.

For unbundled FiOS Internet service, an annual plan for the 15-Mbits/5 Mbits service will cost $44.99 per month, and a month-to-month plan will cost $54.99. For 25-Mbits/15-Mbits, an annual plan will be $64.99 per month and a month-to-month option will cost $72.99 per month.

In Long Island and the New York City suburbs, entry-level service will be available for 25-Mbits/15-Mbits and mid-tier will have speeds up to 35-Mbits/20-Mbits. To receive 35-Mbits/20-Mbits, however, cutomers must subscribe to a $109.99 per month bundle that also includes FiOS TV Extreme HD plus Showtime, and Freedom Essentials voice service.

To pull customers away from cable to FiOS, Verizon will be offering a free Compaq Mini netbook or Flip Ultra camcorder to customers who subscribe to certain pricing tiers and bundles.