Hasta La Gadget!

We were pleased to see Asus responding to its critics by unveiling the new 1000HE at CES, offering a far more pleasant keyboard that finally moved the right shift key just a bit to the left. With the new model about to ship, Laptop Magazine has been able to stack one up against an older 1000 model and play a little game of “One of These Things” to spot the differences between the two. There weren’t many, just that chiclet-style keyboard, which was rated as “just better,” and the new 1.66GHz Atom N280 CPU, replacing the elder’s 1.6GHz N270. Unfortunately the slight bump in clock and bus speed (from 133MHz to 167MHz) didn’t make any noticeable change in performance, but if this thing can deliver on its promise of 9+ hours on a charge we don’t think anybody will mind.

Filed under: Laptops

First impressions with the Eee PC 1000HE and its delectable keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As expected, India’s government unveiled the jointly-developed “$10 laptop” today, now priced at $20. Unfortunately dubbed Sakshat, which ironically translates as “before your eyes,” the laptop is slated to ship in six months, with specs in line with what we’ve heard already: 2GB of storage, WiFi, Ethernet and 2 watts of power consumption. In fact, there really isn’t much “unveiling” going on at all, since there’s still no published image of the thing, or information about the screen size, RAM or processor. Some folks are also still skeptical as to whether a laptop can really be produced at such a low cost, since most LCDs alone would put it over budget, but we suppose we’ll find out this summer. The laptop itself won’t be subsidized, but the government will shoulder 25 percent of the cost of broadband for colleges, and there will be free e-learning textbooks available to students online.

Filed under: Laptops

India ‘unveils’ $20 laptop, the Sakshat originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While any number of total netbooks shipped or sold is bound to be a little suspect, given that many folks can’t even agree on what a netbook is, this latest report from research firm DisplayBank at least gives us a decent impression, and confirms what many likely thought. According to the report, the total netbook shipments for 2008 reached an impressive 14.6 million, with Acer and ASUS leading the way with a 37.3% and 33.2% market share, respectively, and HP a distant third with 7.5%. Those numbers, however, represent just 11% of total laptop sales, although DisplayBank sees that share increasing to 18.9% by 2012. As you might have guessed, to arrive at the number, the folks from DisplayBank also offered up their own definition of a netbook, which they describe as “as having similar functions as NotePC, supports networking and have retail price lower than US$650. Especially, products are narrowed with screen size of 7 – 10.2 inch and with Linux or Microsoft Windows operating system equipped.” Yeah, that’ll settle things.

[Via China Times]

Filed under: Laptops

Report claims 14.6 million netbooks shipped in 2008, further growth expected originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the Eee 901 “hammerhead edition,” the extra-wide monstrosity that offered 10 cells of goodness in one less than aesthetic package? Welcome to that accessory’s homebrew cousin, the creation of a modder by the name of TenaciousDre who stole eight batteries from an old laptop and wired them up to the existing four-cell battery, creating a 12-cell shrink-wrapped bulge to protrude less than majestically from the back of his Eee. The good news is 12 to 15 hours of life with the laptop set on its most frugal settings; the bad news is a 12 hour re-charge time and a useless battery gauge that reads zero percent despite eight hours of juice remaining. We have seen uglier examples of excess in the computing world before, but would probably rather carry around a second (and third) battery than have to explain this tumor to every passer-by at Starbucks.

[Via Portable Monkey]

Continue reading Modder crafts homemade 12-cell battery for Eee, doubles stock battery life, grows unsightly hump

Filed under: Laptops

Modder crafts homemade 12-cell battery for Eee, doubles stock battery life, grows unsightly hump originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is true art, friend. The amazing “brotato” (rhymes with potato, in a perfect world) has hacked together netbook components, an ancient keyboard and a 14.2-inch LCD into this classy case, dubbing the project “The Poor Man’s Netbook.” The box is running Windows XP, but he tested it out with Windows 7 and Mac OS X and it performed beautifully, except for the Bluetooth 2.1 module. The box is based on a Mini-ITX Intel D945GCLF2 Dual Core 1.6Ghz Atom motherboard, with 2GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD and 802.11n WiFi — though you’ll have to hunt down an outlet, there’s no battery power here. The best news is that he’s selling the whole conglomeration on eBay, perfect for completing that piece of horrible cyberpunk fiction you’ve been slaving over on your boringtop.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Filed under: Desktops

Netbook in a suitcase: all the shortcomings of a subnote in a large, inconvenient package originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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