Hasta La Gadget!

We don’t know what it is, but there’s just something a bit too “netbook” about Samsung’s netbooks. We took a look at the new N210, NB30 and N150 models that Samsung is showing here at CES, and while there’s nothing precisely wrong with any of them, they just felt a little uninspired. Like almost everybody these days, Samsung has moved to chiclet keys, which would be alright if they were as quality as previous generations of Sammy’s netbook keyboards, but they just felt a little plastic and shallow. At least the NB30 has an excuse, with its water-resistant keyboard tray, and to the lineup’s credit, there was very little flex to any of the keyboards — a common netbook problem. The durable, ridged plastic that encases the NB30 is also pretty nice, but nothing to make our heart aflutter. We spied the NB150 sporting a rather unique pink shell and accents, but apparently the final model will come in a rather more tame black. Interestingly, the most inspired netbook in Samsung’s lineup was the N127 (pictured), which they aren’t even planning on bringing to market (yet). The unit runs Moblin at a lightning fast pace, has the old school “good” Samsung keyboard, and if it came to retail would likely undercut its Windows brethren by a nice margin. We’re not sure if Moblin is ready for the mass market, and obviously Samsung isn’t either, but it would be a fun experiment from our perspective. After all, if you’re going to bother building three formulaic netbooks, what’s the harm in cutting a little loose on the fourth?

Samsung’s new netbook line goes hands-on, Moblin makes a cameo originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Along with the tiny, powerful Alienware M11X, Dell has also updated the Mini 10 netbook, proving the company’s CES PR spin that it is obsessed with cramming hot tech into tiny boxes.

The new Mini 10 comes with the usual netbook accouterments: an Atom N450 processor, a gig of RAM, up to 250GB of HD space and a small ten-inch screen. What is new, though, is the souped-up high-def hardware.

Being a Dell, the hardware is almost infinitely customizable at point-of-sale, so we’ll talk about the hypothetical best configuration, which is the one Dell wants you to buy. The tiny screen can playback 720p movies (1366×768 pixels) and the machine has an HD processor chip in there to handle it. Also inside is a hi-def TV tuner, and GPS for location services.

I took a look at the new machine, in fetching hot pink, at Dell’s CES lounge, located out in the wilds of Vegas at the Palms Resort Hotel (it feels like the low-rent casino in Swingers). Windows 7 choked on a weirdly encoded video, but once working it looked great. I thought HD on a ten-inch screen was a waste of time, but it is actually a nice way to watch video, and with the nine hour battery life, a good companion on a plane or train.

This unit had a Dell sound-bar running along the top, to boost the sound. It boosted it indeed, making the thin, hissing, music thinner, hissier and louder. It beats the standard netbook speaker setup, but you’d do better plugging in a pair of headphones.

Available this month, prices rise from $300 as soon as you add any useful features.

LAS VEGAS — Toshiba was one of the last manufacturers to get into the netbook game last year, and its offering — the Mini NB205 — was decent. The company announced an upgrade for the netbook that eliminates some of the shortcomings seen in its predecessor.

Dubbed the Mini NB305, the 10-inch netbook carries a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, up to 2GB RAM and a 6-cell battery promising 11 hours of life.

We reviewed the NB305’s predecessor, the NB205, last July, and its standout strength was battery life (six hours from our testing). One complaint was its battery, which stuck out awkwardly and felt uncomfortable on the lap. Also, the test unit we received, a pink model, wasn’t ideal since the vibrant case tricked your eyes into perceiving purplish colors on screen.

Toshiba seems to have listened. The NB305’s battery now fits into the netbook without sticking out, and the company isn’t shipping a pink model. The netbook is available in brown, white and blue.

However, one minor issue that remains unchanged is the placement of the keyboard keys. In our review of the NB205, we noted the awkward place of the tilde (~) key awkwardly located to the right of the Alt key. After hours, I still couldn’t get used to that configuration and kept typing ~ when I meant to hit Alt; I’d expect the NB305 to pose the same problem. Still, progress is progress, especially with netbooks, which generally don’t change much.

More specs are below the jump. The Mini 305 will ship Jan. 12 starting at $350.

• 10.1-inch widescreen backlit LED display
• Windows 7 Starter operating system
• Intel Atom N450 processor
• 1GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, upgradeable to 2GB
• 250GB HDD
• 802.11b/g/n wireless and 10/100 Ethernet
• Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR (available on select models)
• Hard drive impact sensor
• Weighs 2.6 pounds
• 6-cell battery with battery life rating up to 11 hours
• Two USB 2.0 ports
• Memory Card Reader Slot
• Built-in Webcam, speaker and microphone

Photos: Toshiba

LAS VEGAS — Dubbed the Skylight, Lenovo’s smartbook is one of the freshest looking products showcased so far at CES. It’s a groovy “notbook” (a netbook that tries oh-so-hard to not be called a netbook, but in essence still is one) with an extremely thin form factor, rounded edges, a 10-inch screen and an ARM-based processor.

Why’s it called a smartbook? Oh, ’cause it features the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, which you’d typically find in smartphones. The Snapdragon processor clocks in at a wee 1 GHz — meager by our standards today — but Lenovo promises it will be sufficient for web-centric utilities. (The purposes of a, cough, netbook.) Plus, the advantage of using a low-powered ARM-based chip is long battery life: 10 hours, so Lenovo claims.

I had some hands-on time with the Skylight, and I really enjoyed the feel of its light weight (less than two pounds) and polished body. The curved corners give it a more modern look. The keyboard? So-so for a netbook this small, though I’ve reviewed netbooks with better keyboards closer to full size, such as the HP Mini 5101. The trackpad is solid — wider and better than the MSI Wind’s cramp inducer.

A somewhat quirky feature is a flip-out compartment above the keyboard, which contains a USB port. Ideally, you’d want to stick a fat drive there with a couple of gigs of storage, like the one shown in the photo above. Keep in mind the idea of this netbook is to do most of your computing in the cloud, so you’ll have a chance to be creative with how you want to store your data. Most of your space is probably going to be allocated to the OS and a few crucial native apps.

Some more specs:

• Operating System: Linux
• Resolution: 1,278-by-720 pixels
• Battery life: 10 hours, according to Lenovo
• Connectivity: Two USB ports, Micro SDHC (with card installed), SIM slot, multimedia card slot (SD, SDHC, MMC), mini HDMI connector, headset jack
• Camera: 1.3-megapixel webcam
• Colors: Earth red and lotus blue

Note the OS — a Lenovo build of Linux. I’ve never been a big fan of Linux, but I’m sure plenty of Red Hat fans will find the Skylight intriguing.

Will the Skylight deliver on its promises? We’ll put this baby through benchmark and battery testing once we get a review unit in the lab. For now, I have mostly positive early impressions.

Overall, the Skylight is a breath of fresh air compared to the rather monotonous netbook product category — a slew of mini notes that typically come equipped with a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor, a 10-inch screen, and, and …snore…

See Also:

• Just Why Isn’t the Sony Vaio P a Netbook?
• Sony Vaio P Netbook + Capoeira Fighter = BFFs 4 Life?
• Video Boxes, ‘Notbooks’ and E-Books to Dominate Gadgets in 2010

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Thought you were done with seeing the latest Pine Trail netbooks? How about some more from HP? The world’s number one computer manufacturer has gone a bit netbook crazy with a slew of new models — the HP Mini 2101, 210 and the Compaq 201 — and that doesn’t even include the business and education focused HP Mini 5102. The most exciting of the bunch are the HP Mini 210 and 2101 which share the same new design, rubbery feeling lid, and chicklet-style keyboard. Starting at $329, the 210 is available in the colors of the rainbow and packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter. The $399 2101 is spec’d the same, but is aimed at a more professional user and is only available in black. Both will be available with Broadcom Crystal HD accelerators. The $229 Compaq 201 totally forgets that Intel has a new Atom chip and uses the older N270 processor, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter. Hit the break for full PR, some hands-on impressions and video.

Continue reading HP goes netbooks with Mini 2101, 210 and Compaq 201

HP goes netbooks with Mini 2101, 210 and Compaq 201 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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