To find out the best laptops of 2010, we checked in with Mark Spoonauer who, as editor-in-chief of Laptop Magazine and Laptopmag.com, oversaw 140+ notebook and netbook reviews this year. If you’re buying, buy one of these. More »
Dell’s Inspiron Duo is ready to buy. You may remember the clever flip-top netbook from its long gestation period: it can be either a tablet or a laptop or – with an optional dock- a small media center.
The trick is in the lid of this otherwise humdrum machine. The multi-touch panel is suspended within the screen-bezel and spins on its horizontal axis, facing out or in depending on need. The specs are as you’d expect: 1.5GHz Atom N550, 320GB, 10-inch multitouch display, 1.3MP webcam and a pair of USB ports.
The netbook part surely works fine: Dell has gotten pretty good at that. But the tablet part is little more than a gimmick. It’ll work with the installed Windows 7 OS, but not well, unless you have sharp, mouse-pointer-shaped fingers. So Dell has included its Stage interface, which can be used for browsing music, movies and photos. If you want a nice, finger-friendly way to surf the web or send a mail then you’re out of luck.
The biggest problem is the price. As specced, you’ll need to pay $550, plus another $100 for the JBL speaker dock (which also adds ethernet and more USB ports). This computer seems little more than a cynical cash-in, a product trying to get in on the current tablet hotness without actually making a proper tablet.
Inspiron Duo product page [Dell. Thanks, Amanda!]
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We’ve seen so, so much of the beautiful and crazy Dell Inspiron Duo tablet / netbook hybrid that we must confess we might just need one of our very own. If you’re like us, then today is your lucky day, because this wild and crazy laptop (last spotted at the Microsoft Store) is now on sale at Dell. The 10-incher boasts a dual-core Atom N550 CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium operating system, and some serious attitude. The Inspiron Duo has a starting price of $549, and you can order it right this minute at Dell. Hit up the source if you care to, and expect your shipment to arrive around the 15th of December, only six days too late for Hanukkah. Full press release is below.
Continue reading Dell Inspiron Duo tablet / netbook now on sale, arrives December 15th
Dell Inspiron Duo tablet / netbook now on sale, arrives December 15th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Kids these days use gadgets almost as much as their less disaster-inclined adult friends, and PeeWee‘s been making laptops with that in mind for a while now. Well, the company’s just launched its newest laptop for kids, the Pivot 2.0 — which is basically the CTL 2go Convertible. This rugged little netvertible boasts an Intel N450 CPU, a touch screen that rotates 180 degrees and a webcam, and it’s packed with 15 educational games onboard. As far as ruggedeization goes, the laptop boasts a water-resistant keyboard, a plastic shell that should withstand minor drops, and rubber grips for easier carrying. The Pivot 2.0 is available now and it’ll run you $599. The full press release is below.
Continue reading PeeWee debuts Pivot 2.0 spillproof, drop resistant netvertible for the little ones
PeeWee debuts Pivot 2.0 spillproof, drop resistant netvertible for the little ones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Eric Schmidt: Chrome OS aimed at keyboard based solutions, Android optimized for touch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 18:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Gallery: HP Mini 1103
HP Mini 1103 released for business people on a budget originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you still insist on buying a hard-to-use, plasticky netbook in these days of cheap tablet computers, then you could do a lot worse than opting for the Jolibook. The hardware is the exact same pedestrian, commodity bag-of-chips that makes up any netbook, but the OS is actually pretty great.
The Jolibook runs the Jolicloud OS which, as you might guess from the name, is an easy-to-use cloud-based OS (built on Linux). I installed a beta version of the OS (now on v1.1) and found that it worked great on a netbook. Jolicloud comes pre-loaded with most everything you’ll need (Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, VLC and so on) and has a big-icon interface that is perfect for the small-screen. I even loaded it onto a Windows tablet I tested a while ago but the lack of touch-screen drivers (since remedied) ruined the experience.
The dedicated Jolibook, which could be on sale this month, sports a dual-core Atom N550 processor and a 250GB hard drive (for when you’re not connected to the cloud). The battery is a six-cell model, and the other specs, while still under wraps, should be exactly the same as any other netbook.
Like I said – the OS makes this one worth a look, but if you already have a netbook gathering dust (And really, what else are they good for?) then you might consider resurrecting it with the free Jolicloud OS alone.
Introducing the Jolibook [Jolicloud]
Photo: Jolicloud/Flickr
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Just a few weeks ago, we got word (by way of a few Tweets) that Jolicloud was seemingly — if the images were any indication — in the final stages of developing a netbook of its own. Well, we’ve just gotten some official news on just that topic. The Jolibook, as it’s going to be known, is of mostly unknown specifications at this point, but here’s what we do know: the Jolicloud 1.1-powered laptop will boast an Atom N550 CPU, and a 250GB hard drive. Jolicloud also says that the netbook’s display will boast a “gorgeous” screen and an affordable price. Sadly, that’s all we know for now, though the company is promising that all this is going down this month, so we’re going to keep our eyes peeled for you.
Jolibook is the official netbook of Jolicloud, coming this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Can the new interest in tablet computers revive the tired old keyboard-flipping tablets of old? Dell seems to think so, and once you check out the promo video for the soon-to-be-launched Inspiron Duo, you might think so too.
It might not seem like it amongst all the iPad fever, but tablet PCs have been around for years. A niche market, mostly serving the medical profession and dorky middle-managers who preferred to scrawl notes into Microsoft OneNote instead of learning to type, tablets languished due to running a desktop OS which was hopeless on a touch screen.
The Inspiron Duo is almost as far from these dinosaurs as is the iPad itself. The sleek-looking body looks like a fat tablet, and comes with a proper UI customized for fingers, although it’s running on top of Windows 7. Open it up, and flip the touch-screen around in its frame, and you have a proper notebook. It even has a JBL speaker-dock to slip it into for charging.
Success will rest on whether it can do both tasks properly, or whether it sports a too-small keyboard and un-intuitive touch-interface. If Dell gets it right, then the Duo could be a huge hit. Slip up and people will stick with an iPad and a proper notebook, instead of paying for a novelty Atom-powered netbook that doesn’t do anything properly. Available by year-end.
Dell Inspiron duo coming soon [Dell/YouTube via Mashable]
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Tablet sales affecting netbooks? Seems everyone’s been suggesting that lately, from Best Buy to ASUS, with much of the blame placed on Apple’s iPad for mining the gap, so to speak. Add Microsoft to that chorus — specifically GM for Windows Product Management Gavriella Schuster. Referencing the pink netbook sitting between her and Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Nick Eaton, Schuster said, “These are definitely getting cannibalized… these are really a second device. But they are getting cannibalized” (SPI’s emphasis, not ours). Given Windows’ dominance in the netbooks, she’s probably got some hush-hush numbers that color her opinion. Then again, speaking of color, perhaps she just doesn’t like pink.
Netbooks are being ‘cannibalized,’ says Windows GM originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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