Hasta La Gadget!

Notbook (n.) — An affordable ultraportable laptop, typically with a 11.6-inch or 12-inch display that is not a netbook. It packs more power than a netbook (i.e. can handle 1080p video and Flash at fullscreen) and provides a more comfortable computing experience than the typical, 10-inch underpowered, shrunken Atom-based laptop. Most do not have optical drives, but do last for over five hours on a charge. Unlike pricey ultraportable laptops, notbooks are more affordable and start at around $400.

About six months ago, the 11.6-inch Dell Inspiron M101z arrived on my doorstep for review. The AMD Neo-powered system looked like a slightly enlarged netbook, but in a briefing with Dell, the product manager reinforced quite a few times that the system was absolutely “not a netbook.” I can’t remember his exact wording, but he made it crystal clear — the $449 Inspiron M101z was so much more powerful than an Intel Atom netbook that it could be one’s primary machine. Obviously, I started calling these sorts of laptops “notbooks,” and over the next few months, more and more of them started popping up. Some of them paired Atom with an NVIDIA Ion GPU (e.g. Eee PC 1215N), while others used AMD’s Neo chip and more recently AMD’s new Fusion Zacate APU. (Intel’s Core ULV-powered systems are frankly too expensive to be considered in this category, though some Pentium / Core 2 Duo systems, like the Acer Timeline X1810T, could qualify.)

Uh, so what? There’s a new crop of more powerful, affordable, and highly mobile laptops — what’s the big deal? Well, while many think tablets are what will ultimately cut the netbook market down to size, it’s the notbooks that will also seriously hit the Atom-based lilliputian laptops of today where it really hurts. Don’t get me wrong, ARM-powered tablets like the iPad and Motorola Xoom are going to impact netbook sales in a big way, too (heck, they already have!), but mark my words, notbooks or affordable ultraportables will take a noticeable chunk of both the netbook and the mainstream laptop market. There’s finally a class of laptops that provide a terrific balance between primary and mobile computing without breaking the bank. Think I’m crazy? Hit the break to understand what I’m talking about.

Continue reading Editorial: The rise of the notbook, the fall of the netbook

Editorial: The rise of the notbook, the fall of the netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon’s German outlet has started listing LG’s two latest and undoubtedly greatest phones: the Optimus 2X (seemingly renamed the Optimus Speed here) and the Optimus Black. Both run Android 2.2 on 4-inch screens, with the former offering a dual-core Tegra 2 processor capable of 1080p video recording and HDMI output, and the latter cranking up the display brightness to a quite unreasonable 700 nits. The Optimus Black also has one of the thinnest profiles on a smartphone of its class at 9.2mm, and will be one of the first phones to offer WiFi Direct connectivity. Intriguingly, Amazon’s Optimus Speed / 2X listing also shows a brown color option for the handset, though only its black SKU is subject to a neat €50 discount bringing its price to €499, the same as the cost of the Optimus Black. We don’t know when either one will drop, but you can go and reserve yourself one (or a dozen) at the links below.

[Thanks, Julian]

Continue reading LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black priced at €499 by Amazon Germany, not yet available to buy

LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black priced at €499 by Amazon Germany, not yet available to buy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 05:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that you can fit a Tegra 2 in your pocket — how else could we have these phones? — but it’s still impressive to see the dual-core ARM Cortex A9 and GeForce ULP chip find its way into a bona fide fanless nettop that sips just three watts under load. This Compulab Trim Slice isn’t nearly as powerful as the AMD Fusion model we saw last week, but it sure is svelte, with a die-cast metal case just six-tenths of an inch thick despite cramming in a SATA SSD, 1GB of RAM and most every I/O port you could want. You’re looking at four USB 2.0 sockets, SD and microSD slots, HDMI, DVI, RS-232, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth, a pair of 3.5mm audio jacks and S/PDIF out for sound, not to mention JTAG, UART and SPI interfaces for extending the system on your own terms — and analog video-in, for crying out loud. Look for it in April, priced “higher than a streamer, but lower than a tablet.” Sound about right? Find another picture and the full PR after the break, while you make up your mind.

Continue reading Compulab makes a tiny Tegra 2 computer for the lilliputian community

Compulab makes a tiny Tegra 2 computer for the lilliputian community originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No big surprises here, unless you count that snowy white number up above. Yep, LG’s not only stolen a march on Motorola in introducing the world’s first dual-core smartphone, it’s also about to beat Apple to the white handset punch as well. The 1080p-recording, Tegra 2-wielding Optimus 2X is now available in its home market of South Korea and, if LG stays true to its roadmap, should be filtering through into Europe before this month is out. We don’t know if its white variant will ever escape the clutches of Korea (and we sure hope it does), but it should be making its bodacious debut over there in February.

Continue reading LG Optimus 2X goes on sale in Korea, teases white version for February

LG Optimus 2X goes on sale in Korea, teases white version for February originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since we reported that the Tegra 2-based LG Optimus 2X was slated to hit Korea and Europe this month, we’ve been dying to check out its 1080p video recording capability. Lucky for us, someone in Greece has uploaded a video to YouTube that was apparently recorded on the smartphone, and the results, well, decide for yourself. While we’re impressed by the video quality (digital zoom excepted) the subject matter leaves something to be desired: a shaky camera slowly pans a port full of docked fishing boats. Sure, we’d like to see some more action, but this sample still has us excited about getting our hands on our very own Optimus 2X. HD video after the jump.

Continue reading LG Optimus 2X 1080p video surfaces, captures a slow day at the docks

LG Optimus 2X 1080p video surfaces, captures a slow day at the docks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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