Intel Atom Shortage, VIA Sales, Nano Shipments

Couple of quick articles on Intel and VIA CPUs for the netbook market.

First off, DigiTimes mentions the impact the Intel Atom shortage is having on the netbook industry. They mention that because of the shortage, that LCD panel makers who handle the manufacturer of the 7″ to 10″ LCD panels for these devices are concerned about shipments of these devices (i.e. people waiting for specifically for an Intel Atom device). It’s not helped by the fact that there is a battery shortage (which might ease up this month - note the word “might“). The Intel Atom shortage on the other hand could last through the fall (into September).

DigiTimes mentions that for 8.9-inch displays, AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) are the primary suppliers. When it comes to the 10.2-inch displays, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display ship the majority of those. Kind of interesting little bit of information. Another company, Innolux Display, is ready to start producing panels for the low-cost / sub-notebook market.

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Acer Aspire One A110L, A150L, A150X - Specs, Prices

Some models of the Acer Aspire One are starting to shape up, specifications wise (with the specifications changing from earlier information).

Notebooksbillinger.de’s has a product page for the 8.9″ Acer Aspire 150X (Blue) with these specifications:
- 120GB Hard drive (5400rpm)
- Intel Atom N270 1.6Hz CPU
- 1GB of Memory
- Windows XP Home

We pretty much knew they were going to bump the hard drive up from 80GB to 120GB based on what we saw earlier this week with some UK retailers, so it’s nice to see it confirmed elsewhere.

EeePCNews.de is showing some pricing information for the Aspire One models (also confirming the above 150X):
- Aspire One A110L - 329 EUR ($522 USD) - 512MB Memory, 8GB SSD, Linux
- Aspire One A150L - 359 EUR ($570 USD) - 1GB Memory, 120GB HDD, Linux
- Aspire One A150X - 399 EUR ($633 USD) - 1GB Memory, 120GB HDD, Windows XP Home

All have both blue and white versions. That seems pricey, but these are kind of a step above the other netbooks as far as design/features.

Read:
- Notebooksbillinger.de (German)
- EeePCNews.de (German)
- Via Laptoping

Microsoft Relaxes Windows XP Restrictions for Netbooks

Looks like Microsoft is backing off on some of their previous demands in regards to allowing OEMs to keep installing Microsoft Windows XP on netbooks. Microsoft had already extended the End-of-Life for XP on these devices (on June 30th, most manufacturers had to stop offering Windows XP on mainstream laptops).

Previously, they had placed the following restrictions on netbook / sub-notebook manufacturers:
- Screen sizes must be 10.2-inches and under
- Hard drives must be 80GB or under
- No touch-screens.

The extension was to allow netbook customers to use XP, which performed much better than Windows Vista on such limited hardware platforms (although some Vista drivers have slowly been changing that on certain machines). I think a part of it was also to try and discourage OEMs from offering Linux on these devices. The restrictions were put in place to insure that it didn’t hurt Windows Vista sales.

Now the restrictions are:
- Screen sizes must be 14.1″ and under
- Hard drives must be 160GB or smaller
- Touchscreens are allowed.

Also, it’s mentioned that the CPUs are limited to single-core chips that max out at 1GHz, with 1GB of RAM or less. That’s a little tricky because there are definitely machines that exceed the CPU or memory specifications but which are still selling with XP (maybe not on the memory, but the Intel Atom clocks at 1GHz). Obviously a dual-core CPU would be able to run Vista much better than a single-core.

Read: InfoWorld (via GottaBeMobile)

Acer Aspire One Pricing - UK

Acer has clarified their pricing for the 8.9-inch Acer Aspire One, at least for the UK.

As of today according to Register Hardware / ComputerActive magazine, Acer’s starting price for the Aspire One will be £220 (including VAT), which is around $440 USD (depending on exchange rate).

This is for the basic version of the Intel Atom-powered sub-notebook, and it would have an 8GB SSD, 512MB memory, and would be running Linux.

The price is slightly higher than originally announced.

One notable change (and no word on how it will affect the price of future models) is that Aspire Ones that originally listed 80GB HDDs are now going to have 120GB HDDs.

Read: Register Hardware

MSI Wind U100 Review, Comparison to Acer Aspire One, Eee PC 901

Mobile Computer has put together some information, photos, and a video comparison of the Acer Aspire One, MSI Wind U100, and Asus Eee PC 901, three netbooks that, despite the display-size differences, are all basically run off of the same platform, powered by Intel’s Atom CPU.

Even though the Wind U100, with a 10.2-inch widescreen display, has a larger display than the 8.9-inch displays of the Aspire One and Eee PC 901, it’s actually not that much bigger, as the photos and video illustrate.

They’ve also reviewed the MSI Wind U100, and were impressed with its design, saying:

Like Acer, MSI has gone to great lengths to ensure that the Wind looks nothing like a cheap laptop and it feels no less well made (nor any less good looking) than a laptop that costs three times as much. The all-plastic case is solid and there are no creaks or pops even when it’s flexed with both hands. There’s something about a smoothly shaped lid that we like – it worked well on the Aspire One and it’s just as good-looking here.

They gave it a rating of six out of six (the main problem being the battery, given the price) and their Editor’s Choice Award.

Read:
- Mobile Computer - Hands on with MSI Wind, Aspire One, Eee PC 901
- Mobile Computer - MSI Wind Review

HP 2133 Mini-Note in the Classroom

Might the HP 2133 Mini-Note gain additional popularity with students (a target audience that HP mentioned was important to the 2133’s success).

HP made an announcement yesterday at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) that the Fresno, California, United School District is working on deploying over 7,000 8.9-inch HP 2133 Mini-Note PCs to students in kindergarten all the way through the 12th grade.

The chief technology officer of the Fresno United School District said:

“The HP Mini-Note is a powerful laptop that is small enough to fit on students’ desks along with their textbooks and papers, allowing them access to the Internet and educational content from around the world without leaving their seats…”

While it’s great to see netbooks reaching a younger audience, kindergarten and up through the third or fourth grade, it seems like it would be more of a distraction than a tool. That’s just my opinion though. We’ll have to wait and see how it works out.

Read:
- HP Press Release
- HP’s K-12 Education Page
- Thanks to Susan G. for the link

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