HP Pavilion tx2500z Reviews (LAPTOP Magazine, Tablet PC Rreview)
June 30, 2008
A couple of reviews of the 12.1-inch AMD-powered HP Pavilion tx2500z series, were published last friday.
The tx2500z series is the replacement of the popular HP Pavilion tx2000z. It’s just starting to appear at online stores ($1050 after rebate at Amazon.com , etc.). It’s a “convertible”, that is, it has a touchscreen display that swivels around and lays across the keyboard, allowing it to be converted and used either as a conventional laptop or as a dedicated Tablet PC.
TabletPCReview.com has a user review of the same tx2510us linked above at Amazon, and that is available for around the same price at Circuit City (in the US, if you want to see one in person, although not all stores have them). the tx2510us has an AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 CPU (2.1GHz, 2MB L2), 3GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 graphics chipset, the dual active/passive digitizer, and it’s running Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit Edition. As “Rex Orbis2″ notes in his review, there were same impressive gains made over the tx2000z series, with the addition of the new AMD Puma platform. As they point out, it is geared towards consumers and multimedia enthusiasts and even digital media (it comes with a remote control for media playback).
The LAPTOP Magazine review gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, with comments about the washed out display look (due to the fact, as noted in the TabletPCReview, that it has a dual-mode display - both an active and passive digitizer), although it is accurate, whether it’s in active or passive modes.
Read:
- LAPTOP Magazine
- TabletPCReview.com
Sony VAIO SR140EB (SR Series) Spotted At Circuit City
June 30, 2008
The new 13.3-inch Sony VAIO SR series briefly made an appearance yesterday at CircuitCity.com.
It would appear the pages have been taken down (the product pages for the Sony VAIO SZ series are still up), but some photos were saved. The SR series definitely looks like an upgraded SZ series.
The model spotted was the VGN-SR140EB.
If you’d like to see the images of the SR that were saved:
Sony VAIO SR Gallery at Small-Laptops.com
Read: NotebookReview.com
Dell Latitude E Series (E4200, E4300) - Announcement Coming?
June 30, 2008
It would appear that we will soon be seeing full information (and release dates) for the Dell Latitude E series - the Latitude E4200 and Latitude E4300. This, according to an official appearance of the “Laitude E-Family Laptops!” on Dell.com.
The E4300 will probably have a 13.3-inch display and possibly be a replacement for the Latitude D430 (which, while the D430 has a smaller display, the e4300 actually weighs less).
The E4200 will probably have a 12.1-inch widescreen display, start at 2.2 pounds (1kg) weight-wise), and could be the high-end version of this series (with the E4300 being a reasonably-priced version of the D430).
Both should have DisplayPort (an upgrade for video connections), eSATA, and should be based on Intel’s Centrino 2 platform.
Engadget believes that based on the appearance at Dell.com, that there will be an official announcement sometime in the next five weeks .
Read more
Asus Eee PC 904 / 905, Plus Eee PC 901 / 1000H in Korea
June 30, 2008
DigiTimes is reporting that, in response to consumer demand, Asustek Computer is going to release new versions of the 8.9-inch Intel Atom-powered Eee
PC 901 that are going to have larger keyboards and a larger chassis.
They are being listed as the Eee PC 904 and Eee PC 905 and will have the same chassis and keyboard as the 10.2-inch Eee PC 1000 / 1000H.
The Eee PC 904 and 905 will mainly differ from the 901 in that they have a larger keyboard. The sources have indicated Asustek is still looking at whether to change battery or storage options as a result of the larger chassis (in my opinion, a larger battery would be a much-welcome addition).
They see the 904 and 905 coming out at similar price points to the 900 / 901 sub-notebooks, and that they will probably replace those two models. They mention Asustek is also looking at whether to leave the 900 / 901 in the lineup (possibly at a lower price) in order to compete with the upcoming 8.9-inch Acer Aspire One
Also, AVING announced that the Eee PC 901 and 1000H have been launched in Korea (and may even be available as we speak).
Read:
- DigiTimes
- AVING.net -ASUS to launch its new generation of Eee PCs ‘901/1000H’ in Korea
MSI Wind U100 - Amazon Ship Times (US)
June 30, 2008
Looks like shipping dates for the 10.2-inch MSI Wind U100 in the United States are starting to firm up. The U100 will be available in the last week in July into the first weeks of August.
Model # MSMU1-035LABK at Amazon.com is showing as shipping in 3-5 week for $499.99.
Specifications:
- Windows XP Home
- 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor
- 80 GB Hard Drive,
- 1 GB RAM
- 3-cell battery (3 hours battery life)
It’s only one model, but it’s a start.
As far as 6-cell batteries, expect it to be several weeks after the 3-cell battery models ship (although nothing would prevent you from buying the 3-cell model now and ordering a 6-cell battery later on).
MSI Wind U100 and Mac OS X
June 30, 2008
It was only a matter of time - somebody got a hacked-up version of Mac OS X to run on a new 10.2-inch MSI Wind U100.
The Intel Atom-powered Wind U100 isn’t even out in most markets, but it’s available for some, and a poster over in the InsanelyMac.com forums has posted a thread (Spanish language) about their experiments with a hacked 10.5.2 running on a Wind U100.
While we neither condone nor condemn such attempts, we find it interesting enough to post, seeing that we really want something smaller than the 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air or MacBook that’s running OS X and that is officially produced by Apple.
It appears from the translation that they were able to get most things working, although they were having resolution/display problems as well as wireless connection problems. Wired ethernet and Bluetooth 2.0 worked “out of the box” as they say.
This was originally started a few weeks ago, but over the weekend some links to videos and more impressions popped up. Thanks to Tim for emailing us.
Read:
- Forums.InsanelyMac.com
- Translated with Google (English)
- YouTube Video - Use
- YouTube Video - Starting up
ASUS Eee PC 1000H and MSI Wind Compared
June 27, 2008
LAPTOP Magazine has put together a head-to-head comparison of the Eee PC 1000H and the MSI Wind NB.
Both of these ultraportable laptops feature 10-inch widescreen displays (with a resolution of 1024×600) as well as 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPUs and 80GB hard drives.
They also have “over-clocking” modes (or “Super Hybrid Engine switcher” when it comes to the 1000H and TurboDrive for the Wind) that allow you to bump the CPU speed up from 1.6GHz to 1.8GHz for the EEE PC 1000H and 1.9GHz for the MSI Wind (keep in mind they have to be plugged into an external source when overclocked - otherwise the feature is used to slow the CPU down to save on battery life).
Even putting aside the price (the MSI Wind is $150 cheaper), the Wind came out on top, with a much better battery life (40+ more minutes than the 1000H even with the 1000H’s 6-cell battery, 5+ hours total).
Read: LAPTOP Magazine
Acer Aspire One Review (CNET.co.uk)
June 27, 2008
Last week, CNET Uk published their review of the 8.9-inch Acer Aspire One. The Acer Aspire One (not available in most markets just yet) is one of the cheapest Intel Atom-powered mini-notebooks in its category.
While it’s slightly larger than the 8.9-inch Eee PC 901, that allows for a keyboard that Acer claims is 95% the size of a regular laptop keyboard.
As the review notes, the Aspire One (or “One” as they are calling it) has a feature or two that sets it apart from the others in its class (in addition to the keyboard) - it’s got a SIM card slot that allows you to plug a SIM card in, and assuming you have the service, use the Aspire One with 3G or HSDPA networks.
They gave it an 8.8 out of 10, citing its low capacity 2200mAh battery as one of the negatives (of which there weren’t many). There is a 4800mAh battery available for an additional cost.
Read:
- CNET UK Review
- Crave.co.uk - Photo Comparison of Eee PC 901 and Acer Aspire One
