Windows 7 Selling Like Crazy in the UK
October 21, 2009
Microsoft’s Windows 7 is selling like crazy in the UK - the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Family Pack for XP or Vista
That’s some pretty heady stuff, as it apparently beat out the Harry Potter books in the UK, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which was their biggest pre-order to date. They claim that just over the past three months alone, only the latest Dan Brown book has beat out Windows 7 pre-orders and that it’s surprising when you look at it as a product versus product (software versus book) competition.
Link: TG Daily
NEC to Stop Production of Non-Japanese Comptuers
March 28, 2009
With the tough economic times, it looks like NEC will cease producing PCs and laptops for businesses and buyers outside of Japan. NEC is based out of Tokyo and has apparently told the Japanese media that by the end of this year, it will be focusing solely on Japanese buyers for its computing products. As CrunchGear points out, NEC has been selling PC-based products in Europe for 28 years.
Production may stop for countries outside of Japan as early as July, and in Europe, it will be stopped sometime during the summer.
No word on if this will affect sales/production of LCD displays and projectors, which are more well known in North America than their desktops and laptops.
Read:
- TechRadar UK
- CrunchGear
Release Dates for LG X120
March 23, 2009
We are finally getting some release dates for the upcoming 10-inch LG X120.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the X110 would be available in the US before July, with a European release this month (March) for the X120.
Engadget found a press release from LGE stating the following shipping dates:
- March - Japan
- April - Europe and 20 other nations
Chances are high that the “20 other nations” includes mostly Asian countries. Whether the Intel Atom-based X120 will be available in the US or not remains to be seen. The earlier report was mainly focused on the X110 being LG’s entry into the US PC market. It’s possible the X110 and X120 could be made available in the US around the same time - AT&T has apparently expressed an interest in selling netbooks from LG, and they already have a solid relationship with them through their cell/mobile phone sales.
Read:
- LGE.co.kr - Translated - English
via Engadget
Asus Eee PC 1008HA - Pricing, Availability in UK
March 21, 2009
We’ve already seen several hands-on previews of the new addition to the Eee PC line from Asustek, the 10-inch Asus Eee PC 1008HA, and now we have some pricing and availability information, at least for UK buyers.
The 1008HA, aka the “Shell” or “Eee Shell” is a super-slim ultraportable/netbook that is a step above most of the other Eee PCs currently available, featuring a new design. It’s also one of the first to have several new Eee-specific applications being made available by Asustek, including Eee Arena, Eee Sharing, Eee Storage.
For customers in the United Kingdom, it’s being reported that the price is £359 including tax, and will be available in April, 2009.
That’s around $515 in the US, and €385 in Europe.
Read:
- Netbook Choice
- via Electricpig.co.uk
MSI Wind U115 - Up To 15 Hours
March 16, 2009
This is certainly surprising - some European sites have gotten their hands on some pre-release models of the upcoming 10-inch MSI Wind U115. That part isn’t surprising (although it’ll be a while before it hits the US). The surprising part is the battery life.
These sites are reporting around 13-15 hours of battery life.
Keep in mind, there are some things that differentiate the MSI Wind U115 from other netbooks in it’s class.
It’s got an Intel Atom Z530 (1.6GHz like the N270), however unlike the N270, it’s Thermal Design Power (TDP) rating is 2W, as opposed to the 2.5W of the N270. 20% difference right there, but other netbooks are using Z530, such as the 10-inch Dell Inspiron Mini 10.
Just as important (possibly more), it’s got two different drives for storage. It’s got a conventional/mechanical 160GB (2.5″ SATA) drive for data storage. More importantly, it’s got an 8GB Solid State Drive (SSD) for the operating system and other applications. That’s going to reduce the heat somewhat, but also the battery requirements. It can apparently turn off the 160GB HDD when it’s not needed, which saves on battery life.
EEE-PC.de mentions that they were able to get 13 hours with the 6-cell 5200mAh battery (a higher-capacity battery than most devices in this class offer). nvision (a Polish site) claims between 5.5 - 15 hours, depending on use.
There are also several pictures detailing the interior of the U115. As liliputing points out, it looks like most of the normal options that people like to upgrade can be upgrading, including both the SSD and HDD (and as they mention, it’ll probably void your warranty).
Read:
- EEE-PC.de (German) (translated - English)
- nvision (Polish) (translated - English)
via liliputing
Packard Bell Dot Cancelled
March 11, 2009
Back in September, the Packard Bell Dot was announced. It was a re-badged 8.9-inch Acer Aspire One.
Now, according to Pocket-lint, the dot is going to be discontinued, even though it never actually made it into the retail channels. It had been scheduled to be available in January of this year, with a price starting at £299. From the information we had, and from what Pocket-lint mentions, it was going to be a standard Acer Aspire One with 1GB RAM, Intel Atom, and a 160GB HDD, with an optional 3G mobile broadband module.
This is what Pocket-lint was told:
“The DOT is going end of life and will be replaced by new model”, a spokesperson for Packard Bell told Pocket-lint before eluding to there being “some changes made to the brand”.
“Replaced by a new model” brings up an interesting thought - would they go with the 10-inch Intel Atom-powered Acer Aspire One, or would Packard Bell go with a VIA-powered system, similar to the 12-inch Samsung NC10. After all, Packard Bell did have a VIA-powered netbook, the Easynote XS.
Read: Pocket-lint
Samsung NC20 - In-Stock/Shipping Soon in UK
February 23, 2009
If you are in the United Kingdom and are interested in the new 12.1-inch VIA-powered Samsung NC20, you are in luck. The resolution listed is 1280×800 as well.
Amazon.co.uk has the NP-NC20-KA01UK listed as being in stock and shipping on February 28, 2009, and other retailers in the UK should be following suit.
Specifications:
- VIA Nano U2250 CPU (1.3GHz)
- Display: 12.1″ 1280 x 800
- Graphics: VIA Chrome9 HC3 (128 MB)
- 1GB DDR2 RAM (800MHz)
- 160GB HDD
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 1.3MP
Right now it looks like the only color listed is Sapphire White.
The recommended retail price (RRP) is £458.85 (Around $668 USD), however Amazon is listing this at £379.54 (Around $553 USD).
Read: Amazon.co.uk
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Launched in France
February 13, 2009
We’ve heard that the upcoming 10″ Dell Inspiron Mini 10 will be launched in the United Kingdom towards the end of the month. That’s looking like a very realistic launch date, given that the Inspiron Mini 10 has been officially launched in France, as of a few days ago.
Netbook 3G was at the Dell press conference/media event, and took quite a few pictures. The Inspiron Mini 10s that were present were prototypes, so it’s hard to say whether or not you’ll have easy access to some of the options as far as upgrading - the photos don’t show any access panels on the bottom (say you want to upgrade the RAM to 2GB). You can see where the battery could be swapped for a larger capacity battery.
There is a good photo of the HDMI port - a rarity when it comes to netbooks/ultraportables. The keyboard looks great, the touchpad is very interesting - there doesn’t appear to be separate physical mouse buttons, but it looks like there is an area you tap for left-click or right-click (not quite as fancy as Apple’s MacBook, but still very interesting to see). They brought along an Asus Eee PC 901 for a size comparison, and you can see the Inpiron Mini 10 is thinner (but wider).
Read:
- Netbook 3G (Translated - English)
via liliputing
