MSI Wind, Gigabyte’s Device - Available by end of June 2008
April 14, 2008
DigiTimes is reporting on news from the Chinese-language Commercial Times that the MSI Wind and a similar, unnamed device from Gigabyte, will be available later in this quarter (by the end of June).
The MSI Wind is a low-cost ultraportable device (”netbook“) that has two basic models - 8.9-inch or 10.2-inch. It’s expected to retail for 299-699 Euros (roughly $470-$1099 USD).
DigiTimes’ mention of the Gigabyte device:
Gigabyte expects to market its low-cost PC with telecommunications vendors, with the initial launch mainly focusing on Taiwan and other Asian markets.
Source: Digitimes
Acer Buys Gateway Which Buys Packard Bell
August 27, 2007
Get your flowcharts out - well, not really, but this one will surprise you. It’s one of the biggest stories to hit the laptop and Tablet PC market in quite a while.
First, Gateway is going to acquire Packard Bell. Quote: Gateway intends to exercise its Right of First Refusal to acquire from Lap Shun (John) Hui, all of the shares of PB Holding Company, S.ar.l, the parent company for Packard Bell BV - a leading European PC vendor based in France. Yes, Packard Bell is still around, albeit mainly in Europe (at one time they were one of the biggest, and sometimes biggest, players in the PC market in North America).
No surprise - Gateway gets access to some markets and products that maybe they didn’t cover too much in the past.
Here’s the kicker, it was just announced this morning that Acer is buying Gateway for $710 million. That’s huge, not because of the money either. There were will be overlap in the ultraportable segment for both companies, although most of Gateway’s ultraportables, such as the E-100M / E-100Mb, E-155C, and NX100X were geared towards industrial, education, medical, and government markets.
On the other hand, Acer has the TravelMate 3040 and TravelMate 6292, along with the Ferrari 1000 / 1004WTMi which are primarily aimed at consumer and business users. That’s basically four 12″ laptops and one 12″ Tablet PC / Laptop that overlap.
What’s going to happen to the product lines? Read the excerpt below for more details:
Acer Inc. (TWSE:2353), one of the world’s leading branded PC vendors, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW). Gateway is the fourth largest PC company in the US and a leading retail PC provider. The combination will create a multi-branded PC-company with over US$15 billion in revenues and shipments in excess of 20 million PC units per year.
Under the terms of the agreement, Acer will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all the outstanding shares of Gateway for $1.90 per share, which represents total equity value consideration of approximately $710 million. The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Gateway and Acer and is subject to standard closing conditions, including approval under Hart Scott Rodino, Exon Florio and similar laws outside the U.S. The acquisition is expected to close by December 2007.
“This strategic transaction is an important milestone in Acer’s long history” said J.T. Wang, Chairman of Acer. “The acquisition of Gateway and its strong brand immediately completes Acer’s global footprint, by strengthening our US presence. This will be an excellent addition to Acer’s already strong positions in Europe and Asia. Upon acquiring Gateway, we will further solidify our position as number three PC vendor globally.”
Gianfranco Lanci, President of Acer, added, “Both Acer’s and Gateway’s geographical presences and product positioning are highly complementary. We believe that our combined scale will lead to significant efficiencies. Gateway has built one of the industry’s most powerful and unique brands and with this acquisition, we will have the opportunity to implement an effective multi-brand strategy and cover all the major market segments. In time, we intend to actively manage our brand portfolio and differentiate our brands to address different consumer segments. We are also acquiring a world-class team and Gateway’s employees will be critical to our combined success.”
It almost sounds like they may go the way of Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s PC Business, where Lenovo has kept the ThinkPad branding for its business line, and maintain the Gateway and Acer brands for separate markets (no word on Packard Bell’s laptop lines in Europe).
Full Press Release at Acer.com
Article: Finding Energy Efficient Laptops (PC Magazine)
July 21, 2007
An article by Melissa J. Perenson was posted yesterday on PC Magazine, How to Find the Most Energy-Efficient Laptop Available. It talks about the new Energy Star 4.0 qualification process, the fact at launch, there were 122 desktops and laptops on the list (including same models, but different subtypes). Out of those 122, the majority were laptops, and a not-so-surprising number were ultraportable laptops. This should be no surprise as many ultraportables use Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) CPUs.
They mention using the ENERGY STAR website run by the US government (List of ENERGY STAR-compliant computers here).
Excerpt from the article:
The Environmental Protection Agency today introduced its first complete refresh of its Energy Star specification for computers. The EPA estimates that over the next five years, the updated Energy Star computer spec will save American businesses and consumers $1.8 billion in energy costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the emissions of 2.7 million cars.
The computer Energy Star spec, designed to help save the environment and save consumers money, was first introduced in 1992. Now in its fourth iteration, the spec has broadened its scope to encompass a wider breadth of computer usage. The EPA says that only the most energy-efficient computing products will qualify for the Energy Star label.
Just browsing through that list, I came across these ultraportables:
- Acer TravelMate 6292
- Gateway E-100M
- Gateway E-155C
- Lenovo ThinkPad Reserve
- Lenovo ThinkPad X61
- Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet
- Lenovo ThinkPad X61s
- Toshiba Portege M600
- Toshiba Portege R500
- Toshiba Satellite U300 and Satellite U305
- Toshiba Tecra M8
Update: The Toshiba Portege M600 has some models that have been certified: PPM60U, PPM61U
Review: Gateway C-120X (PC Magazine)
June 14, 2007
PC Magazine has published an in-depth review of the Gateway C-120X. The Gateway C-120X is a “convertible” laptop - having both a physical keyboard, with a display that can rotate and lay down across the keyboard, turning it into a Tablet PC. The C-120X is considered the “consumer” version of Gateway’s “Thin and Light Convertible” series based on the Gateway E155C Tablet PC. The C-120X has a larger harddrive and uses Microsoft Windows Vista, when compared to the E-155C (Windows XP Professional). It has an Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage U7500 (1.06GHz) for it’s CPU, can hold to 4GB of memory, utilizes a 12.1-inch touchscreen widescreen display, and weighs between four and a half and five pounds depending on options (internal optical drive, etc.).
PC Magazine gave it a “good” rating, three out of five, saying:
With a magnesium-alloy design, it feels sturdier than the Fujitsu LifeBook T4210 and the HP Pavilion tx1000, but I think the Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet, the current Editors’ Choice, still has the upper hand.
This is a sturdy 12-inch convertible tablet with a built-in optical drive, but its performance needs to be a lot better.
Review: Gateway C-120X (Digital Trends)
May 23, 2007
Digital Trends has published a review of the Gateway C-120X, the “consumer” version of Gateway’s “Thin and Light Convertible”, the Gateway E155C Tablet PC. The differences between the two models are hard drive size (E-155C has 60GB vs 80GB), warranty, and OS (E-155C uses Windows XP Tablet PC instead of Vista), as well as bundled software.
The C-120X/E-155C is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage U7500 (1.06GHz), has up to 4GB of memory, a 12.1-inch touchscreen widescreen display, and weighs in at between 4.5 - 5 pounds (depending on what’s installed, if the internal optical drive is installed, etc.).
Digital Trends looks at it as two seperate laptops, and makes a good point about comparing Tablet PC convertibles versus normal ultraportable laptops in this display size:
Many people judge the size of a laptop by the size of the screen, which is generally a good measurement. However, for tablets, there is the added size of the screen frame, which houses several buttons and fingerprint scanner. Add to that the extension of the speakers past the screen, and you have a slightly beefy setup. The optical drive adds to the thickness and probably should have been left out in favor of an external USB option. Weighing in at 4.5 pounds, the E-155C has more the feel of a 13.3” laptop when it comes to comparable non-tablet systems.
Full article at DigitalTrends.com
Review: Gateway E155C (LAPTOP Magazine)
May 7, 2007
Reviews about the Gateway E155C ultraportable laptop/Tablet PC combo, aka what Gateway calls a “Thin & Light Convertible”, have started coming out. LAPTOP Magazine was one of the first, giving it three stars, citing the keyboard and battery life as the only two major problems.
The Gateway E155C is an amazing little “convertible” (both a laptop form plus being able to swivel and convert into a Tablet PC). It weighs under five pounds, has a 12.1-inch display, AND has an internal optical drive. It is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage CPU.
