Acer Aspire AS1410-2285 - Best Value in a Shipping Netbook?
October 22, 2009
If you are looking for the best value in a shipping netbook, today is your day. For around $400 plus shipping, you can get the Acer Aspire AS1410-2285 shipped from Amazon
What does $399.99 plus shipping get you? Quite a bit actually, it will get a dual-core CPU with Intel’s 4500MHD graphics, an HDMI port, Windows 7 Premium, and an 11.6-inch display.
Full specifications: Acer Aspire AS1410-2285 (Black casing)
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
- CPU: 1.2GHz Intel Celeron SU2300 Dual-Core CULV CPU
- RAM: 2GB DDR2 667MHz
- HDD: 160GB SATA Hard Drive
- Networking: Intel WiFi Link 1000 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N
- Graphics: Intel 4500MHD Graphics (GMA)
- Display: 11.6″ WXGA LED-Backlit Display
- Battery: 6-cell Li-ion Battery (4400 mAh), up to 6 hours according to Acer
-Weight: 3 pounds/1.4 kg
In addition to the above, it’s coming with three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, and a Multi-gesture touchpad.
Looking at Acer’s other Windows 7 listings at Amazon, it looks like HDMI out will finally be standard. Most of the Acers should be expandable to 4GB of RAM.
While this is a Celeron, expect non-Celeron-based netbooks with dual-core CPUs to be out in the next few weeks. Amazon is showing the Acer Aspire AS1810T-8679 with a Core 2 Duo SU7300, up to 8 hours of battery life, and 4GB of RAM shipping in November.
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
Microsoft Windows 7, the Starter Edition
April 21, 2009
Channel Insider has an article up discussing the pros and cons of Microsoft’s plans as far as netbooks and the upcoming Windows 7. Specifically, they discuss the Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is going to be a stripped-down version of the “regular” Windows 7 versions/distributions. One of the worst aspects of the Starter Edition will be the fact that it only allows for three applications to be run concurrently.
There will also be some advanced features missing, which I don’t think will be as important (for most) as the three application limit, but CI makes a good case for the Windows 7 Starter Edition versus the Windows XP Home edition that ships with many current netbooks:
The big question is, Will customers be willing to pay for an OS that is arguably less capable than Windows XP Home edition, which is currently found on the majority of netbook computers? Netbooks have proved to be a challenge for Microsoft—the company has had to make special exceptions to get netbook vendors to put a Microsoft OS on those systems, the end result being a step backward down to Windows XP.
They point out what many of us have experienced - where Vista ran poorly on ultraportable netbooks/sub-notebooks, Windows 7 (beta) runs much better and provides for a better overall experience, even when compared to the performance of XP Home (especially in the networking area).
They do make a crucial point that Microsoft can’t ignore: If Microsoft (and the manufacturers who will be working on what editions are shipped with various netbook models) botch it and start pushing out netbooks with the Starter Edition, Apple could very well gain quite a bit with the release of their own netbook. Chances are high that any netbook shipping from Apple is going to ship with a version of Mac OS X that resembles what you see with the MacBook and with the Mac mini (and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same OS X that ships on their consumer products). Apple is very proud of the fact that they’ve managed to scale OS X down to the iPhone, and you also have a huge unofficial (highly unofficial) group of netbook users who have worked out how to install OS X on just about every type of netbook you can imagine. OS X runs well on these devices. Apple also makes use (or has in the past) of the fact that they basically have two versions of OS X they ship (three if you count the iPhone) - the consumer/client version, and the server version. They don’t have a Home or a Home Premium or a Professional or a Business or an Ultimate version.
Microsoft takes a huge risk when trying to push a version of Windows 7 that would restrict you to three applications, and Channel Insider mentions the advertising benefits that Apple would reap:
How will Apple respond to the launch of Windows 7 Starter Edition? I can picture the cute commercials now. Imagine a Mac commercial where the PC guy is shown juggling a couple of balls, the Mac Guy walks in juggling dozens of balls and throws one ball in the PC Guy’s direction, and the PC Guy drops everything
The ads would write themselves, as many American consumers have not experienced a “Starter” edition of Microsoft Windows, and would be extremely upset to find out after the fact that their netbooks with Windows 7 can’t do as much as their netbooks with Windows XP. Retailers would not be happy with Microsoft or the manufacturers, as they would bear the brunt of consumer anger and confusion.
Read: Channel Insider
Windows XP Available Through 2010 for New PCs?
April 5, 2009
AppleInsider claims that a source at Hewlett-Packard has told them that Microsoft has agreed to allow Windows XP as an option on new PCs/laptops through at least April 30, 2010. They reference an internal memo/email discussing Microsoft’s plans in regards to XP and Windows 7 even though, as the memo points out, mainstream support for Windows XP Professional ends this month (April 14th). Currently Windows XP Pro and Windows XP Tablet PC are bundled as restore options (or “XP downgrade”) for Windows Vista licenses on new PCs. That is supposed to expire July 31, unless they reach an agreement with Microsoft.
They also mention a Computerworld article from a few months ago discussing how important downgrade rights would be, even with Windows 7 alleviating many of the issues that people had with Windows Vista.
Windows XP Home is still sold on various laptops/ultraportables in the “netbook” range from all of the mainstream manufacturers, due to performance issues with Windows Vista. Windows 7 addresses many of the performance issues, and that wasn’t mentioned. Ideally, at least as far as Microsoft is concerned, many of the manufacturers would switch to Windows 7 after OEM versions become available. Right now Microsoft is having to sell Windows XP Home at a heavy discount, and it is depressing their revenue/profit. Windows 7 on these devices would be a huge revenue boost for Microsoft, however if they price it too high, thereby taking away a part of the appeal of these devices (low pricing), manufacturers might push back and either install Windows XP Home or some form of Linux.
Read:
- AppleInsider
- Computerworld
Microsoft Talks Touch and Gestures in Windows 7
March 26, 2009
The Windows Touch Team at Microsoft has posted a very comprehensive look at touchscreen interfaces and interaction with Tablet PCs in regards to the upcoming . The post is their first on this subject, and it sounds like they will be discussing it much more in the upcoming weeks/months.
They plan on touch being a “ first-class way to interact with your PC alongside the mouse and keyboard“, instead of in the past, where it usually felt more like an add-on (or even an afterthought). They also plan on it not only being used to scroll through a web page or zoom in or out on a map or photo, but also finding its way into games.
They discuss how touch in Windows 7 has evolved and built upon the experience they’ve been gaining since the Tablet PC days of Windows XP. They also mention where they think touch is headed:
We think touch will become broadly available as the hardware evolves and while it might be the primary input for some form factors (such as a wall mounted display in a hospital, kiosk, or point of sale) it will also prove to richly augment many scenarios such as reading on a convertible laptop or a “kitchen PC”.
Among the gestures that will work with existing applications:
- Tap and drag
- Scroll
- Right-click
- Forward and back
- Zoom and rotate
There won’t be a totally seperate user interface/shell either - they are working on integrating it directly into Windows 7, with some of the UI elements being optimized for touch input (such as taskbar buttons, etc.).
It’s a very extensive article, and it’s pretty clear they are making touch a major focus of Windows 7.
Read: Engineering Windows 7
Sony VAIO P Refresh - This Summer?
March 26, 2009
Sony Insider is reporting that the 8″ Intel Atom-based Sony VAIO P series could be undergoing a refresh in coming months.
Keep in mind that not all models currently available elsewhere, are available in the US - US VAIO P models are currently limited to 1.33GHz Atoms. While the built-in GPS, high resolution display (1600×768) and other features for the not-quite-a-netbook have impressed some, others in the US have wondered about the CPU speeds.
SonyInsider dug up some potential new model numbers - currently in the US, all of the models start with 5, aka as part of a 500 series ( VGN-P598E/Q, etc.), but they’ve produced model numbers that look to be part of a 700 series (which as they point out, keeps in line with Sony naming schemes).
Model numbers found:
- VGN-P710T/B
- VGN-P710T/R
- VGN-P710T/G
- VGN-P710T/W
- VGN-P730A/Q
- VGN-P730T/Q
The Q designations are interesting, because of the P730 instead of P710. I agree that they’ll probably be a different CPU, SSD option, or possibly Windows 7 variants, since companies are starting to make plans for Windows 7. Windows 7 is a natural fit, and it’s already been demonstrated on the VAIO P (albeit unofficially).
Read:
- SonyInsider
via SlashGear
Samsung Netbooks/Mini-Notebooks and Windows 7
March 25, 2009
Over the past few days, Samsung has been hosting their European Forum in Vienna. TechRadar UK got a chance to speak with Kyu Uhm, head of Samsung’s Worldwide Sales and Marketing (Computing Division).
Uhm had quite a bit to say about Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7, as well as netbooks in general. As far as what version of Windows 7 would be shipped with future Samsung ultraportable products, it comes down to “…how much we need to pay to Microsoft. It is an open issue. So we can ship other Windows 7 versions, but it is a matter of royalties.”
Uhm considers the Samsung NC10 to be “key drivers for Samsung’s growth in the short term period,“, which echoes what analysts have been saying.
Read: TechRadar UK
Microsoft’s Windows 7 Netbook Challenge
March 10, 2009
Netbooks, Sub-notebooks, ultraportables, whatever you want to call them, Microsoft is trying to figure out how to maximize their revenue from potential Windows 7 sales, without causing the manufacturers to go with an alternative. This is an issue that Microsoft has been looking at for a while now, going back to last november and beyond. Microsft has already had to relax some hardware restrictions on initial limitations they imposed with Windows XP Home licensing, as well as extending sales of Windows XP Home in general.
Given the low price and rapid growth in the market of these devices, Microsoft faces the situation of trying to get people to buy the more expensive versions of Windows 7. Having to offer Windows XP Home on literally millions of machines last year ate into Microsoft’s revenue stream - they would have preferred people buy the more expensive Windows Vista, however Vista did not perform well on many of the machines, plus the pricing was unattractive.
Last week, Bloomberg.com published an article concerning how Microsoft sees the situation and what they plan on doing both from a technical and from a financial point of view:
“The challenge for us clearly is to get the average selling price up,” Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said last week. “We see Windows 7 at as an opportunity. We’ll have the ability for people to trade up, which would give us a price more similar to what we would normally get for a consumer.”
To push customers to pricier versions of Windows 7, Microsoft is limiting the features of the cheaper edition. The most basic, called Starter Edition, can only run three programs at a time.
Microsoft will make it easy for consumers to quickly upgrade to more advanced versions, as all the required software will already be installed on the machine and it just takes a few minutes to switch from one version to the next, said Parri Munsell, a director at Microsoft’s Windows business.
“If you look at Starter Edition, I really don’t think Microsoft wants to sell that at all — it’s pretty crippled,” said Michael Silver, an analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner Inc. “It’s really there just so they can say they have a really low-priced offering.”
If the pricing is too high, they also face the situation of Linux potentially gaining ground - the next major release of Ubuntu has some major enhancements for netbook performance, and Hewlett-Packard and others are offering custom interfaces for Linux (this review of the Mini 1000 discusses it). These devices are actually one area where Linux can do a lot better than other markets, given that the main uses have capable equivalents on both Linux and Windows platforms (Skype, web browsing, etc.).
Read: Bloomberg.com
Thanks to Tony
