OCZ Core SSDs Announced - $479 for 128GB SSD
July 1, 2008
OCZ Technology Group has announced a new line of low-cost Solid State Drives (SSD). They are calling it the “Core Series” and the prices are incredibly competitive and affordable, compared to what we’ve seen in the past.
They use a Serial ATA (SATA) interface at SATA II speeds, in a 2.5″ form factor. Advantages of SSDs included increased battery life, lower heat, reduced power consumption, and increased durability (no moving parts).
Models:
- 32GB - $169
- 64GB - $259
- 128GB - $479
OCZ is claiming read speeds of 120-143Mbs adn write speeds of 80-93Mbs, with seek times running less than 0.35ms, making them incredibly fast when compared to current mechanical drives.
At $479 for a 128GB SSD, this is easily less than half of what existing SSD drives are running for in this capacity (it’s even less than half of what OCZ’s existing 64GB SSDs are selling for).
This should really shake up the market (and quite frankly, I’m surprised we saw such low-cost SSD with this capacity so soon - I expected late 2008 or into 2009 at the earliest).
Read:
- AOL / BusinessWire
ECS: G10IL Sales, European Mobile Connectivity
June 27, 2008
PC World is running a couple of articles about the ECS G10IL, which is the netbook entry from Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS). It’s a 10-inch or 8.2-inch ultraportable notebook powered by an Intel Atom CPU and either Microsoft Windows XP or Linux. They expect to ship one million ECS G10IL units along with Intel Classmate PCs (which they are under contract for). August or September are the earliest some versions of the G10IL will be shipping.
ECS is branching the G10IL into two lines - one is the “G” series that will come with a 3G mobile/wireless module that allows for decent speeds over mobile phone networks. It will have a 6-cell battery, 2GB of RAM, and an 80GB Hard Drive. The G version is going to be distributed through mobile phone providers (they are looking at a September or October timeframe for G10IL’s with 3G options). They are looking at around $500 for the G series, but that may vary - it could be lowered / subsidized depending on contracts signed by mobile phone customers.
The “J” series will offer, in addition to the 10.2-inch version, an 8.2-inch version (that’s not a typo, it’s 8.2 inches), along with smaller hard drives and lower-capacity batteries. It might start out at around $400.
Read:
- ECS Eyes 1M Netbook, Intel ClassMate PC Sales
- ECS Signs Netbook Deals With European Mobile Operators
ECS G10IL Hands-On (LAPTOP Magazine)
June 4, 2008
Today at Computex, Joanna Stern from LAPTOP Magazine got a hands-on with the ECS G10IL netbook. The model she had access to was the 10.2-inch model.
The G10IL is powered by Intel’s Atom CPU (Joanna actually found it at the Intel Atom booth), and the model that she had access to had 1GB of RAM and booted into Windows XP.
She’s posted videos and a few photos.
Pricing, availability by country, release date, and final specifications are not yet available.
Read: LAPTOP Magazine
Sharp Willcom D4 - Hands On (Akihabara)
May 19, 2008
Although it’s a bit pricier than most of the so-called netbooks or sub-notebooks (around $1300 USD), it’s been an eagerly watched ultraportable, and Akihabara News has received a major scoop - they have one of the first, if not the first, hands-on previews/reviews of the Willcom D4.
The Willcom D4 is a unique device - it can function as a phone, but with it’s 5-inch wide touchscreen display (LED backlit along with a 1024×600 resolution), sliding keyboard, and 1.33GHz Intel Atom and running on top of Microsoft Windows Vista, it still falls into the UMPC category (if not sub-notebook).
Because it had Windows Vista, performance was not the best, but Akihabara News was told that a Windows XP version was much faster.
Plenty of photos and a video are included to give you an idea of just what is possible in a package this small.
Read: Akihabara News
3K Longitude 400 Renamed 3K RazorBook 400
May 14, 2008
The 3K Longitude 400 has been officially renamed to the 3K RazorBook 400 by 3K Computers, according to LAPTOP Magazine.
This netbook / subnotebook / umpc was announced a few weeks ago, starting at $399 and coming with a 7-inch 800×480 widescreen display and a weigh just under two pounds. It uses flash-based storage (similar to the Asus Eee PC).
Something that caught our eye then, and caught the eye of Joanna Stern at LAPTOP Magazine, was the CPU powered the thing. It’s listed as a “400MHz Ingenic 32-bit Single-Core” which seems a bit slow - sure, some of the netbooks are downclocked quite a bit, and while this is running some form of Linux, 400MHz seemed awfully slow given the pricing of other devices in this class (the aforementioned Asus Eee PC starts at $299).
Read: LAPTOP Magazine
3K Longitude 400 Announced
April 23, 2008
Another day, another netbook (well technically yesterday I suppose). 3K has announced the 3K Longitude 400, a $399 netbook/ subnotebook with a 7-inch display and powered by a 400MHz “Ingenic” CPU.
3K claims it has a “full-size” keyboard. The 7″ display has a resolution of 800×480, and it comes with a 4GB flash/Solid State Drive. It weighs in at just under 2 pounds (around 0.907 kg).
Linux is the operating system of choice. No word on Windows XP compatibility.
Thsi is, as far as we know, the first use of an Ingenic CPU in such a device.
Press Release: BusinessWire
