Netbook Gathering (Eee-PC.de)

Last week, there was a gathering in Cologne, Germany, of netbook owners.

When all was said and done, there were around two dozen different netbooks. You can find photos below - a few enterprising netbook owners built a couple of towers out of the netbooks present. Among the highlights, the Fujitsu Siemens AMILO Mini, a Samsung NC10, along with an assortment of Acer Aspire Ones and several members of the Eee PC family and HP 2133s.

A unique event, sponsored by Eee-PC.de

Read/View: Eee-PC.de (German - Translated)
via: GottaBeMobile

Netbooks a “Headache” for Microsoft

Netbooks have apparently caused Microsoft some concern, for a couple of reasons. Number one of course, they are introducing a lot of people to Linux, since up to 30% of netbooks currently shipping are shipping with some form of Linux. The second reason, they have put Microsoft in a position where they have to continue supporting Windows XP (XP Home to be precise) on large numbers of new machines past the date when they wanted to discourage or discontinue such support. Another, they eat into sales of other versions of Windows that would normally be selling on full-sized laptops:

Small laptops are becoming a big problem for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows business.

The devices, which usually cost less than $500, are the fastest-growing segment of the personal-computer industry — a trend that’s eating into Microsoft’s revenue. Windows sales fell short of forecasts last quarter and the company cut growth projections for the year, citing the lower revenue it gets from netbooks. When makers of the computers do use Windows, they often opt for older and cheaper versions of the software.

They managed to catch Microsoft off guard, with a Microsoft spokeswoman mentioning they didn’t even have a true netbook policy a year ago, and with Citigroup Inc and others estimating that netbooks will account for over 30% of PC Growth for 2008 alone, with a 60% growth rate by 2010 (close to 30 million units).

Windows 7 is discussed, with Microsoft Senior Vice President Jon DeVaan saying “People will be pleasantly surprised and excited…….We’ll do well on those kinds of machines.”

Read:
- Bloomberg
via Austin-American Statesman

Samsung NC10 Shipping in UK

Those in the UK that ordered the white 10.2″ Intel Atom-powered Samsung NC10 netbooks, online retailers appear to be shipping those out. Amazon UK shows the NP-NC10-KA03UK (white model) in stock and shipping, and we’ve gotten a couple of emails from people who say they’ve been notified that their NC10s have shipped. The blue and black versions of the netbook are still showing as shipping a week from today.

Meanwhile, in the US, Amazon and others are taking pre-orders, but are not listing shipping dates.

MWave has an estimated in-stock date of November 20, 2008:
- NP-NC10-KA01US (White)
- NP-NC10-KA02US (Blue)

Both of the MWave models have 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Bluetooth, and Windows XP Home, and sell for $469.99.

It does not appear that the black models will be available in the US, at least initially.

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Review (LAPTOP Mag)

LAPTOP Magazine posted their review of the 12″ Inspiron Mini 12 yesterday, after posting a hands-on preview. It’s powered by an Intel Atom (1.6GHz) and comes loaded with Windows Vista, which apparently is part of the problem (besides the 12″ display which pushes the size up above normal netbooks).

They mention that while it is larger than most 8.9″ or 10.2″ netbooks, it still maintains a weight of below three pounds (while coming with a 6-cell battery pushing it up over 5 hours of battery life).

Even though it’s larger than most netbooks, there’s actually less you can do with it, as far as tinkering: The Mini 12 was not made for netbook tinkerers. The Mini 12’s processor does not support more than 1GB of RAM. The hard drive uses a less common PATA/ZIF interface (as opposed to SATA), so there are very few options on the market to replace it.

Read: LAPTOP Magazine

Asus Eee PC S101 Available in US

Asustek’s 10.2″ Intel Atom-powered Asus Eee PC S101 has now started showing up at online retailers in the US. The Eee PC S101 is Asustek’s high-end netbook - it’s got a more refined style / design, as well as some upgraded hardware, including a “Super Hybrid Engine” which allows you to set the CPU speeds with a button. You also get 30GB of online storage. The MSRP on these models is $699.99 - below, you can find it for a few dollars off. It’s listed as the Eee PC S101 16G XP, PCS101, or EPCS101 in some areas.

Specifications:
- 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB Solid State Drive
- Windows XP Home
- 6-cell Battery

Among the retailers:
- Amazon: S101 BLK013X - (Black/Graphite) $699.99
- Amazon: S101 BRN016X - (Brown) $699.99
- MWave: S101 BLK013X - (Graphite) $699
- MWave: S101 BRN016X - (Brown) $699
- ZipZoomFly: S101 BLK013X - (Graphite) $695
- ZipZoomFly: S101 BRN016X - (Brown) $695

Via liliputing

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Hands-On (LAPTOP Mag)

LAPTOP Magazine has received a Dell Inspiron Mini 12 and have written up a short hands-on article about the Inspiron Mini 12, as well as posted a couple of videos of it.

It’s not just the larger version of the 8.9″ Dell Inspiron Mini 9, it’s one of the first netbooks to be shipping with a 12″ display - Joanna Stern points out that it’s almost on par with something like the 13.3″ Lenovo ThinkPad X300, given its light weight (under three pounds) and slender size.

Unlike the Mini 9, it has a larger keyboard (91% full-size) as well as a physical row of Function keys. The Mini 9 removed that row and as a result the “F” keys are now secondary functions on another row of keys. It has a glossy display (1280×800). It does come with Microsoft Windows Vista, and they weren’t too impressed with some aspects of the Mini 12’s performance - their full review will be coming in a few days.

Read: LAPTOP Magazine

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