Ars Technica: The State of the Netbook, Part I

Ari Allyn-Feuer over at Ars Technica has put together a comprehensive series that looks at the history and future of netbooks, as well as where they stand these days.

They go all the way back 15 years ago to the mid 1990s when HP rolled out the HP 200LX, a “palmtop” device weighing in at around a pound and with an 8Mhz CPU and a grayscale 640×200 display and running DOS (MS-DOS or PC-DOS) and Windows 3.0. The article mentions that some of these devices had a huge following, but that hardware limitations kept them from selling as fast and as wide as current Intel Atom-based netbooks. They get into the Psion 5 and Psion 7 reviving interest in the segment, and then Toshiba’s Libretto series of laptops which carried the torch for a while (albeit a very expensive torch).

It points out something interesting - the OQO Model 01 as well as Samsung’s Q1 UMPC were on the right track but had some barriers to wide acceptance (namely price and form factor).

Read: Ars Technica

Intel to Push CULV Platform - 2Q 2009

DigiTimes is reporting on a new platform that Intel is developing, to be rolled out sometime in the second quarter of 2009. Their sources believe that it’s targeted at AMD’s Yukon platform.

This Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) platform is a good indicator of Intel’s plans on breaking up the laptop market into four distinct segments:
- Traditional laptops (normal laptop CPUs, storage, RAM, etc.
- What DigiTimes refers to as ultraportables - 11″ to 13″ displays.
- Netbooks (Atom/Pineview/Menlow)
- MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) (UMPCs, some 4″ - 7″ devices) (Menlow)

This CULV platform would be targeted at the ultraportable segment - devices that are priced above netbooks and that would have better performance than typical netbooks. DigiTimes mentions that the top-three vendors have products planned around the new platform and that up to 10 million of these products could be shipped in 2009. Hewlett-Packard is singled out as having had plans to expand the Mini-Note line later in June with a 13.3″ Atom-based laptop, but changed those plans to use the CULV platform instead.

AMD had planned on skipping the “race to the bottom” as some call it, and ignoring the low-end/cheaper netbooks, and instead creating the Consesus/Yukon platform to compete in the market segment that Intel is targeting with the CULV. AMD wants to bring a “full-fledged PC experience” to the $699 and above ultraportables.

Read: DigiTimes

Windows 7, SSD Netbooks, UMPCs

A couple of more ultraportables have had Microsoft Windows 7 pre-beta installed on them, with information / benchmarks listed.

UMPC Fever has a forum member who installed Windows 7 on a Fujitsu U2010, which worked great, from the included screenshots. They were able to use Vista drivers, and it was supported better than XP. They mentioned it was faster than Vista.

Ultramobile PC Tips had news of another forum user on a Spanish-language site who had installed Windows 7 on a Gigabyte UMPC U60. They reported that it booted faster than Windows XP Tablet PC Edition (SP3) and runs just about as fast overall. It also had no problems with the U60’s WiFi (Vista did). (via SlashGear)
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Fujitsu LifeBook (U2010) U820 at the FCC

The 5.6-inch Fujitsu LifeBook U2010 is headed to North America as the Fujitsu LifeBook U820. It has been submitted to the FCC and is awaiting their approval.

It has quite a few updates over its predecessor, the Fujitsu LifeBook U810:
- Display is 1280×800 instead of 1024×600
- Using Intel Atom CPU
- Change in keyboard - 6 rows instead of 5
- Optional built-in 3.5G and GPS Modules
- Atheros Wireless
- Realtek Ethernet

It was referred to as both U210 and U820, and overall as part of the Fujitsu LifeBook U SEries. The product # was FPC02163AK and the part # was CP390505.

There was an FM transmitter mentioned prominently in the FCC filing (from 89MHz to 98MHz). What the purpose of it is, I’m not sure yet.

The user’s manual was posted as well.

Read: FCC Application
(Thanks to Tim for the heads-up)

Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1 Hands-On (Akihabara)

Akihabara News has posted one of the first extensive looks at the new 5.6-inch Intel Atom-powered Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1. The CF-U1 is a “rugged’ type of device, made to withstand drops of around 3 - 4 feet and is sealed to protect it from exposure to moisture water.

They’ve posted about sixty pictures of Panasonic’s press conference / demonstration of the CF-U1 in Japan yesterday. There are a lot of closeups of the CF-U1, as well as it’s dock/charging station (it can be docked and charging extra batteries as well), plus a charging station for four batteries. The CF-U1 has a unique two-battery system that allows a battery to be hot-swapped with a fresh battery while continuously operating off of the other battery and without being plugged into another power source.

Included are pictures of the CF-U1 being liberally doused with water, as well as being dropped around three feet or so onto a piece of concrete. It’s very important to note, this is not meant to be used under water! (although the model was definitely pouring a lot of water on it during the demonstration).

Read: Akihabara News

HP 2133 Mini-Note Quick Review (Geek.com)

Sal Cangeloso over at Geek.com has posted a quick review of the HP 2133 Mini-Note.

The topic of why Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) never took off in the numbers and speed in which the netbook / sub-notebook has been debated quite often, in many forums. Most UMPCs were Tabled-based and had no physical keyboards, and most were priced fairly high (around $1000 USD or so, give or take several hundred dollars).

There were plenty of people interested in something smaller than a mainstream laptop (and even smaller than the 13.3-inc and below laptops we discuss here at Small-Laptops.com), but UMPCs were seen by some as being too limited as far as usability was concerned (at least for their needs). As Sal points out, the HP 2133 Mini-Note is changing how people view smaller devices, even if they aren’t the classic UMPCs that conformed to Microsoft’s Origami project a few years ago:

Overall the HP 2133 Mini-Note is one of the most usable devices in its size category….. In many ways the 2133 is a more mainstream version of the ultra-low cost PC (or subnotebook, whatever you want to call it) it will appeal to users who would never have looked twice at a UMPC.

Read: Geek.com

Sharp Willcom D4 - Hands On (Akihabara)

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

First Intel Centrino Atom Device - June 2008

The first of the ultra-small computers based on Intel’s Centrino Atom platform is scheduled to arrive in June of 2008.

The 5-inch Sharp Willcom D4, which functions as a cell phone, in addition to being a touchscreen/Tablet convertible with a 64-key sliding keyboard, was announced yesterday by Sharp.

It’s powered by the Intel Atom Z520 (1.33GHz) and the Intel US15W system hub. It has a high-resolution LED-backlit display, 1024×600, as well as a 1.8-inch 40GB mechanical drive. While it’s sold as a cell phone ($400 USD with two year plan), it’s obviously a lot more than a cell phone (and it’s not going to be going into your pocket anytime soon).

Article: InfoWorld / IDG

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