MSI Wind U123 in Japan on April 11
March 27, 2009
Akihabara is reporting that the MSI Wind U123 will be available in Japan on April 11 at a price of 49,800 yen ($507 USD). It was announced/mentioned earlier this month. It’s powered by the new 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, the same CPU that powers the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, which is known for its longer battery life (although the 1000HE also has a high-capacity battery). It also comes with a six-cell battery as the standard option, but no mention of whether it’s a high-capacity battery or not.
The U123 will come in four colors - red, white, blue, and gray (originally it was going to be black instead of gray). 802.11a/b/n wireless networking plus Bluetooth 2.0 look to be a standard feature. There’s also a 1.3MP Webcam (it would be great if all netbooks/ultraportables came with at least 1.3MP) and MSI has included facial recognition software.
After criticism that other MSI Wind netbooks in the U12x series were not upgradeable as far as the memory, MSI makes a point on the 123’s website that you can upgrade it to 2GB of RAM. There is a bottom cover/hatch that allows for the memory upgrade.
No worth on a North American or European release.
Read:
- MSI Japan (Translated - English)
- Akihabara News
via SlashGear
ZipZoomFly - Asus Eee PC 1000HE w/2GB RAM for $359.98
March 27, 2009
ZipZoomFly is running a special from today through tomorrow night (11:59pm PST) on the 10.2″ Asus Eee PC 1000HE.
For $359.98 (and free shipping for most areas), you can get the 1000HE with 2GB of Corsair memory/RAM.
Specifications:
- High Capacity Battery
- Intel Atom N280 (1.66GHz)
- 160GB HDD
- Windows XP
- Black
ZipZoomFly Links:
- ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 1.66GHz 10in 160GB HDD 1GB RAM Laptop Retail $339.99 with purchase of Corsair 2GB DDR2-667 Memory
- Corsair 2GB DDR2-667 PC2-5300 Value Select SO-DIMM Memory Retail $19.99 with purchase of ASUS 1000HE netbook
Offer expires 3/28 11:59PM PST
Asus Eee PC 1004DN (DVD Drive) in April, 1008HA in May
March 27, 2009
DigiTimes is reporting that retail sources are claiming that the Asus Eee PC 1004DN (or E1004DN) is going to be launched by Asustek sometime towards the middle of next month (April 2009).
It will be the first Eee PC to launch with an internal/built-in DVD drive (or Optical Disk Drive - ODD). It was announced back in January.
The 10.2″ ultraportable was originally thought to be shipping with an Intel Atom N270, but since then, a drop-in lower power upgrade, the N280, has become available. DigiTimes reports that the N280 will be coupled with an Intel GN40 chipset, along with a 120GB HDD, and a price of $531 - $590 USD. Availability in North America is unknown - initially it was thought that it wouldn’t be available outside of Asia and possible Europe.
The same sources report that the Eee PC 1008HA, aka the “Shell”, Asustek’s thinnest netbook, will be available sometime in May.
Read: DigiTimes
2008 Engadget Awards - Voting Winding Down
March 25, 2009
If you haven’t had a chance, you still have several hours to vote in the 2008 Engadget Awards, for the “best of” tech from 2008, as well as the tech-related items you most anticipate this year. Voting ends tonight.
The results will be released at the end of the month, as well as the Engadget Editor’s Choice awards.
Quite a few ultraportables/laptops/netbooks were finalists this year:
2008 Engadget Awards - Gadget of the Year
- Acer Aspire One
- Intel Atom
2008 Engadget Awards - Worst Gadget of the Year
- Alpha 400 netbook
- MacBook Air Rev. A
2008 Engadget Awards - Most Anticipated Gadget of 2009
- Dell Adamo
- Windows 7
2008 Engadget Awards - Laptop of the Year
- Lenovo Thinkpad X300
- VAIO Z Series
- Voodoo Envy 133
2008 Engadget Awards - Netbook of the Year
- Acer Aspire One
- ASUS Eee 1002HA
- Dell Inspiron Mini 9
- HP Mini 1000
- Lenovo S10
- MSI Wind
- Samsung NC10
2008 Engadget Awards - Tablet PC of the Year
- Axiotron ModBook
- Fujitsu LifeBook U820
- HP TouchSmart tx2z
- Intel Classmate 2 PC
- Raon Everun Note
- Lenovo ThinkPad X200t
I was surprised at the commanding lead that the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 had in the “Netbook of the Year” category, with the HP Mini 1000 right behind. I wasn’t surprised at Windows 7 leading the way in the “Most Anticipated Gadget of 2009″ section or the HP TouchSmart tx2z leading in the Tablet PC category.
Read/Vote: Engadget
Asus Eee PC 1000HE Review (TechRadar UK)
March 25, 2009
Earlier this week, TechRadar published their review of the new 10-inch Asus Eee PC 1000HE.
They found the claim of 9.5 hours of battery life to be really pushing it - they were able to get over seven hours of regular usage out of the battery, but they compared it to the Samsung NC10 (also known for its battery life) and found that the 1000HE held its own.
They also found the new chiclet-style (or Scrabble-style) keyboard to be easier to type with. They gave it high marks, basically saying that if you already have an 8.9-inch or 10-inch netbook/ultraportable, it’s probably not worth upgrading, but if you do, then this might just be the one.
Read: TechRadar UK
Several Netbook/Laptop Deals (March 25)
March 25, 2009
This week, there have been a few decent deals on netbooks as well as laptops, including a refurbished HP Mini 1030NR for $279.
OnSale.com:
- Lenovo IdeaPad S10e - $299.99 after rebate (through April 30, 2009)
- Acer Aspire One A110-1588 - $249.99 Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz, 8.9″, Sapphire Blue, 16GB SSD, 1GB RAM, Windows XP
Buy.com
HP Mini 1030NR (Refurbished) - $279.00, 1GB RAM, Windows XP, 16GB SSD
ClubMac
- MacBook White 13.3″ 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - $913.99 after Rebate (Save $80), NVIDIA, 120GB HDD, iLife ‘09
- MacBook Aluminum 13.3″ $1,208 after Rebate (save $81), 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 160 HDD, iLife ‘09
Amazon.com
- ASUS Eee PC 1000HA (EPC1000HA-BLK001X) - $341.67, 1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, 10 GB Eee Storage, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery, Fine Ebony
Prices subject to change
11.6-inch Acer Aspire One This Year?
March 23, 2009
We’ll treat it as a rumor for now, but macles* has had good information in the past. As macles* points out, up until now, most “new” Acer Aspire Ones were just a slightly larger version of the original 8.9″ AAO, including the 10.1″ Acer Aspire One D150, but there was the mysterious slim Acer Aspire One ZG8 / A0530 that recently popped up at the FCC.
If you’ll recall, about a month ago, there was a report that Acer and Asustek would be launching 11.6-inch netbooks sometime this year.
macles* is now reporting that the resolution of the 11.6″ Aspire One is 1366×768, which meatches the earlier report that Acer would be launching an 11.6-inch model. From the photos at macles, it looks like the keyboard is “chiclet-style” or “scrabble-style”, similar to the Asus Eee PC 1000HE (or 13.3″ MacBook).
Mentioned is the Atom Z530 CPU, as well as the Intel SCH USW15S (aka Poulsbo), with an Intel GMA 500 graphics chipset (aka PowerVR SGX 535), with improved hardware decoding of certain codecs (H.264, etc.). macles* mentions a Thermal Design Power (TDP) rating of 4.3W, which more than cuts in half the TDP of the Intel chipset, allowing for up to 4 hours with a standard (3-cell?) battery and up to 8 hours with a high capacity battery (6-cell?). The Z530 matches earlier reports of the slim/slimmer Acer Aspire One (since that CPU plus the Poulsbo chipset would allow for reduced cooling requirements as well as size).
Read: macles*
Asustek CEO Discusses Future Eee PC Plans (TechRadar UK)
March 23, 2009
Last week, TechRadar UK posted an interview with Asustek’s CEO, Jerry Shen. Shen discussed Asustek’s upcoming plans for their Eee PC lineup, as well as slightly larger devices.
He mentioned that the focus of the Eee PC “Seashell”, aka the Asus Eee PC 1008/HA was on “easy, excellent, and exciting”, but that “economical” came about as a result.
The most interesting thing to come out of the interview was Shen’s discussion of what Asus is calling the “Fold/Unfold” laptop. It’s planned to be available sometime in the second half of 2009 (Asustek is aiming for September/October), and Shen compared it to Apple’s MacBook Air. Pricing is set for somewhere between $1000 and $1500 USD, and they expect it to have a major impact on the market (nearly as significant as the original 7″ Eee PCs). It will also have one of the newer polymer batteries, with up to 5 hours of battery life.
Shen also discussed what Asustek plans to do as far as nettops/home theater PCs (HTPC) and connecting to TVs in the living room and using them as PC displays.
Read: TechRadar UK
