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Thanks to you all for the 30+ requests for buying advice I had over the weekend. It’s more requests than I expected so I may not get through them all but I’m planning on calling up JKK at the end of the week and asking him to do a customer challenge podcast to cover requests that I wasn’t able to write about this week. Lets get straight into it now though with the first 3 requests.
It was only made official a short while ago, but Mobile Computer already has a review of the Eee S101. Head over to the site to catch the full review (with plenty of pictures), or check out some highlights I pulled out below:
All of the aforementioned points show the S101 as being a quality product, however it looks like the price will be around $699. Some people may say that the price of the S101 is too high for a netbook, but I say: let’s welcome the broad range of pricing and spec options that consumers now have. Maybe this ‘higher-end’ netbook will spur other companies to bump up the quality of their netbooks, or perhaps offer premium versions of their computers.
Finally, a new Eee PC is announced that can be easily visually identified apart from its other several thousand variants. Asus seems to want to prove their dominance in the netbook area by creating a product that manages to fill the oxymoron of the ‘high-end, low-end computer’ category.
Announced several days ago is the Eee S101. Considering we are calling this a netbook, you can probably guess the specs: 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, 10.2" 1024×600 screen, and 3x USB 2.0 ports (I’ll spare you the rest of the generic netbook specs). At least the S101 throws something interesting into the mix, as it will be offering SSD storage solutions of 16/32GB and up to a 64GB SSD is rumored to be available.
This new model looks quite visually appealing with some nice rounded edges, and what appears to be brushed aluminum. The rounded edges of the screen look as though the S101 will have somewhat of a flush close similar to that of a Macbook Air. The S101 is thinner than its predecessors, and will come in brown or graphite. Check out the official images below:
[Liliputing], images from [Notebook Italia]
The product pages have been updated again this weekend to include more info and community features allowing you to research even more detail from one central point. Some of the features have been worked in over the last month and today I finished another feature - User Submitted Links. You’ll see it on the top-right of each product page. This will help other people get the word out on new product-related content. Feel free to submit your own product-specific website, blog, news tip, a review link or how-to, details of a special offer, a reseller page, a link to an accessory or anything else you think that the owners and potential owners would benefit from. We’ll get a notification as soon as you submit the link and will check it out as soon as we can. If it’s a good one, we’ll add it to the database and it will appear on the product page, on partner sites JKKMobile and Liliputing and in the river of links. (RSS)
Other features that have been added to increase community participation, usability and content:
With over 100,000 people visiting information on the 200+ plus products every month I think we’re reaching a point where community input can really help to build up quality information very quickly which will help people make buying decisions, solve their problems and answer their questions. Its amazing to think that when the list started about 2.5 years ago, it was literally just a list of 18 device names!
I’m always adding to my (HUGE) to-do list and am happy to have external input on features you might want to see on the product pages. One of the things I’ll work on soon is an email update feature where you will be emailed details as they change on each page. The second feature is ‘tags.’ You’ll be able to tag devices with keywords and eventually it will allow you to group and search for special features. Talking about search, this is another thing I want to improve so that you can, for example, find all devices with HSDPA easily. For the time being though enjoy the new features and please, let me know if you find any bugs!
For those of you who love OSX, but also love low cost netbooks, it might be your lucky day. Liliputing is linking to a very handy guide for putting OSX on a Dell Mini 9. Over at TUAW, Steven Sande has put together a nice guide compilation that shows everything you need to get Leopard running on the recently released Dell Mini 9 netbook. Sande calls it the "Little Leopard Laptop", which could made the funny acronym of LLL to compete with the EEE.
If creating a Frankenstein’s monster of PC and OSX components scares you, patience may provide useful as Sande says he is "…sure that Apple will announce a low-cost netbook soon", though in all probability that is just speculation.
Answering some of the unanswered questions about the R50a, a new tablet-style UMPC from ASUS, is a review by the Spanish-language website Hispazone. Take a look at the article translation for a good 5-page run-down but don’t miss these points.
3.5 hours with connectivity options switched on.Its great to see ASUS still pushing forward with the mid-range UMPCs and moving on from the mediocre R2H and R2E products with high-end features and a slick design but it’s so sad to watch them avoiding the low-cost route. According to my sources, you’ll be paying around 1000 Euros for this which, in the current climate of belt-tightening, may not even appeal to the pro-mobile customers that are being targeted.
The customer challenges have always been fun to do. A challenge for me, good to talk about in the comments and usually, good feedback from the potential customer but it’s been a while since I’ve been able to do it due to other commitments. I’m also having to turn email requests away too which I feel really bad about so in order to redress the balance, I’m going to dedicate a lot of time to it next week and see how many customer challenges I can get through. Its going to be Chippy’s Customer Challenge Week.
If you’re wondering what ultra mobile, netbook or MID device fits your needs then simply contact me and include the following information:
Think also about the following features. 3G, touchscreen, battery life, specialist port requirements, performance.
Starting from next Monday, I’ll pick interesting challenges from the list and work my way through as many as I can and try and provide a Top-3 shortlist for each request. All you need to do is send your requirements, keep an eye out for the article and the interesting discussion that always results from the proposals.
Raon Digital will offer two new variants of the Everun Note UMPC that we tested last month. The two models will be SSD-based and will come as high-end and low-end alternatives to the existing HDD-based model, the D60H. The low-end device (S16S) will offer Ubuntu Mobile and a 12GB MLC SSD with the CPU swapped out for a Sempron CPU running at 1.2Ghz. The high-end model (D24S) will retain Windows XP and the Dual-Core Turion but will come with a 24GB split SSD with 8GB of Fast SLC and 16GB of standard MLC flash memory. Prices aren’t available at resellers yet but we’re told that Raon are aiming for a $659 pre-tax retail price on the low-end model when it becomes available in mid-November and $950 pre-tax price on the high-end model which is already available for ordering by resellers.
Taking away one of the stand-out features of the Everun Note, the processing power, in order to lower the price is a questionable move but you’re still left with an extremely small use-anywhere ultra mobile touchscreen PC at a reasonable price. As for the D24S, you’re getting a faster version of one of the fastest UMPCs out there. Need we say more, apart from ‘where’s the built-in 3G Raon?’
All three devices are now detailed in the database.
Something strange is happening in the world of ASUS. In a back office, somewhere behind Eee-Towers, a product manager is battling to get the R50a out on the streets and the story that is coming through is about as clear as mud! Or should I say FUD?
Apart from the normal show appearances, we’ve seen the R50a hit the FCC (July 29th, USA) get an official press release (August 29th, Taiwan) appear in online stores in Portugal (Asus R50A-DV002C, 1019 Euro, 13th Sept, Portugal) and now, via JKKMobile, we hear that its been previewed in Germany by Toms Hardware. [translation link]
As JKK said, Vista on a 1.3Ghz Atom processor is not a great combination but if that SSD is fast, it might be acceptable. I’m still using Vista on the SC3 in certain situations and that has a relatively low-end HDD. Remember that this had a hard-touch screen when we tested it at CeBIT and with the fingerprint reader, GPS, DVB-T (Germany) and 3G, the quoted price of 799 makes it an attractive pro-level mobile tablet. If the video codecs worked, I’d say that this would also make a nice video player but I see no evidence of any hardware decoding support out of the box (based on the Kohjinsha SC3 video playback problems) which takes away a big reason to have this device for many people. As it is, it remains targeted at pro-mobile users wanting natural input but even these users are going to have to wait for reall battery life figures before they make a purchase.
More links and details in the R50a info page.
Photo credit: Cnet Asia
Well, DataWind has updated their PocketSurfer device with a small touchpad and GPS. There is also a new data plan at 40 pounds a year and a 60 pound one that gives you unlimited surfing for life. While it all sounds like a good deal, I can’t imagine surifng will really be all that nice on this device. Check out some more details over at Pocketables. Has anyone here tried the PocketSurfer or has one? How do you like it?
The Wind is arguably one of the best netbooks on the market today. MSI has just released the U90 8.9inch screen variant a while ago and its already thinking of future products. Andy Tung from MSI recently stated there will be a new “business-minded” U120 (Wind 2) model coming end of November/beginning of December. The new device is said to be a complete redesign, will have 3.5G (HSPDA), and options for an SSD or Harddrive. The price will be under $600 which sounds like a pretty good deal. Look out for numerous rebrands of these appearing over the next few months. Also if you are looking for the current U100 model, you will soon be able to head down to your local “major retailer” (Im guesing Best Buy) and buy the 3 cell/ Win Xp version for $399.
Via Engadget
Coming off of the Acer Aspire One review, I was baffled at the inability to control many of the hardware components in the interest of power-saving. Maybe a remedy to a small part of that is the Aspire One fan control utility, which is a freeware application written by Ralf Neumüller.
Just download the tiny file (right around 700kb), unzip, run the installer file, then launch using the AA1 Fan Control icon within the same folder. Once you run the installer, you can put the icon anywhere for easy to reach access. You’ll need to do a restart after the installer runs. Once you boot back up you can launch the fan control utility and you will be greeted with a clean little bar that pops out of the task bar and will allow you to change the temp threshold for when the fan turns on/off. You can also see the current temperature of the CPU.
A quick install on the Aspire One that is heading out soon and I was able to confirm that it works on XP as well as Vista (judging by the image on the AA1 Fan Control download page). It looks like it has also been recently updated to work with all Aspire One BIOS. Just make sure you know what you are doing when changing the fan thresholds so you don’t end up frying your Aspire One!
Allow me to introduce you to the recently released Acer Aspire One. The Aspire One is Acer’s first foray into the netbook space. It is nice to see lesser recognized laptop OEMs such as Acer have the ability to jump quickly into the netbook area with a quality product. I have been testing the Aspire One, provided by Dynamism, for the last few weeks and I have had a positive experience with the computer which is the first Atom based device I have used.
Its like the school playground here at UMPCportal right now because we’ve adopted Italy-based Alberto as our new friend simply because he’s got a Benq S6. Yes, we’re shallow and fickle but hey, you’ve get to get the best info somehow right? Italians dont come cheap though. as we had to send designer sunglasses and promise to buy Fiat cars for the next ten years to get the report below. Make yourself an Espresso, sit back, enjoy it and feel free to ask questions in the comments or participate in the long-term thread in the forum.
How long will it be until netbook launches get zero press coverage? The comments on a recent netbook story over at Engadget give plenty of hints. "Ahh i’m sick of all these mini laptops" says one commenter. "Please just make a weekly overview of the xxx rebadged notebooks that come out every day." says another.
How long before the profit margins on netbooks become so slim that there’s nowhere to go with pricing and all the devices become die-stamped copies? There’s at least five versions of the MSI Wind out there now and the latest one is by a light-bulb manufacturer! Will the next one use the Facebook brand as the differentiator?
How long before netbooks pass through the mass-market phase and enter laggard territory where they are pimped and given away free with a subscription to Readers Digest Online? How long before OEMs start to realise that most consumers are finding peace with netbooks, that even companies are buying them and that it’s possibly dangerous for their core laptop business? How long before the pricing war goes out of control and the quality suffers? How long before the money for R&D dries up and there’s no way out? It seems to me that there are issues for both OEMs and conumers ahead. [Article continues]
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