Most people these days use laptops for business and entertainment rather than serious computing works. So, there is a growing need for more storage or hard drive space. Thinking of this market, Western Digital has recently come up with 1TB hard drive for laptops. It will be extremely helpful for those users who have to do a lot of work with video and there cameras. For example, if you want to store some of your favorite movies in your laptop then this hard drive can be very helpful. Also if you are a fan of doing a lot of video with your digital video camera and then this hard drive can be a good place to store your works.
Netbooks were considered to be low budget machines for basic operations but HP changed that idea with its HP Mini 2140. Still, HP netbooks failed to attract buyers for their poorly designed keyboards and mouse. In the new HP Mini 5101 these problems have been addressed. The square designed HP Mini 5101 with slightly curved lids grabs your attention for its brash aluminum cover and black magnesium alloy base which is totally opposite the shiny silver color of its previous models. HP has already implemented various environment friendly practices in its production line. The HP 5101 has 5.0 Energy Star rating and meets RoHS requiremets. HP Mini 5101 does not have any hazardous materials.
Dimensions, weight, color:
Length: 10.1 inches
Width: 7.1 inches
Breadth: 0.9 inches
Weight: 2.6 lbs with a 4-cell battery and 2.9 pounds with a 6-cell battery.
Color: Black and merlot red.
Specifications:
Processor: Intel Atom N280 CPU with a clockspeed of 1.6GHz.
Memory: 1GB RAM which can be upgraded to 2GB.
Graphics card: Intel GMA 950.
HDD: Intel 128GB SSD or 160GB to 320GB capacities with 7200rpms. There is also the 3D DriveGuard accelerometer to protect the hard drive if the netbook falls on the ground accidentally.
Screen: 10.1 inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1024X600. For $25 it can be upgraded to 1366X768 pixel. Users can watch HD content on the latter one
Webcam: 2-megapixel webcam.
Keyboard and touchpad: Instead of flat wide keys of earlier Minis, the HP Mini 5101 is fitted with 95% full-sized keyboard. The keys are perfect squares and separated from one another which is similar to those of the Asus eeePC 1000HE and the Toshiba NB205. The keyboard configuration is similar to that of HP Probook 4510. Above the keyboard, there are two quick-launch buttons and power buttons. HP designers also changed the positions of the mouse buttons and brought the touchpad below the mouse buttons. The buttons and interiors firm rubbery texture which would the user a great typing experience.
I/O ports: one VGA-out, three USB ports, one SD card slot, headphone and mic jacks, one ethernet jack. One of the USB ports acts as a charger for peripheral devices.
Wireless communication: The HP Mini 5101 supports 3G. It is equipped with Qalcomm's Gobi wireless. It is also few of the netbooks to support 802.11n wireless specification.
Battery: Six-cell lithium ion battery which can run for 5 hours 15 minutes (according to the test of PC Magazine) according to the MobileMark 2007 tests. The big HDD takes up a lot of power. The battery can recharge 90% of its capacity within 90 minutes.
OS: Windows XP Home edition.
Security: Kensington lock slot.
Softwares: Corel Home Office suite, which includes word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation applications. MacAfee anti-virus program
Price:
The price of the HP Mini 5101 ranges between $399 and $599. The $399 version comes with 4-cell battery. The $525 model comes with Windows Vista, 2 GB RAM and 4-cell battery. The $599 version comes with Windows Vista, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD with 7200 RPM, and six-cell battery. Both the Vista models can come with XP if the user wants. There are four hard drive options- 250GB HDD for $45, 320GB HDD for $100, 128GB SSD for $450 and the standard 160GB. There will be two OS- Windows Vista Home Basic and XP. Vista customers will get free Windows 7 update.
After all, it was just an advertisement from Microsoft on laptop and the main focus of the advertisement was to show the TV viewers how much Microsoft based laptops are cheaper and better compared to Apple’s MacBooks. It seems that the people who made the sand for Microsoft became too much passionate and there was some kind of exaggeration in the claim against Mac. So the Lawyers from Apple became active and contacted on Microsoft’s legal department.
This became a serious matter and Microsoft in the end edited some part of the advertisement. So, we can easily declare Apple as the winner for the time being.
On July 22, 2009, Dell anounced to drop the price of its thin Adamo laptop by $500. Earlier, the 13.4 inch aluminum laptop with 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 128GB solid-state drive would cost $1999 which is now priced at $1499. The high-end variation with 1.4GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, and mobile broadband connectivity has been reduced $400 to $2,299. Buyers can chose between pearl and onyx.
This price cut comes after Apple cut the price of its MacBook series laptops in June 2009. The price of 13" unibody MacBook has been reduced to $1200 from $1300. The 15" MacBook Pro to $1700 from $2000, the 17" MacBook Pro to $2500 from $2800 and MacBook Air to $1500 from $1800.
Apple is known for producing high-end products that provide better quality. However, in recent times, sales of low priced netbooks and laptops grew significantly as the the economic recession badly hit American consumers. This price cut is a good move on Apple’s part. Apple started a new trend in the laptop industry by launching MacBook Air the thinnest laptop in the world. However, Dell followed Apple and released Dell Adamo. Now the million dollar question is- Will Dell's price cut hurt MacBook's business?
Dell again started to sell its Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook for $199 and it would continue selling till July 27, 2009. Buyers will have one year limited warranty and mail-in service.
Here are the specifications:
Color: Standard Obsidian Black and Alpine White. Jade Green and Promise Pink add will cost $40 more.
OS: Ubuntu Linux version 8.04.1
Processor: Intel Atom Processor N270 with 1.6 GHz clockspeed, 533 MHz FSB and 512k cache.
Memory: 1GB DDR2 at 533MHz.
Graphics Processing Unit: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
Screen: 8.9 inch glossy LED display with 1024X600 resolution.
SSD: 4GB Solid State Drive
Webcam: 0.3 mega pixel webcam (integrated).
Wireless communication: Wireless 802.11g Mini Card
Battery: 4 cell battery with 32 WHr.
Base LCD Assembly
Base LCD Assembly in White
No Installation
There is another option available for $269 where you will get Windows XP Home edition and 8 GB HDD. Dell Inspiron Mini 9 was the first netbook from Dell. The company unveiled the 8.9 inch netbook in September 2008. In June 2009, news report came out that Dell stopped selling the Inspiron Mini 9. Instead the company started to promote Dell Mini 10 and 10v netbooks.
In order to attract students, famous American retailer Walmart, on July 23, 2009, announced to offer a wide variety of laptops from top quality laptop makers such as Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, at an affordable price. The retailer is offering notebooks and netbooks under $300. They come with various entertainment features, powerful long lasting batteries and a wide range of accessories.
On July 26, Walmart will sell Compaq Presario CQ60-419WM with 3GB memory, 160 GB HDD, and CD, DVD drive. The laptop comes with pre-loaded Windows Vista. It costs only $298. The price event will start from 8m on July 26, 2009. On that same day, Walmart is offering Acer AS5810-A657 with free Windows 7 upgrade. The best thing about this laptop is that it comes with an eight-hour battery, ideal for students who have full day class. The laptop has a 15.6 inch screen, Intel ULV SU2700, 3GB memory and 320 GB hard drive. Walmart is going to reduce $50 on Acer AS5810-A657. In July, the retailer is also going to introduce Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop for $398 this month.
In August, the HP Mini 110-131NR netbook will be available in Walmart. The netbook comes with a 10.1 inch screen. In the middle of August, Walmart is going to introduce Toshiba L355 gaming laptop with 17 inch screen. The laptop has 3GB memory and 250 GB hard drive which is ideal for watching movies and playing games. At that time, Walmart will also launch Dell laptop with 4GB memory and 500 GB hard drive notebook.
Other major products include 12.1 inch HP dv2 netbook with 4 GB memory and 500 GB HDD for $698.
AT&T is going to sell Acer Aspire One netbook for $199.99 which is very cheap compared to the netbook’s original price of $325. However, the buyer would have to sign up for a two year online data plan. Aside from Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and Lenovo S10 are also being sold for $199 plus two year data plan. All the netbooks weigh less than 2.9 pounds with 1GB memory, 160GB storage and pre-installed Windows XP home edition and a built-in webcam.
Though it seems the buyer is paying less money for the product, in reality he is paying more. There are two types of data plans offered by AT&T- one is $40 per month for 200 MB and the other has $60 per month for 5GB. This brings the total cost to either $1159.99 or $1639.99 and tax. Normally, data plan is good for those people who always want to remain connected, does not matter whether they are close to a Wi-Fi spot or not. The data plan keeps you connected every where and it is expensive.
Gateway, currently the subsidiary of Acer, launched a new netbook named Gateway LT2000.It is the latest addition in the company’s LT netbook series. So far, this is the second netbook launched by the company. The first model of Gateway’s LT series, Gateway LT3100 came out in the market in June 2009.
Dimensions, weight and colors:
Length: 10.17 inches.
Width: 7.24 inches.
Breadth: 1.03 inches.
Weight: 2.62 lbs.
Colors: NightSky Black and Cherry Red.
Specifications:
Processor: Intel Atom N270 with a clockspeed of 1.6 GHz. It has 533MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache.
Chipset: Intel 945GSE.
Memory: 1024MB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM.
HDD: 160 GB Serial ATA hard disk with 5,400RPM.
GPU: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (integrated).
Screen: 10.1 inch TFT LCD screen. The WSVGA screen provides 16:9 aspect ratio. It has 1024X600 resolution.
Lenovo is one of the top laptop makers of the world. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y450 is an all-purpose multimedia laptop. In terms of design, the Lenovo Ideapad Y450 isinspired from its larger siblings IdeaPad Y550 and Y650. It is much lighter and slimmer. The best thing about the laptop is its design. At such a low price Lenovo is offering a very well designed laptop with 4 hours of battery life. The laptop can perform regular day to day tasks. It can play HD video content. Interestingly, the machine comes with lots of I/O ports and communications but it does not feel cramped. Laptop Mag.com
Outside, the chassis is fashioned from smooth, matte black plastic, with a slim ring of copper-colored trim. On its lid, the elegant imprint with an interlocking 3D hexagonal pattern reminds us of the game Q*bert. The keyboard, wrist rest, and touchpad are all glossy white, while a tasteful set of white indicator lights and volume buttons, and four touch controls (for Lenovo utilities) line a glossy media bar that houses the speakers.
Cons:
Plastic lid that flexes under light pressure.
Right side of the palm rest becomes worm even with light workload.
The L-shaped power connection blocks the DVD drive from opening if it is faced wrong way.
The touchpad’s plastic buttons may not survive in long term.
Dimensions, weight, and color:
Width: 13.4 in
Depth: 9.1 in
Height: 1.4 in
Weight: 4.6 lbs
Color: Black
Technical specifications:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 6400 with a clockspeed of 2GHz. It has a frontside bus of 800 MHz and 2 MB level 2 cache.
Chipset:Mobile Intel GM45 Express.
RAM: 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM it can be increased upto 8GB (1 x 1 GB + 1 x 2 GB).
GPU: Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics chip. It can also be upgraded to nVidia GeForce 105M GPU if user want to play games on his laptop.
Screen: The Lenovo IdeaPad Y450 comes with a 14 inch TFT active matrix screen with 720 pixel and a resolution of 1366X768. The glossy screen supports 16.7 million colors.
Hard drive:250 GB Serial ATA-300 with 5400 rpm.
Keyboard and touchpad: The laptop is fitted with a full-size keyboard. A series of touch sensitive buttons are placed above the keyboard to control the volume and switch on/off various applications. The touchpad also works quite well. It supports multitouch gestures.
I/O ports: Two USB ports, one eSATA/USB combo port, a four-pin FireWire port, an ExpressCard/34 slot, a five-in-one flash reader, headphone and microphone jacks, HDMI- and VGA-output port and an infrared port.
Disney Consumer Products (DCP) and Asus jointly launched an affordable portable kid’s netbook. Targeted towards 6-12 year old children, the Disney Asus Netpal netbook has a reinforced mechanical design. It also provides 40 parental control options and customizable themes based on various Disney animated movies including Cars, Toy Story, WALL-E and Hannah Montana.There will be two Disney Netpal netbook models- Disney Princess Pink (with pink florals) and Disney Magic Blue (with miniature Mickey Mouse icons). The netbooks will come to the market later this month.
ASUS Netpal MK90
Dimensions, weight and color:
Length: 248mm
Width: 173mm
Breadth: 28.7mm
Weight: 1kg (with battery)
Color: Colors: Princess Pink and Magic Blue
Specifications:
Operating System: Windows original
Screen: 8.9" LED-backlit WSVGA screen with 1024X600 resolution.
Processor: Intel ATOM N270.
RAM: 1 GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
Communication: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Storage capacity: 16GB SSD
I/O port: 1VGA port; 3 USB 2.0 ports; 1 LAN RJ-45; 2 audio jacks: Headphone / Mic-in
Camera: 0.3 mega-pixel integrated camera.
Card reader: MMC and SD (SDHC supported)
Audio: Hi-definition audio CODEC; integrated stereo speakers; Analog microphone.
Battery: 4200mAh Polymer, 5hrs
ASUS Netpal MK90H
Dimensions, weight and colors:
Length: 248mm
Breadth: 173mm
Width:28.7mm
Weight: 1.2 kg
Colors: Princess Pink, Magic Blue.
Specifications:
Operating system: Windows XP Home edition(original)
Screen: 8.9" LED-backlit WSVGA screen with 1024×600 resolution.
Processor: Intel ATOM N270
Communication: W-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
RAM:1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
HDD: 160GB HDD
I/O port: 1 VGA port; 3 USB 2.0 ports; 1 LAN RJ-45; 2 audio jacks ( headphone and microphone input).
Camera: 0.3 mega pixel camera.
Card reader: MMC and SD (SDHC supported)
Audio: Hi-definition audio CODEC; integrated stereo speakers and analog microphone.
Battery: 4200mAh Polymer, 5hrs
Various features of the Disney Netpal netbooks:
The Disney Netpal netbook has a Disney interface.
Kid-friendly software with popular Disney characters.
Disney browser pre-loaded with many Disney websites for kids.
The Disney Magic Desktop has 2D “gadget tray” for easy acess to e-mail, browser and parental control options.
A collection of fifteen widgets including a stopwatch, a digital memo pad and a calculator.
Ten customizable Disney themes based on various popular Disney animated movies.
Browsers and e-mail have extra filters for online safety for children.
The Disney Netpal is a rugged and durable netbook. It comes with a spill-proof keyboard. There is also ASUS’s Shock Shield data protection to stop data loss during an impact.
Softwares:
Aside from the Disney Magic Desktop the netbooks come with pre-installed softwares.
Disney Mix for playing songs.
Disney Pix for photo customization and organization.
Disney Bobble head.
Radio Disney.
Games.
Photo scrapbook.
Price:
The two Disney Netpal netbooks will be exclusively available at Toys “R” US and Amazon.com. Suggested retail price for the netbooks is $349.99.
Samsung R610 is a very well designed laptop. It is also the cheapest laptop available with a Priced at around £660, the Samsung R610 is one of the cheapest availablewith a Blu-ray drive. The first thing that you would like about this laptop is its color. It has a glossy black exterior with dark red gradient on its front lip. The green and blue status lights for hard drive, power and Wi-Fi shine through the gradient. However, the laptop lacks Blu Ray option and full HD screen.
Dimensions & weight:
Length: 379.2 mm
Width: 265 mm
Breadth: 31.8 ~ 38.45mm
Weight: 2.8kg (including standard battery)
Technical specifications:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home (original)
Other software: SAMSUNG Magic Doctor
SAMSUNG Update Plus
Easy Display Manger
Easy Battery Manager
Easy Network Manager
Easy SpeedUp Manager
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Genuine Microsoft Office Professional 2007 (free 60-day trial)
Processor: Intel Centrino 2
Memory: 1 GB DDR2 RAM which can be increased upto 4 GB.
Memory slot:Two SODIMM.
Display: There are two display options:
16"high definition LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. It has an aspect ratio of 16:9.
16" HD with a resolution of 1366 x 768 and 16:9 aspect ratio.
Graphic Memory: 512 MB.
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray.
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce Go 9200M GS or Intel X4500 integrated graphics.
Sound: High definition audio.
Sound effect: Enhanced Digital Sound Effect.
Multimedia player: AVStation Now Play AVStation.
Speaker: 4 watts stereo speaker.
Webcam: 1.3 mega pixel integrated camera.
HDD: The Samsung R610 comes with comes with five HDD options-
120GB S-ATA
160GB S-ATA
200GB S-ATA
250GB S-ATA
320GB S-ATA
Communication:
V.92 Modem
10 / 100 / 1000 LAN
Intel 802.11a.b.g or Intel 802.11a.b.g/n (MIMO)
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
Input-Output ports:
VGA
HDMI
Headphone-output
Microphone-input
Internal microphone
54mm Express card (PC card)
USB 2.0 ports
3-in-1 Multi Card Slot (SD, SDHC, MMC)
PowerPort
Keyboard: The Samsung R610 features an anti-bacterial keyboard with 101 keys. It also features Silver Nano Technology. It also has a touchpad.
Security features: McAfee Virus (trial version), password protected start up, HDD password, Kensington lock port, and SAMSUNG Recovery Solution III.
Power and battery: The Samsung R610 is powered by 60 watt / 90 watt adapter. It also has a standard 6 cell battery.
Warranty: 1 year International warranty.
Price: The Samsung R 610 would cost around £648.60.
Now Acer is going to add another model in its Timeline series, the new Acer Timeline 1810T. The Timeline 1810T is fitted with an 11.6 inch screen. It shares same design with Acer Aspire 751 netbook which Acer would stop producing in near future. However, the most important feature of this netbook is that it packs 4GB RAM. Picture of the netbook has been leaked over the Internet. Here are the specifications:
Processor: 1.4GHz Intel ULV SU3500 processor.
Screen: 11.6-inch screen with 1366X768 resolution.
Chipset: Intel GS45 Express.
GPU: Intel GMA 4500MHD
Memory:4GB RAM
HDMI
Wireless: Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and 3G (optional).
Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium version. In October, the buyer will receive a free upgrade to Windows 7.
Battery back up: Eight-hours.
Price and release date:
Acer has not declared the official release date of the Acer Timeline 1810T. Price of the netbook has not been revealed yet but it would be less expensive compared to other Timeline series netbooks.
