MORE HP LAPTOPS LEAKED

Close on the heels of HP uploading support documents for the Mini 210, more HP mini-laptops have been leaked. These machines are not yet available for purchase, but looks like they are definitely in the pipeline.

The new models include HP Mini 210HD and Compaq Mini CQ10.

The HP Mini 210HD has the same specifications as the Mini 210. It is powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics. But unlike the regular Mini 210, this netbook is capable of handling HD video including 1080p, thanks to the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. It is expected to retail for about $329.99.

The Compaq Mini CQ10 is a low-end model starting at just $259.99. It is also powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics. Other specifications include up to 250 GB of RAM and 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. Both 3 cell and 6 sell batteries are available. The netbook will support WiFi 802.11b/g.

$99 CHERRYPAL AFRICA NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

$99 Cherrypal Africa is now available for purchase. This device isn’t designed to be a speed demon. Its purpose is to help people in poor and developing countries to connect to the internet. The netbook can run Windows CE or Linux.

When compared with other netbooks in the market, the Cherrypal Africa is severely underpowered. It has a 400MHz processor and 256GB RAM. The storage option is a 2GB flash memory. The machine supports Wi-Fi b/g for internet connectivity. There is one USB 2.0 port and two USB 1.1 ports. The lithium battery is expected to provide up to four-hours of runtime.

Cherrypal claims that Africa is very green. The netbook as fewer parts than other netbooks and consumes very little power.

Cherrypal Africa is now available for purchase worldwide from the Cherrypal website. There have been some previous attempts to produce a laptop that can be sold for under $100. The One Laptop per Child project headed by Nicholas Negroponte attempted this in 2006. They unfortunately weren’t very successful in their efforts and ended up selling the device for $199 instead.

LENOVO IDEAPAD U1 TABLET WITH A DETACHABLE SCREEN

Tablet PCs usually have a display that you can swivel and fold down over the keyboard. But the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 tablet is different. It comes with an 11.6 inch detachable screen. Another interesting feature is that the tablet portion of U1 has a secondary processor in it.

The IdeaPad U1 can function as both a notebook and a tablet. In the laptop mode the device has a CULV processor and runs Windows 7. Other features include 4 GB of RAM, 2 USB ports, HDMI and VGA. Up to 128GB of SSD is also available for storage. Now what if you want to use the device in the tablet mode? Well, just detach the screen and you will have a fully functional touch-screen tablet PC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM-based processor, 512MB of RAM and a 16GB of flash memory. The tablet version runs Skylight Linux, a custom OS developed by Linux.

The IdeaPad U1 weighs around 3.8 pounds. The detachable tablet alone weighs 1.6 pounds. The battery, WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth are all tucked away in the tablet. In the laptop mode you will get around 6 hours of uptime and in the slate mode you will get more. Prices start at $999.

LENOVO ANNOUNCES THINKPAD X100E THIN AND LIGHT NOTEBOOK

Lenovo has finally announced its business minded budget notebook called ThinkPad X100e. The device is powered by an AMD Neo processor.

The ThinkPad X100e has an 11.6 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels. The notebook is available with all the three processors in the AMD Neo line. Lenovo, however, has no intention to offer the laptop with an Intel processor.

The X100e supports a variety of connectivity options including Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMAX wireless. Bluetooth is also offered as an optional feature. There are 3 USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader and VGA. There is no HDMI. The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures. There is also a touchpoint pointing stick. Lenovo offers Windows 7 Pro/Home Premium or Windows XP Pro with the notebook. The base version starts at $449.

ACER OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES ASPIRE ONE 532H PINE TRAIL NETBOOK

Acer has officially announced a new netbook called Aspire One 532h. The device is powered by an Intel Pine Trail Atom N450 processor.

The Aspire One 532h is equipped with a 10.1 inch display. Word is that Acer may offer a higher resolution display with 1280 x 720 pixels as an optional feature. Other specifications are pretty regular. You will get 1 GB of RAM, a 160GB/250GB hard drive and a 6 cell 4400mAh battery. For graphics there is the integrated GMA 3150. The device will run Windows 7 Starter Edition.

The netbook will support WiFi 802.11b/g/n. It is not clear whether Bluetooth will also be offered. The touchpad will reportedly support multi-touch gestures.

Pricing and Availability
No info on availability as yet, but the base configuration is expected to start at $299.

LENOVO INTRODUCES IDEAPAD S10-3 AND S10-3T NETBOOKS

Lenovo has released two consumer-oriented 10 inch netbooks. One of the devices called IdeaPad S10-3 can be configured with either an Intel Atom N450 or N470 processor. The machine sports a different design from its predecessor the S10-2.

The other model, the IdeaPad S10-3t, has a 10 inch multi-touch touch-screen (capacitative) display. The display can be rotated in either direction. It can also be folded down over the keyboard for using the device in the tablet mode. Clearly, Lenovo wants this machine to compete with the 9 inch Asus Eee PC T91MT and 10 inch Gigabyte TouchNote T1028X.

Both netbooks feature the Lenovo QuickStart 2.0 instant-on software which allows a user to access the web within seconds after switching the PC on.

Pricing
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 starts at $349.99. The S10-3t has a starting price of $499.99. A higher-end configuration will set you back $599.

TOSHIBA NB305 NOW AVAILABLE IN CANADA

These days almost every netbook maker is busy slipping out their Pine Trail powered netbooks. Toshiba is no different. The company has sent some units of its NB305 to a Canadian online retailer. There is no official press release though.

The Toshiba NB305 is available in a blue and brown color design. In design it isn’t much different from the NB205. Specs are as follows:

Processor: Intel Atom N450 clocking at 1.66 GHz
Graphics: GMA 3150 graphics
Display: 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels
Memory: 1 GB of RAM
Storage: 250 GB HDD spinning at 5400
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet 10/100, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

There are 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA, SDHC reader, 0.3 mega pixel webcam, headphone and microphone jacks. The 6 cell battery is expected to provide up to 11 hours of uptime. The netbook runs Windows 7 Starter.

Pricing and Availability
The machine is now available for $459.99 CAD in Canada.

MEET SKYLIGHT, LENOVO'S FIRST SMARTBOOK

Lenovo has finally introduced its first smartbook, the Qualcomm Snapdragon powered Skylight. The device has more or less the same looks as a netbook. It has a 10 inch display and a keyboard that is nearly full-sized. So is it fair to call this machine a smartbook? Well, aside from the display and the keyboard, its features are similar to those of smartbooks. For instance, it is powered by an ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset which allows it to stay connected to the internet all the time. So you will be able to receive emails and other notifications even when the lid is closed. The ARM-based processor also improves the battery life because it consumes very little power. The Skylight is expected to offer up to 10 hours of runtime. Some netbooks also offer all-day battery life, but they are usually powered by an Atom processor and run a version of Windows.

The Lenovo Skylight is shipped with a custom operating system based on Linux. It can’t run Windows. The user interface is built around a series of widgets which would allow you to access web services like Facebook, Twitter and Gmail. There is also a media section for music and movies.

Pricing
The Lenovo Skylight is priced at $499 without a wireless contract. In the US, this smartbook will be available subsidized from AT&T for customers who sign up for a 2 year wireless broadband service.

PINE TRAIL POWERED GATEWAY NETBOOKS AVAILABLE IN CANADA

Two Pine Trail Atom powered Gateway netbooks are now available in Canada. One of the two machines, the Gateway LT2102H, is priced at $299.99 CAD. This model is equipped with a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. It has an Atom N450 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and GMA 3150 graphics. It runs Windows 7 Starter. The 3-cell battery rated at 2200mAh is expected to provide up to 4 hours of up time.

Another netbook in the same series – the Gateway LT2107H – is also available for $349.99 CAD. This model has more or less the same specs, but it has a larger 250GB hard disk drive and a 6-cell 4400mAh battery. Gateway claims that the battery will last for around 8 hours. Both models appear to be rebranded versions of the newly announced Acer Aspire One 532h.

FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR RELEASES A REFERENCE DESIGN FOR A CHEAP TABLET

Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a reference design with which you can build a dirt-cheap ARM based web tablet. The proposed machine will run either Linux or Google Android. Freescale plans to showcase the prototype at CES which begins in a few days. The company is also hunting for hardware makers interested in producing devices based on its design.

Freescale says that companies can produce laptops for as little as $140 using its design. The Freescale prototype has the following specifications:

Display: 7 inch touch-screen display with 1024 x 600 pixels
Battery: Up to 12 hours of battery life
Thickness: less than 0.6 inches
Weight: less than 1 pound
Storage: 4GB/8GB/16GB Flash-based storage
Other features include an SD card slot and WiFi. There is no 3G.

The Freescale tablet is aimed at students and young people in the age group of 15 and 25. Freescale isn’t worried about not having a QWERTY keyboard on its device. The company says that users in its target group are comfortable with onscreen and thump keyboards. More details should emerge at the CES.

ACER ASPIRE 1410 OLYMPIC EDITION NOW AVAILABLE IN JAPAN

The Olympic Edition of the 11.6 inch Acer Aspire 1410 is now available for purchase in Japan. It is priced at 79,800 yen. The netbook was first spotted in October. Unlike the regular edition, the Olympic edition is limited. Only 1500 models are available.

The Limited Edition Aspire 1410 has the same specifications as the regular edition. It has got an Intel SU2300 processor, 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive and integrated GMA 4500MHD graphics. The only difference between the regular and the limited edition is that the later has the Olympic rings imprinted on to the screen lid next to the ‘Acer’ logo.

Besides the Aspire 1410, the Olympic Edition is available for 1810T and a couple of bigger notebooks. But these models are yet to pop up.

ASUS EEE PC 1008P-KR

The upcoming Asus Eee PC 1008P runs on an Intel Pine Trail Atom processor. The laptop hasn’t hit the market yet, but some photos have emerged. Besides the standard version, the 1008P will also have designer version designed by Karim Rashid. The designer netbook looks similar to a clutch bag with textured finish.

The Asus Eee PC 1008P is the upgraded version of the 1008HA. While 1008HA has an Intel Atom processor, the 1008P will feature the new Intel Pine Trail processor.
The 1008HA is one of the slimmest Eee PCs around. It has attractive looks and has been extremely popular among netbook users. But it has a major problem: it comes with an integrated battery which cannot be removed. But Asus has remedied this issue. The new 1008P has a removable battery. It also features a chiclet style keyboard.

The netbook will be powered by an Intel Atom N450 (Pine Trail) processor with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. It will have a 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. Other features include WiFi, 1.3MP webcam, and Bluetooth.

The standard version is expected to be out in February in ‘Golden Brown’ and ‘Hot Pink’. The designer version 1008P-KR will soon launch in Graphite Black. The netbooks run Windows 7 Starter.

HACKS: HOW TO UPGRADE ION LE TO FULL ION

Several netbooks sporting NVIDIA’s ION graphics are now available. But most of them feature the Light Edition (LE) of the chip which doesn’t offer full functionality. But now there is a simple solution to the problem, or so it seems.

One member at the MyHPMini Forum has hacked the ION LE on his Mini 311 and effectively upgraded it to the full version. All that he did was to add the device ID of the ION LE into an INF file and then install it. He says that performance has improved ever since.

The only major difference between ION LE and full ION is probably the lack of support for DirectX 10 standard in LE. Windows XP doesn’t support the DirectX 10 standard, but Windows 7 does.

FLEXTRONICS TO BUILD TWO MILLION HP LAPTOPS AT DIRT-CHEAP RATES

Flextronics, the Singapore based design and manufacturing unit, has been producing consumer electronics goods for several years through a network spanning several countries. You may not have heard of the company but in all probability you have used a product they manufactured.

Now Flextronics has made headlines by inking a deal with HP for the production of 2 million netbooks at $45 per unit. Most manufacturers charge around $70 or more per unit. The deal, it seems, will force them into reducing their prices as well.

HP will save around $50 million on this order. But will their netbooks get cheaper? Well, there is no guarantee that HP will pass this savings on to the end user, but it might just happen.

HOW TO INSTALL WINDOWS 7 ON A NETBOOK WITHOUT AN OPTICAL DRIVE

In a bid to make netbooks slimmer and lighter PC makers are doing away with the optical drive. While not having an optical drive doesn’t really affect the functionality of a mobile professional, it does become a problem when you have to install some software only available in a CD. For instance, consider this situation: you want to install Windows 7 on your netbook and you don’t have an optical drive. What will you do? Well, Microsoft is well aware of your predicament and has provided a solution.

Here are the steps you need to take.

1. Purchase Windows 7 from the online store (saves to an ISO file)
2. Purchase a USB flash drive.
3. Create a bootable USB flash drive using the Windows 7 USB / DVD Download Tool
4. Restart your computer
5. Go to your netbook BIOS and make the USB flash drive the first bootable device
6. Save the BIOS settings and reboot the PC with the USB flash drive slotted in.
7. Install Windows 7
Congrats, now you have got the brand new OS on your system.

GATEWAY'S EC1805U STRIKINGLY SIMILAR TO ASPIRE 1410

Gateway’s new thin and light laptop, the EC1805U, looks strikingly similar to the Acer Aspire 1410. Specs are also identical. So could this be a case of re-branding?

Gateway is owned by Acer and companies are known to re-brand products if they think that it might lead to more sales. Both Aspire 1410 and EC1805U have identical specs. They are both powered by Intel’s SU3500 processor with 2GB of DDR2 memory and a 250 GB hard drive. Other specifications include 11.6 inch displays, HDMI output and Windows Vista Home Premium.

The Gateway EC1805U will start shipping on December 9. It will go for $449. Personally, I can’t figure out the USP of this netbook because Aspire 1410 is still available for around $23 less. So why would anyone want to buy the Gateway version?

AMD POWERED MSI NETBOOKS HIT FCC

AMD still has no dedicated processors for use in small laptops. But netbooks featuring AMD’s Neo processors – the Asus 1201T, for example - have started appearing. And now two MSI netbooks spotting AMD processors are all set to land in the US. Apparently two MSI netbooks – the MS-1241 and MS-1243 have hit the FCC.

Sources claim that these models could very well be the Wind U230 and the Wind U210 but that is kind of surprising because the Wind U210 is already available in the US. The specs manual mentions the AMD Yukon L335 processor, integrated graphics, 3.5G support, VGA, HDMI, 1.3MP webcam, WiFi and Bluetooth. Optional features include a TV tuner.

ASUS EEE BOX 1501 NOW SHIPPING

Asus had added another nettop to its range of PCs. The Asus Eee Box 1501 a.k.a EB1501 is now available in many parts of the world including the UK.

The EB1501 is powered by a dual core 1.6 GHz Intel Atom 330 processor with Nvidia ION graphics. It has 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. There is an HDMI port for transferring 1080p HD video to your HDTV. Another unique feature of this nettop is the slot fed DVD burner. The machine runs Windows 7 Home Premium.

There are 6 USB 2.0 ports and a built-in-card reader. Connectivity options include 802.11 b/g/n Wifi, 10/100/1000 Ethernet. The nettop also feature support for 5.1 surround sound and a built in IPTV player. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium.
The Eee Box 1501 is now available for £339, about $555.

PIXEL QI TO RELEASE DIY KIT

Pixel Qi has started the mass production of its much-anticipated 3Qi displays. The first batch of displays is going to be used in ‘specialized tablet devices with multi-touch’. According to Mary Lou Jepsen, the founder of Pixel Qi, the displays used in such devices will be thinner over time. She, however, added that some customers have expressed a preference for displays with traditional thickness.

Jespen also says that in the first quarter of 2010 the company will make a limited number of displays available for DIY users. Details haven’t been announced and it is not known who among you will get to try the display. Requests for displays are not to be made until their next blog post with how-to information arrives.

The 3Qi displays consume less power. They are also readable in bright surroundings.

AVIRA FREE ANTIVIRUS 9.0 REVIEW

Avira AntiVir Personal is a free anti virus program for home users. It offers protection from viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware.

AntiVir Personal is for home use only. It can be downloaded from the company website. It is available in four languages – English, German, Italian and French. Installation is simple and fairly quick. After installation users are taken through a configuration wizard which asks them to select desired protection settings. If you find this unnecessary or confusing, you may just leave the configuration settings at default.

The interface is functional but not very intuitive. Users may find most windows confusing.

The Avira AntiVir Personal is a free antivirus program. There are occasional pop-up ads for the paid version of the software. While you may find the ads a bit intrusive, you really can’t complain about them because this is a free program. Like AVG, Avira automatically updates itself every 24 hours. On the flipside, updates take longer to download.

Effectiveness
In effectiveness, the AntiVir is on par with AVG. It performs as promised and detects and removes viruses proactively. Avira uses nearly 20MB of RAM. AVG uses more. The software has nearly 0% impact on system performance. In fact many paid antivirus programs considerably affect the performance of your system.

PROS
Free
No impact on performance
Reasonably good scan times

CONS
Confusing interface
Occasional pop-up ads