ASUS EEE PC 1008HA WITH WINDOWS HOME PREMIUM

Almost every Intel Atom powered netbook with 10 inch displays now run on Windows 7 Starter Edition. The Asus Eee PC 1008HA is a bit different. It is available in two versions – one featuring Windows 7 Starter and the other featuring Windows 7 Home Premium.

The version with Windows 7 Home Premium starts at $480. For that price you will get a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and a 10.1 inch display with 1024x600 pixels. Other notable features include Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11b/g/n. The model also packs a non-removable battery.

BALLMER RIPS APPLE ON $500 PREMIUM FOR "APPLE LOGO"

Emboldened by the news yesterday that Apple sales fell a full 16% last year, mainly due to the global financial crisis, Steve has a few words to say to said company.

According to Steve the "tide has turned" and people are not interested in paying an extra $500 for a notebook that does right about the same as a Window's laptop.

PANASONIC ANNOUNCES TOUGHBOOK W8 PREMIUM EDITION

Panasonic has just announced an updated Premium Edition of its W8 Toughbook notebook in Japan. The major difference of this Premium Edition from the original is the introduction of an Intel X-25M 80GB Solid State Drive which offers 250MB/s reading speed and 70MB/s writing speed. The standard edition had a 120GB HDD.

This new addition of SSD makes the Panasonic W8 Toughbook Premium Edition 15 grams lighter and faster than the original edition that came with a HDD. This Premium Edition is encased in a high strength aluminum shell and comes in three colors, black, silver and an eye-popping pink.

The Panasonic W8 Primium Edition is packed with Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300 processor, up to 4GB of RAM and includes Bluetooth and WiFi.

As Panasonic has not given any other information on the specifications of its new Toughbook, we have to assume that it is similar to the standard edition in all other aspects. The W8 Premium Edition will be released in Japan on March 27th and will be priced at about $3,400. The release date for other markets is not yet known.

ADAMO – A PREMIUM NOTEBOOK FROM DELL

Dell has officially confirmed at the CES that it will be releasing an high-end laptop named Adamo very soon. The Adamo is still a prototype with the look of a premium product that is ultrathin and very light, and is rumored to pose a tough competition for the MacBook Air.
Dell only allowed pictures to be taken of its new Adamo and refused to give forth any details of its specifications or pricing. Its release date is also unknown but can be expected to be out by the first half of this year. On the outside the Adamo is aesthetically designed with a sleek aluminum chassis and comes in two colors, a light metallic gray called 'pearl' and the other 'onyx' black. The Dell Adamo also has a 13-3 inch display and speculated to come with a display port for video out and eSATA for storage. It will also have a selection of 2.5 inch hard drives that will max up to 500 GB and a 2x BluRay combo drive.

While the current trend is to lower the notebook price as much as possible, Dell which has been known for budget notebooks so far with its mass productions, has now come up with a cutting-edge laptop that targets a high-end audience. Adamo means “to fall in love” in Latin and may be we will.

DELL UNVEILS STUDIO XPS 1340 AND STUDIO XPS 1640 – PREMIUM ENTERTAINMENT

Dell unveils its premium high-end multimedia notebooks Studio XPS 1640 and Studio XPS 1340. Both Studio XPS 1640 and Studio XPS 1340 comes in Obsidian Black, leather appointments, aluminum accents, touchpads and backlit keyboards. The Dell Studio XPS 1640 has a 16-inch display with the eye-popping RGBLED technology which powers a screen display of 1080p. The RGBLED technology will deliver a blazing 100 percent of the color gamut as opposed to the average 50 percent offered by most existing displays. You will now be able to see your movies and games with a dazzling display of colors, along with fast response time, 300 nits of brightness and a 130 degree viewing angle. You will be paying about $250 more for this optional feature but it is money well spent if you want to be dazzled.

The new Dell Studio XPS 1340 and Studio XPS 1640 are powered by Intel Core Duo P8400 2.26GHz processor, 4GB RAM and 210GB Hard Drive. They will also have 2MP webcam and 6-cell battery. The Studio XPS 1340 has a 13.3-inch LCD display with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G graphics and comes with a slot-loading DVD burner that offers a 1080p DVD upconversion when connected to a TV via HDMI. The Studio XPS 1340 weighs 4.9 pounds and has a sleek look. Both Dell Studio XPS 1640 and Studio XPS 1340 are available at Dell.com starting at $1,999.