Archives: 2010 June

Samsung has launched the latest in the Korean manufacturer’s N-series of netbooks, the N230.

Sporting a 10.1-inch screen, the N230 offers options of either an Intel Atom 1.66GHz N450 or the nippier 1.83GHz N470. The entry level configuration has a 160GB hard drive with the pricier model being upgraded to 250GB.

The headline feature, however, must surely be the 13.8 hours of claimed battery life. This requires a larger 66Wh battery as opposed to the standard 32Wh unit which provides ‘only’ 7 hours of battery life. The model with the larger battery is slightly thicker at the base and weighs an extra 150gr but given the base model weighs just 1.03Kg with the battery, this is hardly a show stopper.

The design is an impressive evolution of Samsung’s swish efforts of late, suitably stealthy matte black and textured with a chiclet style keyboard.

The latest addition to Samsung’s N-Series netbook range — the N230 — is really just another netbook in a what’s long been a crowded market, only this one promises to stay up and running all day long, and then some.

“A long battery life is vital to a reliable mobile computing experience and the N230 has been designed to provide just that: With Samsung’s innovative LED display, optimized processing performance and proprietary Enhanced Battery Life (EBL) solutions, the N230 delivers incredible energy-efficiency.

KOREAN CONGLOMERATE Samsung has announced its N230 netbook is available worldwide.

Although slightly smarter looking then previous netbooks in the range, the N230 has design specs that are similar to those of Samsung’s N210 and N220 netbooks.

It is powered by an Intel 1.66GHz N450 or 1.83 GHz N470 Atom processor, and has 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD and a 10.1-inch 1024×600 display. It has a glossy, matte patterned black surface, weighs less than 1kg and is 23.2mm thick.

Samsung is making a song and dance about the N230’s battery life. As standard it will offer seven hours of battery life, but if you’re on a plane or simply can’t be bothered to charge the machine then this can be extended to 13.8 hours with a 66Wh battery,

Gateway is introducing three new PC models, the 10.1-inch, style-conscious LT23 Series of netbooks and the 14-inch ID49C and 15.6-inch ID59C notebooks. The new systems were unveiled June 23.

The LT23 netbook measures approximately 1 inch thick, weighs 2.76 pounds and features a matte, shade-on-shade woven pattern in a choice of colors such as champagne, pearl and black.

HP has introduced a new netbook designed for school children. The HP Mini 100e netbook has a rugged build and a spill-resistant keyboard to ensure children don’t accidentaly damage the netbook. It even has a LED on the back of the LCD display that lights up to indicate the laptop is being used for surfing the web so that teachers are aware of children’s activities.

Priced at $299 the netbook weighs 3.2pounds which could be a significant problem since such devices for children should be VERY lightweight and portable. The netbook will not be for sale directly to children instead it will be provided to educational facilities.

Many school districts around the country are starting to realize the value of having a notebook for each student. HP has announced a new netbook is set to ship in July called the Mini 100e Education Edition. The little netbook is optimized for students.

It ships with Office 2010, Microsoft Math, and Microsoft Security Essentials software installed. The 100e also has a spill-resistant keyboard and a LED that shows when it is connected to the wireless network. The machine also has metal alloy hinges for long life.

This week Toshiba introduced two unusual new mini-laptops. The Toshiba AC100 is one of the first 10.1 inch mini-laptops to use an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset and run Google Android 2.1, while the Toshiba Libretto W100 has two 7 inch touchscreen displays, with one acting as a virtual keyboard. Neither are available in the US yet, but Netbooked notes that you can place pre-orders for both models in Japan.

The Libretto W100 dual-screen netbook ain’t the only mini-laptop Toshiba announced today. The company is also rolling out its first smartbook, a 10 inch mini-laptop with an ARM-based chipset running Google Android 2.1.

As expected, Toshiba’s first ARM-based smartbook will be called the Toshiba AC100. Here’s a brief rundown of the specs:

What is a netbook? According to Intel, which popularized the term as we know it now, a netbook is a small and affordable mobile device for basic tasks such as Internet browsing, e-mail, instant messaging, online photos or streaming videos or music. A netbook is typically powered by an Intel Atom processor (although small notebook computers with other processors that otherwise match the spec are also known as netbooks), and has a screen ranging from 7 inches to 10.2 inches. It’s meant to be a compact, lightweight (often less than 1.3 kg) Internet companion device to a standard PC.

Dell doesn’t appear in the list of partners announced by Google for the Chrome OS however; the open source nature of the platform could be utilized by the company by entering the market at the time of its roll out.