Style

The Toshiba NB550D featuring Harman Kardon speakers makes a good first impression with its soft rubberized finish and sound quality unlike any other netbook. This 2.6-pound device sports an EasyGrip finish on the lid that’s available in lime, metallic brown, turquoise and blue.

The dimpled pattern continues on the black palm rest where you’ll find the Harman Kardon speakers. We have to admit their placement is a little strange, as it’s exactly where you’d be resting your palms while typing. There aren’t many devices whose finish won’t fade from excessive use, and even though the build quality appears excellent, only time will tell if we won’t end up pushing the speaker through the netbook. Nevertheless, we like the unified look of this stylish device.

Keyboard & Touchpad

One of the sacrifices you make on the NB550D versus the NB305 is that you don’t get a chiclet-style metal keyboard. The plastic keys that are closer together and some keys (such as the right Shift and Enter) are shrunken. Still, we found the typing experience comfortable. The terraced keys offered strong tactile feedback.

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That’s the point Engadget is making, unhelpfully calling the new, better breed of netbooks “notbooks”, as in “not netbooks”, even though they’re netbooks, but better. But the point remains: these days, you can spend between $300 and $500 for a computer that will do most of what a laptop does, but will still be cheaper, smaller and more portable.

For many people who work on the go and do a lot of typing/spreadsheet work, that’s actually a more attractive proposition than an iPad or some other tablet. (We love our iPad, but honestly can’t imagine doing serious work with it, except maybe taking notes.)

Originally cut-down notebook PCs designed for maximum portability and battery life, netbooks have evolved into serious computing devices in their own right. Some of the specs make it difficult to decide where the netbook category ends and notebooks begin. Still, some things remain relatively constant. Most have a 10.1in screen, a small keyboard and a lightweight low-power processor. They struggle with heavy computing tasks, but are good for web and email access, word processing and simple spreadsheets.

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On the outside, the phone looks like a fairly standard Android device – albeit quite a handsome one. However, it’ll be powered by a currently unnamed dual-core 1GHz ARM processor, which gave it more than enough horsepower to slice through version 2.2 of the OS – although a move to Gingerbread could be on the cards by the time it launches.

However, there’s a lot more to the Atrix than its capabilities as a phone. Motorola has also developed the snappily named ‘Laptop Dock’ which will essentially turn the phone into an Android powered netbook. After plugging the phone in and waiting a few seconds, a full desktop will spring up on the vibrant 1,384×768px display, with the phone’s homescreen appearing in a small, movable window.

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The new gaming netbook announced by the specialist gaming product manufacturer Razer is based on the Atom processor from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).

Brad Graff, director of gaming platforms for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)’s Ultra Mobility Group said, “The Intel Atom processor, combined with Razer’s expertise in bringing gaming solutions to market, will help make it possible for consumers to have a powerful gaming experience in mobile devices.”

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The new browser will be based on and promises “the smoothest tablet and netbook experience on the market.”

Their chief of development Christen Krogh, explained in a written statement why Opera for tablets will be a fully featured release:

In 2011, tablets are a new must-have. Opera is creating waves with the first public preview of Opera for tablets. Opera for tablets brings the same trusted Internet experience to tablets and netbook PCs as users have come to love on their mobile phones and desktops.

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On Thursday, the Bristol Elementary School fifth-graders all received new Dell netbooks to use at school and at home through the end of the school year as part of the education portion of the “e-Vermont” grant awarded to the town earlier this year.

In May, Bristol was one of 12 towns to receive a portion of a $3.8 million grant meant to boost community access to Internet resources. e-Vermont goals for Bristol include improving the town’s web site, creating public wireless hotspots and developing programming related to the new resources.

The grant also provided the 40-plus netbooks to the elementary school, along with training for both students and teachers by representatives of e-Vermont’s partner, Digital Wish. Digital Wish is a Manchester-based nonprofit whose goal is to get technology into schools and enable students to enter “tomorrow’s workforce.”

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The machine has a smallish 8.9-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600. It also has a webcam for recording video, runs Windows 7, and has a 7.4V battery with 3000mAh of power. The little netbook also uses 1GB of RAM and has a 20GB HDD.

The brain of the machine is an Intel Atom N450 CPU. The hardware should add up to an average netbook computing experience with a screen that swivels for tablet use. The name of the netbook is the Netvertible. Other features include dual USB 2.0 ports, audio jacks for private listening, VGA out, and a SD card reader. Pricing and availability are unknown at this time.

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The folks at NewPad have found a Chinese computer that also has a screen that flips back to let you convert from laptop to tablet mode, but it’s not exactly a Dell Duo clone, because the whole lid flips, not just the display.

This isn’t a completely new idea. In fact, the Chinese notebook looks more like a Vadem Clio than a Dell Inspiron Duo. But it’s been years since I’ve seen anyone use this distinctive design.

The new computer features an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel capacitive touchscreen display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drive. It has a 3000mAh battery and runs Windows 7. There’s an SD card slot, Ethernet, VGA, USB and mic jacks, as well as a webcam and a series of buttons along the hinge that let you adjust the volume, toggle the WiFi, and perform other tasks quickly in tablet mode.

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