Netbook Reviews and Ratings, Netbook Computer vs Ipad vs Laptop » sony

A Dual-Core Atom Netbook From ASUS

admin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:11:30 +0000

ASUS has been a big name in the world of netbooks for some time. One area where the excelled over the competition was in running times with some of their netbooks able to achieve over 10 hours of running time with standard web use. Now ASUS has updated their Eee PC lineup to include the new dual-core Intel Atom processor for additional performance. Is this extra performance worth the additional cost? Does it impact the battery life?

Complete Article

Netbooks keep it light for the simple tasks

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:32:43 +0000

THEY might have taken a back seat during the rise of the mighty tablet, but netbooks still have a place in mobile computing.

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.

Complete Article

Opera Teases New Touch Browser for Tablets

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:39:37 +0000

Opera Software, the maker of desktop Opera browser for Windows, Mac OS X and other devices, announced on Monday plans to create an entirely new browser from scratch optimized for web surfing on tablets.

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.

Complete Article

Dell to launch Latitiude 2120 netbook at CES

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:15:16 +0000

Looks like Dell will be launching a new Latitude 2120 netbook at CES next week. The 2120 is said to have specs identical to the previous 2110, but it packs double the power thanks to a dual core N550 processor. It features 3 and 6 cell battery

options, a 10.1 inch display (with an optional touchscreen), 1 to 2GB of RAM, USB, Ethernet, and VGA ports.The other interesting news about this latest Latitude is that it gets an optional Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. There’s no info about price or availability just yet though.

Complete Article

Chinese netbook looks a lot like the Dell Inspiron duo

admin — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 17:28:35 +0000

The most obvious design feature of the Dell Inspiron Duo netbook is the cool swiveling screen that the convertible netbook uses to go into tablet or netbook mode. When you have a device that has an interesting feature like that, you can bet that other companies will tray and make something similar. The little machine isn’t pure duo knockoff though; it has some other elements to its design too.

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.

Complete Article

Chinese netbook takes interesting road to tablethood

admin — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:55:03 +0000

The Dell Inspiron Duo is getting a lot of attention these days — not because it’s the first laptop that turns into a tablet when you tilt the screen. It’s because of how you tilt the screen. There’s no swivel letting you tilt the screen left to right like you’ll find on most convertible tablets. Instead, the screen flips inside the the lid, so you can close the lid like normal, but with the screen facing outward.

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.

Complete Article

Dell Inspiron Duo: Not Your Ordinary Netbook

admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:49:38 +0000

With so many netbooks available in the market today, impressing an average computer-obsess geek proves to be a difficult and challenging task. The obiquity of netbooks have turned these light-weighted and smaller versions of the traditional laptop computers into an ordinary thing of the past. They all look freakin the same. No wonder companies are pulling their own gimmick, albeit unsuccessful for some, to set them apart from the rest. The Dell Inspiron Duo is no exemption.

Displayed under the statement “Sometimes you want to touch. Sometimes you need to type. With the new touch-sensitive, Flash-capableInspiron™ duo convertible tablet, you can do both in style. You can tell it’s Dell”, the Dell Inspiron Duo is a hybrid laptop/ tablet. With its 180 degrees swivel screen the netbook can instantly morph into a tablet. It is probably the first netbook to boast such functionality.

Launched last September 14, 2010, the Dell Inspiron Duo immediately caught the media attention. According to a blog review, the Inspiron Duo’s product demo– vertically rotating screen– was so impressive that the writer almost hit the ceiling when she first saw it. “It was like nothing we’d ever seen before,” as she puts it.

But of course the back-flipping swiveling 10.1 inch screen is not what it is all about. Inspiron Duo’s 1366×768-resolution display is partnered with an accelerometer, though interestingly not in the display itself. The accelerometer controls the screen orientation which means that when the screen is rotated, the viewing orientation doesn’t actually change until it is locked over the keyboard.

Complete Article

Codenames of up coming Google’s ‘Netbook’ Leaked

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:05:57 +0000

Chrome OS is definitely a little more confusing since Google already has its own Chrome. A Web browser along with an operating system, called Android. However, Google claims that all ambiguity will be over by the end of this year, when the company plans to launch their first lightweight ‘netbook’ computer that runs Chrome publically. Though Google has yet turned down any query to details about this up-coming device, it is much expected for it to be manufactured by some other company and worthily be branded by Google itself – just like the way it’s done with Nexus phone, which runs on Android. Google is not facing its rivals Microsoft and Apple with Chrome OS, which are renowned for their operating systems and other day-to-day software’s like Microsoft Office, Apple iPhoto or iTunes. Such softwares are no use for these Chrome computers. Instead considering it to be a total online-operating-system, Chrome users would use other online-tools of Google like Docs instead of Microsoft Office, Picasa instead of iPhoto, Docs for word processing, Gmail for e-mail and much more. Google has full intentions to open a Chrome app store for software developers to dream up other Chrome tools.

Complete Article

20,000 netbooks invade classrooms

admin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:36:59 +0000

Austin Independent School District students will get a total of 20,000 netbook computers in a three-phase program that will allow students and teachers to stay in a classroom to do online work instead of meeting in computer labs or libraries.

The new teaching tools are part of AISD’s “Computers on Wheels” program, paid for with funds from the 2008 Apple at Work Bond.

The netbooks, which are smaller than standard laptop computers, will be housed on mobile carts in units of 10, 20 or 30. The COW program is the first of three phases that will place approximately 20,000 netbooks on District campuses by spring break.

McCallum High School was the first campus scheduled to receive approximately 200 netbooks.

Chemistry teacher Elaine Bohls-Graham said the netbooks are a welcome resource for teachers who want to maximize time with the students.

Complete Article

Dell Duo is a netbook and a tablet

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:09:09 +0000

Having a hard time deciding between a netbook and a tablet? Dell hopes to make the choice easier by giving you a two-fer: its new Inspiron Duo is both, a hybrid with a 10-inch touch screen. The Duo may be unveiled next week; no pricing has been announced yet.

Dell isn’t saying much about the Duo just yet, although a short YouTube video shows a sneak peek. (BlackBerry maker Research In Motion also is sharing a look on YouTube at its new PlayBook tablet, due for release next year, comparing it to Apple’s iPad).

The Duo, with a dual-core Atom processor and using Windows 7, was first shown by Dell in September at an Intel Developer Forum.

Complete Article