Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Samsung N510 Netbook Available for Pre-Order

Samsung hasn't said much recently about its N510 netbook, but French retailer Pixmania has recently put the machine up for pre-order. For €499 ($719), you can get your very own N510 netbook. (A bit pricey, we know.) Deliveries are expected to start on August 21st of this year.

The netbook's dimensions are 289×199.5×25.6-30.3mm and it weighs roughly 1.4 kg. We currently don't know when the N510 will be available to other parts of the world, but we'll let you know when we find out.

To learn more about Samsung's N510 netbook, click here to check out one of our previous articles.

Via SlashGear.

MoGo Netbook Presenter Mouse Only 5mm Thick, $99

As more people are turning to netbooks, we also start to see an expanding selection of available netbook accessories. One neat gadget that recently came out is the MoGo Presenter Mouse.

The Presenter Mouse is basically a combination between a Bluetooth mouse and a wireless presenter. These devices have been on sale for a few years, but MoGo has designed this latest version specifically for netbooks.

Other companies, such as Microsoft, have similar products, such as the Wireless Presenter Mouse 8000 (which is not too shabby), though these products might not necessarily be designed specifically for netbooks, but rather for computing technology in general.

MoGo's netbook presenter mouse is roughly 5mm (0.2 inches) thick and has a holster that can be stuck onto your actual netbook (see picture above). The mouse also comes with a Bluetooth adapter and a charging cable.

Via Liliputing.

Microsoft image via GizMag.

Original Post

Toshiba Plans Cheaper Netbook Offerings

Toshiba

Toshiba, it seems, is not content to be undercut by competitors like Acer and ASUS in the netbook market. Most of its machines are priced on the higher end, but it is now developing some netbooks designed to be under $600.

Norio Sasaki explained in simple words the motivation behind the change in tactics:

"The shift to lower prices is evident so our products must match."

Details about the upcoming netbooks are scant, but we do know that Toshiba plans to make two of them because of Sasaki's comment that Toshiba would "like to increase [its] products [in the sub-$599 range] from four to six."

These cheaper netbooks are expected first in Europe and the US, where competition is highest.

Via PCWorld.

Original Post

Gmail Labs Adjusts Inbox For Netbook Screens

Gmail Inbox

Most netbook screens max out at 1024 x 600 pixels, making it supremely annoying to scroll left and right all the time on web sites designed to be viewed at 1280 x 1024 resolution. What's to be done?

With one tweak from Gmail Labs, you can at least look at your email more easily. Simply click the green Labs icon on the top bar in Gmail and elect "Remove Labels from Subjects" from the list of add-ons. Save your changes, and now Gmail will hide message labels on the subject line, like so:

Gmail Inbox (Labelless)

You can still apply labels to your messages, but it will be easier to scan your Inbox with this adjustment.

Via GmailBlog.

NVIDIA Ion LE Brings Netbook Gaming To XP

Nvidia Ion GEForce

Even though Windows 7 is on its way, NVIDIA is focusing on the vast number netbook users still on XP by bringing the Ion graphics platform to that operating system.

The ION LE is identical to the existing NVIDIA 9400M mobile graphics Ion technology, but supports only up to DirectX 9 graphics rather than Vista's DirectX 10 or Windows 7's DirectX 11. Hopefully, this will augment the platform for better performance with XP.

Microsoft will only allow OEMs to install XP on lower-end netbooks for a year after the October release of Windows 7.

However, a vast majority of games and HD content still run on DirectX 9, at least according to NVIDIA senior product manager of GPUs Mat Wuebbling:

"For a $400 netbook, does [having] DirectX 11 really matter?"

Ion LE should provide the same performance and 1080p HD video as the Ion.

Via ComputerWorld, image via SlashGear.

Original Post

Which is best netbook computer?

Netbooks - Which is the Best Netbook? View original here: Which is best netbook computer? Share/Save/Bookmark Tags: amused-at-bryan, Asus, Asus, convertible, good-luck, kieth, Netbook, Netbook, not-hundreds, Object, On, One, one-dealer, ...

Original Post

Intel Atom Z-Series Netbook Processors Not To Be Discontinued After All

Intel is denying any rumors that it will no longer be producing any more Atom Z-series processors. The company currently plans to supply these processors at least until 2010. Furthermore, the company stressed that it will continue to sell the Atom Z-series chips to netbook manufacturers.

An Intel spokesperson stated that "Rumors of 'industry sources' stating that Intel is no longer taking Atom Z processor orders for netbooks, or any other products, or ending production by end of year are 100% inaccurate."

Intel Atom Z-series microprocessors are more impressive than the typical Intel Atom chips. All these chips have similar clock speeds (800MHz-1.86GHz), but the Z-series chips have 0.65-2.4W thermal design power.

The Intel Atom Z-series processors are able to support advanced power management features, such as CO/C1(e)/C2(e)/C4(e) power states, Intel Deep Power Down technology (C6), L2 dynamic cache sizing, and Split Vtt, to name a few.

Early next year, Intel is planned to start shipping its Pineview netbook processors. These processors will feature integrated graphics as well as some other advantages over the current processors.

Via XBitLabs.

Images via YersysTechnologyBlog and ZDNet.

Is A Netbook More Environmentally-Friendly Than A Notebook?

Some say yes.

Netbooks do not require a lot of power to operate (but most also aren't able to perform the most power/performance-intensive tasks). In general, netbooks are more energy-efficient than notebooks and thus, require less electricity.

Netbooks also also constructed using fewer materials.

Some say no.

Netbooks are relatively cheap, so some individuals may feel compelled to replace them more often. So in a way, more total materials may actually be consumed in the construction of netbooks.

Also, since most netbooks are only able to perform basic tasks, individuals who have netbooks may also have other computing devices, such as a laptop or a desktop. In other words, the netbook is used as a supplementary computing device.

What do you think?

Are netbooks better for the environment? We'd like to know what our readers think.

Via Liliputing.

Where Do We Draw the Line on Netbook Size?

Not too long ago, many of the first netbooks had seven, eight, and nine inch screens, but nowadays, the general trend for the screen size of a netbook averages around ten inches.

Some consumers are still not satisfied though. They think that netbooks are still rather small and cramped and would prefer them to be larger. Will netbooks have larger screens - maybe eleven or twelve inch ones - in the future?

What do we really prize about netbooks? Maybe their price? Maybe their portability? What would happen if the average netbook got larger? Prices may rise. There's certainly no doubt that netbooks would then be less portable, and the line between netbooks and notebooks would be blurred even more.

If netbooks got more expensive, they'd be encroaching into the price range of notebooks. Heck, some already are. Would you personally buy a netbook if it were a slightly better performing machine but also had a higher price tag? What if it were a little bit heavier?

We'd like to hear what you think if netbook manufacturers started to make larger netbooks. Feel free to send any comments, concerns, or questions you have our way. :-)

Via ITWorld.

Image via APCMag.

Original Post

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

EVSC Student Netbook Plan Begins

The much-awaited plan to bring netbooks to EVSC high school students in Evansville, Indiana went underway today. The plan offers the netbooks to kids at a subsidized by-the-semester price, and the machines will be used in class to augment students' learning.

The students can bring their netbooks to and from school, though they'll need to buy the netbooks if they're broken or lost.

Some are up in arms about the netbooks' use in schools. Why? Despite safeguards implemented by the school board, some think kids will find a way around site blocks and sit around on Facebook during class.

Shannon Hamilton, one of several IT support staffers setting up the netbook service, noted a benefit that outweighs that risk to many supporters of the program.

"A lot of times teachers would have to wait for a computer lab to open up… This gives them a whole classroom full of computers."

Each EVSC school has a specially hired coach for helping teachers use the netbooks effectively. If the plan is deemed successful, other US schools could take a page from EVSC's book and implement their own student netbook plans, as has been done in Australia.

Via 14WFIE.

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