Lenovo introduces Ideapad S100 10 inch netbook

Lenovo is updating its netbook line today with the introduction of the IdeaPad S100. Like the S10, S10-2, and S10-3 that preceded it, the Lenovo IdeaPad S100 features a 10 inch display. But this will be the first netbook model from Lenovo with support for a dual core processor.

The S100 will be available with up to an Atom N570 dual core CPU. It will also be available with an Atom N455 or N475 single core chip. The netbook also  supports up to 2GB of DDR3 of memory, and up to 320GB of hard drive space. It will have Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics, a 2MP wecbam, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth.

The mini-laptop has a redesigned keyboard which Lenovo says is 98% of the size of a full-sized keyboard, which is pretty impressive for a 10 inch netbook. The keyboard actually looks a lot like the chiclet-style keyboard Lenovo has been using for its 11.6 inch and smaller ThinkPad laptops.

The Lenovo IdeaPad S100 will be available in March for $329.99 and up.

 

Toshiba slips out NB550D AMD Brazos-powered netbook

Toshiba Germany jumped the gun and exposed on its website the upcoming NB550D 10-inch netbook which is based on the same design as the NB520 model but makes use of AMD’s new Brazos platform and is powered by the C-50 (Ontario) APU boasting two Bobcat x86 cores and DX11 Radeon 6250 graphics.

Coming in three colors – Lime Green, Brown and Orange, the NB520 weights 1.32kg, and has a metallic finish, a 10.1-inch LED-backlit display, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, LAN, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a VGA webcam, a HDMI output, two Harman Kardon speakers, and a 6-cell battery enabling up to 9.5 hours of operation.

Toshiba will pre-load its first Fusion machine with Windows 7 Starter and release it in Q1 (2011).

 

Samsung launches NF310 dual core netbook with HD display

Last month I got a chance to check out one of Samsung’s newest mini-laptops, the NF210. Aside from a few snazzy design choices which probably make the NF210 a love it or hate it machine, the Samsung NF210 doesn’t have much to set it apart from earlier Samsung netbooks. It has the same display, processor, and other specs as pretty much every Samsung netbook launched this year.

But it turns out the Samsung NF210 has a bigger brother. Today the company officially launched the Samsung NF310 in the US. While it has the same case design as the Samsung NF210, this $399 model has some premium specs, including:

• Dual core 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 processor
• 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel HD display

 

Acer Aspire One D255 with dual-core Atom hits at $330

It was only a matter of time before Acer let out the pricing / availability details on its dual-core Atom netbook, and as we could have predicted, the Taiwanese company’s smacked an extremely enticing pricetag on this one. Ringing up at an aggressive $329.99, the 2.2-pound D255 looks almost identical to the D260 — yes, even those with the worst of cataracts could tell it’s an Aspire One from afar — but in terms of specs it’s got that notable difference of a brand new dual-core Atom N550 processor. But not to worry, even though it’s now the cheapest dual-core netbook around, it’s still got the netbook standards — including 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive and six-cell battery. The single-core version will go for $269.99, but we do have to say that shelling out that additional $50 for that extra core does buy you slightly faster performance (see our HP Mini 5103 review for some Atom N550 performance results). Sounds mighty tempting to us, but it still doesn’t make us forget about that Chrome OS netbook Acer’s been promising.

Acer Aspire One 532G, finally a worthy Netbook for HD freaks

Introduced way back in February 2010 but yet available, the Acer Aspire One 523G made quite an impression at Computex 2010. Powered by an Intel Atom N450 @ 1.66GHz, our Notebooks runs on NVIDIA’s Ion 2 platform with 512MB of VRAM and compatible with DX10 as well as using Nvidia’s New optimus automatic switching technology, giving you once needed the power to watch Full HD Video and once you are just surfing the web, enough juice to get up to 10h of battery life.

MSI details the EX465MX 14-inch Intel-powered laptop

Wind netbook maker MSI has just revealed its newest portable PC offering, the EX465MX business-oriented laptop featuring a 14-inch LED-backlit display and based on a SiS/Intel combo made up of the SiS 672 DX and 968 chips, and Core 2 Duo processors.

Keeping design eye-candy to a minimum, MSI’s notebook makes use of the ECO power management technology for greater battery life and packs up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, a 250/ 320/ 500GB SATA hard drive, a Radeon HD 545v 512MB discrete graphics card, a 4-in-1 card reader, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.

The EX465MX’s pricing or release date were not revealed.

Samsung P80, P30 notebooks and NB30 Pro netbook make their US debut

Samsung Electronics America has today announced a trio of mobile PCs that are targeted towards business users and are based on Intel platforms, the P80 Premium and P30 Essential series notebooks, and the NB30 Pro netbook.

The P80 family includes the 14-inch P480 and 15.6-inch P580 laptops which have a matte finish and feature a native screen resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, a Core i5 (430M) processor, up to 4GB of RAM, a maximum of 320GB of storage space, Intel Integrated graphics, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, and a batter enabling about 4.4 hours of operation. Both models start at $999.

The P430 and P530 models start at $849 and come equipped with a Core i3 330M CPU, up to 4GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, integrated graphics, 10/100 LAN, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, and a battery for up to 4.6 hours of work (per charge of course).

Last and least, the NB30 Pro costs $519 and boasts a durable casing, a water resistant keyboard, 10.1-inch (1024×600) display, a 1.66 GHz Atom N450 processor, up to 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive backed by a free fall sensor, a 0.3 megapixel webcam, and a battery that will hold out up to 6.5 hours per charge.

All those above come with Windows 7 Professional pre-installed.

P580

MSI preps the DDR3-equipped Wind U160DX netbook

Expected to make their debut very soon, the first DDR3-supporting Intel Atom processors are going to be quickly adopted by Taiwanese manufacturer MSI who today showcased the Wind U160DX netbook powered by the 1.66 GHz Atom N455 chip.

MSI’s upcoming Wind model is based on the March-released U160 and features a 10-inch (1024×600) display, the N455 CPU, 1GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB hard drive, GMA 3150 integrated graphics, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 10/100 LAN, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as a 6-cell batter that, thanks to the ECO Engine power management system, can last for up to 15 hours per charge.

MSI is probably going to announce the Wind U160DX at Computex, right after Intel launched the new Atoms.

Pioneer Launches 10.1” VIA ARM Based DreamBook Lite E10 Netbook

Pioneer Computers Australia has launched a new 10-inch netbook with VIA branded ARM innards. Judging by the looks and bezel, it’s clearly a chassis meant to go with a larger screen (11 or 12-inch) and it looks exactly like one of those cheap clones you find out of China.

Judging by the specs, it looks like it would be pretty slow and unpleasant to use (Windows CE or Android without touch) but hey, it’s dead cheap at $199 AUD ($173)

DreamBook Lite E10

• 10.1” 1024 x 600 display
• VIA integrated graphics
• VIA-8505 (533MHz) processor
• 128MB RAM
• 2 – 4GB RAM
• 0.3MP webcam
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
• 10/100 LAN
• SD card slot (up to 16GB), 3x USB 2.0, audio jacks
• 1800mAh / 7.4v battery (3 hours)
• 0.58 kg / 1.28 pounds
• Windows CE 6.0 / Google Android
• 3G optional

Linkbook 9 inch netbook with a PowerPC processor

Intel may dominate the netbook space with its Atom chips. But there’s no rule that says a netbook needs to have an Atom processor… or even an x86 processor. A South African company has built an 8.9 inch mini-laptop called the Linkbook which is powered by a Freescale PowerPC processor.

If the PowerPC architecture sounds familiar, that’s because Apple used PowerPC chips for its Mac computers until just a few years ago.

The Linkbook comes with a 3G modem, SIM card slot, 16GB of flash storage, and 256MB of RAM. It has an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel TFT screen, 2 USB ports, mic and headphone jacks and a camera.

The computer runs a custom operating system called Link OS, which is based on Ubuntu.

You can pick one up from Vodafone in South African for about $25 when you sign up for a 2 year service contract.