Recently in Ultra-Portables Category

What do you get if you combine the form factor of a netbook with the usability of a tablet pc? the answer is the Asus Eee PC T91, and techradar have posted a review of one.

Here's what they think of it:

Overall, we're impressed with what Asus has done here. Since the introduction of the original Eee PC, manufacturers (Asus included) have desperately tried to tweak netbooks to set themselves apart from the crowd.

The problem is, all these tweaks are too subtle to really register. The Asus Eee PC T91 on the other hand genuinely moves things forward. As long Asus can keep pricing to realistic levels, it deserves to have another winner on its hands.

full review

You can now order the HP Mini 2140 netbook direct from the HP site for $499 to $779.

$499 get you a netbook with a 10.1" 1024x576 display, Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 802.11a/b/g and bluetooth 2.0.

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The full specs and official site of the Sony Vaio P ultra-portable are now available, and it looks really impressive:

Windows Vista, Intel Atom Z530 processor, 2GB RAM, incredible resolution (1600x768 pixels) on a 8-inch display, SD and memorystick ports, 60GB hard drive (64/128GB SSDs optional), 4 hour battery life, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2 USB ports, and an included dongle to add an extra USB along with VGA and ethernet ports, all crammed into a tiny 9.6" x 4.7" x 0.78" shell that weighs in at just 1.4lb.

The Sony Vaio P starts at $899 and is available for pre-order now.

Official Site

A photo of Sony's tiny VAIO P netbook has appeared at CES confirming the rumors of a chiclet keyboard.

We expect to get better pics and full specs later this week.

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HP has announced their next netbook/ultra-portable PC - the Mini 2140, and we are really glad to see that HP has readopted the main differentiator that set their 2133 apart from the opposition - a higher resolution screen.

Just about every netbook out there comes with at most a 1024x600 pixel screen but the HP Mini 2140 has a "HD" option that comes with a 1366x768 pixel screen.

The rest of the specs are fairly standard (Atom 1.6GHz processor, one SODIMM RAM slot, 160GB hard drive (or 80GB SSD), wireless, (optional) bluetooth, 3 cell or 6 cell battery, 2 USB 1 SD and an expresscard slot, etc) but we think the great looks and high-res screen will make this product a winner.

more info

Venturebeat have successfully installed Google's Android operating system on an Eee PC and while these things are always cool from the "they installed X on Y" viewpoint we have to ask "why bother?".

Android is hyped by Google as an operating system for a variety of devices but currently it is just a mobile phone OS with a limited feature set whereas an Eee PC is a netbook designed to operate a full pc operating system. What is the point of artificially limiting a netbook capable of operating XP (or vista/ubuntu/macos etc)?

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Digitimes has some gossip on an upcoming ultra-portable from Lenovo:

Lenovo has picked Quanta Computer to manufacture its netbook products which will launch in the third quarter, while panels will be supplied by AU Optronics (AUO), according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) citing sources at notebook component makers.

The company will launch two models: a 8.9-inch and a 10-1-inch, both based on Intel Atom processors with LED backlit panels. The netbooks will also feature a 160GB hard drive and come in four different chassis colors including white and pink. Pricing will be set around US$399-599, noted the paper.

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Eee PC News has got the scoop on the upcoming Nano line of low power chips from Via.

They have only tested the L2100 1.8Ghz chip and it easily beat out the Intel Atom 230, Celeron-M 900Mhz, and the Via C7-M. That benchmark could be a little deceiving however as the L2100 consumes 25w of power compared to the Nano U2400's 8w - in other words you won't be seeing the L2100 in ultra-portables and we have to wait to see how the U2400 performs against it's competitors.

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Buffalo has announced 32GB and 64GB SSDs designed to work with the Eee PC 900/901.

The SSDs will cost $150/$300 and will be out in late September.

No information is available on exactly how fast the SSDs are - people assume SSDs are fast but there is a wide range of speeds experienced once the SSDs get into actual use.

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JKKMobile has posted a video how-to about adding a hard drive to an Eee PC 901.

He makes it look really easy.

It's great that the new netbooks/ultra-portables are turning out to be so hackable.

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Digitimes is reporting that the Dell E mini notebook will be available in August for just $299, and that Dell is expecting sales of 2 to 3 million this year.

more at Digitimes

The MSI Wind ultra-portable is now shipping but due to battery shortages it is only available with a 3-cell battery instead of the 6-cell battery originally in the spec.

If you want a 6-cell battery you will have to wait until at least September.

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Well this news is disappointing: according to a couple of websites that contacted Gigabyte their M912 inexpensive tablet PC will be sold in Asia and Europe only.

Do they think that there is no demand in the US for a $699 Tablet PC with 8.9" touchscreen and 1.6GHz Atom processor?

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Liliputing is reporting that the MSI Wind is delayed for a second time and that we won't be seeing them here in the US until July 7th.

This delay is on top of them cutting back the battery from a 6 cell to a 3 cell (while cutting the price by a measly $20).

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LaptopMag has published a review of the Asus EeePC 1000h, this is the 10" version of the EeePC that has a similar spec to the MSI Wind but is $150 more expensive and half a pound heavier.

Here's their verdict:

"We concluded our review of the Eee PC 901 by saying "with the promise of the 10-inch Eee PC 1000 and Eee PC 1000H just around the corner, some may want to play the waiting game." And we were right. Those looking for a larger mini-notebook with a good sized screen and a spacious keyboard will find nearly everything they are looking for. However, the similarly configured MSI Wind NB offers comparable performance and endurance for $150 less, although some will prefer the 1000H's slick aesthetics. We like the Eee PC 1000H, but we'll like it a lot more if the final pricing for the system winds up being less."

ASUS EeePC 1000h Review at LaptopMag

"Dell E" Delhi, does Dell have a customer support call center there?

It looks like "Dell E" is actually the name of the Dell Mini Inspiron we have been telling you about.

Engadget got their hands on a bunch of slides detailing market positioning and specifications and after reading those we think the Dell E will definately exceed our expectations.

The basic configuration "Dell E Classic" is only $299 (Wow!) and comes with an 8.9" screen, 1.6GHz atom processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash drive, and 802.11g wireless.

Want more than that? if so then you can upgrade to the "Dell E Video" which has 1GB RAM and 8GB flash drive, plus a webcam, or upgrade further to the "Dell E Video+" which has 12GB flash and adds bluetooth.

slides at engadget

Yesterday we complained about how the Acer Aspire One's website was lacking in information.

The gods of irony must have been watching as right after posting we heard about three sites taking a more detailed look at the Aspire One:

LaptopMag got a pre-production version and wrote a great in-depth review along with a video and a bunch of photos, PC Professionale.it posted a video (in Italian) where they take one apart, and Blogeee pointed out some highlights of that video.

Overall this seems like a great inexpensive ultra-portable, just as long as you aren't interested in opening it up and upgrading the RAM or flash drive (both are soldered in place).

Acer Aspire one at LaptopMag

Comments (in French) at Blogeee

Acer has officially announced their competitor to the Asus EeePC and the MSI Wind: the Acer Aspire One.

So what do we know? not a lot as their Aspire One fancy marketing site has no substance. We can see it has an Intel Atom processor, a 8.9" screen at 1024x600 resolution, comes in multiple colors, runs Linpus Linux Lite, and weighs under 2.2lb. The message seems to be "as long as it has style, feeling, vision, and power, who cares about specs, dimensions, and price".

via eeepc blog

Update: The Aspire One has shown up on German price comparison sites, I doubt their numbers are official but they list the Aspire One with 8GB storage and 512MG RAM for 329 Euros or 80GB hard drive and 1GB RAM for 399 Euros (10% cheaper than the older less powerful EeePC 900!).

APC magazine got to play with the Dell Mini Inspiron at a press briefing and they reported back on a few things:

It does have a 9" screen like we told you a few days back.

It should be available to purchase by August.

It has a fancy new keyboard design with larger alphanumeric keys and the other keys shrunk or (as in the case of the F1-12 keys) removed altogether.

It has 4 status LEDs (which would indicate at least one version of it will come with wifi and bluetooth).

It will come in multiple colors including the red and black we have already seen.

If Dell releases this with a similar price and spec to the EeePC 901 and MSI wind, and markets it well we are convinced it will be a big seller.

APC Magazine (via liliputing)

jkkmobile opened up an Eee PC 901 and found there are loads of possibilities for upgrades (both user performed and available from Asus in the future.

So what did they find? they found an unused PCE-e spot plus space for a sim card so 3G HSDPA could be added, and they found there was room for a 1.8" hard drive or another SSD.

pics at jkkmobile