Norh Tec’s Gecko Edubook to debut at $200 – runs on NiMH batteries

The new Gecko Edubook from Norh Tec is all set for debut at Computex 2009, with a reduced price tag of $200. Primarily, targeted at children, the netbook sports these features:

• 8.9-inch widescreen
• 1024 x 768 LED backlit display
• internal as well as external USB
• standard AA NiMH rechargeable batteries
• four hours of battery life on eight NiMH AA batteries or six hours if Li-on cells are used
• no AC to DC adapter required
• WiFi (optional)

All that’s possible thanks to a new architecture based on an Xcore86 system on a chip, offering a 1GHz processor and power consumption of just 1.2 watts. I’m personally impressed by its power consumption, but if you spend $50 or so, you will able to get yourself some nice EEE or Aspire One with wifi built-in too. Also, do not forget the technology and brand value

HP Mini 1000 now with more storage options

HP have updated the storage options available for the HP Mini 1000 Series. It is now possible to get the netbook with SSD memory with either 16GB capacity or 32GB capacity, whereas the hard drive capacity has been upgraded to 80GB, which is quite minimal for most netbooks. Its other customizable options include 512MB or 1GB of RAM, 8.9 or 10.1 inch display and a choice between 3-cell and 6-cell battery.

ASUS are NOT going to completely phase out 8.9 inch Netbooks

Looks like it was not completely true that the ASUS would completely rule out the 8.9-inch netbooks despite what the recent reports have been indicating so far. At CeBIT, Shih said that the customers these days prefer the 10.2-inch models over the smaller models. This clearly indicates that most of the customers are looking for bigger screens and better keyboards.

Although, he made it completely care that the company is no longer going to concentrate on 7-inch EEE PC. Personally, I still believe that by using 7-inch screens in the netbooks, they can unveil even tinier EEEs (if they do not cover the sides with the speakers).

Price of 8.9-inch and 7-inch SSD models going to drop – Sadly, not for a good reason

Various netbook vendors including the two netbook giants, Asus and Acer are dropping the prices of their SSD-equipped netbooks. Hold your horses though as the reason behind the price is not good. They are reducing the price in order to clear the inventory.
Remember that it is not even two years when the first netbook was launched. The original concept of the netbook was to be a cheap, rugged and easy-to-carry around device. Unfortunately, to keep the prices down, the netbook vendors used the SSDs with low storage space. This turned a lot of people off. The future of netbooks clearly showed HDD-equipped netbooks which would allow the users to cram a lot of data. This marked the downfall of SSD netbooks.
(more after the block)