SONY VAIO P – 3 new models running Windows 7: VGN-P39VL/Q, VGN-P31ZK/R and VGN-P31ZK/Q

SONY has silently unveiled 3 new models that run Windows 7 OS. The VGN-P39VL/Q is the new top of the line model that comes with the mighty Intel Atom Z550 CPU that runs at the clock speed of 2GHz. It uses 128GB SSD for storage and has the usual 2GB RAM. It will be available in only one color: black. OS: Windows 7 Professional

Second and third models are VGN-P31ZK/R and VGN-P31ZK/Q, both of which run slightly slower Intel Atom Z540 processor (1.86GHz). Both run Windows 7 Home Premium, which means they won’t have XP compatibility mode. They use 80GB hard disk drive instead of SSD. VGN-P31ZK/R will be available in red color and VGN-P31ZK/Q in black.

[SONY VAIO P UK]

Read our VAIO P review

SONY VAIO Pocket Style PC “P series” review

Few months back, we did the unboxing of the VAIO P. However, since then, we did not ever published its full review. We have criticized VAIO P heavily (see THIS), but we need to understand one fact that is VAIO P is a crop of its own.

Anyway, been using VAIO P from past few months, I am now fully aware of its pros and cons. Now, how is the immediate out of box experience. To be honest, you immediately feel its slowness as soon as you take it out of the box. It took it 30 minutes to take me to the desktop! Then, even after the desktop was loaded, it was very slow.

Click on read more to read the complete review!

MSI X400 and MSI X610 officially announced – Expensive!

MSI has made public its two new X-Slim series notebooks, one of which is based on CULV platform and other is based on AMD NEO platform. The smallest 14-incher in the market, the X400 uses CULV processor and weighs 1.5 kg. It has depth under an inch at its waistline. Oddly enough, it took MSI nearly 4 months to make it official!

The X400 will ship in two SKUs. The entry level version is based on Intel’s SU2700 CULV CPU; upto 2GB RAM and 320GB hard disk drive. A more powerful version will be equipped with Intel SU3500 processor and will feature a massive 500GB hard drive. It will come with a 4-cell battery. You can also opt for 8-cell battery, which we won’t recommend as the main purpose of buying X400 would be keeping a slim profile. It will cost you around £499 for the lower end model and £569 for the higher end model.

The AMD Neo-based 15.6-inch X610 has also been made official, which comes with an Athlon Neo MV-40 clocked at 1.6GHz and features ATi Radeon HD4330 discrete graphics with 512MB of memory. You get the option to choose between 320GB, 500GB or 640GB hard drive and 2GB or 4GB of RAM. No info on its pricing.

Toshiba 500GB hard disk drive for netbooks out now! – How much space does a man need?

Toshiba has finally unveiled its new category of high performance 7200rpm hard disk drives that are meant to be used in Laptops and netbooks.

These new HDDs use less power than the previous 7200rpm disk drives, so you get the same speed with less power used. 0.5TB in a netbook! Just think how much you can throw into your netbook.

The good news does not ends there. The new HDD is nearly 13% faster than the previous 7200rpm hard disks, thanks to the software and hardware improvements.

VILIV S7 pricing details + more pictures

Dynamism has come with the pricing details about the Viliv S7. It will be coming in 3 versions:

1) The Entry Level Viliv S7, costing a modest $639 comes with 1.3GHz Atom processor with a 60GB HDD, a gig of RAM and runs Windows XP Home.

2) Second variant will come with a 32GB SSD instead of a hard disk drive. It will cost you $20 more than the entry level model bringing the price to $659

3) Third variant will have built-in 3G modem and will cost $799.

[Dynamism Link] [Viliv S7 Japanese webpage]

Click on read more to see pictures of Viliv S7 UMPC

AMD-based Acer laptops pose a tough competition for netbooks – PEOPLE BUY NETBOOKS BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD LAPTOPS?

Acer is selling its AMD-base laptops for mere $279, which are giving tough competition to the netbooks, most of which come equipped with the Intel’s Atom processor.

According to Fudzilla, there is no use in buying a netbook with an 10-inch screen, an Intel Atom processor, no optical drive and Windows XP that weighs about two pounds. Why? Because when you have a better option of getting a laptop with an 15.6-inch screen, a higher-performance AMD or Intel processor, an optical drive and Windows Vista that weights about six pounds.

Here are the specifications of the 15.6-inch laptop:

AMD Athlon TF-20 64 processor, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition.

Commentary: Such thinking is COMPLETELY RUBBISH. People do not buy netbooks just because they cannot afford laptops. They buy it because they are excellent traveling companions. I love my netbook as it is smaller and weigh must less than my heavy and bulky notebook.

Motion J3400 – Meet the fastest slate Tablet in the world

How fast is too fast? While most of the  netbooks are still coming with Intel Atom processors, folks at Motion have come up with a new rugged tablet PC that is equipped with Intel Core 2 Duo processor that runs at 1.6GHz processor. This processor is much faster than any Intel Atom processor.

Here are its features:

• Hot-swappable dual battery design for all day computing
• 1.8 inch hard disk drive (HDD) that provides extra shock protection
• Shock-mounted display and HDD with DataGuard™
• Optional low cost 64GB SSD for extreme shock and vibration protection
• 2.0 megapixel camera for seamless, in-the-field documentation
• GPS for real-time mapping, location tracking or the geo-tagging of digital photos

Motion’s J3400 offers all of the durability and functionality of a rugged PC, without the extra weight and price associated with traditional fully rugged devices.   Customers across industries, including field service, construction, healthcare and automotive services are excited about the rugged design, integrated features and outdoor visibility options.

There is also an option to get one with 1.4GHz processor. Click here to know more about Motion J3400.

Toshiba unveils the UX Series Netbooks

Toshiba launches its new 10.1 inch widescreen range of netbooks in Japan this week, with a price tag of £400. The UX Series boasts of a longer battery life of about 4 hours compared to the NB100 netbook with battery life of 2.9 hours. However, inspite of its larger screen the model is smaller, at 263 x 192 x 31mm and weighs between 1.2 and 1.3Kg depending on the configuration. The other specifications are same as many other netbooks in the market, like:

• Intel’s N280 Atom processor
• 1GB RAM
• 160GB Hard Disk Drive
• 1,024 x 600 pixel resolution

The new netbook from Toshiba looks very promising. The chicklet keyboard seems to be of much better quality than the found on ASUS EEE 1000HE (reviewed here)