Netbook Review, notebook review, tablet review, PC review » japan

Century Japan unveiled new SATA

Peter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:49:04 +0000

Century Japan has unveiled new product SATA and IDE HDD Stage Rack which is compatible with IDE connection. Rack is still compatible with SATA HDD (2.5″ and 3.5″ HDD) and comes with a new design. [via AkihabaraNews]

Samsung AMOLED netbook

Brooke — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:09:27 +0000

At FPD 2009 that is being held in Japan, Samsung has on display a netbook with AMOLED screen that has the resolution of 1024x600 pixels and 1000000:1 contrast ratio. It has nice keyboard too. No other details are known yet.Whether it is just a concept or not, remains a mystery.

Kohjinsha Dual screen netbook – yay or nay?

Jane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:33:31 +0000

At this year's CETEC 2009 Japan, Kohjinsha first unveiled its dual screen netbook concept. A new video has cropped up which shows that the dual screen concept is pretty well engineered.Specs:Windows 7, 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor, maximum 4GB RAM, and 160GB hard disk.

Acer Aspire D250 netbook with Windows 7 launched – gets resolution bump

Brooke — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:49:38 +0000

Acer's one of the best selling netbooks: Aspire D250 has now officially received the Windows 7 upgrade, at least in Japan. The Acer Aspire one D250 has an Intel Atom N280 @ clock speed of 1.6GHz. It is equipped with 10.1-inch screen that bears a high resolution: 1280x720. It has all the standard features that one would find in a normal netbook: built-in Bluetooth, WiFi (b/g/n) and exceptional battery life of 7.5 hours.

New Olympic and White Models of Acer Aspire 1410 announced in Japan

Twinkle — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:39:09 +0000

Two very attractive colors of 11.6-inch Acer Aspire 1410 / 1810 have been announced in Japan. It comes with Celeron ULV SU2300 processor, 250GB HDD and 2GB RAMRead Aspire 1810T/1410 user review here

No 24-hr battery life for Sony Vaio X

Twinkle — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:24:47 +0000

In Japan at CEATEC 2009, ultraportable Sony Vaio X is (again) being displayed. Although we still do not know much about its processor, but we have come to know that its claim to have a 24 hour battery is wrong. The VAIO X won't be sold with any such battery.A larger capacity battery that should run for a long time will be made available separately. The standard battery which the VAIO X comes with does NOT offer any sort of all day battery life and stick out from bottom ruining its slim and sleek profile

Dual displays on new Kohjinsha Netbook Prototype

Twinkle — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:00:56 +0000

Over at CEATEC 2009 in Japan, Kohjinsha has on display a prototype netbok running Windows 7 Home Premium with dual 10.1-inch displays. It uses AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 which run at the clock speed of 1.6GHz; has 4GB RAM (max), 160GB HDD, built-in TV Tuner and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. It also features a fingerprint scanner.Nothing is known about its release date. Chances are that it won't ever be released

Weibu N10A netbook out in Japan – ION powered netbook

Brooke — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:21:15 +0000

Many manufactures are churning out ION-powered netbooks as they allow the users to view HD content without any hiccups. Weibu, a Japanese manufacture, has unveiled Weibu N10A netbook, that comes with an 10.1-inch display (1024x600) and Nvidia's ION chipset. It retails for an affordable $556, which is a fine price considering the fact it packs an ION chipset.Another interesting fact to note is that it uses Atom 230 processor that is used in nettops. It features 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD and HDMI out.It is surprising to see Microsoft now allowing the use of nettop processors in netbooks. However, battery life is a big question mark as nettop processors are not as power-frugal as the ones used in usual netbooks.

FunTwist Fiono 330 – An ION-based Dual Core Atom Nettop

Twinkle — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:20:52 +0000

The FunTwist Fiono 330 nettop is a dual-core Atom based nettop that comes with Nvidia ION graphic chipset. There is an option to get one of these with no hard disk, RAM or OS. It is at 25,00 yen (US$ 276) in Japan.You can configure it with upto 4GB RAM and choice of your hard disk.[Funtwist Fiono]

NeonPC 101iW-N – Gigabyte M1022 Clone – for pretty girls only

Twinkle — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:50:43 +0000

A lookalike of Gigabyte M1022 netbook by the name of NeonPC 101iW-N has been spotted in Japan. It is a typical 10-inch netbook, but has some popular anime character sticker (Nippobashi?) on its lid. This netbook is NOT cheap, costing $558 (49,980 yen).Specs:

Intel Atom N280 processor @ 1.66GHz
10-inch display
1024x600 resolution
GMA 950 graphics
Windows 7 OS
250GB hard disk
1GB RAM
WiFi b/g

ASUS Eee PC 1101HA Vista Premium Model won’t be launched in Japan

Twinkle — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:10:11 +0000

Few months back, ASUS Japan launched the ASUS Eee PC 1101HA and confirmed that it would be released with Windows Vista Home Premium (thus making it freely upgradable to Windows 7 free upgrade). Sadly, that plan has been canceled. The reason behind this could be that ASUS may launching it with Windows 7 after Windows 7 has been officially released to the public.ASUS EEE 1101HA is the first 11-inch netbook by ASUS that has built-in overclocking capabilities. It has extremely long battery life (8h+).

SmartQ5 Android MID to be shipped at the end of September

Jane — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:32:44 +0000

We have already mentioned about Android-based MID, SmartQ5 in the past. According to the latest news bits, this MID will be available in Japan end of September. It has a Samsung CPU running at 667MHz, with 1GB of RAM and has both WiFi and Bluetooth radios. It has a 4.3-inch screen and sports WVGA (800x480) resolution.We expect it to be under $200 as spotted it to be selling at $150 last month

Lenovo S10-2 HD launched – has a mind-boggling 1280×720 resolution

Jane — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:36:02 +0000

Lenovo has launched HD version of its netbook in Japan and Germany. The most outstanding part about it is its resolution which is 1280x720, which is much better than what you see in standard netbooks (1024x600).It will retail at 349 Euros (with 19% VAT)

Disney Netbook MK90H soon landing in the Japanese land for 335 Euros

Jane — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:24:02 +0000

If you live in Japan and have been eying on the Disney netbook for your kid, you won't need to wait for long. ASUS will be launching its Disney netbook in Japan in the month of September and we expect it to be made available worldwide by October. It will be priced at €335.ASUS will be including a ‘kid-friendly’ interface on top of Windows-XP including some themes built around Mickey Mouse, Cars, Toy Story, Wall-E etc. Also, since it is meant for small children and they will be stepping into the big-bad world of Internet, parental controls are very much needed in order to stop your child from viewing “you-know-what”. In addition to that, the kids can only correspond via email to those people which are approved by the parents.

Viliv X70 MID launched in Japan

Paul Merak — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:18:24 +0000

After launching X70 in Hong Kong last month, Viliv has finally launched its X70 Premium MID in Japan. It is going to cost $632 in Japan. It has 7-inch display and runs at the usual 1024 x 600 resolution, which is used in almost all the netbooks and UMPCs out there. Like most netbooks and MIDs, it also comes with SDHC slot via which you can further add 32GB of storage space by using 32GB SDHC card.

MiniPC Japan launches Atom-Powered Desktop – GF27

Brooke — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:50:23 +0000

MiniPC has unveiled their new Atom-powered desktop, GF27, which used Intel Atom N270 processor. You have the option to get one with one 3.5-inch HDD or two 2.5-inch HDDs, Dual-LAN and DVI. It has 4 USB ports (2 in the front and 2 at the back). Strangely,earphone and microphone ports are placed at the back of the it, which may not liked by a lot of people.It is odd that MiniPC used N270 Atom processor in GF27, which is meant to be used in netbooks. They could have easily used Atom 230/330 which are considered more suitable for desktop hardware.

Bandai’s new offering – Rilakkuma Netbook

Peter — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:54:00 +0000

Now, the netbook manufactures seem to be not only targeting the business individuals, but also the kids. Bandai has come with a netbook that is meant for children, the Rilakkuma netbook. The Rilakkuma netbook comes with a funky cartoon picture on the lid of the netbook. The Rilakkuma netbook will cost you $865 in Japan. If you ask us, it is a pretty expensive netbook for kids as even most of the modern netbooks cost less than half of it! Here are its specs:

1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor
8.9-inch display with 1024×600 resolution
WiFi
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
Digital TV tuner

How can they charge so much just for a sticker? Call it fortunate or unfortunate, but it will retail only in Japan. Rilakkuma will be making just 500 of these netbooks. So, hurry up if you are interested

Asus soon to launch U20A – a powerful notebook/netbook with Core 2 Solo processor

Peter — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:05:31 +0000

If you are into 12-inch mini notebooks/netbooks, but just could not stand the poor performance of the Z520 processor (see our review of the ACER AO751H), then you would absolutely adore the new ASUS U20A. From outside, it looks like a typical 12.1-inch netbook with 1280x800 resolution, but underneath lies the fast Core 2 Solo SU3500 clocked at 1.4GHz, which is all the way faster than the Atom N270/N280 processor.If that was not enough for you, it comes with 4GB of RAM, which is not at all common for netbooks. With the U20A, you get the massive 320GB HDD, a DVD writer and Intel GS45 Express chipset. It runs Windows Vista Home Premium OS. To power all this, it comes equipped with a lithium-ion battery, which claims to give you 8.3 hours of use (which we highly doubt). It weighs at 1.8kg, which is pretty heavy for netbook, but we cannot complain as it packs in a bigger screen and a DVD burner too. This will be released in Japan in next month. We would love to see it coming to US and in other parts of the world.

Windows 7 to cost less than Windows Vista; upgrade details inside

Paul Merak — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:33:43 +0000

Today, the Microsoft has finally announced the retail and upgrade prices of Windows 7. The differences in price are much more notable when you compare them to the prices of Windows Vista. The Home Premium upgrade version has dropped $40 and the Ultimate upgrade version has dropped $40.

Windows Vista as of 1/2007	Price	Windows Vista as of 2/2008	Price	Windows 7 as of 10/2009	Price
Home Premium	$159.99	Home Premium	$129.99	Home Premium	$119.99
Business	$199.99	Business	$199.99	Professional	$199.99
Ultimate	$259.99	Ultimate	$219.99	Ultimate	$219.99

Full retail products

Windows Vista as of 1/2007	Price	Windows Vista as of 2/2008	price	Windows 7 as of 10/2009	Price
Home Premium	$239.99	Home Premium	$239.99	Home Premium	$199.99
Business	$299.99	Business	$299.99	Professional	$299.99
Ultimate	$399.99	Ultimate	$319.99	Ultimate	$319.99

However, if you preorder Windows 7 upgrade, you can get it at a really low price if you are living in US, Canada, UK, Japan, France or Germany.

Get it from Microsoft Store

Fujitsu Japan updates LOOX M Netbook

Peter — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:44:19 +0000

Fujitsu Japan has updated its existing LOOX M netbook. Now, the LOOX M comes with the new Intel Atom N280 processor. The Fujitsu LOOX M is very decent netbook although a bit pricey when compared to other netbooks. This netbook is available only in Japan for a hefty price tag of $660. Well, you have to pay for the brand value. It is available in three colors - red, white, and lavender.Let's see its specs:

Intel Atom N280 processor 1.66GHz
10.1-inch screen (1024×600)
2.7 to 5 hours battery life
1GB RAM
Intel 945 GSE Express chipset
160 GB HDD
webcam
multi-card reader
Bluetooth

First ION netbook lands in Japan! – Prime Note Cresion NA

Paul Merak — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:06:38 +0000

Prime Note Cresion NA is the first netbook to land in Japan that will come loaded with the NVidia ION platform. It comes with dual core Atom 330 (1.6GHz) processor and 12.1-inch LED display with 1366 x 768 resolution. Cresion NA comes with Windows XP OSHowever, it not exactly as portable as regular netbooks as it weighs 1.92kg! On the brighter side, it comes with built-in DVD writer, which would great for you if you burn DVDs on the go. All this at a price of $714 (69,979 Yen), which is quite ok if you need a powerful netbook with built-in DVD writer.Specification:-

2GB RAM
320GB HDD
Windows XP Home
3.2 battery life
10-in-1 Card reader
Bluetooth 2.1
802.11n Wi-Fi
1.3MP Webcam
Audio ports
VGA and HDMI
3X USB
Weight- 1.92kg

Foma powered Eee PC 1003HAG launching soon in Japan

Peter — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:14:59 +0000

Asus will start selling from 16th May, a new Eee PC, the 1003HAG, in Japan. The model features:

a 3G WAN Module to be used with NTT DoCoMo Data network
160 GB HDD
1GB RAM
Intel Atom N280 processor
Wifi
Webcam, and other usual Eee PC features

However it comes with a price tag of 550€, which is quite expensive price for a netbook.

Kohjinsha introduces MT netbook with built-in Express card and TV-tuner

Paul Merak — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:38:28 +0000

Kohjinsha has introduced a new netbook series called MT Series. This netbook comes with the Atom N270 processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM and 160GB HDD, which is pretty much similar to other netbooks we have seen so far, but what sets it apart from the plethora of netbook out there is its express card slot and TV-tuner.The MT series is now available in Japan at a price of 49,800 yen, which is about $513. I'm pretty sure by the time it reaches in other parts of world, it won't be equipped with the TV-tuner card. The netbook comes with 3-cell battery. The 6-cell battery is also there if you need more juice. There are 2 USB 2.0 ports and a multi-card reader.

Toshiba unveils the UX Series Netbooks

Peter — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:45:34 +0000

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)

Dell Vostro A90 available at just $349

Paul Merak — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:33:09 +0000

The Vostro A90 has hit the shores of US with a price tag of $349, which is about nearly 1/3rd of what it costs in Japan. It comes with the usual netbook-ish specifications:

1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
1GB RAM
Intel GMA 950
WiFi
0.3MP webcam
4-cell battery
Windows XP home

Interestingly, unlike Dell Mini 9, Dell is not offerening a linux version of it. It should be noted that $349 price tag is for the 8GB SSD model and the 16GB SSD version will cost you $424.[Dell Vostro A90]

Sharp Mebius Netbook making its debut next week

Paul Merak — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:23:26 +0000

Sharp is all set to unveil its netbook next week in Japan. Sharp has sent several invites to Japan Tech journalists to the unveiling of the Sharp's Netbook.Sharp has been very successful in keeping the pictures of Sharp Mebius Netbook under the wraps. My Japanese friends have told me the pink bubble says, "your time will change"[Sharp UK]

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 launched in Japan

Peter — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:21:47 +0000

We have already seen and heard a lot about the Dell Inspiron Mini 10. A couple of weeks back, it made its appearance at Dell's website. Now, it is being launched in Japan with the new Atom Z520 processor.Specifications:

Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz Processor
10-inch LCD Screen
160GB HDD
WiFi
1.3MP webcam
GPS and Bluetooth

Yes, you read that right. It will be one of the few netbooks which come equipped with built-in GPS. It is not known till now when will it be made available though.

MSI Wind U123 to be available in Japan in a couple of weeks

Paul Merak — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:50:06 +0000

akihabaranews is reporting that the MSI WIND U123 will made available in Japan within two weeks from now. Wind U123 is very capable netbook that comes with an Atom N280 CPU (1.66GHz) on a 945GSE+ICH7M Chipset. Other specs includes a 10” WSVGA LCD, 1GB of RAM (Max 2), 160GB of HDD, Wifi N, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, SDHC-capable SD card slot and web camera. It will be made available in Japan and will cost 49,800 Yen ($490). [MSI]

EEE PCs are still the best selling netbooks, at least in Japan

Paul Merak — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:58:03 +0000

ASUS EEE PC are still the best selling netbooks in Japan with having nearly 27% of the total market share of netbooks. Also, EEE 1000H is the best selling netbook in Japan followed by Lenovo Ideapad S10 and Acer Aspire One.Commentary: The reason behind the EEE 1000H's success is simple. With newer EEE PCs rolling out in the market, the price of the 1000H has fallen down considerably. The full-featured netbook along with an irresistible price tag have together resulted in great sales. --- Also read: Lenovo Ideapad S10 review