Epson Na03mini netbook launched in Japan

Epson Japan has launched a new netbook in the market, the Endeavor Na03 Mini. It uses the same housing as the Na02mini, which is still being sold in Japan. The Na03 is powered by the Atom N470 1.8GHz processor and comes equipped with a gig of RAM, NM10 Express chipset, 10.1-inch 1024×600 pixel display. It too runs Windows 7 Starter just like every netbook out there. Epson claims that you will be able to run it for 4.1 hours without charge.

To get this new Epson pine trail netbook, you will need to shell out $430. Preorders begin May 18.

SONY VAIO X quick analysis on basis of pictures – direct from Japan’s CEATEC 2009

It is not an unknown fact that SONY has done a great job with the extremely elegant-looking Sony Vaio X. When one looks at it, he/she immediately gets the impression of how sleek this netbook/mini-notebook is. Apart from its nicely designed keyboard, it has a great touchpad with two left and right click buttons too that do not require much effort to register clicks.

Thanks to the great engineers at SONY, they did not go for the flaps to make it look streamlined (like the case in ASUS EEE 1008HA). The two USB 2.0 ports are fully exposed to the user. Also present is a the Kensington lock, power port and earphone jack.

Click on read more to read the full report!

HP Pavilion DM1 – based on CULV platform

The 11.6-inch HP Pavilion DM1 has made its appearance in the HP’s (leaked) Winter catalog. Having 1366 x 768 resolution on its 11.6-inch display and battery life rated at up to 9 hours, this netbook/mini-notebook offers excellent combination of battery life without sacrificing too much on performance. It will be available with Windows 7 Home Premium. Color choice: Black or white

• Intel CULV processor
• up to 500GB HDD
• up to 5GB RAM
• 92% full size keyboard
• 5-in-1 Card Reader.

Acer Ferrari One is a Netbook or Mini-Notebook?

Acer has unveiled their new red hot Ferrari One netbook, which resembles the Aspire Timeline 1810T or 1410 (Aspire One 751H + Intel ULV processor). However, it uses the new AMD Congo platform with a dual-core Athlon X2 L310 (clock speed: 1.2GHz) CPU and ATi Radeon 3200 graphic chipset.

• 11.6-inch display
• 1366 x 768 resolution
• Draft-N WiFi, Bluetooth
• Battery: 5600 mAh (6-cell)

It runs Windows 7 and will start shipping on the same day as of the Windows 7 release date, October 22. Expect the price to be around 499 Euros (USD 720).

Commentary: So, is this a mini-notebook or a netbook? Gone are the days when we used to consider the netbooks as scaled down ‘weak’ versions of full-size notebooks. Now, many netbook manufactures are coming with ION or ION LE-powered netbooks, which pack a lot of muscle as compared to netbooks that came in early 2009. With the release of Acer Ferrari One, the netbooks will no longer be considered as weak.

Press Release: New Shockfree Cases From Ultimate Netbook

Our sponsor, Ultimate-Netbook.co.uk, leading netbook case supplier has launched a slew of new shockfree netbook cases.

UltimateAddons Shockfree Netbook Sleeve Cases are highly protective netbook cases. They are made from high-resistance polyurethane and offer unparalleled protection for your netbook. High-resistance polyurethane has terrific impact-absorbing properties and it is most often used in medical devices, car seats and acoustic devices. These highly protective cases distribute stress through the sleeve itself and not your netbook.

Craig Derbyshire of Ultimate-Netbook, suppliers of mini notebook accessories and netbook accessories said, “UltimateAddons Shockfree sleeve is constructed from high-resistance polyurethane which is more commonly known to have ‘memory foam’. This means that the material will dent after absorbing shocks and compression and will retain that shape for a few minutes before reverting to the original state. By compressing slowly and expanding slowly, high-resistance polyurethane is particularly adept at absorbing impact energy.”

Visit Ultimate-Netbook for more information

Fujitsu offering Back-to-School deals on U820 and M2010

Fujitsu is offering back-to-school deals on M2010 netbook and U820 UMPC. There are two codes that you can use on the Fujitsu’s online store.

1. MINIPCDISC code:

Receive $50 Off, Free Shipping and No Payments for Up to 90 days through BML financing on your purchase of a new Fujitsu M2010 Mini-Notebook. To redeem offer, use coupon code MINIPCDISC. Offer is valid for U.S. end user purchases from 7/22/2009 thru 9/11/2009 through the Fujitsu Online Store at www.shopfujitsu.com

2. BACKTOSCHOL code:

Receive Free 2 Year Warranty Extension, Free Targus Backpack Essentials Bundle, Free Shipping, and No Payments for Up to 6 Months through BML financing on the purchase of a new LifeBook T1010 Tablet PC or LifeBook A1130 Notebook. To redeem the above offer, please use coupon code BACKTOSCHOL. Offer is valid for U.S. end user purchases from 7/1/2009 thru 9/11/2009 through the Fujitsu Online Store at www.shopfujitsu.com

[Fujitsu U820] [Fujitsu M2010]

Samsung N510 will have 3 versions – N508, N510 and N511

Some more follow-up news about the 11.6” Samsung N510 mini-notebook: The netbook choice has acquainted us that there will be 2 more models of the Samsung N510. Apart from N510, there will also be N508 and N510 models whose specs are not yet known. However, one of them is suspected to have an 10-inch display instead of 11.6-inch.

According to Netbook News Italia, there will be another model that will use ION LE that we mentioned few days back which apparently has NO SUPPORT FOR DIRECTX 10.

Samsung N510 now available on online store in France – has more than 6 hours of battery life!

Finally the curiosity settled! 11.6” Samsung N510 mini-notebook backed by the NVidia ION has been exhibited in France on online store ‘Pixmania’. You can get one by paying hefty 499 Euro ($720) for it. It seems that it will it will start shipping from 21st August.

It weighs 1.4 kg along with 6-cell battery and according to the latest news bits, it proclaims to give you 6.5 hours of battery life under ‘normal’ usage and 4:42 hours in video-only scenario. Here is a quick glance at its specifications:

• Intel Atom N280 processor @ 1.66GHz
• NVidia ION 9400M Graphics
• 11.6-inch display
• 1366 x 768 resolution
• 160GB HDD
• Wi-Fi (b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• 1.3MP Webcam
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (5200mAh)
  
• Windows XP Home

It also comes with 3 USB ports and HDMI out, which is not so common on the netbooks. Finally, manufactures are now releasing 11-inch netbooks with N280 processor, which is much faster than the slow Z520 Atom processor (used in Acer Aspire 751H)

This is a really cool netbook and one should have an eye on it. We are impressed! Now, if they could do something about that price *wink*

BenQ Joybook Lite 121 Eco to be launched in China and Thailand

BenQ is going to launch an 11.6-inch mini notebook, Joybook Lite 121 Eco. Right now, BenQ has plans to launch it in only China and Thailand. What makes the Lite 121 Eco different from other netbooks is that it comes with 532GB of space (500GB HDD+32GB SSD). It comes with a 6-cell battery, which BenQ claims to give you 9.5 hours of juice. The Joybook comes with an Intel Atom Z520 CPU, which is very power frugal, a 1366 x 768 pixel display and 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 1.3MP webcam, VGA output, and 3 USB ports. It has a starting price of around $525.

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

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 1280×800 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.