ivy0820 asked:


Dell includes an industry-standard, one-year, parts-and-labor warranty with the system, and the Dell Web site has a robust collection of support tools, including online chat, a Flash-based question widget, and 24-7, toll-free telephone support. Retail stores offer a variety of extended warranty plans with your laptop purchase, but they’re generally expensive and hard to use, so we do not recommend them.

Powered by an Intel Atom N280 processor, Acer Aspire One D150-BK is a reliable laptop ideal for home as well office use. Perfect for executives who need to work while on the move, this laptop from Taiwanese manufacturer Acer seems to be the perfect solution. Its fast and efficient processor is capable of handling multiple programmes at once and ensures that all applications work smoothly. The laptop has a 160GB hard drive and a RAM capacity of 1,024MB. The hard drive offers ample space for all your documents, photos, files, music and media and the space is more than sufficient in case this would be your second laptop.

The Acer netbook has Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition as its operating system, which offers a familiar and intuitive working environment for the user. A comfortable operating system, it will ensure you are able to complete your tasks in less time. The laptop has a WSVGA 10.1 inch display screen with a resolution of 1024×600, which offers sharp and vivid images. The screen offers true-to-life images that are a pleasure to watch. The laptop does not have an optical drive.

Microsoft Corp’s new operating system, Windows 7, will be out in October. The previews are positive so far, so anyone buying a computer Dell Vostro 1500  battery, now should be thinking about upgrading this fall. Yet the NC20 isn’t quite ready for Windows 7. Because the graphics chip eats up part of the NC20’s 1GB of memory, it would need a memory upgrade first, according to Microsoft’s Upgrade Advisor software.

With a unique multi-touch and gesture pad, the Mini 10 netbook, from Dell(Dell 1691P battery), the world’s 2nd largest PC manufacturer, has a 720pixels display edge-to-edge display with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Equipped with an edge-to-edge keyboard, the Mini 10 comes loaded with everything a mobile companion should have and aims to cash in on the current popularity of netbooks. It is easy to navigate and run your fingers on the multi-touch track pad.

Moreover, the track pad is spill resistant and this further protects your gadget and ensures that it lasts long. Its compact and petite size is its highlighting feature that allows is to be carried everywhere and anywhere. A very stylish and compact 10.1 inch display screen and a built-in TV tuner are some its best features. Other useful features include a built-in mobile broadband and a built-in GPS. It also has a built-in 802.11n. Its very special gesture touchpad includes exclusive gestures like Home Screen, Dell Inspiron 6400 battery,Auto-Scroll and My Favorites. Available in popular Design Studio images, the dell Mini 10 has a large colour palette and runs on Intel Atom Z530, which makes it efficient and increase its performance and battery life.

Then Asus, a heretofore unknown PC company, hit upon an idea. Why not take cheap processors, stuff them into some of the small motherboards they had been working on, add a laptop screen and keyboard, and make a mini-laptop? They could stuff in Intel’s cheap new Atom processors and make something that is essentially a peripheral laptop. In a strategy that can be attributed to Pimp My Ride, laptop makers knew that consumers loved laptops so they decided to add a laptop to their laptops. The larger, more expensive laptop would sit quietly in the den while the netbook would scoot around the Internet, while you were on the couch watching TV or in the kitchen making pizza bagels.

Vish J asked:


is a Netbook

A Netbook (InterNET and noteBOOK) is a class of Laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet. Netbook is primarily designed for web-browsing and emailing. Netbooks are gaining grounds on their compact design, slimmer looks and sleeker appeal.

Netbook is a Notebook computer with a low-powered x86-compatible processor (compatible with PC standard software), small screen (no larger than 10 inches), small keyboard, equipped with wireless connectivity, lightweight (under three pounds) and generally with no optical disk drive. They sometimes have Solid State Drives (SSDs) instead of Hard Disk Drives, which are lower capacity but have no moving parts and should, in theory, increase battery life and speed. Netbooks can run either Linux or Windows XP.

Why a Netbook

The obvious question is why should anyone buy a device with a smaller screen, slower processor, no optical drive when  you can get a full-featured notebook?

When it comes to a portable computer, the things that matter to most are speed and convenience.A Netbook is more convenient because it is lighter, and it usually has a lightweight operating system. The processor itself isn’t as powerful, but there’s much less processing that needs to be done with Windows XP or Linux in order to be usable.

If we are just looking for a portable computer to take along with us while traveling, to check e-mail, chat on Skype, watch some Youtube videos, take some notes, then a Netbook is what we want. Where as if we’re going to do intensive image editing, multimedia authoring, gaming etc then a Notebook/Laptopi is more suited for our needs.

Don’t confuse these low cost Netbooks with some of the sub-compact full featured Notebooks that are also out there. Sony, Dell and others also offer small lightweight Notebooks that have all the features of a full size computer in a tiny package but at a hefty price of $1400 and up. Some of these have plenty of power and features and up to 9 hours of battery life. These are real computers that are just packed into really small cases.

How does it compares to a regular Notebook

Let’s see the differences between a typical Netbook and a regular Notebook. Features of Dell Mini 9  Netbook  are compared with a regular sized Dell Inspiron Notebook below:

Inspiron Mini 9

Proecessor: Intel Atom Processor N270

Screen: 8.9”

Weight: 5.9lbs.

Battery: 32WHr Battery (4 cell)

Processor speed: 1.6 GHz

Memory: 1GB DDR2, 8GB SSD Memory

OS: Windows XP Home

Options: Camera, Bluetooth

Cost: $299

Inspiron 1525

Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200

Screen: 15.6” Wide Screen, Optional Hi-Res

Weight: 2.28 lbs.

Battery: 6-cell battery

Processor speed: 2 GHz

Memory: 4GB, Disk 320GB

OS: Windows Vista

Options: Camera, Bluetooth, ext Bat, More mem

Cost: $699

Pros compared to a regular Laptop:

- Excellent portability due to small size and light weight

- Good enough for basic computer tasks

- Relatively low cost

Cons compared to a regular Laptop:

- Small screen/lower resolution, small keyboard due to small size

- Limited processing power

- Hardware upgrades can be more challenging

- Due to lower processing capabilities, size and cost, advanced features are less adopted (FireWire, HDMI, etc…)

Which Netbook to buy?

It seems that Initially Netbook category was lead by Asus, Acer, but today computer giants Dell and HP jumped into the race.

According to the PcWorld.com the TOP 10 Netbooks are:

1. Asus EEE PC 1000HE

2. Acer Aspire ONE AOD150

3. Lenovo IdeaPad S10

4. Acer Aspire One (XP-Based)

5. Asus Eee PC 1000 XP

6. HP Mini 2140

7. Asus N10Jc

8. HP Mini 1000

9. Dell Inspiron Mini 9

10. MSI Wind U100

As with any purchase, you have to decide for yourself on what suits you best.

So go ahead explore the world of Netbooks and see if it’s a better choice compared to a Laptop. While the Laptop market is declining in this economy, interestingly the Netbook sales are predicted to be on the rise.

A couple of useful resources:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/154358/top_10_netbooks.html

http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=18573429&imageindex=1

Read the original article and more blog posts about tech gadgets and shopping tips

Nicolas Setiono asked:




If compared with other netbook such as MSI Wind U100, for example, Dell Inspiron mini 12 really looks thin. The thick is less than 1 inch, precisely 0.9 inches. In fact, the size of screen and all of the body is about 2 inches more wide than Wind U100.

Yes, Dell Inspiron mini 12 showcase is 12-inch display screen, which is still rare compared with others netbook carried by other brands.

Despite similar body-thin like Apple MacBook Air, Dell Inspiron Mini 12 does feel strong. It feels comfortable. Indeed, Dell Inspiron Mini 12 have more wider size in average compared with others netbook and can causing not being easily inserted in the handbag.

From the completeness of the features, in fact mini-12 not far differents from others netbook by other brands. Like a modern netbook, 802.11g wireless functionality is supported, 12 inch display screen. RAM, for example, are still 1GB, but unfortunately you can not upgrading the RAM.

Display Screen

12-inch display screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, of course, is the specialty of Dell Dell Inspiron Mini 12. Wide screen resolution make the use of the netbook more fun when you surf in the virtual world. Two web pages side by side can be opened and read it with quite comfortably. However, the letters look smaller, less suitable for those who have started to crash because of the vision on the old age.

Views on the screen looks very bright (too bright even on the maximum setting), and horizontal perspectives are good enough. Views can still see quite comfortable with the direction of the side. However, there are good idea to push back the screen so that the rebound effect is not felt, too.

At the top of the LCD screen, as usual, presented with a 1.3 megapixel Webcam.

Keyboard

With a more physical width compared with another netbook, not strange when the keyboard on mini 12 is also more relieved (92 percent of normal keyboard). The distance the button are wide so that makes you comfortable when typing.

Dell includes six function keys which is F11, F12, Home, Del, Insert, End which are placed on the top right side. In addition, there are 10 other function keys (F1 – F10), which also have their own features, such as Bluetooth and contrast. The Fn button is placed on the left side of the bottom..

Under the keyboard panel there are square touchpad which is also quite wide field, complete with left and right click. Touchpad is quite responsive. However, perhaps because of the wide size and the location that fit under the keyboard plus the wide of palmrest, sometimes we do not get the desired response from the touchpad which have quite fibrous surface because the cursor can move suddenly if you have small wrist.

The other different from the other vendors, Dell chose to put a speaker on the top of keyboard panel. Unfortunately, the quality of the sound is less strong despite already set up to maximum volume. However, for a netbook that is used personally and private, may have sufficient volume.

Another panel at a different location is the on / off. key When most vendors of netbook putting it on the right top side, not so with Dell. Dell prefer to put this very small on / off button on the left top side, abreast with speakers panel.

The Body

On the right side appears 3-in-1 card reader, a headphone jack, microphone jack, one USB port, and one LAN port.

The placement of the USB port are on the way back, this make less fun when you use the netbook on the knees (although this is usually not recommended because the netbook radiate enough heat) than if it is on the way forward as in most of other netbook.

On the left side there are two USB ports, VGA-out port, and for security lock (Kensington lock). Two USB ports are located in the middle of the unit, with the initial keyboard.

When you use the netbook the back of the bottom display which is close to the battery felt a bit hot. However, the keyboard and the touchpad are not affected and still comfortable to use. The bottom of the netbook was only slightly warm. Maybe because of the wide surface from this netbook plus the combination of low power processors successfully influence the spread of heat.

Processor

Mini 12 is not using the processor Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz like the others.

This netbook packaged with the Intel Atom 1.6 GHz clock speed, but in different type, that is, the Z530 (Silverthorne). This processor is designed for the smaller size devices depend with N270, the size of Silverthorne CPU nearly half (13 x 14 mm) and charged a lower consumption (2 watts vs. 2.5 watt owned N270).

Processor is a bit saggy used with Microsoft Vista as the bundle from Dell. Booting takes 1.5 – 2 seconds. The Intel GMA 500 chipset seems less suitable for gaming, including lightweight games. From the benchmark result of 3DMark 2003, the score is only 382 and failed to run 3DMark06.

The Battery

Mini 12 comes with a standard battery pack of Li-Ion 3-cell. Not included in the battery the capacity rating. However, according to Dell, the battery is able to stand up to 3 hours of use.

The claims may be true, but there are conditions that must be fulfilled. Netbook must be set first to lower the performance. This can be done easily arranged through the property of the Windows Power Options (Current Power Plan). If you want to survive your battery, you need to lower the performance by choosing Power Saver mode. However, if you need the performance you can choose High Performance that will drain the battery power more quickly or you can choose Balanced mode to balance the power of the battery and the performance.

Weight

Despite come with 12 inches wide-screen, this Mini 12 was not heavy. By default (plus 3-cell battery), the weight is only 1.268 kg. When the battery removed, the weight will be 1.1 kg.

Dell appears mature enough to prepare this netbook so comfortable and convenient to carry anywhere. For other than mild, the adapter that integrates with the cable was also light and pretty. This adapter looks similar to the phone adapter although quite large. Unfortunately only two legs, so you have to bring converter if you don’t have 2 legs.

The weight of the adapter are 178 grams. If you take all, (netbook + 3-cell battery + adapter + converter), Dell Inspiron Mini 12 was still light enough with a total weight of 1.862 kg.

The advantages Dell Inspire Mini 12 is Wide screen and keyboard; thin physical; SIMcard slot; light

The disadvantages Dell Inspire Mini 12 is Mono speaker; price; SIMcard slot on the back of the battery; minimal LED indicators; RAM can not be upgraded.

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Specification



Processor: Intel Atom Z5301, 6GHz (Level 2 cache 512KB, 533MHz FSB and support Hyperthreading)

RAM: DDR2 1GB SODIMM (maximum)

Chipset: Intel Poulsbo

Graphics card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500

Sound: Poulsbo Intel High Definition Audio Controller

Harddisk: Samsung 1.8 “HS092HB jubilee ATA-100 3600rpm 80GB

Optical drive: No

Facilities: LAN, Wi-Fi 802.11 g, Bluetooth, 3-in1 card reader, 3 USB Port, 1.3 MP Web Camera, VGA port, 10/100 Ethernet port, michropone jack, headphone jack

Display: 12.1 “WXGA 1280×800 pixels

Operating System: Windows Vista Basic SP1

Battery: Li-Ion 3-cell 26WHr

Dimensions: 29.9 x 22.9 x (2,2-2,4) cm

Weight : (including 3-cell battery): 1, 268 kg

Warranty: 1 year (batteries, spare parts, freight)



This Dell Inspiron Price Range is USD$ 699

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TheStreetTV asked:

First look at the new netbook computer from Hewlett-Packard with some interesting added features – including one suggested by TSC contributor Gary Krakow.

TigerDirectBlog asked:

The Asus Eee PC 900HA Netbook, in a shiny black finish, is specifically designed for those who are constantly on the move and require a portable productivity companion. Also, the Eee PC™ 900HA delivers a generous storage capacity in the form of a 160GB SATA hard disk drive. The use of a SATA drive provides fast data transfers, and enables you to carry more data along with you than previously possible, while an Intel Atom processor provides the muscle for productivity. Ideal for students …