Filed under: Laptops

The non-stop barrage of Eee-branded gear from ASUS continues on today, with the first appearance of the Eee PC 903, 904 (above), and 905. It’s not clear exactly what the differences between the three models are, but as we’ve heard, they’re all basically the Eee PC 901’s Atom-based guts shoved into the Eee PC 1000’s case — which means you’re getting a larger keyboard, but the 8.9-inch display will have a pretty significant bezel around it. As before, final specs and pricing aren’t available, but since these are destined to replace the 900 and 901, we’d expect pricing to remain in the $600 range.

[Thanks, Sascha]

Read - Eee 903
Read - Eee 904 and 905Permalink | Email this | Comments

CrunchGear ha da poco pubblicato dei test molto interessanti sul nuovo U100 di casa MSI, sono prove legate in gran parte ad applicazioni di comune utilizzo. Di seguito trovate i test effettuati.

I’ve been using the MSI Wind and for a little while now and have checked out a handful of things that our readers have asked about. I’ll have a full review of the notebook itself coming up soon but in the meantime, I’ve tested the following: Skype video recording and playback, HD video playback (WMVHD and AVCHD), Photoshop, Google Earth, StarCraft, Ubuntu 8.04, DVD playback with a mounted .iso image using DAEMON Tools, and more.

Skype
Skype è stato testato in una sessione con audio più video. Come vedrete dal video funziona senza problemi e la webcam da 1.3 Megapixel svolge il suo lavoro egregiamente.
Segue il video della prova girato dal simpatico reviewer di CrunchGear…

Here’s the first in a series of tests that I’ll be running on the Wind, based on your comments. This is Skype Video, which I’m happy to report works quite well.

Riproduzione video HD
Anche sotto questo aspetto MSI Wind non smentisce le sue potenzialità, guardare per credere.
Sembra tuttavia esserci un problema col formato AVCHD, come vedrete nella parte finale del video.

High-definition Windows Media Video files play back without any problems. Files in the AVCHD format, however, are nah-gah, nah-gah, not gonna work here.

Photoshop CS2
Purtroppo la trial di CS3 del reviewer è scaduta poco prima che arrivasse il Wind in redazione, per cui il test è stato eseguito con Photoshop CS2.
Per il test è stato utilizzato un fie JPEG da 6 Megapixel, e Photoshop è riuscito ad aprirlo in 27 secondi.

Unfortunately, Adobe’s taken the Photoshop CS3 trial down until July 1st so I had to make do with CS2. I used a 6-megapixel JPEG file, which opened in 27 seconds.

Google Earth
Funziona senza rallentamenti. Nonostante dal video l’esecuzione sembri più che soddisfacente, l’autore segnala che per un uso più frequente è consigliata una configurazione migliore.
Da questa prova è inoltre emerso che la modalità OpenGL funziona molto meglio di quella DirectX, specialmente zoomando.

Google Earth works okay on the Wind. It’s certainly useable but if you’re looking to use it a lot, you might need something more powerful. OpenGL mode works better than DirectX mode, especially when zooming in.

Starcraft
Un gioco intramontabile che il Wind è in grado di farci apprezzare a pieno senza rallentamenti di nessun tipo.

I’m happy to report that StarCraft runs just fine. No problems there. It’s very smooth.

Ubuntu 8.04
Sfortuntamente il recensore di CrunchGear ha avuto non pochi problemi installando questa ultima release di Ubuntu. Niente di grave, sono cose che qualcuno con più know-how dell’ambiente Linux saprà sicuramente risolvere.

Bad news on this front. I wasn’t able to get a standard installation of Ubuntu 8.04 to load up. That’s not to say that someone with more time and Linux know-how wouldn’t be able to get it going, though. It took a looooong time to load before throwing me to a prompt, although one time it got all the way to loading up the Common Unix Printing System (cupsd) but it ended up just hanging there until I eventually shut down the computer.

DVD Playback
In questo test è stata montata tramite Daemon Tools l’iso di un dvd, e tutto è andato per il meglio.

I made an .iso file out of an old DVD and mounted it using DAEMON Tools. Everything worked perfectly. The Wind was running on battery power for this test, too, so it’d definitely make a good airplane companion.

Stress Test
Intel Atom si dimostra sorprendentemente tenace. È arrivato al 95% di utilizzo della cpu con le seguenti azioni eseguite simultaneamente:

• Firefox 3 con cinque tab aperte, di cui una con un video di YouTube in esecuzione.
• Windows Media Player con un file WMA in riproduzione.
• Skype aperto ma in idle.
• Utility per la webcam aperta con registrazione di un video.
• Estrazione di uno ZIP di grosse dimensioni.
• Photoshop CS2 in apertura.

A operazioni completate, sempre con questi programmi aperti in idle, la cpu rimane a circa il 60% di utilizzo.

Geekbench 2
Infine il risultato ottenuto con Geekbench 2, un software che misura prestazioni di cpu e memoria.
Ed ecco confrontato il risultato del Wind con sistemi con punteggi simili.

The Wind scored an 837 using Primate Labs’ Geekbench 2 benchmarking software. Here are some other systems with similar scores.

- Review completa by CrunchGear

Non è ancora uscito sul mercato e già è stato hackato Mac OS X per farlo girare sull’attesissimo MSI Wind. Come per gli altri pc non Apple il piccolo netbook viene riconosciuto dal SO come un Mac Pro.

In questa versione mancano ancora diverse ottimizzazioni, nonostante le interfacce Ethernet e Bluetooth funzionino senza problemi già dal primo avvio del sistema operativo.

Questo è quanto afferma un utente spagnolo di Insanely Mac forum che ha testato l’hack (Jav):

Well, here it is. The new MSI Wind running Kalyway 10.5.2 (modified Leopard install). I still have to make some small adjustments, like the resolution and the wireless network card, but I couldn’t resist posting these images that I’m sure will get the interest of more than one person. Ethernet and Bluetooth work right out of the box, so I’m really expecting a lot from this small notebook.

Vi ricordo che quanto fatto da questa persona non è legale, per dettagli vi rimando alla lettura dell’EULA di OS X.

I’m moving from New York to Philadelphia tomorrow, so my internet access will be sporadic at best. Fortunately, Sascha Pallenberg has agreed to step in and write a few breaking news posts. Sascha runs Eee PC News and several other German language sites including HP2133.de and MSI-Wind.de. If you read German, or even if you don’t you should definitely check out Sascha’s blogs. They’re excellent and choc full of information and snazzy pictures.

I’ve also queued up a few other posts to run over the next few days, so keep checking back. And hopefully things will be back to normal within a few days.

Filed under: Laptops

HCL’s MiLeap has long been forgotten amongst the swarm of other low-cost laptops to emerge post-CES, but a kind fellow over in Bahrain was able to handle one for a tick, snap a few photographs and dish out some early impressions. Essentially, this 7-inch netbook was more akin to a V-Tech toy than a bona fide computing instrument, and typing on the thing was apparently a very non-enjoyable experience. Still, those anxious to see what this critter looks like in the flesh can head on down to the read link, but don’t even pretend that you’re not going there with full intentions of pointing and laughing.

[Thanks, Mo]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

I probably should have seen this one coming. Last week I asked which Linux distribution was best suited for netbooks, and the overwhelming majority of people voted for Ubuntu. This Linux distro has only really been around for a few years, but already it’s become one of the most popular flavors of Linux. For many people, Ubuntu and Linux are synonymous. The fact that Ubuntu makers Canonical are planning a custom interface to make Ubuntu a bit more friendly for users of small-screen devices like the Eee PC makes it an even more attractive choice.

But the first two Linux-based netbooks to really hit the market in the past few years have run other operating systems. The OLPC XO Laptop runs a custom version of Linux with the unique Sugar OS user interface. And the Asus Eee PC runs a custom version of Xandros Linux. The HP Mini-Note users SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, and the upcoming Acer Aspire One will run Linpus Linux Lite. So there’s no real consensus on the best operating system. At least not among computer makers.

In fact, the only low-cost ultraportable I’m aware of that is designed to ship with Ubuntu right now is E-Lead’s Noahpad. The Everex Cloudbook does use gOS, which is based on Ubuntu.

This week I’ve decided to run a more topical poll: Do you think the MSI Wind will actually be available on July 7th? MSI first announced that the Wind notebook would ship on June 16th. That date has already been pushed back twice due to the global battery shortage. What are the odds it’ll be pushed back yet again?

More importantly, have the delays shaken your faith in the company? If you were planning to buy one already, have the delays and MSI’s announcement that the Wind will ship with a 3 cell battery instead of a 6 cell one made you change your mind? Or does the fact that the Wind still costs $200 less than an Eee PC 1000H make it an attractive alternative, whenever it hits the streets?

Is it me or is Asus taking the whole Eee PC concept a little too far? I was all for some welcome updates on the original 701, like a bigger screen with higher resolution added to a larger keyboard. I’m just not getting the latest news coming out of Digitimes. They indicate that Asus plans two new models in the 900-series (shown), the 904 and 905.

Each of these will use the sam 8.9-inch display of the current 900s, but it sounds like they’ll be on the 10-inch chassis of the 1000-series. That will get you a bigger keyboard, but also has the potential to bring back the ugly, oversized bezel we saw in the first models. I suppose they can make good use of that extra space somehow, but I’m not hopeful.

Where I’m really lost is in the vision. What was once a ground-breaking device in terms of size and cost appears to have become a giant test lab for Asus and consumers alike. Maybe I’m over-reacting or this is what the market is becoming: quick moving and in constant flux in terms of choice? Perhaps, but Digitimes says that the new models will replace the 901. There’s just something unsettling to me when notebook models last a few short months…

Woke up this morning to the news that Asus will soon be pushing out two more Eee PC models. Word on the street (and by street, I mean DigiTimes and Blogeee) is that the new units will feature larger keyboards.

According to DigiTimes, the new computers will be called the Eee PC 904 and 905, and will feature an 8.9 inch display in the same chassis currently used by the company’s 10.2 inch model. In other words, you get a larger keyboard, but you also get a large bezel around the screen. The idea is that Asus will be able to sell the Eee PC 904 and 905 for about the same price as the exisitng Eee PC 901, but you get an easier to use keyboard for your money.

If this is true, what you’d get is a computer with an 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, 12GB to 20GB of solid state storage, Windows XP or Linux, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, and a big bezel around the screen. Meanwhile, the MSI Wind will pack the same features, plus an 80GB hard drive and a larger screen (with the same resolution) into a case that’s about the same size. And MSI will charge about $150 less.

DigiTimes suggests that Asus is also considering giving the 901 and 900 a price cut or dropping them altogether when the new models hit the streets.

French site Blogeee has posted some images of one of the new models. Apparently the site got its hands on two sets of pictures, because one photoset is labeled Eee PC 903 while the other says Eee PC 904. The 903 looks a lot like existing models, but the 904 is quite clearly a new unit with a larger bezel around the display. No word on what under the hood changes might exist in the 903, or what differentiates the 905 from the 904.

The 3K RazorBook, with its 400MHz processor probably isn’t going to best the MSI Wind, Acer Aspire One, or Eee PC 901 in any speed contests. But the tiny laptop with its custom version of Linux and $299 price tag is certainly a viable alternative for someone who wants to do some light word processing and web surfing but doesn’t want to drop $400+ on a laptop.

And if Linux ain’t your thing, it looks like 3K will be slapping Windows CE on the Razorbook next month. The move shouldn’t come as a total surprise. Budget electronics maker BestLink announced in May that the company would bring a RazorBook clone to market sporting Windows CE. (Clone probably isn’t the best word to use here, since it’s likely that the two companies are getting their systems from the same OEM source).

Windows CE is basically the same operating system that powers Windows Mobile phones and PDAs. Back in the day (the day being the late 90s and early naughts), there were two classes of devices running Windows CE: handhelds and palmtops. The handheld devices had a clamshell layout and looked like tiny computers. The HP Jornada series and the NEC MobilePro Series were among the more popular handheld devices, but eventually handhelds went the way of the dodo and Microsoft focused on palmtops that evolved into today’s cellphones and PDAs.

While you can’t run full-fledged Windows applications on Windows CE, the operating system does have some advantages over Windows and even most Linux distributions. It’s extremely light weight, and can fit on devices with 64MB of storage space or less. It requires very little power, which means you can get a ton of juice out of a relatively low capacity battery. And it’s designed for instant-on, instant-off functionality.

A 3K RazorBook with a 4GB solid state disk, 400MHz processor and 512MB of RAM would be able to run Windows CE beautifully. Most phones running the OS have storage capacities measured in megabytes, not gigs. And the RAM is usually 128MB or less. And a 400MHz CPU should be plenty.

On the other hand, you’re not going to be able to run OpenOffice.org, Pidgin, or Firefox on Windows CE, (at least not until Firefox mobile comes out later this year). And it’s not even clear that you’ll be able to run Opera Mobile and other software designed for Windows Mobile, since most applications are designed for touchscreen devices with smaller displays.

What do you think? Would you rather buy a RazorBook 400 running Windows CE or Linux?

When Engadget first broke the news that Dell’s upcoming Eee PC-killer would be called the Dell “E,” a lot of folks lamented that the name seemed a bit silly. Now that Dell’s web site has its first official mention of the computers, the name makes a little more sense. It looks like the E series will follow Dell’s usual naming convention and you’ll be able to pick up a tiny laptop with a name like the Dell latitude E630 in the not too distant future.

There’s not much more information available on the web site. The only way you can even find this little image (which doesn’t look much of anything like the laptop Michael Dell was carrying around earlier this year) is by searching for E-Family. And when you click the link, you get taken to the D-Family landing page. But at least Dell is acknowledging the fact that the letter E exists… and will be used to label some upcoming PCs.

[via Engadget]

Update: As readers here and over at Engadget have pointed out, it’s quite possible this Latitude E-Family has nothing whatsoever to do with the upcoming Dell netbook. But then again, maybe it does. Or maybe it doesn’t.