Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"We just bumped into LG's X120, a barely-differentiated followup to the X110 that's floating around the show floor. There's still a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, Windows XP and a 10-inch WSVGA screen, but what's new is the Splashtop-powered "LG Smart On" OS, which does the quick boot thing we've come to know and love on many ASUS products, the Voodoo Envy 133 and elsewhere. The effect, as always, is pretty stunning, and the OS should be helpful for a quick look at the web or to hop on IM over the laptop's WiFi connectivity."

I'm not as easily impressed. Granted the boot is quick, but what really matters to me is the total time before I can actually do something. As a point of reference, if I hibernate my Aspire One with the browser open, I can go from cold to being able to use the browser including connecting to wireless in about 30 seconds, which is a few seconds faster than this since it appears you have to open applications on the Splashtop interface after it boots.

"Small it's got down: Weighing 1.4 pounds and measuring about 1 inch thick, the pint-size PC can slide snuggly into a coat pocket or purse. But inside the P series are such impressive components as a 60GB hard-disk drive (you can invest in a 64GB or 128GB solid-state drive if you prefer), a battery that promises 4 hours battery life (8 hours with the optional battery upgrade), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Qualcomm's Gobi chip set for wireless broadband. That's on top of what you'll find inside any computer that sports an Atom processor: two USB ports, a headphone jack, a display/LAN adapter connection, a Webcam with built-in mic, an SD Card slot, and a Memory Stick card slot. Technically, I think that outdoes the MacBook Air. And all of this goodness sits inside a slim, screwless case that will be available in several colors."

Sony claims this is not a netbook. Maybe they are just worried about being sued by Psion. I'd say the $899 price pretty much knocks it out of the netbook category anyway. Otherwise there is a lot to like about this. I've wondered why netbook makers have chosen not to use a track-point or similar device to reduce a lot of the depth of their devices. Hopefully this form factor gets picked up by other companies as well.

"This is very preliminary but we are hearing that some netbook enthusiast sites are getting “cease & desist” letters from a firm in the UK ordering the sites to stop using the term “netbook”. The letters claim that the term netbook is trademarked by the firm that produced the Psion netBook in the early 2000’s."

Image Courtesy of MaximumPC

This definitely qualifies as stupid. I could ALMOST understand suing netbook makers for using the term if it is trademarked, but going after enthusiast sites for using the term is just completely stupid. I just did a quick look at the official sites for Dell and Asus and was easily able to find the term netbook being used. I did not find it on HP or Acer's site, but I didn't look very hard. Also, Amazon.com and Best Buy both use the term netbook as well. The fact that they are going after the little guys and not the deep pockets (who are better able to defend themselves) makes me think they know they have no case but are going for some early victories to help bolster a case against the big guys. I've got only one thing to say to that: netbook, netbook, netbook, netbook, netbook........

"A netbook as we’ve come to know it is a small laptop that is cheap. That’s about it, although the term can be confusing, as larger notebooks are sometimes called netbooks, since that is currently the hot buzzword. So you want to get a small, cheap notebook (or netbook) if you will, what are the five things you should know before plunking down your cash? 1. How are you going to use your device? 2. How much screen do you need? 3. How small of a keyboard will you tolerate? 4. Do you need the (heavier) extended battery? 5. Can you walk away from Windows?"

I recently upgraded from the original Eee to the Acer Aspire One. The above article really hits it on the head for me. Everyone had different needs but here is my take on each of the 5 items mentioned. 1. I use or want to be able to use my netbook for almost everything I would use my regular computer for, save video editing. I fully recognize that a netbook pretty much by definition would not have the horsepower. I also don't really intent to do things like sync my Zune, or even load my music collection on to it. 2. The screen is a biggie. The 7 inch screen on the Eee was OK, but the 800x480 resolution was not bearable. I'd be satisfied with a 7 inch screen at 1024x600, but like the 8.9 inch screen on the Aspire One, except for the glossy finish. 3. Keyboard really depends on how big your hands are. The Aspire keyboard is noticeably bigger than the Eee, but I have fairly small hands and did not have much of a problem typing on the Eee. I'd really like to see a tablet version with no keyboard at all, but built in Bluetooth to connect to a fold-up keyboard when necessary. 4. I don't really need the extended battery since I mostly use mine either at work or home, but I would like a more economical option for a second power adapter. I don't want to pay nearly 25% of the cost of the device just for a second adapter. 5. Windows vs. Linux - I really liked Ubuntu on the Eee. But there were a few key things I wanted that I needed Windows for, namely Slingbox and Netflix video streaming.

"We have done a lot of studies on the return rates and haven't really talked about it much until now. Our internal research has shown that the return of netbooks is higher than regular notebooks, but the main cause of that is Linux. People would love to pay $299 or $399 but they don't know what they get until they open the box. They start playing around with Linux and start realizing that it's not what they are used to. They don't want to spend time to learn it so they bring it back to the store. The return rate is at least four times higher for Linux netbooks than Windows XP netbooks."

That's a quote from MSI's Director of Sales, Andy Tung, and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. The average consumer tends not to embrace change very well when it comes to their computing experience - many people don't conceptually understand how software works, so they rely instead on rote memory, essentially memorizing through repetition how to do things. When you change the user interface, these types of computers users tend to become easily lost and frustration ensues. Just look at the reaction to Windows Vista and Office 2007 - with the people I've spoken to, when I drill down on their complaints, at the root of them all is the same thing: things were moved, things were changed, and now they don't know how to do anything. Linux on Netbooks is a great example of this principle in action: they think they're going to like it, but when they realize how different it is from Windows XP, they're no longer so excited about their netbook and back it goes.

"My poor MSI Wind. The hard drive has to be suffering from MOSPD or Multiple OS Personality Disorder. If XP, Vista and OS X weren't enough stress for the 80 GB drive, wiping it this morning to play with Windows 7 likely put it over the top. Can anyone recommend a specialist? For the Wind, not me... I'm clearly beyond saving at this point... Like LAPTOP Magazine, I like what I see so far. The new Network Manager is indeed a more simplified and improved method of managing connectivity. On the Wind with 1GB of RAM (I removed the extra gig for now) I'm getting the same Windows Experience Index that LAPTOP sees on their Asus Eee PC 1000H: a 2.3, which is the lowest score and is for the Aero graphics. Ironically, Windows Update found a newer driver for the Intel graphics and after installing that just now, the same score dropped to 2.0. Hey, it's a test build..."

I think this bodes well for the performance of Windows 7. If a single core Atom is able to run it, my quad-core desktop should have no problems with it whatsoever. If your interest is piqued, there is additional covered, including screen shots, over at Laptop Magazine.

"Japanese makers have been pretty late in jumping on the NetBooks wagon. Almost a year after ASUS, and due to declining sales in Japan, Toshiba, NEC, and now Epson are launching their Netbooks... The only problem, is they still run XP, there are no Linux versions, and they're MORE expensive than their counterparts in Europe and the US."

Details are a bit sparse, but even the silhouette seems a bit chunky for a netbook. Besides, I'm not real confident we will see these in the US anyway.

"Thanks to their utilitarian design and low prices, netbooks are inspiring a booming subculture of hackers souping up their liliputers with touchscreens, GPS and unauthorized operating systems like Apple's Mac OS X. As netbook sales continue to soar, more and more tech-savvy grease monkeys are dismantling netbooks to add fancy features including back-lit keyboards, GPS and longer-lasting batteries."

Other than upgrading the OS to Ubuntu, I have not modified my Eee at all. That said, I'm tempted to add Bluetooth and GPS after reading this article. Any of you with netbooks done any interesting mods?

"Considering that MSI's Wind U120 is on track for release this quarter, it follows logic that we'd see a few press shots as the run-up to launch continues. Once again, we're told that this bugger will sport a 120GB HDD (or a 20GB / 40GB SSD), 802.11n WiFi and built-in 3.5G WWAN. As you can easily see, the U120 isn't too much different (style wise) from the U100, and unfortunately, it's not a whole lot thinner either. Still, the unit does look a bit more edgy, and hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more (read: in the wild) shots as December comes closer."

Nothing spectacular in the looks department, but as long as they keep the feature/performance/size/price ratio's in line, it should be a go.

"An Intel roadmap that surfaced at the Intel Developers Forum 2008 shows that Intel plans to bring the next generation Atom processor to market in Q3 2009 -- roughly a year from now. PCWatch reports that the new Atom will carry the codename Pineview and will be offered in both dual-core and single-core versions."

Dual-core was pretty much expected at this point, but what I found interesting was the plan to build the GPU core directly into the chip. We should be seeing the dual-core Atoms soon, but technically we should only be seeing them in non-XP based netbooks unless Microsoft relents on their requirement that XP only continue to be used on single core machines.

"We just got to handle the new laptop, and we think MSI might have a winner here. The laptop is shipping with SUSE Linux exclusively to start, with an XP version in the works, and boots quite rapidly to the full OS. SUSE has never looked better, and we think these two might be quite the pair. MSI has kept the full keyboard of the 10-inch Wind, and merely bumped up the bezel while cutting the price; all the other specs are the same. MSI is planning on shipping this at the end of September or beginning of October for 339 Euro (no word on a US release)."

I'm really down to this and the Dell (whenever they get around to releasing it) as a potential replacement for my first gen Eee. The larger screen and bigger keyboard will be welcome additions as long as the price is right.

"The Fujitsu Siemens Amilo which if nothing else is one of the most attractive netbooks we've seen yet. The 8.9-inch Amilo packs the obligatory Atom processor running at 1.6 GHz to power the 1 GB of memory and 60 or 80 GB hard drive (no SSDs offered). The Amilo will be a Windows XP device and has an ExpressCard slot, something that is not that common on netbooks."

I don't this this is at all attractive looking, but then again, I kind of like the styling of the original Eee. However, the addition of an ExpressCard slot helps differentiate this one from the pack.